Councillor Robert Samuel - Willoughby

Hats off to the Chatswood Junior Rugby Club and the committee whose canteen is very much open again when the kids are running.

With Chatswood Junior Rugby -recognised as one of their top fans always ! 🎉

Another opportunity for some of our local artists.

Connect, Collaborate, Celebrate - Art competition 2024 Celebrating International Day of People with Disability 2024, for the sixth consecutive year, this art competition and exhibition provides a platform for artists of all abilities to promote themselves and expand their creative talent.

Would be great if Sydney Water had similar plans for Scotts Creek. Willoughby City Council is investing along side the State Govt on a significant flood study of the Scotts and Moores Creek Catchment. The results should land soon. With so many new homes expected a walking link to wisteria way at Muston Park along Scotts Creek for residents would be preferable to the toxic swill that washes through gardens and in one case a living room when the sewers and main stormwater aren’t quite managing.

Bendigo's Low Line to place bike path along historic creek bed | Bicycle Network Bendigo is preparing a small bite of the Big Apple, drawing inspiration from it’s famous High Line to prepare a people-friendly public space of its own - with big wins for people who ride bikes.

Pleased to be giving local artists a fair go.

🌟 Calling all artists! 🎨
Willoughby City Council is seeking talented muralists to design and produce large-scale artworks celebrating diversity in the Willoughby local government area for the 2024 Emerge Festival.
Showcase your creativity and bring vibrancy to our community!
Apply now and transform one of our 8 shortlisted buildings.
Applications close on Friday, 2 August. 🌈✨
Find out how to apply > https://bit.ly/4cvW0jT

Great to catch up with Willoughby social entrepreneur Bibi and her work on teenage mental health through the Community Flower Studio Inc. and to hear about other NGO and Council initiatives for a different perspective. In breaking news the studio has been awarded a Way a Head Grant to further their work. Congrats !

The Herald out with some specifics around the hospital and Crows Nest And St Leonards Station.

The next three Sydney zones in line for greater density revealed The NSW government is pushing ahead with sweeping planning reforms, with thousands of new homes to be built around soon-to-open metro stations.

I’m heading down to meet the Mayor tomorrow come and join us (She’s heard enough from me ;)) and share what you love about Willoughby and what you’d like to change. If you can’t make it ping me and I’ll grab a coffee or a tea another time.

Thank you Gordon Gazelles and Gordon Rugby for for hosting me for “Back to Gordon”. Great to celebrate a win for the Gazelles - it’s been a tough season.

Lovely to see so many Chatswood Junior and Gordon Junior players around.

Every Saturday Willoughby parkrun the volunteers and runners/ walkers of Willoughby are there. This week a visitor from Wales and another from the Gold Coast , a handful of first timers and David who strode out for his 250th.

Thanks to Race Director Craig who glammed up for the occasion and even got a teenager on school holidays out of bed and on to the volunteers list

There is a school and a pool 🏊‍♀️ and the shops. Thank you Mayor Tanya Taylor and Councillor Sarkis Mouradian for your efforts.

Sarkis Mouradian it takes me back to the morning we went out to meet with the community after the retaining wall behind the shops collapsed.

Thank you to Insight Exchange who have shared this animation that helps us all understand domestic and family violence. I’m keen for our community here in Willoughby to be safe for all. Interesting insights on resistance here too.

“What is domestic and family violence?

https://vimeo.com/577857798

National, state and territory definitions of domestic and family violence and criminal codes vary, however violence and abuse is never acceptable in any community, family, institution, place or context”

What is domestic and family violence? - Insight Exchange Domestic and family violence is often a pattern of controlling or coercive behaviour. But whenever people are subjected to abuse, coercive control, and violence, they resist.

Turns out you can eat out late in Willoughby

Late night dining in Chatswood These establishments provide unique culinary experiences for those looking to enjoy late-night dining in Chatswood.

More details to follow.

https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/policy-and-legislation/housing/diverse-and-well-located-homes

Stage 1 is what is important for now. It looks like Stage 2 which will come out later this year may have broader impacts for Willoughby particularly as I see it in conservation zones and where the Department determine are our town centres.

Please contact me with specific questions.

📢 Important Update on Housing Reforms in NSW📢

On Friday, 28 July 2024, the State Government rolled out "Stage 1" of the Low and Mid Rise Housing Reforms (details in the attached letter). It looks like these changes are being phased to meet the mid-year timeline while allowing more time to refine the details.

What's New?

Stage 1 reforms introduce duplexes (dual occupancy/semi-detached dwellings) to all R2 zones across the state. However, there are no changes to the minimum lot sizes or frontages, meaning no immediate impact for us in the Willoughby LGA. Our existing controls on duplex development in R2 zones and minimum lot sizes/frontages remain unchanged.

Our interpretation indicates that the Council’s Dual Occupancy Restriction Map remains effective, preventing duplex development in R2 Heritage Conservation Areas.

What’s Next?

The Department of Planning Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) has indicated that more changes (Stage 2) will be announced later in 2024. These may include reduced minimum lot sizes, reduced frontages, increased permissibility in Conservation Areas, and increased building heights and densities around selected centres. No specific centres have been identified yet, as the DPHI needs more time to finalise these details.

If you have any questions please let me know. More information can be found here: https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/policy-and-legislation/housing/diverse-and-well-located-homes

The specifics of the NSW Government’s expansion of places you can build dual occupancy and the like landed today. I am still working through what is specifically means for our part of the world and will update when I know.

NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure site quotes the following

“The complying development pathway available to dual occupancy development under State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008 will be temporarily switched off in areas where this development type wasn’t previously allowed.

