Guerilla Gardening – Sydney Style

I will put photos up for this post soon but thought I would mention that there has been a big hoo haa about guerrilla gardening in Sydney. It seems that everyone who now wants to plant trees or garden in public space now has a virtual imprimatur from the media and everyone else to do so. Or almost.

There was one roundabout which had been beautified in the Sutherland Shire which has now been reclaimed by the Sutherland Council and now looks pretty much as it did before the locals got to work on it. There have been a number of guerrilla gardener efforts around the local area. I have seen a plant box on both sides of South Dowling Street in Surrey Hills made from an old Volks Wagen. I have seen a few trees planted by the side of the road in Marrickville and ultimately I have seen a wooden purple rotunda in Newtown.

Personally I quite like the efforts – especially the Rotunda, but the Guerrilla Gardening issue has stirred Network Ten to start it’s own reality TV show doing the same and it has also made me ask what what would happen if a business did the same (note Guerrilla Gardening is supposed to be a spontaneous community effort – individual people planting things either alone or in groups). After all if I wanted to put up a beer garden outside my pub or add some alfresco dining outside my cafe or ultimately have a stall outside. I would need some form of permission from the council. There would have to be some compliance with safety regulations. There may even be issues with the police (note in some Local Government areas the consumption of alchol in some areas is an offence if the area in question is an alchol free zone).  Of course the issue is what happens if the rotunda falls into disrepair or is vandalised? Or what happens if someone is injured on it?

n short the Guerilla Gardeners don’t give two figs for the regs etc and just go out and do what they do! And I hope it stays that way. It is not a bad thing to see people taking pride in their area. I hope the councils do see some way of making sure things like the rotunda get to stay and encourage people to look after thing like it (It would save them money on maintenance). Either way the Guerrilla Gardening Experience in Sydney is good and I hope it grows. I also hope the the Daily Terrograph doesn’t do anything to bugger it up.

I am cross with (some) of the Cross Benchers

Earlier this week I had the chance to follow the debate over V8 Racing at Homebush bay. There was someone on Sydney Cyclist who made an astute observation that the Fred Nile was a in the pay of the ALP (he has been Dutchessed for a while with titles like Assistant Deputy President of the Legislative Council of NSW). The NSW Shooters Party would now be considered to be in a coalition with the ALP and Fred Nile.

I would even go as far as saying that they are now the senior partner in the coalition with the ALP. This week the Daily Telegraph made the observation in an editorial on the issue.

 I have included it here. In the end the V8 racing bill passed the upper house demonstrating the corrupt nature of Nathan Rees MLA and the ALP.  I will also say in relation to Fred Nile that is interesting that a member of a party opposed to prostitution has prostituted his integrity by siding with the ALP/Shooters Party coalition to pass the legislation.

Here is the editorial from the Sunday Telegraph.

In the end the Shooters, Fred Nile and the ALP passed the bill that allows the V8 supercar organiser to avoid public scrutiny, exempts them from environmental protection laws and even allows them not to rehabilitate the parts of Homebush bay that they destroy in establishing their street racing circuit.

I take my hat off to Gordon Moyes MLC for standing up for the people of NSW and opposing the legislation. I also salute the Liberal/National Coalition and the Greens for their principled stand against the legislation that enables a mates deal between Ian Macdonald MLC and Tony Cocherane of the V8 supercar event to go ahead.

“

Shooters find a friend in Labor

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By The Sunday Telegraph

December 13, 2008 12:00am

HOW quickly the NSW Government has forgotten the murder of 35 people at Port Arthur in Tasmania just over a decade ago.

It is only 12 years since the horrific shooting spree in Tasmania that forever reshaped Australians’ attitudes to gun ownership and control.

In the wake of that tragedy, the NSW Government fell in behind then-Prime Minister John Howard’s gun control measures, which included bans on semi-automatic weapons, strict licensing laws and a buyback of weapons.

The gun lobby objected loudly, but the laws were passed in NSW and every other state and territory, with the support of the vast majority of voters.

Ordinary people knew there was no need for anyone to own semi-automatic weapons, or to stockpile guns. They cheered at the pictures of vast piles of guns being destroyed and they saw the gun-lobby outrage for what it was: cheap, expedient populism.

