The 2014 Annual General Meeting of ARAG was held on Wednesday 9th July 2014 prior to our regular monthly meeting.

The result of the elections to the Executive Committee is:

Additionally, Gary Speechley is the Public Officer, the person responsible for liaison between ARAG and Fair Trading NSW.

The Convenors’ Report is enclosed below:

It has been another year of progress for ARAG. The Convenors Vanessa Knight and Ben Aveling are happy to report the following:

Meetings

Meetings have been held every month apart from January 2014. With the active support of the Coordination Group, we have had a number of guest speakers and interesting topics. These have included:
▪    City of Sydney’s Draft Parking Policy – Anthony Mifsud – Policy Manager- City Access and Transport
▪    West Connex – Gavin Gatenby (convenor of EcoTransit) who talked about what WestConnex is not addressing and what better alternatives might be
▪    Draft City of Sydney Employment Lands Strategy – Senior Specialist Planner Tamara Bruckshaw, Senior Specialist Planner City of Sydney
▪    Proposed Council Amalgamations – What you should be Concerned about _ Robyn Kemmis Deputy Lord Mayor
▪    Ashmore Precinct Development – Update – John Davies Planner City of Sydney, Mike Hatton Friends of Erskineville, ARAG submission to City of Sydney
▪    NSW Government’s proposal for changes to the planning laws – multiple updates
▪    Updates on Central – Eveleigh Precinct Development – Ben Aveling (ARAG), Desley Haas (ARAG) and Duncan Read – GM of ATP
▪    Redfern Railway Station Ticket Vending
▪    City of Sydney Village to Village Free Service- Frances Lim, South East Sydney Community Transport
▪    Discussions on requirement for Sporting Infrastructure in the Sydney Local Government Area (LGA) do we have enough?
▪    Crime update for the area – Redfern Police
▪    Update on the 308 bus timetable
▪    Sydney Park Storm Water Harvesting – Damon La’Rance – City of Sydney
▪    Potential sale of ATP – Geoff Turnbull Redwatch
▪    History of Alexandria – Lisa Murray City of Sydney Historian
▪    Oral History of Alexandria – volunteers needed – Gary Speechley
▪    Buckland Street Development Application – Assistance with Objections – Ben Aveling
▪    Tree Lopping – who to contact with concerns/complaints
▪    Heritage Community Day – Australian Technology Park 16-17 May
▪    Flood Plain Strategy for Green Square and Surrounding Suburbs – Gill Fowler, Principal Environmental Scientist, Sydney Water, Jennifer Fisher, Senior Community Relations Advisor, Sydney Water, Terry Kefalianos, Principal Engineer, Water Assets, City of Sydney.

In addition, the ARAG Coordination Group have forwarded a number of messages to the ARAG email group to inform them of what is happening with the planning legislation, but also on other topics such as the consultation by the NSW Education Department on the long term needs for high schools in the Sydney LGA.

Alexandria Fair

The Alexandria Fair was held for the second time and was even more successful than the first Fair in 2013.

There were more stalls and more people attended. Feedback from the stallholders indicated that the Fair was a success for them as local business and that they would participate again.

The Organising Committee did a great job and we thank them for their contribution. The committee included Marika Herrmann, Yvonne Edgell, Leanne Seddon, Catherine Warne, Kyran Lynch, Yvonne Cowell, Katie Lawley, Cathy Grace and Gary Speechley.

In addition, many of the ARAG members volunteered on the day with the setup, running and pack up. Our thanks to them too – many hands make it easier! Special mention to Greg and Geralyn Smith, Richard Seddon, Mike Williams, Matt Cookson, Jack Cookson, Kevin Kendall and Marie Flood.

As with last year, the Committee held a wrap up meeting to go over what went well, what could be improved and what could be done differently. These have all been recorded for next year.

A report is being prepared for the Council which is one of the conditions of the grant.

Financials

ARAG is in good shape financially as per the Treasurer’s Report (available on request to info@arag.org.au).

This means that ARAG has been in a position to contribute to the South Sydney Community Centre for the cost of producing the monthly flyers (and the cost of a new guillotine) along with the cost of tea, coffee and biscuits.

In addition, we have been in a position to pay for donations to the Better Planning Network who we have been partnering with on the fight against the changes to the NSW Planning Legislation. We have also paid for a banner on the proposed changes to raise awareness of the changes to the Alexandria Residents more broadly.

Special Thanks to the Coordination Group and others The Convenors would like to thank the members of the Coordination Group including Joy Brookes, Kyran Lynch, Yvonne Cowell, Jim Patsouris and Gary Speechley.

We would also like to thank our volunteers who distribute the flyers every month – Eric Jackson, Mike Eveleigh, Jim Patsouris, Joy Brookes and Yvonne Cowell.

Invitation to Join the Coordination Group

Members are invited to join the Coordination Group and assist with the ongoing management of ARAG. The pay is lousy, but the gratitude is endless.

Also – there is fun to be had – come and join us.

Ben Aveling and Vanessa Knight