AGM Mar 2008

West Pittwater Community Association

Representing the communities of McCarrs Creek, Elvina Bay, Lovett Bay, and Morning Bay

PO Box 289 Church Point NSW 2105

President: Michael Wiener; Tel: 9997 2772; Email: m2wiener@bigpond.net.au

Minutes of Annual General Meeting

Sunday 30 March 2008

Elvina Bay South

M Wiener, President, opened the meeting at 10.25am

1. Attendance: As per membership record

2. Apologies: Maureen Anderson, Hilary & Heath McCorison, Tanya Mottl, Martin Didsbury, Jane Bell-Beaumont, Paul Beaumont, Lorna Mellor, Penny Handelsmann, Richard & Anne Mountstephens, Geoff & Marty Cowen, Andrew Mills, Mary Beth Rich, Michael & Lyn Clay, George & Di Stirling, Andrew Stephens, Phil Pryke, Lindy Wilkinson, Annabel & David Lloyd.

3. Correspondence

No correspondence received in relation to the AGM

4. Minutes of previous AGM

The meeting confirmed the minutes of the Annual General Meeting of Sunday 25 February 2007 (proposer: M Molloy, seconder: R Croft)

5. Matters arising from the previous AGM

Ø Levy for Legal Action: At the last AGM it was agreed that a levy would be raised to obtain legal advice with regard to our situation with the car park. Subsequent legal advice obtained by SIRA suggested that this would not be a good idea given the fact that we were venturing into new legal territory. It was decided by SIRA and the WPCA that it would be better to work with Council on the Plan of Management to obtain the best results for the off-shore community and this had proven to be a sound decision.

Ø Reversing mirror at Cargo Wharf: A letter was written to Council requesting that a reversing mirror be installed at cargo wharf as an interim safety measure. We are still awaiting a reply.

Ø Track issues: The haphazard nature of the upgrading of tracks within the area was brought to the attention of Council and a request made that any future work be carried out with community consultation. The issue is complicated by the fact that the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Council and the RFS are all involved in obtaining funding for track work. It was agreed that in future the RFS and WPCA would consult with each other before any requests for track work were forwarded to an outside agency.

Action: M Doherty and L Woods to investigate the best options for surface materials for tracks

Ø Naming of Espa's Beach. A vote was taken on this at the last AGM. The proposal is to name the small public beach next to Halls wharf “Espa's Beach” after Charles Hall’s daughter. Following the vote in favour of this initiative, the Committee wrote to council to seek their support. Advice from council is that they have looked into the proposal and are proceeding on the matter. There are still a number of steps to go through as part of the process required by the Geographical Names Board. Hopefully, we may see the naming of Espa's Beach this year.

Ø Recycling: A number of eye-witness accounts have been forwarded to the Waste Officer at Pittwater Council recording the dumping of recycling into general garbage by the contractor. Council have taken up the issue with the contractor. They are currently in the process of conducting a weekly recycling audit, which commenced in December 2007 and will complete at the end of March 2008. After this time the waste contractor, URM will compile a report advising the outcome of the audit, which will be forwarded to the WPCA. If the audit shows a high level of contamination, Council will carry out an educational campaign for the off-shore community. Lisa Atkins outlined the items that could and could not go into the recycling bins.

Action: L Atkins to provide a written summary of recyclable items for posting on the wharves and the web-site

Ø Lighting of fires: Lisa Atkins informed the meeting of the correct procedures to light fires to avoid pollution ie the use of aged, dry hardwood preferably in slow combustion heaters (not green or unseasoned wood which contains up to 50% water and causes fires to smoke). She also noted the importance of dead wood as an animal habitat.

Ø Car Movements: Car use provisions within DCP21 were investigated. The control plan states that the foreshores are a pedestrian environment. Vehicle use is not permitted but is tolerated if used with discretion.

6. Treasurer’s Report

As of 22 January the account balance stood at $5,290.05.

