Rockdale Arts

FestivalOutdoor

Gallery Art Exhibition Winners

Councillor Paul SedrakLiberalPO Box 491Bexley NSW 2207M 0499 103 111E psedrak@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

Councillor Joe AwadaLaborPO Box A343Arncliffe NSW 2205M 0438 223 600E jawada@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

Councillor Liz BarlowIndependent – Deputy Mayor 40 Grantham Street Carlton NSW 2218 T 9553 9681 F 9593 0472 M 0417 490 882 E lbarlow@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

FIRST WARD

SECOND WARD

THIRD WARD

FOURTH WARD

FIFTH WARD

Your Councillors

Councillor Andrew TsounisLaborc/- Rockdale City CouncilPO Box 21Rockdale NSW 2216M 0401 268 888E atsounis@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

Councillor Peter PoulosLiberalPO Box 136Bexley NSW 2207T/F 9599 4743M 0416 101 663E ppoulos@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

Councillor Mark HannaIndependent8 Bowood Avenue Bexley NSW 2207T 9150 6031E mhanna@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

Councillor Nicholas MickovskiLiberalPO Box A11Arncliffe NSW 2205M 0402 530 350E nmickovski@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

Councillor Michael NagiIndependentPO Box 999Rockdale NSW 2216M 0403 222 666E mnagi@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

Councillor Petros KalligasLiberalc/- Rockdale City Council PO Box 21Rockdale NSW 2216M 0417 079 860E pkalligas@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

Councillor Bill SaravinovskiLaborPO Box 139Banksia NSW 2216F 9567 8632M 0412 139 068E bsaravinovski@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

Councillor Lydia SedrakLiberalPO Box 491Bexley NSW 2207M 0407 377 379E lsedrak@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

Councillor Shane O’BrienLabor – Mayorc/- Rockdale City CouncilPO Box 21Rockdale NSW 2216M 0418 227 977E sobrien@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

Councillor James MacdonaldIndependent c/- Rockdale City CouncilPO Box 21Rockdale NSW 2216M 0434 140 530E jmacdonald@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

Councillor Ron BezicLiberalPO Box 195Sans Souci NSW 2219M 0400 508 238E rbezic@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

This document contains important information about Rockdale City Council. If you do not understand, please visit Council’s Customer Service Centre at 2 Bryant Street Rockdale on Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 4:30pm. Council Staff will be happy to arrange interpreter services for you. You may also contact Telephone Interpreter Services on 131 450 and ask them to ring Rockdale City Council on 9562 1666 on your behalf.

Customer Service Centre

9562 1666www.rockdale.nsw.gov.au

This document is printed on environmentally responsible papers manufactured under the environmental management system ISO 14001 using Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) pulp sourced from sustainable, well managed forests.

Council’s Customer Service Centre is open on Saturdays from 9am to 1pm

Last month I attended numerous community events run by Council that reminded me how lucky we are to live in such a vibrant, talented and multicultural community. CreARTivity exceeded all our expectations and in a short time has become a very popular community event. This year the event, combined with Harmony Day, highlighted the rich fabric of our multicultural community.

Cook Park in Kyeemagh provided the ideal back drop for the sculpture walk, part of the Rockdale Arts Festival, which featured the finalists of the 2013 Rockdale Outdoor Gallery Art Prize.

Council staff work hard organising community events and it was wonderful to see our events make the front page of the local newspaper twice in a row.

Senior residents were well catered for with a number of activities during Seniors Week. Videos highlighting our events can be seen on Councils website.

Residents did a remarkable job on Clean Up Australia Day and I would like to thank all our volunteers.

Council continues to engage with the community. Our Have Your Say hub available on our website, lets residents have their say online. So tell us what you think of the projects and plans open for discussion.

Finally, the Rockdale City Community Fun Run/Walk is on Sunday 26 May. I hope to see you there.

