Lane Cove News Week in Review 18th to 25th May 2022

Welcome to our Lane Cove News week in review. What a week!! We have a new Federal Member. Last week, the Lane Cove Community lost three respected Lane Cove citizens, Brent Courtney, Alice Beauchamp and Caroline Jones.

The Lane Cove Council also held its annual citizenship awards, and you can read more about them here.   At the same ceremony, the Council also awarded Neighbour Day Awards – you can read more about them here.

Federal Election – North Sydney Electorate

Kylea Tink, one of the “teal” independents, is now our new local member. Congratulations to Team Tink. Read more here.

Voting

Although there was a substantial pre-poll, Lane Cove polling booths were packed. At times, there was an hour’s wait at St Michael’s (see our cover photo), and Mowbray Public School ran out of snags and cakes by lunchtime. For future reference (and we have a state election coming up in early 2023), the Lane Cove West School polling booth and Blackman Park booths were quiet. Although the wet weather meant limited sport at Blackman Park, it was easy to park. Well done to the volunteers who worked on the BBQ and cake stands.

Vale

Last week Lane Cove lost three residents who have made an impact.

Alice Beauchamp – Alice was a community advocate and activist. Until COVID19 hit and the public could not attend Lane Cove Council Meetings, she always attended Council meetings and spoke at the public forum. She was an environmentalist and a huge advocate for local issues – we will be publishing a tribute to Alice next week.

Brent Courtney – Brent was a high profile real estate agent who was always willing to help out the community. Read our tribute to Brent here.

Caroline Jones – Caroline Jones lived in Greenwich and was an incredibly well-respected journalist and TV Presenter. A tribute to Caroline Jones is located on the Lane Cove Library Walk (see below).

266 Longueville Road – An Opportunity Lost

The Lane Cove Council has entered into a 99-year lease agreement for 266 Longueville Road, Lane Cove. The lease documentation required Australian Unity (AU) to design and construct an aged care and senior living facility.

AU was required to pay the lease fee upfront. The Lane Cove Council, at its April Meeting, noted:

That Australian Unity be advised that Council:-

  1. Does not agree to vary the Lease and Agreements For Lease terms;
  2. Expects Australian Unity to meet its legal obligations;
  3. Authorise the General Manager to write to Australian Unity on a without prejudice basis to explain Council’s legal position and seeking to resolve the dispute; and
  4. Authorise the General Manager and Mayor to determine an outcome acceptable to Council in respect of the dispute resolution processes and advise councillors of the proposal prior to finalisation.”

If the dispute involved AU failing to meet its requirement under the lease, it is possible that the lease could be terminated.   This area on Longueville Road is one of Lane Cove’s last remaining green spaces and could have been used for outdoor netball courts or other recreation activities. The Lane Cove Council decided the land should be for senior living before the growth of senior living facilities in Lane Cove.

Lane Cove Council did not seek to terminate the lease; instead, they consented to the assignment of the lease to an entity related to Pathways. Pathways are currently constructing an aged care facility at 4 Northwood Road (just around the corner), and the developers have been fined numerous times.

You can learn more about the development on the Pathways Longueville website.

Before demolition, there were six buildings (including the Metro Service Station, aka Speedway Petrol Station and the Riverview Vet) located on the site. The site is located at the notorious Longueville Road/Kenneth Street and River Road West intersection.

Read more about the development here.

Demolition started on the site in November 2022. Since then, ITC has been copied in on complaints to Lane Cove Council from neighbours and residents about the site. Complaints have ranged from no traffic control, trucks doing illegal U-turns, trucks parking on River Road waiting to access the site, weak hoardings, gates left wide open, trucks leaving dirt and sediment on the road, and fuel odours and noise complaints.

The Lane Cove Council Monthly Snapshot shows the fines that have been issued.

In June 2021, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission noted the following in its assessment report relating to a Pathways facility at Ashley House.

“However, the Assessment Team found that not all sampled consumers receive personal care and/or clinical care that is safe, effective, best practice, tailored to their needs and optimises their health and well-being. Consumer behaviour was not effectively managed, fully assessed and there were no strategies developed to minimise the risk of reoccurrence. The service relies on psychotropic medication to manage behaviour and chemical restraint is not used as a last resort. Consumers are prescribed psychotropic medication without a proper diagnosis and the service did not recognise this as a chemical restraint. The service was unable to provide restraint consent forms for some of the sampled consumers.”

This facility was closed on 6 October 2021. You can read the full report here.

Lane Cove in the News

The Sydney Morning Herald has published an article about St Ignatius Riverview’s decision to fence the Regis Campus (the junior campus). They reported:

“A decision by St Ignatius College to build a black fence around its junior campus has ruffled Riverview residents, who have enjoyed almost 150 years of unfettered access to the sprawling grounds and are puzzled by the sudden change.”

Read the full article here (it is paywalled).

Lane Cove Theatre Company

Another wonderful review of Lane Cove Theatre Company’s new play Violet by Weekend Notes.

Read the review here.

Details on where to book here.

Photo source: Weekend Notes

 

Lane Cove Crime, Accident and Incident Report

 

Overheight Vehicle on Bridge Street/Penrose Street

On Saturday, 21 May 2022, an overheight truck became entangled in powerlines on Penrose Street (aka River Road West continuation street) near Best Street. Police, NSW Fire and Rescue and Ausgrid were in attendance. The street was closed for a few hours.

ITC thinks that roving reporter Mark’s commentary sums it up.

Another Accident on Mowbray Road’s Infamous Bend

It was wet on the weekend, so there was another accident on Mowbray Road at the infamous bend. Lane Cove Council has still not approved the plan to upgrade this bend. Read more about the battle to upgrade this bend here.

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