The WPCA ran at an overall loss of $563.02 for 2007 due to establishment of the web-site, funding for the Day of Reckoning and printing of Baywatch.

There was some discussion as to whether it was still necessary to print Baywatch as we now have the web-site up and running. The consensus was that Baywatch is a traditional part of the AGM and should be continued, though members should also be encouraged to make better use of the web-site.

The meeting accepted the Treasurer’s report (proposer B Anderson, seconder: K Newby)

7. President’s Report & Church Point Masterplan

M Wiener was joined by Bill Guy and Ian Souter from SIRA. M Wiener gave a summary of events related to the Church Point Plan of Management and his activities in relation to the masterplan. He noted that the decisions taken with regard to car-parking at Church Point at the last AGM had largely been incorporated into the present Masterplan. He also noted the impressive turn-out of off-shore residents at the Mona Vale community meeting, which demonstrated to the Council the importance of the issue to off-shore residents.

The focus of the Design Group this year would be on the cost to residents of the implementation of the masterplan. Council had suggested $1,000/car, $500 to moor at Commuter Wharf and $250 for the public wharves. This is still a matter for negotiation as Council need to be made aware that if the fees are not reasonable, the problem will just be pushed elsewhere. It was suggested that a reasonable fee would be $500 for one car & boat sticker, with a higher fee for a second car and boat. Boats able to moor on commuter wharf would be limited to 5metres and under.

Bill Guy informed the meeting that SIRA and the WPCA had been successful largely due to the consensus between them when dealing with Council. He noted the importance of continuing this co-operation and emphasised that there was still a long way to go in the process.

Ian Souter reiterated the importance of the off-shore community presence at the Mona Vale meeting and the fact that it had proven very favourable to the off-shore community.

At a meeting of the Bayview Residents Association, Rob Stokes had suggested a second car-park be built opposite Church Point. This proposal was not supported by the off-shore community as the suggestion is to make the current car-park a paid car-park. Both SIRA and the WPCA were against the privatisation of Church Point. This should also be the case at commuter wharf, which should remain first-come, first-served rather having dedicated spots. Everyone at the meeting agreed with the principle of equity ie that everyone should be able to park at the Point, not just those who can pay.

The committee thanked Ian Souter for all his work on the mapping of the sea-grass in front of the car-park.

With regard to the cost to residents, a number of issues needed to be finalised – should it be user-pays or for all rate-payers? How long should the levy run for – once the works have been paid off will the levy remain? All money raised will be spent on implementation of the Church Point Plan of Management and on on-going maintenance.

The draft plan is expected to be released next month.

Mark Erikson has discussed the possibility of having a manager based at the Point. He is also looking at having Cargo Wharf managed by the operators.

The Pasadena DA was approved last year with some minor amendments. The lease of the Pasadena lawn has been re-negotiated with the Pasadena having access to two-thirds of the lawn and the community having the rest.

There has been concern raised by Council regarding drinking at the Point and a suggestion made that the Mini-Mart become a tavern. It was felt that this would not be an appropriate use and residents were urged to make their concerns known to Council.

Work on the Mini-Mart is due to begin. The importance of maintaining access around the front of the Mini-Mart was noted.

Margaret Molloy proposed a vote of thanks to all the people who have put so much time and effort into working on the masterplan.

8. Amendments to WPCA Constitution

Three suggested amendments to the Constitution were proposed

Ø Gender-neutral wording

Ø A minimum quorum

Ø Whether to amend how members are given notice of the AGM.

It was agreed that these amendments would be considered and brought back to the next AGM for approval.

Action: Jane Jobson to be approached to work on the amendments.

9. Donation of Solar Panel to Pittwater High School

Pittwater High School has initiated a process to become carbon-neutral. They presently have 72 panels and would like to have a total of 1000, which would enable them to completely run the school on solar power and to feed back into the grid. A panel is worth $900 and is tax-deductible.

The meeting agreed to donate $450 towards the purchase of a solar panel and to hold a fundraiser to raise to shortfall.

