Mayor4Unley

It is important to get more dog friendly water fountains in our parks across #Unley. The new style of fountains are also more people friendly, enabling bottles to be easily filled. I'm passionate about improving the amenities in our parks. These fountains with dog drinking bowls will also help provide water to heat stressed koalas and other wildlife during summer. We need more of these fountains and as #Mayor I will push for that to happen. Driving change in Unley. Your best choice (by far)! Vote 1 BOB SCHNELL #Mayor4Unley The photo was taken by a local resident and sent with a thank-you note. Yes, the grass needs to be repaired around this new fountain. That will happen soon. Written and authorised by bob schnell 10 halmon avenue everard park 5035

We have lost so many big trees across the #Unley suburbs. So much lost green tree canopy! As #Mayor of Unley I will do whatever and explore every option, to reverse the decline. The major issue is a lack of real control of big trees on private properties. We need State Government support to increase Council's control and help stop the senseless felling of trees that get in the way of high density  development. It doesn't need to be draconian control, rather it needs a common sense approach. I want to see more Council funding of conservation grants to fund pruning and maintenance of these magnificent big trees. The annual budget for this activity is inadequate . I want to see trees given realistic values to deter them from being cut down. Not $50, not $100, not $500 ... they deserve a more realistic value to reflect their contribution to filtering the environment over their lifetime. Experts are suggesting values of $50,000 to $100,000 for the old and big trees. I...

We need to look after the native bees in our gardens. They have special needs like the type of flowering plants and a place to live. Why not consider building a ‘bee hotel’ to encourage more to live in your garden. It’s a great family (or school) project. A ‘bee hotel’ comprises many pieces of wood with long holes drilled. Small diameter hollow bamboo is ideal. Google ‘bee hotel’ for more information. Give it some thought. We need to encourage and protect native bees in our gardens. I’m all abuzz about the upcoming #Unley Council election. Vote 1 BOB SCHNELL #Mayor4Unley Written and authorised by Bob Schnell, 10 Halmon Avenue, Everard Park 5035

Just so pleased that my motion to ban plastic straws in Unley was approved by Unley Council on 27 August, 2018. This is a great outcome and reflects the sentiments in the community. During debate, my motion was described by fellow Councillor Michael Hewitson as demonstrating leadership. I will continue to pursue environmentally friendly initiatives at Unley Council. Here is a copy of the motion and background information that I provided ... MOTION: That: 1. That plastic straws be banned from being dispensed at all Council events, Council sponsored events and private functions held at Council venues. 2. The ban on plastic straws being dispensed at Council events, Council sponsored events and private functions held at Council venues take effect from 1 January 2019. 3. Where appropriate, Council promote the use of non-plastic straws eg. those made from paper, hemp and other emerging sources. 4. Dispensation from any plastic straw ban be given to those people in genuine ...

There has been recent public comment about the decline in tree canopy across Unley. It is claimed there has been a 20% loss. Blame is being attributed to residents and developers felling trees on private property. But, what is reality? What is actually factual? Back in 2016 Unley Council implemented a regeneration  tree program as part of a 2016-19 tree strategy. The target was renewal of 2,000 Street trees in 5 years with many trees removed to be replaced by 2 trees. At the time, Council clearly understood that the canopy cover would decline and then rapidly rise. So - in 4 years we will have a far greater tree canopy than we had 2 years ago. I’m so annoyed that an operational activity designed to increase tree canopy has been so unfairly attacked. It would be unfortunate to have the street tree renewal program stopped. I supported the tree renewal program back in 2016 and I will continue to support it over the next 2 years. It just makes sense! Vote 1 Bob Schnel...

