The last TVC meeting was held on Sunday 26th November and below is a summary of this meeting.

Community Recognition
The TVC was presented with a ‘Community recognition statement’ by the Member for Heathcote, Maryanne Stuart for the 33 years of service to the community. This was a surprise and a much-appreciated recognition for the work done by TVC members over the years.

Aaron Beath Stand
The TVC continues to keep members abreast of local issues and has raised a number of issues with Wollongong City Council (WCC). This includes the refurbishment of the Aaron Beath Stand in Thomas Gibson Park. The draft scope of works for the stand involves the demolition of the current building and replacement with a new sporting facility including: amenities and change rooms which include accessible facilities; kiosk; storage spaces; First aid room / referees’ room; accessible car parking; rain harvesting; concrete perimeter path and lighting. Unfortunately, there is no news as to when work will commence.

Parking on Hospital Road, Bulli
Parking remains to be an issue on Hospital Road. From the plans it does not appear that parking for the hospital will be allowed on the former hospital site. There are a number of options currently under consideration to help relieve the problems currently being experienced. The member for Heathcote, Maryanne Stuart continues to work with TfNSW to find a solution and Cr Richard Martin has put a motion before Council about parking on Hospital Road.

Relocation of Austinmer Rural Fire Service
The Austinmer Rural Fire Service attended the last TVC meeting explaining the reasons for the move of the RFS from its current location on Buttershaw Drive to Seafoam Ave in Thirroul. Principally this move was necessary because the current premises are no longer suitable due to the lack of adequate facilities, structural issues with the building, plus difficulties in accessing the site. It is anticipated that the new location will provide a proper functioning station from which to operate and reduce response times.

Update on Sandon Point Seniors Living Development by Anglicare
Throughout 2023 there have been a number of consultations about the development including drop-in sessions and the more recent information sessions. Aside from this Anglicare and their consultants, Stantec have met with other stakeholders, such as TfNSW – Roads and Maritime Services and RailCorp; Rural Fire Service (Development Assessment Team); all key utility authorities; Indigenous groups; WCC; Federal MP Alison Byrnes, and local MP’s Ryan Park and Maryanne Stuart.

Throughout they have gathered a lot of opinions and information, all of which has helped in the development of the current Concept Plan which is now on exhibition. You can view this at the NSW Department of Planning Portal and make an online submission.

The Concept Plan will be on exhibition from 14/12/2023 to 19/01/2024.

There was discussion about the bridge and link road, and members were advised that Stantec is currently looking into available grant opportunities that potentially could be accessed for Anglicare, particularly in the disaster resilience and infrastructure space. If approved this could mean that the bridge and link road can be delivered independently of the development by Anglicare, and hopefully early in the project.

Non-compliance by dog owners between Austinmer and South Thirroul Beach
The issue of dogs being off leash in a timed off leash beach area is becoming concerning. Thirroul Beach is an ‘Orange Zone’ which means dogs are allowed on the beach at set times, but they must stay on a leash. During summer the times are before 9am and after 6pm, while in winter the times are before 9am and after 4pm.

A number of suggestions were made to reduce the incidence of non-compliance including:

increasing the size of the signs at beaches to make them more prominent,
providing more education to dog owners, and offering that they move to a green zone (such as McCauley’s Beach and/or Little Austi Beach) if they want their dogs to run off leash,
providing a warning to owners before issuing an infringement notice,
increasing the number of animal compliance officers and their schedules.
Happy New Year to all from the TVC.

Hopefully you can join us at the next TVC meeting at 4pm on Sunday 25th February at TRIPS Hall, Railway Parade Thirroul.

You can email the TVC at: [email protected].