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Southern Highlands Greens
| The Greens are humanitarian, environmental and optimistic - our motivation is to make the world safer and happier for current and future generations. - Senator Bob Brown
Our monthly meetings are held on the 4th Monday of every month at Stafford Cottage (in front of the library), Boolwey St, Bowral at 7.00pm. All are Welcome!
Past Issues of Greenspeak - the newsletter of the Southern Highlands Greens- are available for download by clicking on the downloads link at the top or left hand side of this page. Recent editions of Greenspeak are available in the news items below
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 SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS GREENS MEDIA RELEASE - 11th August 2008
The Southern Highlands Greens have announced the members of its team to contest the Wingecarribee Council elections.
Members of the group will include-
Jim Clark – Councillor since 2004 and Greens Candidate in 2007 Federal election. Jim is a former long term employee of Telstra as a Senior Technician. He has lived in Bundanoon for eighteen years and has campaigned against overdevelopment and to retain open space. Believes council needs to work toward local solutions to Climate change & Peak oil.
Maree Byrne- Has lived in the Highlands for 12 years and worked as a Nurse, Legal secretary and small business owner/manager in the building industry. Active on sustainability issues she helped initiate the transition towns petition for CANWin. Lives in Bowral & believes council should assist the community to work toward greater self sufficiency.
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Posted by admin on Monday, August 11, 2008
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 Greens Councillor Jim Clark today has announced he will again be standing as a candidate for the Greens in the upcoming Wingecarribee council election, being held on 13th September.
"I've had lots of support from various members the local community and encouragement to again run for council. With so many existing councillors not re-contesting the election we need stability and continued emphasis on environmental and social issues on the next council", Clr Clark said.
"A big issue in Wingecarribee has been the attempted sale of council parks and reserves by some councillors. The loss of private open space is occurring bit by bit, for instance with large and inappropriately sited Seniors Living developments, we shouldn't be selling off community land, it becomes more precious as we move into the future".
"Providing honest, local solutions to climate change and increasing energy costs is shaping up to be the challenge of our time. People know The Greens are not captive to big business and are serious about climate change, we need to work with and support the local community to find solutions.
The Greens want to raise the bar on a range of issues in the community including:
* Ensuring the needs of the community come first rather than developer profits.
* Extend facilities for pedestrians and cyclists and encouraging public transport use to reduce fuel costs and preserve our climate.
* Preserving rural character, protecting native bushland and open space to ensure a sustainable future.
* Improving social services such as libraries, parks, playgrounds and child care centres.
"When it comes to providing for the community, having Greens on our local council is a great way to ensure that community needs come first. We will be announcing our team in the next few weeks", Mr Clark said
Mr Clark has lived in the Highlands for eighteen years and resides at Bundanoon with his partner and daughter. He was formerly a Senior Technician with Telstra, has been active on community and environmental issues and has stood as the Greens Candidate in both State and Federal elections. "I'd welcome the chance to work for the local community for another term on council"
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Posted by admin on Tuesday, July 29, 2008
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 With a five hour meeting that didn't complete the agenda and with a full (election mode) gallery, Clr Whipper was successful with several motions related to Seniors Living. The first motion will seek a moratorium on further Seniors Living developments from the Department of Planning and revisit the Wingecarribee Local Environment Plan to designate suitable areas. The second motion related to the 190 bed Seniors Living proposal at the old Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH) school site between Centennial and Mount Rd and sought to rezone the lower portion of the site adjacent to Mittagong creek back to recreation, which would effectively prevent the planned use of this part of the site for a high care facility. It seems the flood of Seniors applications is never ending and a further application has been received for a 138 unit proposal at the old SCEGGS school site in Suttor Rd in Moss Vale. Council will likely be dealing with the OLSH proposal in the Land and Environment court if the barrage of company heavyweights present at the meeting from Australind/Australian Unity is any indication.
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Posted by admin on Monday, July 28, 2008
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A horse riding arena at Robertson has created somewhat of a stir at council, with an application to build a 78X36 Metre enclosed arena on a 30 hectare property. This would be of a similar size to the new Bunnings Hardware 'big box' at Mittagong, and it was claimed would be for private use despite including stepped seating for spectators and a judges box. The same property, in recent times created controversy as the site of a Million dollar plus house which was demolished, despite never being lived in, as it did not suit the tastes of its new owner! Further difficulties were encountered when the applicant was fined for unauthorised earthworks 11 times the size approved for the horse arena. Despite recommendations by council staff to refuse the application, Clr Campbell-Jones pushed successfully for council to do a site inspection and look at ways of approving the Mega shed. It seems that moneyed applicants can always find a way around regulations, where the rest of us just have to wear them.
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Posted by jim on Wednesday, July 09, 2008
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Councils 2008/9 community assistance scheme has been determined with $100,000 of grants awarded to local community groups. The scheme was the idea of former mayor Clr Phil Yeo and began in the early nineties. Each year groups from the community apply for a grant through the scheme and council sets money aside from the General fund to finance it. All applications are vetted and graded according to need by three committees of council Arts and Culture, Sport and Recreation and Community Services then prioritised by a grants committee. Grants range from $500 to several thousand and provide much needed help to the various community groups across the Shire. Next years scheme opens for applications around February-March so put your mind to what needs your local group may have and put in an application.