Councillor Shane O’Brien, Mayor

Councillor Tarek IbrahimLaborc/- Rockdale City CouncilPO Box 21Rockdale NSW 2216M 0404 490 291E tibrahim@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

2 Bryant Street Rockdale NSW 2216 PO Box 21 Rockdale NSW 2216

Tel 02 9562 1666 Fax 02 9562 1777Email rcc@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

DX 25308 Rockdale

Events in Rockdale City

Rockdale Community Newsletter

April 2013

Council Projects

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n Carruthers Drive / Skinners Avenue Dolls Point Installation of a 54m stainless steel handrail along the top of the concrete seawall to protect pedestrians from falling onto rocks below the seawall. Cost: $6620

Pine Park Carruthers Drive Ramsgate Replacement of 95m of corroded steel handrail along the top of the concrete seawall with new polished aluminium handrailing. Cost: $37,680.

Sandringham Bay south of Lena Street Sans Souci Installed rock armour to protect the embankment pending the undertaking of major embankment works proposed for later in the year. Cost: $32,000

Council’s Customer Service Centre will be closed on Thursday 25 April for ANZAC Day Celebrations.

We will re-open on Friday 26 April at our usual open hours 8:30am - 4:30pm.

250 volunteers at 13 sites in the Rockdale City area collected 400 bags of rubbish weighing nearly 3000kg on Clean Up Australia Day. Council supported the day, assisted in the clean up process and rubbish removal, and provided a sausage sizzle and drinks to volunteers.

Nine schools in the City of Rockdale were involved in Schools Clean Up Australia Day on Friday 1 March.

It was a tremendous effort by all involved.

✦ Tower Beach: 40 volunteers removed 100 bags of rubbish weighing about 500kg.

✦ Cooks River from Tempe Bridge to the Kogarah Golf Club: 30 volunteers filled 80 bags of rubbish weighing 400kg.

✦ Frys Reserve: 10 volunteers filled 40 bags with one tonne of material plus 3 cubic metres of greenwaste.

✦ Cooks River: 15 Greenpeace volunteers removed 60 bags with 250kg of material.

✦ Ramsgate Beach: 100 volunteers, mostly children, filled 19 bags with 200kg of rubish.

✦ Bicentennial Park and Ponds: 400kg of material.

✦ Vanstone Parade, Sans Souci to the St George Sailing Club: the Beach Friends group filled 12 bags with 150kg of rubbish.

Cook Park Toilet CostsThe completed Cook Park amenities replaced 50 year old toilet blocks with quality, accessible facilities. A recently quoted price of $897,000 was for the demolition, site fencing, construction, and provision of temporary public facilities during the construction phase.

The total project cost, including additional work not specified in the design, delays due to weather, the relocation of buried fuel monitoring wells discovered during construction and the removal of a redundant fuel monitoring system owned by Shell was $1,310,327.

Community Events CalendarTempe House MuseumLocated inside Tempe House an exhibition of artwork by Pamela Griffiths. The Museum will be officially opened Saturday by Dr Robert Brodie Spark. Talks by St George Historical Society and Discovery Point Heritage Walk.When Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 April, 10am - 4pmWhere Tempe House, 8 Brodie Spark Drive

(cnr Princes Hwy) Wolli Creek----------------------------------------------------------------------Rockdale City Community Fun Run/WalkWhen Sunday 26 May, 8:30amWhere Peter Depena Reserve, Dolls Point Call Council’s Customer Service Centre on 9562 1666----------------------------------------------------------------------Heritage Festival WorkshopLearn how to research the history of your home and prepare a heritage report to go with your DA.When Tuesday 28 May, 9am - 12:30pmWhere Council Admin Building, 2 Bryant Street, RockdaleCall Bookings essential - Simon Porter on 9562 1691

or email sporter@rockdale.nsw.gov.au----------------------------------------------------------------------Lydham HallSee one of Sydney’s finest collections of antique furniture and a unique collection of Willow Pattern China. Free entry.When Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 May, 10am - 4pmWhere 18 Lydham Avenue, BexleyCall Lydham Hall on 9567 4259