This will give affected councils the chance to plan for appropriate settings such as lot sizes for dual occupancy developments in their areas The complying development pathway for dual occupancy development will be reinstated in these locations as part of stage 2 of the reforms. If dual occupancies are already permitted in your area with a complying development pathway, this will stay the same.”

“A journey on a metro train from Chatswood to the new Gadigal station near Town Hall in the CBD will be 13 minutes, while Chatswood to Sydenham will take 22 minutes.”

The game changing Metro is up and running from early August. Thank you to all involved. Appropriately bus services are being tweaked with a turn up a go loop between North Sydney and Chatswood and a slight increase in Castle Cove service which is a great start. However with the fast travel routes there needs to be much more work in helping our community access Chatswood and Crows Nest Metro Stations and not at the expense of the express buses to the city along Willoughby Road and Eastern Valley Way.

A new expanded bus interchange at for more and better bus turnarounds is needed now more than ever. The recent Government Bus Taskforce highlighted the urgent need for investment in bus infrastructure.

Transport for NSW Marjorie O’Neill - Member for Coogee Jo Haylen

Sydney bus shake-up for opening of major new metro train line Five bus routes will be axed, 11 altered and frequencies on about two dozen increased when the new metro line opens in August.

The baby boom kids from the baby bonus years have grown up and they are in enjoying our youth centre, Library , and our sports facilities now.

Good to spot Mayor Tanya Taylor showing Tim James MP around. Thanks for popping in. With some recent changes Council have been able to secure more reliable opening times for the centre.

In a town and country exchange we are expecting some of our Chatswood Youth up in Gwydir Shire on exchange soon

Mayor Tanya Taylor Tim James MP Willoughby City Council Willoughby City Library Gwydir Shire Council

28 July at Muston Park - trees to be planted

https://treeday.planetark.org/site/10029874 #:~:text=%2C%20Chatswood%2C%2028.7.-,24%20(Willoughby%20City%20Council),and%20enjoy%20being%20in%20nature.

I successfully supported with my fellow Councillors the funding of design work for a shared cycleway from Boundary St to Chatswood for this coming year’s budget and now a significant $6 million top up grant from the NSW Government's Get Active NSW 24/25 Program has just landed in Willoughby City Council for short cut cycle route on from Chatswood to Artarmon.

Mayor Tanya Taylor notes “we’ve done the detailed design work for this project (thanks to a $1 million grant from the same program last year), and now can get on to Stage 1 of the construction.

When complete we will have 2.3km dedicated on-road bi-directional cycleway along Hampden Road and Herbert Street (see map below). “

Stay tuned on how you can be involved with the project through our community engagement process.



Transport for NSW Jo Haylen
Tim James MP Bike North WalkSydney Royal North Shore Hospital Northern Sydney Local Health District

Libraries are for more than books. They are creating more “spaces to study” in the run up to the HSC. They are drop in centres for information on services. Willoughby City Council would love to hear the other things our libraries can and maybe should do? Have your say!

Thank you Willoughby City Library for the spaces to study you create for our city’s students

We're inviting community feedback on the Draft Willoughby City Library Strategy 2024-2028 before 22 July 2024 🥰 This strategy outlines our focus for the next four years, considering community aspirations, demographic changes, and financial context 📈🖊 Your input helps shape the library future! 🌈

View more details and access the document here 👉 https://tinyurl.com/3a49taxf

Pop in if you are around with your thoughts. Working on plans for better public and open spaces , stronger community and a more responsive and accountable Council.

We have a bit more to work with after last night’s Council meeting. We reviewed a new libraries strategy that imagines how we can do so much more with our libraries.

We also did a final check on our Operational Plan that confirms the budget for next year.

Councillor Robert Samuel - Willoughby and I will be at Kitaya from 9am. Would love to have a chat.

Metro from Chattie to the City and back again set to open in August assuming no glitches.

Chatswood - Crows Nest - [North Sydney] - [Martin Place] - Central in minutes

Making Chatswood a great place to be. Willoughby City Council are working on plans for making Victoria Avenue downhill of the Station a better place to be. It can’t come quickly enough.

August slated for opening of mega metro line under heart of Sydney The exact date of the opening of the driverless train line between Chatswood and Sydenham will hinge on final testing and safety approval.

Interesting advocacy by Councillor HY William Chan · City of Sydney on the importance of design and governance in building sustainable and inclusive cities. At Willoughby we have recently built “design excellence” into our local large building requirements. based on City of Sydney experience. How we use these provisions to build community is a work in progress. However we are already seeing more substantial enhanced public domain being designed into new projects

📐 : My global keynote on the future of sustainable cities and communities through design excellence and urban governance at the Union Internationale des Architectes (UIA) World Congress of Architects.

A tough act to follow from Bjarke Ingels (BIG)' keynote! Such an honour to be delivering on the main stage following one of the greatest architects of our time.

Definitely one the largest audiences I’ve had. Attended by 6,000 participants with 37% of attendees under the age of 35 years old, the next generation is crucial to sustainable urban practice.

:(

Hats off to our friends on the other side of Boundary St.

Ku-ring-gai Council have returned the old bowling club in Roseville Chase to community land. Thank you Councillor Alec Taylor Mayor Sam Ngai and your colleagues who supported it from your neighbours in Willoughby.

Save the East Roseville Bowling Club from Development

Not quite in Willoughby but near as. Does not seem to have been much thought about how people get to and from the station by bus or drop offs and pick ups. Bike lanes looking a bit better thought through. More work to do Sydney Metro and Transport for NSW. Does look pretty schmick.