But the NSW Labor Party seems to think it cannot live without the support of shooting organisations _ a belief that stems from the 1988 defeat of Labor’s then-Premier Barrie Unsworth, who tried to tighten firearms legislation and suffered a savage campaign from the gun lobby.

Since then, Labor has sought links with the Shooters’ Party. Former Premier Bob Carr cultivated a relationship with the party’s then-leader John Tingle to secure crucial cross-bench votes in the Lower House. In return, Tingle extracted funding grants for shooting clubs and the government’s licensing scheme enriched gun clubs further by forcing all licensed shooters to belong to shooting organisations.

The 2007 election made the Shooters’ Party more influential than ever _ it now holds two crucial cross-bench seats and, along with the Christian Democrats, can give the Government a majority to pass its legislation.

Now the Government is allowing the Shooters to wind back our gun control laws.

As revealed in The Sunday Telegraph today, these changes include ending the compulsory cooling-off periods for people who wanted to buy second or third guns, and the relaxation of a ban on gun licences for men subject to apprehended violence orders. What is more, the commissioner has lost his power to revoke a club’s licence if any member has a firearms conviction.

This is the last thing we need. Already, gun crime in NSW is on the rise. Between 2006 and 2007, more than 830 guns were stolen _ the majority from from residential dwellings. Drive-by shootings are on the rise. There have been 11 gun incidents in the past 11 days alone. Handgun use has soared and NSW has been flooded with 40,000 firearms since 2004.

So let’s have a look at the NSW Labor Government’s new best friends.

The Shooters’ Party’s own website declares “every law-abiding citizen should have the right to own and use a firearm for legitimate purposes, including self-defence.”

Among its national achievements, the party boasts of successfully pushing through laws for government funding of shooting clubs and lowering the age of eligibility for a minor’s permit from 18 to 12.

Indeed, the Sporting Shooters’ Association seems intent on arming the young.

It is running a “sign up a junior” campaign to bolster its ranks of child members and, in May, published “The Junior Shooter”, a special 20-page “beginner’s guide” for young gun fans.

“Hunting helps many young people get outdoors, get active and get back into the bush _ something that, unfortunately, goes by the wayside in this age of the Internet and computer games.”

That is too cute by half.

Everyone agrees children should be encouraged to explore the outdoors. How about bushwalking? Everybody has fun; nobody gets accidentally shot.

Children need responsible role models to learn how to behave in a lawful society. They don’t need to be taught that guns are a legitimate form of self-defence. And using the child obesity problem to promote gun-use is deeply cynical”

For once I agree with the Sunday Telegraph

Sex Politics

Early last week Fiona Patten who is usually the spokesperson for the Eros Foundation launched the Sex Party. She is the party’s convenor and features on it’s website www.sexparty.org.au . She also blogged live for the Daily Telegraph on the eve of the launch. Fiona Patten brought back some old memories for me.

First memory: At about 1993 or 1994 I was studying at Charles Sturt University when the Students Representative Council (SRC), Fiona and another spokesperson from the Eros Foundation debated Dr Marlene Goldsmith (a member of the legislative council from 1988 – 99) and the SRC women’s officer who’s name I have forgot on the issue of Censorship of pornography versus artistic freedom. There were issues on both sides Fiona, went into uncharted waters attacking policians such as Keith Wright – a former ALP minister in QLD who was convicted for molesting a 14 year old girl. The Women’s Officer became nearly hysterical during her time to speak on the issue. The end result was that this writer was left none the wiser

Memory number 2: the controversy over Piss Christ, the photo of a crusifix in urine was bound to create controversy. I maintain that if the liquid had been described as beer and the photo Beer Christ, Lion Nathan and other brewers would have been lining up to get the rights to use the photo in commercials. The continuing demonstrations etc meant that the photo was under guard and was damaged by a Christian Fundamentalist.

Memory number 3: I attended a lecture by Philip Adams on the issue of communications at Charles Sturt University (no I did not study Comm, hence the amateur nature of this Blog! but it was interesting). Philip predicted that with the rise of new media formats there would be less mass communication and we would enter a period of “mess communication”, with people reading only what suits their beliefs. At the time I was a naive 21 year old and believed that there would always be people reading either the Daily Telegraph (the Terror) or the Sydney Morning Herald. They would continue to get their news from Channels 7, 9, 10, the ABC or SBS and anything else would be supplementary. As I matured more and read more I came to realise that the Terror and the SMH were poles apart on issues and that we were indeed in a period of “mess communication”.

