Bottomline
Hi John,
Something near and dear to your heart.
Next time you are in the Gong take a walk up past the police station and around the Court House into Market Street.
This is virtually the centre of town and "the gardens " here are something to behold. I've never seen random weed planting so well done and you couldn't do a better job of making an eyesore of what really should be a showcase area if you tried.
It's unfortunately not just this area but many other central city "gardens" are just as downright shabby.
If this is the yardstick you can't but wonder how well the Blue Mile bits and pieces will get looked after once completed.
Maybe we need a volunteer workforce to help make Wollongong something we can be proud of - lot of work to do.
Best Regards,
George Edgar
Get Connected : Dogs and a Rooster
I agree wholeheartedly with Andrew and his problems with dogs barking. We have ‘neighbours’ with two small “yappie” dogs which are never, repeat never taken for a walk or allowed outside of their yard.
They live (exist) outside, twenty-four hours a day on a small, fully enclosed back lawn. They bark, echoing each other, virtually all day (and part of the night) and, most annoyingly, they bark (a loud yelp at repeated 2.5 second intervals) without ceasing every day from 3.00pm until 7.00pm or until such time as someone comes home to feed them.
In between, they bark at trains, planes, helicopters, cars, schoolkids, moving tree branches, passing clouds, the sun, moon and wind amongst several other ‘triggers’.
They are four doors away diagonally from our place and their barking is aimed right at our kitchen and bedroom windows. Even with two radios and a television on at our place, we can still hear their penetrating and insistent yelps. They appear to be able to sense when we are just about to have a “quiet” barbecue on our main deck and escalate the frequency and intensity of their yelping for the duration of our dinner outdoors. Many times, we have just moved inside, closing doors and windows and turning some music up a few notches, but it is most annoying to have our dinner or lunch spoiled so consistently and obnoxiously.
Next door, literally within a couple of metres of our front door, we have a music teacher whose pupils seem to specialise in learning cacophony, playing wrong notes and creating inventive new, atonal passages for traditional tunes. The teacher herself practices sections of music over and over throughout the day, presumably aiming for perfection through repetition. She too has a “yappie” little dog which, on the infrequent occasions that it does bark, can go through you like a set of dentist drills. Yet, we have no complaints about our neighbour. I guess this goes some way to proving that we are not just being ‘fragile’ or intemperate about noise or barking generally.
On the other hand, the two yelping dogs four doors away have nearly driven us mad and they are getting progressively worse.
I have written to the owners, sent diaries of their dogs’ barking schedule, telephoned them to complain etc. The husband has called to my place twice and threatened me. I decided to dial them on my mobile and landline phones every time I became aware of their dogs starting a barking session. This was often between 10.00pm and 6.00am and I let their phone ring three times (I could hear their phone ringing through my window), just enough to hopefully awake and annoy them just like their dogs had done to me, before hanging up.
My effort at tit for tat was “rewarded” by a visit from the Police alleging harassment and threatening me with an apprehended violence restraint order. I have had one further visit from the Police in response to an intemperate remark I had left on their answering machine that I’d love to take an axe to their place and their dogs. The Police alleged I had threatened to attack their house withy an axe. It is a concrete house!
I have sound recorded these dogs from various parts of my garden and house, including them “out-audio-ing” the lovely Juanita Phillips on the ABC’s 7.00pm. television news in the lounge room – the farthest part of our house from the source of the annoyance. This was to provide evidence to the City Council Ordinance Inspectorate if they were interested.
The City Council could not care less. They insist that the “warring’ parties attend formal mediation before they will consider taking any action. Unfortunately, such is my paranoia of this two-year intrusion into my quiet enjoyment of life that being in the same room as these ignorant (and cruel) dog owners would, in all probability, result in a further referral to police – this time for manslaughter or murder.
As an alternative, I wonder how much time I would have to serve for the humane poisoning of two dogs who share a miserable backyard existence anyway?
No, Andrew, your good wife is not being unreasonable. The City Council is and your neighbours are: but she’s not.