School HolidayP R o g R A MArt Attack!Holiday Activities for Primary School-Aged Children including: Scratch Painting, Black-and-White Surrealist Collage, Sand Paper Art, Woven Art, Bright Cats Oil Pastel Painting and Picasso Faces (become a work of art!)When Monday 15 - Friday 26 AprilWhere Rockdale City, Arncliffe, Bexley, Bexley North and

Sans Souci librariesCall Your local library or visit

www.rockdale.nsw.gov.au/library----------------------------------------------------------------------Drama WorkshopMeg Day from the Regals Musical Society knows all about drama and theatre production. Come along for a play building workshop run by an insider.When Tuesday 9 April , 4pm - 6pmWhere Rockdale City Library, 448 Princes Hwy, RockdaleCall Heike Ohrmann on 9562 1821 ----------------------------------------------------------------------Word Sculpture 2During the Rockdale Arts Festival we started a collaborative sculpture with the help of artist Kelly Pearce. Now it’s time to finish it. And if you couldn’t make it to the first workshop, you can still attend this one.When Thursday 11 April , 4pm - 6pmWhere Rockdale City Library, 448 Princes Hwy, RockdaleCall Heike Ohrmann on 9562 1821 ----------------------------------------------------------------------Dungeons & DragonsLet Dungeon Masters Tam and Paul take you on a wild adventure. For new and experienced players.When Saturday 13 April , 12 noon - 4:45pmWhere Rockdale City Library, 448 Princes Hwy, RockdaleCall Heike Ohrmann on 9562 1821 ----------------------------------------------------------------------RAW13A season of short performance works devised, directed, performed, designed and produced by the RAW13 Ensemble aged 15-25 years. www.shopfront.org.auWhen Friday 19 April, 7pm Where Shopfront, 88 Carlton Parade, CarltonCall Hannah Strout on 9588 3948 or email

admin@shopfront.org.au----------------------------------------------------------------------Project Youth’s ‘Dance off / Dance Night’Celebrate Youth Week with some pumping tunes from your favourite artists. A great sound system and light show plus local dance crews competing for a $1000 prize!When Saturday 20 April , 6pm - 10pmWhere St George PCYC, 9 Ador Ave, RockdaleCall Chloe Wootten on 9543 6440 or visit

www.pcycnsw.org/stgeorge

Change Your Clock, Change Your Smoke Alarm BatteryWhen you change your clock on Sunday 7 April at the end of daylight saving, change your smoke alarm battery. That’s the latest fire safety message from Fire & Rescue NSW.

In NSW the law requires you to have a minimum of one smoke alarm per floor, and that includes in caravans. New dwellings built in 1997 or thereafter must have hard wired smoke alarms installed. Given 16 years have passed, Council is urging all residents to have a licensed electrician check their old hard wired smoke alarms for possible replacement.

Watch the video at www.rockdale.nsw.gov.au

The following facts and figures about what can be found in the City of Rockdale are taken from the Draft Rockdale Community Strategic Plan 2013-2025.

254 Kilometres of sealed roads

522 Kilometres of sealed kerbs and guttering

485 Kilometres of footpath

44 Bridges and culverts

2 18 hole golf courses

215 Parks, recreation and natural environment areas

70 Playgrounds

23 Reserves with a sports component

2 Turf cricket pitches

1 Synthetic hockey pitch

69 Sports amenity buildings and public toilets

8 Kilometres of Lady Robinsons Beach

7 Kilometres of earth-lined creek

The Draft Rockdale Community Strategic Plan 2013-2025 is available at www.rockdale.nsw.gov.au

Did You Know

2013 Ron Rathbone

Local History Prize&

Junior Local History Prize

Council has given away $39,500 in prize money since the Ron Rathbone Local History Prize started in 2006.