What has all this got to do with the establishment of the Australian Sex Party? Well it means that those who like myself believe in freedom of artistic expression and that adults should be able to see, read and hear what they want with minimal interferance from the state now have another choice for a political party. The counter force against Fred & Elaine Nile & now Gordon Moyes from the Christian Democrats , Steve Fielding from Family First and not to forget Brian Harradine were the Australian Democrats who stood up for Gay & Lesbian people when Fred called for the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras to be banned and even fought the Howard Governments denial of human rights to Gay and Lesbian people. But now they are gone it has meant that rather than attempt to influence politics through traditional lobbying the Eros Foundation has now followed the Churches lead and created a new political party.

Single issue parties are not unique to New South Wales or Australia, but we do have some real intersting ones. Nick Xenophon from the No Pokies party in South Australia took a seat in the Australian Senate formerly occupied by the Australian Democrats. Indeed his party hold 2 seats in the South Australian upper house again formerly a stronghold of the Australian Democrats. The Shooters Party of Australia occupy 3 seats in the New South Wales Parliament. There were also members from parties such as Better Future For Our Children, Reform The Legal System & The Outdoor Recreation Party.

Even without parliamentary representation the single issue parties can be a force, in the recent ACT elections The Motorists Party received a boost in it’s support. Prominent members of minor parties do often get recycled. Sylvia Hale formerly of the No Aircraft Noise Party is now a prominent member of the Greens in the NSW parliament and the ACT ALP have a former member of the Australian Democrats in parliament.

The problem with single issue parties like the Sex Party is that they have no other purpose, no other agenda and no policies on issues other than what they campaign on. Having read the Sex Partys policy list at their website, I didn’t see anything on Education, the Environment, Taxation, Employment & immigration (beyond sex workers).

The real interesting scenario would be if the ASP got members elected to the NSW & Federal Parliaments, where they would have to sit on the same cross benches as Fred Nile and Steve Fielding. Where would they stand on debates on economic & environmental issues?

I suspect the Sex Party will split the libertarian groups who would normally vote for the Liberty and Democratic Party www.ldp.org.au , who have advocated policies similar to the Sex Party’s particulary “No criminalisation of consumption of pornography involving adults by adults (with safeguards to protect children). “

While I wish the Sex Party well. I won’t be giving it my first preference, that will as always go to the Australian Democrats. I have signed up to receive the parties newsletter so things will get interesting on this blog.

Furthermore I believe that the sex industry should be regulated (particulary for the health and safety of sex workers and their clients). Therefore it should be legalised, but well regulated. As regards porn, I believe the current system of classification (with some tweaking) is correct – it works. This was demonstrated when the Office of Film and Literature Classification knocked over the claims of the Police and Hetty Johnston over then Henson photos.

Pacific Unity Day

Last week I attended a concert organised by Pacific Unity. They had 2 bands from New Zealand Herbs and Ardijah. They are reggae bands and were supposed to be preforming from 6:30 to 11:30. The concert was supposed to be an outdoor concert. Supposed to because things panned out differently.

Apparently the New South Wales Police attended the festival earlier in the day and cancelled the liqueur licence thus forcing a change of venue for the organisers.  I only found out the change of venue when I arrived after attending the Rocks Markets. I got there late and was expecting the concert to be in full swing. Instead people were lined up outside the Newtown Jets social club. A few more were having pre event drinks at the Tempe Pubs and at the Cooks River Motor boat club near by or take away alchol in the car park.

There were seats set out with signs stating they were reserved for event staff. Being event staff I took one and sat down. The crowd began to grow as the event drew closer. As things went along there was a sound check from inside the Jets.

With the call of “yep”, Yep”, YEP” coming from the social club one guy seated near me began a round of jokes which we carried on for about 15 minutes. “Yep! Let us in” he said. I replied “This is the concert mate” he replied “He must be a DJ”.

Eventually the gates were opened and people began to file through but very, very, VERY slowly. I got talking to people and asked how they were going and tried to find out what was happening and how the night was planned to go. I got talking to one couple who said things must have been running to island time. An example was given that if I was going to organise a dinner and wanted people to be at the location at a specific time I should tell them to be there a couple of hours earlier!