Action: L Atkins, M Morris, J Purvis and J James to organise the fundraiser.

10. Submissions for Geographical Names Board

A suggestion was made that the crescent shaped beach facing north in North Lovett Bay be named Half-Moon Beach.

Action: Members to consider the proposal and make a decision at the next AGM.

11. Defibrillator

Kim Newby talked to the meeting about the importance of having defibrillator within the community. Most people who have a heart attack die due to not having access to a defibrillator. CPR will save 2/100 lives, a defibrillator will save 90. They are very easy to use as an electronic voice talks you through the instructions. There is currently one defibrillator in South Lovett and all members of the community are welcome to use it. The water taxi has been approached to determine whether they would be happy to carry one, however, the constant vibrations may not be good for the machine so one will be kept in the taxi shed instead.

The cost for a defibrillator is: $3,450, pads are $250 to replace, the oxygen cylinder is $650 and the carrying case is $800. It has a lithium battery that lasts 10years.

12. Car Share Scheme

Alan Hill proposed a car-sharing scheme be set up at Church Point. Research shows that such a scheme can replace between 5-10 cars per car-share. It is much cheaper than owning a car and, with the set-up at Church Point, where everyone comes and goes from a central spot, it has the potential to be very successful.

It was suggested that the scheme should feed into the Plan of Management and should be discussed with the Scotland Island community.

The current parking spots between Cargo Wharf and Commuter Wharf would be ideal as cars can be stack-parked. The scheme was discussed some time ago with Lynne Czinner and she was very enthusiastic and would be willing to give designated car spots to such a set-up.

M Wiener urged people to be realistic in terms of their commitment to such a scheme.

Action: Alan Hill to provide details of a successful working model. Anyone interested in helping set up the scheme or in being involved should contact Alan Hill.

13. Pittwater 2020 Vision

Lesley Stevens gave an up-date on her involvement, along with Alan Yuille, Tony Cullen & Greg Roberts in the development of a strategic vision and direction for Pittwater. The document is at a draft stage and will go to Council on 21 April for ratification. It is available on the web-site. It is a very comprehensive document and all aspects of councils work will be driven by this plan. KPI’s have been set for all actions to be taken to sustain the vision. Getting baseline indicators will be a key priority. Council are very passionate about this process and all job descriptions will be re-written with regard to this.

Action: Lesley to write a letter of praise and thanks to Council for initiating the process and requesting that community involvement continue.

14. Jetty Tax Update

Lesley also gave an up-date on the jetty tax issue. The on-shore community have been dealing with the Department of Lands and questioning how the Department calculates the tax. They have discovered that there is no real basis on which they make their calculations. Whilst the off-shore community supports the on-shore group, they will not join them as the on-shore group effectively wants to privatise their jetties, which the off-shore group are not keen on.

A law firm, Hicksons, has been approached to seek legal advice and money may need to be raised by jetty owners to fund an action. One suggested course is to set up a lease, the terms of which are defined by the off-shore community eg, a minimal sum will be paid – not for access, more as an environmental fee, the title would need to go with the property etc.

Section 88 of the Conveyancing Act also needs to be investigated. This act notes that you have the right to an easement if you are land-locked. The HAA are arguing that off-shore residents are effectively land-locked.

Action: L Stevens to forward letter from Hicksons to Brigitte Mahler-Mills for circulation via Baysnews.

15. Currawong

R Le Plastrier gave an update on the status of Currawong. Control over the future of Currawong has been given to Frank Sartor as the site is considered to be of strategic importance. Development of Currawong will put pressure for a road into the site. A heritage committee has been set up to hear submissions about the significance of Currawong.

Action: R Le Plastrier to be the community representative to the Heritage Committee.

16. Asparagus Day

Coming up on 10 April with the Western Foreshores to be targeted.

17. Companion Animals

The community were urged to be responsible with their dogs and to keep them on their own property or on a lead and not to let them roam free. Council requirements specifically state that dogs should be kept on a lead and out of the National Park at all times.