The annual prize of $5000 is awarded to the author of the best piece of original research on the City of Rockdale. Younger historians can contribute to the 2013 Ron Rathbone Junior Local History Prize. Two $500 prizes are available for one primary and one high school student who write the best essay on any topic related to the City of Rockdale.

Entrants in the Local History Prize are free to research and write about any aspect of the Rockdale Local Government Area, its history, buildings, organisations, people, parks, natural features or events.

Entry forms and guidelines are available from all Rockdale libraries or at www.rockdale.nsw.gov.au

Entries must be received by Friday 2 August 2013.

For more information contact Local History Services Specialist Kirsten Broderick on 9562 1821 or email kbroderick@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

Dog Exercise AreasThe City of Rockdale has 11,000 registered dogs with the highest concentrations in Bexley, Arncliffe, Sans Souci and Rockdale. We currently provide six formalised off-leash dog exercise areas in Monterey, Kogarah, Rockdale, Bardwell Valley and Kingsgrove.

Council is seeking your input and feedback on a number of proposals:

✦ Draft Exercising of Dogs Policy that will guide the planning and management of dog exercise areas.

✦ Changes to the existing off-leash dog exercise area at Colson Crescent, Monterey.

✦ Establishment of two new off-leash dog exercise areas along the Cook Park foreshore.

✦ Community suggestions on future off-leash dog exercise areas to be considered by Council.

Detailed information will be available later in the month on our website under Public Exhibitions, and at Council’s Customer Service Centre and all branch libraries.

Submissions close Monday 6 May 2013.

For more information call Council’s Executive Officer Bobbi Mayne on 9562 1705.

Council’s Graffiti Removal Service is funded by the Community Safety Special Rate Levy and is part of Council's Safer City Program.

Council staff regularly inspect the City to identify graffiti. Residents can help by reporting incidents of graffiti vandalism using the online form on Council’s website.

Some residents use freely available apps to take photographs and send reports on common issues like graffiti or littering.

To ensure Council can respond to your concerns it is important to:

✦ Provide adequate location details of the issue.

✦ Include your contact details.

Providing accurate location details of the issue will enable Council to respond to your concerns promptly.

Council’s End of Term Report shows the reduction of graffiti requiring removal over time.

This graph shows the reduction in graffiti requiring removal - with a continuing downward trend since 2006 (the Safer Cities Program was a 3% Special Rate Variation prior to 2007).

The Program has been very successful in discouraging graffiti and the level in 2011-2012 has fallen to just over 4000 square metres.

House NumberingHome owners or occupiers need to display house numbers that are easily seen from the road.

This is a legislative requirement under the Local Government Act and home owners can be issued with an Order to comply.

Council does not specify the size, style or colour of the property numbers but encourages all residents to ensure:

✦ The number is displayed on the front of the house, building and / or the letterbox.

✦ The number is clearly visible from the road.

✦ There are no obstructions to viewing the number from the road.

✦ The number is in good repair and legible.

For townhouses and units, which can have multiple entries and complex numbering systems, it is important that numbering and signage makes it easy for visitors and emergency services to find individual units.

Kerbside numberingSome private contractors offer a reflective kerbside numbering service. This is not a Council service. If you use kerbside numbering you must still provide clear numbering on the front of your property and / or letterbox.

Triple Zero (000) A clearly marked address helps emergency services respond to Triple Zero (000) calls.

Heritage DA WorkshopsCouncil is running a free community workshop for owners of heritage properties who want to put in a DA to Council. Save costs on expensive reports by learning how to do it yourself.

The workshop will provide training in:

✦ Writing your own heritage reports

✦ Researching the history of your home

✦ DA requirements

Tuesday 28 May, 9am - 12:30pm Council Admin Building, Level 2 Conference Room 2 Bryant Street, Rockdale

Bookings essential. Call Simon Porter on 9562 1691 or email sporter@rockdale.nsw.gov.au

The Greek flag was raised in Council’s forecourt at a ceremony on Monday 25 March to commemorate the Greek Day of Independence. (L-R) Former Councillor Angelo Anestis, Mayor Shane O’Brien and Vaios Oreopoulos Kelenis, Consul for Economic & Commercial Affairs, representing the Ambassador of Greece in Australia and the Consul General of Greece in Sydney.