Eventually I got talking to an older guy in motorcycling gear. I suspected he was the owner of the motorcycle that was parked out the front and was going to get talking to him about what was going on. It turns out he was the manager of both of the bands that were going to be on that night. He said he felt sorry for the organisers and told me that the liquor licence had been cancelled unexpectedly by the NSW police earlier in the day. From what he told me it seemed to have something to do with the security of the outdoor venue. The organisers were just lucky to get the Jets to agree to allow them to hold the concert in their grounds. He mentioned that he had to ring the Herbs in their hotel (the biggest of the bands) to tell them to relax because Ardijah had yet to get on stage. The slow progress getting in was caused by the Jets insistence that the concert goers sign the sign in book!

Eventually Ardijah did get on and I went in. It is odd seeing people you would not associate with being reggae fans dancing to it. I felt a bit odd when I saw the biker dancing away in his leathers. I also noticed that the crowd wasn’t just the pacific island community either. I scored a free sausage sandwich from one of the stalls and relaxed. Nothing was happening or going to happen that could result in injuries.

The music was OK and I considered getting a CD but found that the people at the merchandise desk did not have eftpos. Even though I am not a reggae fan I enjoyed Ardijah. When they finished there was a DJ keeping the crowd entertained. I got talking to a guy who was organising similar concerts at the Coogee Bay Hotel. He gave me a leaflet for the concerts and I said I would consider going to the concerts on the condition that I would not have to order the ice cream. He had a laugh and told me he had been in Brisbane and had forgot all about the Poo in the Ice cream issue.

I got talking to some other people and found out that the band The Herbs were the band that sang the Foot rot flats theme song. They sang it with someone else. I also found out that some of their songs appear in Once Were Warriors.

Eventually The Herbs came on. I had a look around the crowd to make sure things were OK and found that there were people on the other side of the fence freeloading. It was still a good night, even though the beverage choice was limited to bottled water, Jim Beam and Coke, and Tooheys blue.

I got talking to one guy about the Herbs and was able to pass myself off as a kiwi. He had a lot to drink and we got talking rugby. Luckily for me I saw the final of the Air New Zealand Cup at the Penrith RSL when I went there for Ruth’s birthday club day. I claimed I was from Christchurch and we got talking about the cup final (Christchurch won the cup). Eventually The Herbs played the Foot rot Flats song and I was able to get away and patrol the area again.

When the Herbs were finished at 11:30 there were some minor acts that were on. Some people were having a better night than others with the aroma of pot being smoked. However we were only to attend til 11:30. I gave Ervin my Superintendent a ring and he told me to clock off. Given nothing was going to happen I went home.

This little piggy went to market

I have been a St John first aid services volunteer for ten years and have done the Rocks Markets since I joined. The markets had been pretty constant for over the past decade. The only real changes were the first aid facilities and the introduction of the Rocks Rangers in 2000. Now there has been an expansion of the markets and some serious changes to the shops in the area.

When I began doing the Rocks Markets we used the riggers room in the old federal electric building. The riggers have lifted their game since those days but the old issues still come to light. They set up the huge sail like awning. In the ye olde days of 1998 to 2000, I would attend the markets after doing a part time shift at work. Riggers are known to be a bit rough and in those days it wasn’t surprising that the we found the latest editions of people & picture magazines. We also had little issues like riggers using pot or drinking alchol (which they still do after their shift). Things came to a head when some female members of Sydney Uni division copped an impromptu strip show from a couple of riggers who changed into their street clothes after their shift. The room was also used by the Rocks Security to detain a kid they caught shoplifting from the stalls while I was there once.

We subsequently moved into a trailer which was kept at the markets. The first trailer was an old St John fold up trailer made by cub. It was subsequently replaced and sightly damaged. The new one is now getting old. We still hold out hope for a first aid room. With a bit of luck we may get one yet.

In 1998 the staple fast food outlet – McDonald’s was every where including the Rocks. In a subsequent downsizing the Rocks McDonald’s was replaced by a Subway outlet owned by the Basket Ball player Shane Heal.

The real controversial change to the Rocks unfolded yesterday. Over the previous 6 months the stall holders have had to fight for their positions in the markets. This has been because of the introduction of an organic produce markets. The stall holders numbers were set to be decimated, but after numerous appeals to the minister responsible for the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Area and Fair Trading, many stall holders were granted a reprieve.