With heartfelt sympathy and warm regards
John Roach
Get Connected
Roosters are appalling, along with dogs that bark non stop at anyone walking on the footpath (not entering the premises) in a beachside tourist precinct that has couples and families walking at any time.
Never mind postal or delivery trucks servicing any of the houses within a 100 meters!!!!
Get the picture!!!!
Plenty of phone calls to Council to no avail.
These dogs have a back yard -why lock them up in a pocket handkerchief front entry-when the owners are home most of the time?
Cheers
r.g.
REPORT FROM THE NORTH
5 September 2008
A WELL HUNG SWAMP
SWAMPS ARE NOT A SAFE PLACE FOR SALE SIGNS AS THEY DETERIORATE QUICKLY....
A week is a long time in politics.
So what happens when you don’t like a For Sale sign, like the one advertising the Hanging Swamp for sale in Stanwell Tops which I wrote of a week ago? The owner environmental vandalised the swamp. Well, I guess, you do the same to his sign. Someone obviously didn’t like the idea of putting the Hanging Swamp up For Sale.
However the Council is now hoping it can start renegotiating with the DECC to have this area, which also stretches over to the Stanwell Park Valley rim to come into the Public’s Hands.
Because of the court orders re the vandalism and rehabilitating at the time the negotiations had stopped. But Council has acknowledged that because of the rains this year the swamp is coming back big time.
The same owner has another area up for sale both side of the railway line and Lawrence Hargrave Drive between Coalcliff and Stanwell Park. Zoned 7a like the Hanging Swamps but marked on the onsite sign as 7b eco-tourism. On line they even state that there are plans on view for a 100 room hotel but Council has already said that would never happen because of the zoning. Anything to sell a property, eh?
However what this block on the ocean side has going for it is an over 30 metre long crack in the ground where the land has subsided 25 cm. Probably because the land has been cleared back (are you really surprised given the history of the owner?) This is all within a few metres of Lawrence Hargrave Drive. They better be quick before it goes over the 70 metre cliff.
For more information and videos to find out about the Stanwell Tops Hanging Swamp, go to:
http://hubpages.com/hub/HANGINGSWAMP
HAPPY HOOVES
As recently noted Council lost a court action against a supposed farmer in Otford.
Apparently the farmer in the dell could prove farming had always been on the property as friends of his testified. It was funny that some actual locals can’t remember this.
Though just as well he is now a farmer because last century he wanted to subdivide as much as possible for over 2,000 houses. He must be glad that didn't happen otherwise he wouldn't have had a good area for the cattle to roam around.
The cattle were reintroduced to the farmers property about 12 months ago which is interesting because this court action stemmed from 2 years ago. I guess that was enough time to get interested in cattle.
But in the 7d zoning Hacking River Catchment, cattle’s hooves break the surface causing erosion and associated aspects resulting in sediment that gets washed into the Hacking River which is apparently a no no.
It would appear that cattle can not be in a 7d zoning because of this, so hopefully the Council will appeal the case but this time ask the general population around Helensburgh for evidence on whatever is required.
After all, everybody wants to do the right think don’t they, and not live in fear?
PRECEDENT FOR ENFORCING ZONES IN CURRENT AND UPCOMING LEP 2009
YOU TO CAN HAVE A DREAM HOME HERE, IT'S ALREADY A SPLIT LEVEL AND A SPLIT LEVEL AND A SPLIT LEVEL AND A SPLIT LEVEL.....
What is good news is that Council has refused the development of 6 large blocks on Maddens Plains.
These were east of the Princes Highway adjacent to Boomerang Golf Course and the Illawarra Escarpment Conservation Area.
This will be further weight to putting the kibosh on the nearby proposed Golfburgh still lurking around some where in the undergrowth.
It also helps to strengthen the speculated land zones around Helensburgh and district particularly the 7d zone of above when it becomes all E2 -Environment Conservation and a big triple no no no rating.
Yours Sincerely,
Alan (007) Bond
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