Greek Celebrations

The 5km Fun Run/Walk and 1km walk organised by St George Athletics Club commences on Sunday 26 May at 8:30am at Peter Depena Reserve, Dolls Point along the Botany Bay foreshore.

Funds raised will be donated to the Knights of St George Association for the St George Hospital Cardiac Surgery Unit. Entry is $15 individual, $25 for family (2 adults & 2 children 16 years and under)

Entry forms are available from Council’s Customer Service Centre, Rockdale libraries, Council’s website www.rockdale.nsw.gov.au or St George Athletics Club website www.sgdac.org

Online registrations at www.rockdalefunrun.com

Entries close Tuesday 21 May. Late registrations up to 8am on the day (a late entry fee of $5 will apply).

For more information about the Fun Run/Walk phone Council on 9562 1666.

Rockdale City Community

Fun Run/Walk

Council’s investment in CCTV cameras is paying off in the ongoing battle against illegal dumping.

Snapshots from multiple cameras located around the City are sent to staff allowing them to quickly identify and investigate incidents.

In some recent incidents:

✦ Two people, engaged in dumping a lounge suite from their residence, were caught on camera. They were each issued a $750 fine.

✦ Cameras detected a truck dump two loads of tree branches on the same day (only 16 minutes apart). The offender responsible was issued four fines totalling $3250.

A number of other dumping matters captured on camera are still under investigation. Offenders face fines or court action.

If you dump unwanted material onto the street or take it to another location to dump you will be caught and prosecuted.

Illegal Dumperson Camera

Volunteers Count Bugs for River HealthEvery six months Rockdale City volunteers with nets wade into the Coolibah Reserve in Bardwell Valley to collect and count the number of water bugs in the creek.

The number and diversity of water bugs provides a good indicator of the health of the waterway. This information, collected by local volunteers wearing waders, has been used to produce the latest report card on the ecosystem health of the Georges and Cooks Rivers for 2011-2012.

The Community River Health Monitoring Program Report Card provides a ‘snapshot’ of the health of the Georges and Cooks rivers by monitoring 51 sites across the two river systems.

For a copy of the latest Report Card visit the River Health Program webpage on www.georgesriver.org.au

Local resident, 88 year old Peggy Stevenson from Bexley was one of the many swimmers who took part in the YMCA Swimathon on Sunday 3 March. Peggy completed her 2km swim (40 laps) at the Bexley Swimming Pool & Fitness Centre in an hour and raised $400. The Swimathon is a nationwide initiative that raises money for YMCA family focused programs.

Arncliffe Park was alive with colour and music as residents celebrated creARTivity and Harmony Day on Sunday 17 March.

creARTivity, now in its second year, is organised by Council to highlight the rich fabric of our vibrant multicultural community.

Children enjoyed activities including painting and clay-making. The large Lego displays and Lego-building tent were very popular.

Art lovers enjoyed the sculpture walk in Cook Park, Kyeemagh which was part of the Rockdale Arts Festival showcasing the talent of local residents.

Seniors also enjoyed a number of activities during Seniors Week which coincided with the Rockdale Arts Festival.

Watch the videos at www.rockdale.nsw.gov.au

$3250 $750 ea

Art lovers enjoyed the sculpture walk in Cook Park, Kyeemagh showcasing the talent of local residents. The winners were announced on Saturday 23 March. The People’s Choice Award will be decided by ‘likes’ on Council’s Events in Rockdale City Facebook page.

Emerging Local Artist

High ChairArtist: Adam Galea

Highly Commended andHarmony Awareness Prize

Taking TeaArtist: Pamela Hobbs

First Prize

Bay Watch

CrittersArtist: Geoff

Harvey