Good to hear that Coles and Woolworths will cease giving free plastic bags at the checkout by July 2018. A great outcome! However, that’s a small dent in the plastic at supermarkets. We must maintain the rage! We all have a role to play to force a change. supermarket plastic waste

Here’s an interesting story on how to fix the recycle waste crisis. However we do it we must stop selling recycle material overseas. It must be re-used here in Australia. We can’t afford another crisis in the future. I’m just so appalled by total lack of action by governments across Australia. The problem was identified as a huge risk a year ago. Read the story

Tonight #Unley Council is holding a workshop to discuss options to promote retention of large and significant trees on private property. This is an issue dear to my heart. It’s sad to see so many large trees being removed across the suburbs. Hopefully some viable options will emerge; options that we can pursue. But, regulation of trees and their removal rests with the SA Government. So, it might be like flogging a dead horse; but we need to try to influence the new Government.

Maybe it’s time to stop drinking bottled water and just drink tap water. Let’s face it, with average bottled water, it’s not much more than filtered tap water. Do yourself a favour and buy a good quality plastic (or metal) drink bottle and use tap water; preferably filtered. Why? To save money. To stop drinking high concentrations of plastic particles. A recent report from the World Health Organisation exposes that after analysis of water samples, more than 90% of the samples contained high concentrations of tiny plastic particles; aka. microplastics. One brand had concentrations as high as 10,000 plastic pieces per litre of water. This is absolutely appalling. Downstream this ends up in the oceans and rivers and in fish that we eat. Just so sad. All due to our buying bottled water. Make the change to tap water and a good quality drink bottle. The cheaper the drink bottle the more likely it is to contaminate. Read the story

Remember the saga of the 3 noisey in-ground trampolines at the Katherine Street Reserve. A nearby resident complained of noise and bouncing people being able to see over the fence. The trampolines were removed. After receiving a petition from 600 people, Unley Council decided to re-install the trampolines. 2 will be installed at Katherine Street Reserve (in a central location) and 1 will be installed at Ridge Park. This will happen in 2 months. A great outcome showing #Unley Council responding to public demand. I fully supported the re-installation of the trampolines at Council.

Major felling of trees at Parkside ... There has been a major uproar by residents about the felling of so many trees at 186 Greenhill Road, Parkside just before Christmas ... and 4-5 more trees are planned to be removed. Residents are just so annoyed by what has happened. It happened without any warning and Council had no prior knowledge of the planned activity. A review has revealed that all the the trees felled were what is classed as 'non-regulated' and the property owner had a legal right to remove them. This is a legal right imposed by the State Government. What was a forest is now just 5 trees. One is scheduled to be removed soon. The other 4 trees are what is classed as 'regulated' and they require planning approval. I understand that approval will be considered in January/February 2018 by the Council Assessment Panel. I am sure that this meeting will be well attended by local residents.

The Leader Street Streetscape Project is now complete. Just a bit of asphalt to be laid near the railway line, booked for early August. The transformation of the street is fantastic. Looks great. It's green and cycle friendly with new cycle lanes. Prior to the road works there were no cycle lanes.. Rain-gardens were designed to filter stormwater and remove pollutants that would have normally been washed down creeks and into the ocean. These rain-gardens will filter about 5 million litres of stormwater annually. That's 2 Olympic sized swimming pools of water each year. Also, the new permeable footpaths have provided capacity to store 110,000 litres of water that will be 'soaked' into the soil and provide extra water for trees and vegetation. This streetscape renovation of Leader Street in Forestville is a pilot for transforming streets across Unley. Over time there will similar projects across Unley. It's been a good outcome.

The new Unley Tree Strategy is a practical blueprint for maintaining and enhancing the green cover of trees across Unley. Ageing and unhealthy trees will be removed, but they will be replaced. Where possible more trees are to be planted, especially in vacant (tree) sites along the streets. Over time, the green (cool and shady) coverage of trees will increase along the streets. It's a great strategy and good outcome; a good long term outcome. Also, it's one of best looking reports I've seen at Unley Council. Read the Unley Tree Strategy here