Yesterday when I attended the Rocks Markets the farmers markets became a reality. The Markets now stretch from under the Harbour Bridge right through George Street and include part of Argyle St. The goodies that can be bought there include fruit & veg, meat & poultry, dairy products, art and fashion goods. The only thing I really tried was the new Gelato stand. They are passable even if like the previously mentioned goods they are overpriced when you compare their prices to something further in town. I noticed that the many of the food stall holders appear to have come from as far afield as Dungog and other country areas.

Of course with such lovely fresh meet and Dairy products there is a need for some form of refrigeration and the stall holders have some fridges and others were using ice. I have to say that I would like to try some of the pasta and pasta sauces that one stall holder is selling. However he seems to be as highly priced as the others.

Later in the day I went and spoke to the people at the Chocolate stall, they are stall holders who have been organising the campaign to save the original stall holders from eviction. They told me that the stall holders rent had gone up by $60 a week, while the new stall holders got free rent and even parking for refrigerated vans and generators so they could keep their refrigeration going. It was pointed out the management had moved all the original stall holders into the covered awning for some reason bringing most of the stalls selling drinks in one end with some of the original food stalls. I am aware that these stall holders are now in competition with the new stall holders but even I have to say that the place did look packed!

The Rocks are a bit over priced. They mainly cater to the day tripper and the international tourists. As I previously mentioned the new stall holders with their “Organic” produce have adopted the same approach. One punnet of strawberries from one stall holder started out at $14 but the price began to slide when the sales did not occur. I have to say that I am skeptical if the produce market will remain part of the regular markets schedule.

They are competing with the original produce markets Paddy’s located at Flemmington and Haymarket. These markets are long established and have the benefit of being close to public transport (Flemmington Railway station and the Haymarket tram stop being right outside the doorstep of both locations). In addition the price of organic produce is prohibitive. Why would a tourist or day tripper pay $14 a punnet for strawberries when they cost less at Coles (located at any number of points in the City), Woolies (Near Town Hall station) or Paddy’s (near Central and as previously mentioned on a tram line)? The Rocks is also competing with established markets in Park Lea in Western Sydney and the Addison Road Markets in Marrickville for the Organic Produce niche.

I suspect that if there is a shake up of the markets (as there may well be) the only remaining stall holders from the new crowd may be the art and fashion group). I will try to post some photos of the markets area when I go there next. It has improved marginally but I hope the original holders remain.

The People Have Spoken! Local Government elections in Sydney

This has been an interesting weekend. Local government elections were held in Sydney and the rest of NSW. From media reports the Australian Labor Party has been beaten like a gong. They look set to loose control of councils across the state.

They were never in the race for Sydney City Council. The Clover Moore Independent Team has won 47% of the first preferences, compared to the Greens 18%, Labors 15% and the Liberals 14%. I would love to say that things are going to improve for the city’s residents and those who work in it but I get the feeling that Labor will probably stonewall any requests for co-operation on issues like public transport, developing cycle lanes for bicycle commuters and a better system of pedestrian facilities.

It was interesting to notice that Marrickville, where I reside there has pretty much a swing to the Greens with Central Wards Greens getting 33% to the ALP’s 24 and the Liberals 9 and the two independent teams 10 and 14. In North Ward it was pretty much the same with the Greens getting a whopping 49% compared to 26 for the ALP and 14 for the Liberals. It was closer in South Ward where the Greens got 37% to Labor’s 30 with Morris Hanna making 23%. The only place the ALP got even close to the Greens was in West ward where the Greens got 29% to the ALP’s 28 (gap of only 1%). They may benefit from the Mayor’s Dimitrious Thanos’s preferences after he got 21%.

It seemed Leichhardt experienced a swing in excess of 10% with the Greens in some cases more than double the first preference votes in most of the wards. The only places the major parties seemed to do better than the Greens and independents were in strong holds like Auburn & Canterbury (ALP) or Woollarah & Lane Cove (Liberal).

The most pleasing result was the poor showing of the Australia First Party 4% in A Ward in the shire – the only ward they contested in the Sutherland area, 5% in fifth ward in Blacktown and 0% in Hawkesbury. The power of celebrity worked for the No Parking Meters Party in Randwick running Craig Wing as a candidate in their group which got 21% of the first party preferences in Randwick City Councils South Ward.

