If there’s a local issue worrying you or you want more information about a Council program or plan come along to a free public forum and meet YOUR councillors on

Thursday 17 April 2008, 7:30pm

Norwood Town Hall (in the Don Pyatt Hall via the George Street entrance)

All residents and ratepayers of Norwood Payneham and St Peters are welcome to attend to ask questions of Councillors and hear what they have to say about a range of issues.

No bookings are required but if you have a question about the event please Email Us (clicking on this link will open your default email client software)

State Member for Norwood, Vini Ciccarello, and Federal Member for Adelaide, Kate Ellis, will hold a joint Street Corner meeting on Saturday 29 March 2008 at

Cruickshanks Reserve, corner of Clifton and Phillis Street, Maylands from 10:30-11:15AM.

Residents are invited to attend and discuss their concerns about local issues with either Member of Parliament.

Sustainable Communities NPSP is a community based program of people working together to tackle climate change. Groups in all 21 suburbs of the Council will support each other in making practical changes to reduce use of the earth’s resources, looking particularly at the areas of energy, water, transport, food and waste.

The group suggests that as a first step towards tackling the issue people measure their own office, home or school ecological footprint by using a footprint calculator which helps you to compare the impacts that different activities or everyday decisions might have and enables you to set realistic targets to make various aspects of your life more sustainable.

If you’re interested in joining Sustainable Communities NPSP or want to keep track of the information they’re developing to help you live a more sustainable life you can visit their website.

The Friends of Linde Reserve / Dunstone Grove was established in late 2007 in direct response to NPSP Council’s announcement that it would be releasing plans for a redevelopment of the reserve site. The Friends include residents, regular park users and other stakeholders.

This week the Friends launched their alternative vision for Linde Reserve / Dunstone Grove which suggests that rather than another run of the mill passive open space the NPSP Council could offer the community a unique arts eco park.

For more information on the Friends’ alternative vision check out their brochure Friends_brochure1.

NPSP Council has released a draft plan for the redevelopment of Linde Reserve / Dunstone Grove at Stepney and has announced a period of community consultation regarding the plan. Details of the draft plan and the reasons behind Council’s proposals are available at the Council website and further information will be available at the Open Day being held in the park on 15 March 2008 from 1:00pm - 4:00pm.

The Combined Residents Association (CRA) supports many aspects of the draft plan, including the naturalisation of Second Creek, the demolition of the Scout Hall and the addition of sporting facilities such as a soccer goal and hard court.

The CRA does have concerns about other aspects of the plan and draws the community’s attention to the following components of the plan:

• The demolition of two of three historic cottages on Nelson Street seems at odds with the Council’s desire for more people to use the park as the cottages act as a home base for a variety of community groups which provide many of the park’s regular users. Although Council has committed to re-housing the groups many of the users will not be ideally accommodated within the confines of the St Peters Town Hall complex due to its lack of open spaces. The cottages are also of historical significance to the local community which we wrote about last year.
• The demolition of the St Peters Youth Centre will leave the park without any permanent covered structure which can be used for community events such as the St Peters Fair.
• The removal of many of the park’s most mature trees seems unnecessary and of particular concern is the proposed removal of a mature River Redgum Tree which Council’s own documents show to only have minor decay. The CRA believes this tree would thrive in the proposed naturalised creek bed and does not need to be removed.
• The plan does not provide for the inclusion of a community garden despite there being significant support for one. The area which is currently an un-used artificial bowling green which Council is proposing to convert to car parks, would be ideal for such a use.
• Although the plan expresses a wish for more users of the park there are limited draw cards for people to use the park in the proposed plan. Extra playground equipment and sporting facilities are a good start but the CRA would also like to see the addition of a community space such as a sound stage to encourage concerts and other events.

The CRA will make a submission along these lines to Council and urges all groups and individuals who use or enjoy the park to view the draft plan and make their own submissions.

The closing date for submissions is 5:00pm on Friday 28 March 2008 and the address to send them is:

Ms Bronwyn Herbert
General Manager, Community Development and Library Services
City of Norwood, Payneham & St Peters
175 The Parade
Norwood SA 5071

The Combined Residents Associations (CRA) has made a submission to the Office of the Technical Regulator who has responsibility for reviewing the Electricity (Principles of Vegetation Clearance) Regulations 1996.

The CRA’s submission detailed our concerns that the pruning of street trees carried out by ETSA contractors under these Regulations in many cases appears to be excessive and results in street trees having their health, physical appearance and biodiversity value severely compromised. While we accept the need to ensure the continuity of electricity supply and to remove unacceptable risks to human safety our submission stated that the manner in which this clearance is now being done is not acceptable in terms of modern arboricultural standards nor to the general community who value established street trees. We submitted the following specific concerns and suggestions:

• non-bushfire risk areas of the State should be treated differently to bushfire risk areas
• the decimation of many streetscapes has a detrimental impact on the cultural character and amenity of our urban streets, leading to losses in property values and a loss of tourist opportunities as the suburbs experience a significant diminution of their leafy and shady charm
• the value of thousands of urban trees as carbon sinks is seriously undermined by the present draconian pruning regime sanctioned by the existing Regulations
• the hollowing out of the centre of street trees growing into high tension wires is a regressive practice as it exposes the trees to wind damage, makes them look unsightly, reduces their value in providing summer shade and protection and compromises their value as habitat for urban birds, bats, possums and other wildlife
• current practices may hasten the death of the trees, especially in the current drought conditions, which represents a real economic loss as street trees are a much-valued, long-term investment by our community
• the Regulations are twenty years old and do not incorporate modern arboricultural practices which seek to ensure tree health, aesthetic appearance and longevity
• established street trees growing near power lines should be pruned with the maximum amount of flexibility and the Regulations should be less prescriptive and focus more on the outcomes to be achieved
• the requirement to remove all tree branches from the clearance zone defined by the Regulations is the source of major community dissatisfaction with the Regulations
• vegetation should be inspected and cleared more often than currently specified by the Regulations to help avoid excessive pruning of trees (12-18 months rather than three years)
• the pruning of all trees by ETSA contractors should be carried out in accordance with accepted modern arboriculture standards (Australian Standard 4373 (2007))
• the appearance, health and wildlife habitat qualities of trees should be considered by ETSA contractors before they are lopped which would require the Regulations to give due weight to the welfare of trees and not just pay lip-service to the needs of trees

The CRA’s submission was provided to the Technical Regulator on 5 December 2007.