It was a good meeting last night at Mitcham Council. A joint informal meeting of Mitcham and Unley Councillors to review the options for establishing an authority/subsidiary to manage the works to reduce the risk of flooding in the Brownhill and Keswick Creeks. It will be an authority to act on behalf of the 5 Councils affected. It was declared a public meeting (on the night), but there were no residents present. They probably didn't know about it. Anyway, it was a good night with great comraderi between the 2 Councils. Lots of tiny pies and pasties and small talk afterwards. The State Government has 'decreed' that the subsidiary/creek management authority will be operational by February 2018. My reckoning is that it will be quite a challenge to get all 5 Councils in agreement on the responsibility of the subsidiary, let alone appoint appropriately skilled board members, by that date (which is 1 month prior to the SA State election).

Just back from Coonawarra, in SE South Australia. Good country; fabulous red wines. A nice break from life in the city. Coonawarra is a small town and only has one shop. A must do when in Coonawarra is to visit the now defunct train station; a reflection of a bygone era.

A fantastic good news story from Unley Council ... Unley has a number of strategically placed Wildlife Boxes at various locations within the City to support the breeding and habitat survival of our local fauna. A total of 28 Artificial Hollows/Boxes were installed in June 2009. They were erected in Ridge and Heywood Parks, with a single box installed on Windsor St. Over the years Council has built up the number of boxes to where we now have 121 located across all part of the City on Council parks, reserves or verges (106), schools (12) and private property (3). Each year, as part of an environmental initiative, Council is provided with a report on the outcomes, success or otherwise of fauna use. As part of this monitoring process, each box is assessed for any changes that have taken place and to determine whether possible maintenance issues have arisen. This process is required to ensure that the wildlife value of the boxes are maintained and that public safety is observed. Tow...

Unley Council is highly proactive in its Environmental Strategy. We made a huge effort in creating the strategy; and now it is paying a dividend; in real and practical ways. To highlight Council's achievement, five 2 minute videos have been produced. They are excellent snapshots of Council's Environmental Strategy. View the videos

Soon to be considered by Unley Council is the matter of what to do about the trip hazards on the footpaths. There seems to be less on the old bitumen footpaths compared with the new brick pavements. Seriously, perhaps we should consider returning to bitumen . That was one idea I proposed at a recent workshop. Despite it having merit that proposal wouldn't get through Council. The matter of what to do about trip hazards has been the subject of several workshops. There have been many proposals and variations. I insisted that the criteria (for a trip hazard) be applied equally across all footpaths in Unley. An earlier proposal had different trip tolerance heights (eg. 20mm vs. 15mm vs. 10-15mm) in different streets. That was totally unacceptable. That inequity will not be in the proposal to come to Council. The trip hazard criteria will now be applied equally across Unley, from Black Forest to Fullarton. The options that Council will consider are: Do nothing (and...

It was a big storm a couple of days ago; with wild wind. The next day I surveyed the damage in the backyard. Several of my prized pine cones from the Queensland Kauri Pine tree were lying on the ground. Whilst holding one of the cones and contemplating what size it might have become, I felt a tugging at my trousers and looked down and was surprised to find a Pikachu Pokemon; they are still in the area. They're tough critters and being somewhat annoyed, I  considered dropping the heavy pine cone on Pikachu.

The debate has commenced on the proposal to store high level nuclear waste deep underground in the far north of South Australia. It will gain momentum over the next 12 months. The economic benefit to SA is huge. The risk seems to be contained. The people will decide in 1-2 years. It needs to be a well informed and educated decision. The recent issue of Resourcing SA has an excellent article on the subject by Ms Kyra Reznikov who has toured nuclear storage facilities across the globe. The bottom line will be if the people of SA fully understand the storage process and the associated risk; of the waste buried 500m. To put the risk into perspective, Reznikov examines a storage facility under construction in Finland. In the worst case scenario, if the steel/copper canister containing the nuclear waste rods is defective ... then if a person stood on the ground above the facility for one year then they would be exposed to the equivalent of one tenth of a banana! Yes, bananas (and s...