The long and the short is that Sydney has made a statement to the state government regarding the planning laws brought in by the former planning minister Frank Sartor. There may be less ALP councilors and Labor may have less control of councils across the region. This means that there will be some debate as to relations between councils controlled by Liberals, Greens or Independents and the State Government controlled by the ALP. The state government can sack councils at will but in the current political climate were the state government is fighting to save it’s political skin it will be unlikely that we will see a council sacked without real cause. The real worry will how the governement will use it’s powers and it’s agencies like the RTA in dealing with issues raised by councils. It is good to see more independents and minor parties involved in local government.

Journey to Sydney’s car town

Penrith in Sydney’s outer west is named after a town on the border of England and Scotland. Like it’s namesake it is close to the boarder of Sydney and the Blue Mountains. It used to be one of Sydney’s underprivileged suburbs, however unlike the suburbs of Mt Druitt and St Marys further east along the train line, Penrith has got better. So much so that things got interesting as regards the past 4 federal elections where the Federal Seat of Lindsay went from being a marginal Liberal Seat to a safe Liberal seat back to being a safe Labor seat – the way it was before the Howard Government was elected. It boasts the main University of Western Sydney campus. At one stage the former local member of parliament Jackie Kelly famously quiped that Penrith did not need a university campus – “it is a pram city”. During the 2007 election the local Liberal party branch caused controversy after some of it’s members including the husbands of Jackie Kelly (who was retiring) and the Liberal candidate Karen Chidjoff and other members from Penrith and the Blue Mountains were caught distributing a bogus election flyer from a non-existant muslim group. The consequences were that the Liberals lost the seat with the election in a landslide.

I remember living in Lithgow going to the Penrith Plaza with Mum and Dad to get a different price for what was considered good consumer durable goods such as furniture or good clothing. Later on when I was younger I would be looking at cheap computer parts and computers at the local computer and second had shops. I came here later on with Ruth a friend of mine who lived in Kingswood further down the train line. We ate at the noodle bar at the Westfield and occasionally visited the rest of the town. Now that Ruth has moved to Warrimoo in the Blue Mountains, I still drop into Penrith to buy noodles from that noodle bar to take back to Ruth’s place to be consumed usually with a drop of wine.

It is quite a clean city. However there it does have some of the problems common to Western Sydney. For starters a lot of the infrastructure has been designed to facilitate cars. It is curious when you consider most of Sydney’s Inner West has worked in the opposite direction with more work going into facilitating cyclists and pedestrians. You can tell from the photo, the extent that this car culture has become entrenched.

This manifests itself in the number of car parks. Penrith council has nominate some plots of land around the CBD for development and while they are obviously waiting for that building boom which may or may not emerge they have decided to use them as car parks. They are untimed which lends me to wonder if the local Westfield would be missing any business (something I sincerely doubt).

Another feature I noticed in High Street – Penrith’s main street was signs at wombat crossings (sans the zebra stripes) which advised pedestrians to give way to cars. This is something I am curious about as regards it’s legal status. Australian road rules are generally based on the UK road rules. As such pedestrians have right of way at all times. They can cross the roads and are only required to cross at a zebra crossing or traffic lights if they are within 100 meters of the crossing. I notice unlike Marrickville and the city of Sydney they have not introduced or had pedestrian fencing forced on to their streets.

I went to Penrith to have a look around. It has been years since I went browsing through the local shops. They by and large service the Blue Mountains and some suburbs of Western Sydney. Unlike some people I went beyond the Westfield shopping center which sits astride a street and has dwarfed the Tax Office building to become the most imposing building in the CBD. I had a look through some of the shops in High Street. I was looking (and still am) for a fathers day present. I also took a look at the local bicycle shops to compare them to the Inner West in which I spend most of my time.

One thing I noticed is that the Penrith Panthers rugby league club definitely has a firm hold on the local sporting culture, including cycling and triathlon. I went to Panther Cycles (I doubt if they have any affiliation with the club despite selling it’s gear) and saw the club cycling and triathlon gear on display. I also noticed that the major bike shops were quite well stocked for both sports and recreational cycling. It was noticable that some of the major shopping chains had made their way from the Westfield and into the Penrith CBD.

I didn’t find my fathers day present but I had a good meal at a local takeaway. The local Starbucks which was on the ground floor of one side of the Westfield has become a casualty of the global downsizing of that company. I did notice that there were cafes in both the CBD and the Plaza including a Gloria Jeans which is thriving.

