Firstly, a BIG THANK YOU to members and supporters who donated to our election campaign kitty. You donated a total of $7,385 which is just fantastic! That will allow us to mount a very effective campaign to support candidates who demonstrate the ability to make much needed change in Ku-ring-gai Council.
Yesterday, Shelley Hancock, Minister for Local Government, announced that the Local Government elections will be postponed to 4 December to allow for a safer environment for the community as well as a fairer contest for candidates. We are delighted with this decision as likely Covid restrictions would result in restricting campaign activity by candidates and community groups like us, and create an unfair advantage for some candidates, particularly the new ones. We will continue the process we have started to identify new candidates who we will endorse, however at a more leisurely pace. We will also continue to agitate for progress on the Hub as there is no reason for Council staff to put down their pencils.
Our Support Lindfield committee is getting a little strapped for time and some talent. We would like to identify someone who has journalist skills and experience, who could help us write press releases/articles for the local/daily papers, and possibly assist with messages to our database. If you have these skills and have a little time to help out can you please contact us at info@supportlindfield.net.
And, of course, we're always pleased to hear from our supporters about any of the work we're doing for the community. I'm pleased to say that a few people have contacted us during our donation campaign and expressed an interest in learning more. Keep it up!
Regards,
The Support Lindfield Team
info@supportlindfield.net
DONATIONS, $9m, HOUSING STRATEGY and MORE
A BIG thank you to those who kindly and generously donated to our campaign kitty. You can see that we're very close to our target. As soon as we've finalised the candidates we choose to support we will prepare campaign material. Watch this space!
If you're still keen to donate here are the details:
EFT to our bank account BSB 633 000 account no. 147 440 192 name Support Lindfield Inc (Your reference first name + last name)
or click on this link DONATE to pay by secure credit card or Paypal.
Lindfield Village Hub Expenses
We've received the latest update from the Council as result of our application through GIPA (freedom of information) process. The total expenses from May 2013 to 30 June 2021 for the Hub project are now $9,171,567. This is an appalling waste of money with no contract with a developer in sight and a shovel won't hit the ground for at least 18 months to 2 years. THIS is why we need a change in some of the Councillors. There is no accountability by staff and the Mayor won't hold the General Manager to account.
Ku-ring-gai Housing Strategy 2020
You may remember last year that we vigorously campaigned against the Draft Housing Strategy that Council was planning to submit to the State Government. Amongst other things, it called for building heights of up to 15 storeys in Lindfield and Turramurra and up to 20 storeys in Gordon. A row between the Mayor and the Planning Minister ensued, assisted by our two MPs, Jonathan O'Dea and Alister Henskens about who was right and who was wrong. An investigation was held by the Dept. of Planning and our two MPs issued a joint media release this week. You can find it at this link. Here are some highlights:
The current Ku-ring-gai Council zonings without any change will achieve the Greater Sydney Commission’s 6-10 year (2021-2026) dwelling target.
“Instead of spending money on footpaths and roads, the Council has spent over $2 million on an unnecessary and now abandoned Draft Housing Strategy”, Mr Henskens said.
“I am still at a loss to understand how Ku-ring-gai Council produced and exhibited a flawed Draft Housing Strategy that proposed 20 plus storey heights in Gordon, 15 storey heights in Turramurra and Lindfield and expanding high density to 800m from town centres instead of the existing 500m”, Mr Henskens said.
Mr O’Dea said, “The Council’s Draft Housing Strategy never properly assessed the residual capacity in the existing zonings and vindicates the strong opposition of myself and Mr Henskens”.
“The Department forecast includes the progression of the current planning proposals for the Lindfield Hub and the site at Roseville Memorial Park to meet the dwelling target.
Covid-safe Council Election
The Office of Local Government is starting to publish information on their website about how the elections will be run to ensure voters are safe. It appears they are not postponing the elections. We will try to keep you up to date as they publish more detail. Here is the first piece of information:
The Government will maximise voter participation by utilising iVote, and expanding the eligibility criteria for pre-poll and postal voting.
Watch this space over the next few weeks as we ramp up the activity leading to election day on 4 September. And you can help by going to our Facebook page at this link to "Like" this post.
The Support Lindfield Team