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Posted by jim on Monday, June 30, 2008
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 SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS GREENS - MEDIA RELEASE 19th June 2008
Greens councillor Jim Clark has congratulated all those in the local community who worked against the State governments Kangaloon Borefield project, following the announcement by Water Minister Nathan Rees that the project would be shelved.
Clr Clark said "Congratulations to all in the Highlands community who campaigned against the unsustainable extraction of groundwater from the Kangaloon aquifer including the Save Water Alliance and many dedicated individuals".
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Posted by grant on Thursday, June 19, 2008
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Aged care developments are the growth industry in the highlands at present, the redevelopment of the Abbey in Range Rd Mittagong is a prime example. Demolition of the existing 79 bed nursing home and construction of a new 2 storey residential care complex for 148 people on the site was approved at this meeting, existing use rights made this possible despite the rural zoning of the site . A bigger fight looms for the OLSH seniors living proposal in Centennial Road Bowral . The former Catholic School site is held dear to many residents in its undeveloped state and the scale of this development proposal is much greater. While located closer to town than the Abbey, major issues including Heritage, preservation of vegetation, scale & density of development, flooding and poor road access across the railway line remain unsolved and will ensure a difficult planning decision for council.
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Posted by jim on Saturday, June 14, 2008
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On World Environment Day Wingecarribee Greens Councillor Jim Clark has called for the next council to put a major focus on developing a sustainable Shire. "We have a great opportunity to ensure the next council moves towards environmental sustainability. Rather than focus solely on economic development, we need to make sure we reduce our environmental impact by reducing our consumption of energy, water and resources" he said.
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Posted by jim on Thursday, June 05, 2008
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A full Agenda and some contentious items saw a drawn out five hour council meeting with the upcoming council elections encouraging the theatrical nature amongst our councillors. Approval of a 90 room motel, conference centre and refurbishment of the Sutton Forest Hotel divided opinions, with many believing the scale and density of the proposal will conflict with the now sparsely settled village. There was outspoken criticism of the design of nine separate mostly two storey buildings and associated 176 space car park, the proposal being seen as an overdevelopment of the site.
The wording for the council poll on the Leisure centre, to be conducted at the council elections, resulted in lengthy debate.The final decision was for a minimalist version as follows-
1. Are you in favour of council building the Leisure Centre ? Yes/ No
2. Are you in favour of the construction of the Leisure Centre being funded by the sale of the identified properties ? Yes/No
Further suggestions for inclusion of questions about covering Bowral pool or the acceptability of closing other pools should the Leisure centre be built, proposed by Clr Whipper and myself were rejected. Council will conduct a six week information program prior to the poll, also an updated Business plan for the Leisure centre has now been released and will be made available on councils website. The plan makes some interesting points including questioning the need for a 50m pool and that the centre will require around 600 people per day through the gates to make it viable.
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Posted by jim on Monday, June 02, 2008
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Councils Draft Local Environment Plan which plans the future direction and form of development in our Shire was approved by council at a special meeting on the 30th May. It appears the long road to a revised LEP may be finally drawing to an end (with the good grace of the Department of Planning). The document was amended to reflect public submissions and changes requested by the Department of Planning and includes the much reduced list of council parks and reserves to be re-classified for sale to fund the controversial proposed Leisure Centre. Council will now send the amended plan to the Department of Planning to enable its re-exhibition and final approval. All the public submissions were reviewed and adjustments made where thought necessary. The bulk of submissions were concerning the proposed re-classification and sale of council Parks and reserves, this proved by far the most controversial aspect of the Draft LEP and was dealt with at a separate council meeting in April. The re-exhibition of the draft LEP will be necessary due the major variations made by the Department of Planning and numerous changes across a broad spectrum of the plan. Those who previously made a submission should be notified and the re-exhibition will run for a period of 28 days, with copies again made available at council for comment. Thus, final approval for the new LEP may run beyond the upcoming council election.
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Posted by jim on Friday, May 16, 2008
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| Tuesday, May 06 |
| · | Urgent action needed to stop electricity privatisation (0) |
| Tuesday, April 29 |
| · | Wingecarribee Council Meeting Reports 16th & 23rd April 2008 (0) |
| Sunday, April 27 |
| · | Next Greens Meeting (0) |
| Saturday, April 19 |
| · | Wingecarribee Councillor Calls For Electricity to Remain in Public Hands (0) |
| Sunday, April 06 |
| · | The developer donations the Greens say the minister must explain (0) |
| Saturday, April 05 |
| · | Community Says No To Council Park Sales (0) |
| Friday, March 28 |
| · | Wingecarribee Council General Meeting Report 26th March 2008 (0) |
| Thursday, March 20 |
| · | GREENSPEAK - March 2008 (0) |
| Thursday, March 13 |
| · | Public Power Not Private Profit (0) |
| Monday, March 10 |
| · | Public Meeting - Electricity Privatisation - 17/3/08 (0) |
| · | Greens call for Ban on Developer Donations to Local Council Elections (0) |
| · | Wingecarribee Council General Meeting Report 5th March 2008 (0) |
| Friday, February 29 |
| · | Wingecarribee Council General Meeting Report 28th Feb 2008 (0) |
| Saturday, February 23 |
| · | GREENSPEAK - February 2008 (0) |
| Tuesday, February 12 |
| · | Southern Highlands Greens Rejects Electricity Retailer sell-off (0) |
| | Older Articles |
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