While Penrith is pure suburbia it is is interesting to note that things are changing. It is a town that is dependent on the car culture and as such they is dependent on the price of petrol. I also notice that there is still an underclass barely hidden under the veneer of sophistication. The Cash Converters and other hockshops are thriving – possibly as a result of the mortgage crisis. The Eastern Suburbs jokes of if you feel depressed about your station in life go spend 5 minute in Penrith Plaza  and you will feel better in no time still ring true.

Money Bill Williams the runaway rugby (league) player

For those who do not know the sporting culture of Sydney it is best described as follows. Sydney like most other cities in the western world runs it’s sport according to seasons. There used to be 2 seasons Football and Cricket. Football used to consist of Rugby League, Rugby League & Rugby League. Everyone had their team. Mine was and is The Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs. Now just known as the Bulldogs. Football season occurs in the winter.

Following the Superleague Fiasco other codes of fooball got a firm following in Sydney and other parts of NSW. Rugby Union – to many still described as Rugby, formally the preserve of the elite private schools and universities is now popular and unlike Rugby League (formally the working man’s game) is able to fill ANZ stadium. Aussie Rules – the dominant code in all other states in Australia (except Queensland and New South Wales – the state of which Sydney is the capital of) is now a real threat to Rugby League.

The latest issue to engulf the sport of not only this good city but this great nation is the undignified exit of Sonny Bill Williams from not only the Bulldogs but the National Rugby League. This was brewing for weeks. Sonny Bill, a New Zealander was not happy with his contract at the Bulldogs. He sounded out the other clubs and even Rugby Union sides for better offers. None came.

On the 26th of July he left Sydney for France after clearing out his bank accounts. It was confirmed by  Khoder Nasser – someone the Bulldogs Sonny Bill’s negotiator. On the 28th the Bulldogs and the NRL launched NSW supreme court action to injunct Sonny Bill from playing rugby with Toulon – the Club he has signed up with. That injunction was granted. Sonny Bill has played for Toulon in one game since the injunction. At their last game he was made to sit out the game in the stands due to the legal action taken against him by the NRL and the Bulldogs.

According to Peach and Shag or All Fired Up on FBI – a community radio station Sonny Bill is also selling his multi million dollar house in Caringbah – following the example of Christopher Skase.  Sonny Bill’s rantings as broadcast on the Channel 9 footy show were a case of a rebel without a cause. His claims that Steve Folkes took little or no interest in him were contradicted by his claim that Folkes had queried if he was going to convert to Islam. Hazem El Masri came out and rebutted Sonny Bill’s claims that Folkes and the club were anti-muslim. After all the Bulldogs are in the heart of Sydney’s Islamic community – the Canterbury Bankstown area.

The latest on the Sonny Bill Saga according to the ABC Offsiders program there has been a deal nutted out by Graham Richardson that will see the Bulldogs getting $750000 for Sonny Bill in exchange for the end of legal action and no doubt a release from the release from the injunction. All of this was decided in a Chinese resteraunt. Anyone knowing Graham Richardson would be aware that Chinese resteraunts are a favourite haunt of his.

All this brings me longing for the old days when we followed a team which had real jobs as well the money they made from football. The days when people could run onto the field and celebrate a grand final win with their team. The days when like AFL now the players ran through a crepe paper banner made by fans.

I do not begrudge the players of today their salaries. The thing I do object to is a fake sense that they are battlers on a battlers salary. The point put on a blog on the Daily Telegraph blog was that while the chippy or plummer on a building site would go to a better paying job. They would work overtime to get the one they were on done befor moving on. Of course I could add that Sonny Bill’s other groups Bus drivers and Teachers are likely to be on awards or collective agreements which state they must give notice before they resign to go to another job OR face state industrial laws which allow employers to claim the equivilant in productivity from their final payment or sue them for the equivilant amount.

What is in store for Sydney very soon!

Curtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald.

Noisy sex: court bans man from girlfriend’s home

 

A British man has been banned from visiting his girlfriend’s home after neighbours complained about noisy sex, a local official said.

A court barred Adam Hinton, 32, from being within 100 metres of his 29-year-old girlfriend Kerry Norris’ apartment, Brighton and Hove City Council spokesman Mike Taggart said.

Residents of Norris’s home had been complaining since 2006 about thumping music, banging headboards and screamed obscenities, Taggart said.

Neighbours also complained about Norris sunbathing naked in her yard, and were upset that a six-year-old child in the building had been “subjected to the sort of obscenities you wouldn’t want a six-year-old to hear,” the spokesman said.

“She is a classic nightmare neighbour,” Taggart said, insisting the case was not about sex. “It’s about allowing your neighbours to have a normal decent life without being disturbed.”

The court granted the city council’s request for an injunction banning Hinton from the apartment because Norris had ignored a previous court order demanding that she be more quiet, Taggart said.

Norris last week was forced to pay £300 ($641) in fines and court costs for breaking the “noise abatement order,” Taggart said.

Neither Norris or Hinton could be immediately located for comment. Brighton and Hove is located in southern England.

AP

One of the major issue that Sydney faces with the rise of high and medium density developments is it’s impact on people living closely together. I suspect that there will be a continuation of the changes to planning laws and more than likely a strengthening of the powers of Body Corporates, councils and the police to deal with minor issues like the one described above. The issue of medium to high density housing goes well beyond the issues of people living together closely and affects issues like heritage and community.

With the Iemma governments push to have more medium to high density housing in Sydney and the subsequent imposition of Planning Panels. Planning panels are being introduced across New South Wales under recently passed planning reforms. All greater Sydney councils have been dramatically increasing their housing densities to start to accommodate an extra one million people projected over the next 20 years. These reforms which were opposed by the Greens and the NSW Opposition.  According to the ABC’s state line the “panel overrides the powers of the elected councillors for DAs worth more than $30 million and those unresolved after 90 days”.

According to the Stateline report the Ku-ring-gai has become one of the most developed areas in Sydney. Concerned locals have formed community groups to fight over development with the damage it is doing to the area’s heritage. According to Elizabeth Crouch who is on the Planning Panel “it’s important for the sake of the community moving forward, whether its Ku-ring-gai our any community, that we preserve the heritage that we have, and clearly, we need to look at the appropriate levers to do that. Now, I think the issue about heritage – there are so many different layers to heritage. There’s heritage protection at the national level, there’s heritage protection at the state level. We need to have a look at how all those things intersect, and how best we create a situation that puts the maximum (Stateline 15/08/08)” The nature of the planning pannels is curious particulary when they – a body that can override a democraticaly elected council’s decisions refer to a council’s planning policies or in the case of the Stateline story the alleged lack of protection for heritage. To be fair to the council the mayor did point out that “five years ago, we’d put numerous urban conservation areas to protect out heritage and our built form with the State Government. They’re sitting in there rotting at the moment. The Minister won’t gazette them, because he wants to override those with development”.

Another worrying feature of the planning pannel is that not only does it have the power to override a democratically elected council it can literally take the place of the council as Quentin Dempster pointed out in stateline “The panel of three, appointed by the Planning Minister, with their $100,000 operating expenses paid for by Ku-ring-gai ratepayers, took their seats in the Council chamber. Chairman Elizabeth Crouch taking the mayor’s seat, the chairs of other elected Ku-ring-gai Councillors were removed”.

I worry about the future for local government and democracy under the current state government. I seem to remember Frank Sartor in his term as Lord Mayor of Sydney and at one stage head of the local government association railing against the decision of the Land and Environment Court which overrode council decisions relating to relocatable houses and location of brothels. How much things have changed now that he is Planning Minister in a state Labor government.

The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is struggling with issues relating to political donations from developers. In the case of the Labor councilors on the Wollongong council this lead to serious corruption. As a result of the investigation of the council by the ICAC and the media revelations in the lead up to the investigation, the Wollongong council has been sacked and replaced with administrators. When the state goes to the polls for local government elections the people of Wollongong will be denied their franchise because the council has been put into adminstration well after the coming local government poll.

Manufacturing communities is a major gamble on the part of the government and the Department of Planning. The stakes are high, with examples of urban planning gone wrong in Western Sydney and particulary the outer western suburbs. The lack of consultation on the part of the government is troubling. Particulary with the rising costs of transport, there is a danger of the creation of ghettos.

The question asked by Stateline presentor Quentin Dempster is one we should all ask namely ”When will the Iemma Government carry out its promise to abolish developer donations to all political parties, including the Liberal Party and the Australian Labor Party?”

The best World Youth Day advertisment you will ever see!