Mayor4Unley

last night (Thursday 30 March 2017) Unley Council debated and resolved the Unley Central DPA ie. the rezoning of the Unley Central Precinct. Here is what Council resolved: In broad terms, what it means in terms of possible development is: ·           Unley Road west side Area behind soldiers memorial gardens – 5 storeys  Unley Shopping centre site- 7 storeys Target/ Barzaar/ Medical centre site- 9 storeys. ·           Unley Road Eastern side North of Oxford Terrace- 5 storeys ·           Oxford Terrace  (north side) e.g. St. Spyridons etc. – 3 storeys. ·           Civic Centre Block Cottages on Edmund Avenue to be kept as is. Village Green to be kept as is. The kindergarten to be kept as is. The Cottage (community services) to be kept as is. The existing civic...

Last night was probably one of the biggest and most important Unley Council meetings of recent times; in fact, during the past 6 years. We finally debated the Unley Central DPA - the rezoning of the Unley Central Precinct. Whilst there was a strong thrust to go to the upper end of high rise, common sense mostly prevailed and we achieved a reasonably sensible and sensitive outcome. More on this later when the minutes of the meeting are released. When I got home, a bit late,  I was still feeling good about the outcome and did a bit of a song and dance for the dogs who warily lay in their beds. View the video

Community consultation is important. In some cases, there may be need to do follow up consultation with a focus group to learn from the experience; what to improve, what to do next time. Here's a video showing an example. Sometimes you can get answers you don't want; or can't handle. View the video

Unley Mayor Lachlan Clyne has just been endorsed as the Liberal candidate for the seat of Badcoe, formerly known as Ashford. For a more detailed summary and to view my comment, follow this link ... Click here

What a fantastic initiative by Mannum Council to erase (or hide) remnants of chewing gum on the footpath through the Main Street. The gum can't be fully removed; leaving a sticky stain. The solution is to paint splotches of art over the offending marks. The result is a colourful street of art under foot. Given the number of art works along the street, Mannum must be the chewing gum capital of Australia. View the photos

I will be down in the country south-east of Adelaide next week and will definitely stop at the normally sleepy town of Coonalpyn. Over the past few months a giant mural has been painted on the five grain silos. It looks absolutely fantastic; a great achievement for the locals. People are stopping and taking photos. Sales of food and drinks are rocketing in the town. In the past, motorists just eased off the accelerator to pass through as quickly as possible. Now, they are slowing to a crawl to view this marvel. Do yourself and the town a favour by stopping at Coonalyn; take a break and view this the mural. It's a giant canvas in the sky. Read the story, view the photo

Recently there has been ongoing graffiti on the wall of the Unley Council building. One message was 'vote Council out'. A strong sentiment. This may very well happen at the next election. Listening to gossip, rumours and scenarios, here's how it might happen ... There are 12 Councillors and a Mayor. The Mayor has stated that be won't be nominating in 2018. So, that's one person out. There are 4 Councillors who have indicated interest in standing for Mayor. One will win, so 3 are out. That's a total of 4 out. Three Councillors will retire. That's a total of 7 out. Two more Councillors are likely to retire, so that's a total of 9 out. If all of this gossip and speculation is correct, then the next Unley Council will be very different with a majority of new faces. ps The above takes no account of the fact that one or more serving Councillors might not get re-elected.

This week I met with a group of residents to discuss traffic issues in their street; Leah Street, Forestville. The residents had invited local Labor MP Steph Key. Steph brought a ministerial advisor and also Jayne Stinson, the freshly endorsed Labor candidate for Badcoe (formerly the seat of Ashford). The discussion was about how to reduce the traffic volume and reduce the number of heavy commercial vehicles that pass through Leader, Leah and East Avenue, taking a shortcut to the South. I am confident that Minister Mullighan will do something to ease the plight of the locals. It's an interesting outcome given that Unley Mayor Lachlan Clyne (and front-runner potential Liberal candidate for Badcoe) had visited the street a couple of weeks back to discuss these issues with residents. The Liberals are very slow in selecting their candidate for Badcoe. Meanwhile, the Labor candidate Jayne Stinson is working the streets and getting a lot of help from Steph Key.

We all know that Unley Mayor Lachlan Clyne is seeking preselection as the Liberal candidate for Badcoe (formerly Ashford); and I wish him the best of luck. Some breaking news ... today I learnt (from an absolutely impeccable source) that there is a new Liberal hopeful for Badcoe. He is Peter Jaensch who lives in Unley. Some details: He grew up in Callington, the son of a shearer and wheat farmer. He went to Murray Bridge High School and joined the Police in 1972 and became Acting Patrol Sergeant in Adelaide. Peter moved on and now owns an antique shop. He and wife Suzanne work very long hours and have a successful business. Peter states ... "South Australia can again be a vibrant, progressive state for the next generations to find work here in South Australia!". It is understood that Liberal Leader Steven Marshall views both candidates quite favourably. It will be interesting to see the outcome of the Liberal preselection for Badcoe. Whoever wins, it ...

Never buy supermarket honey. Buy it straight from the farm or from a roadside stall or from a farmers market. If you want crap honey, then go to the supermarket where you'll likely be deceived by labels claiming Australian Certified Organic. It's nonsense and deceiving as has been revealed by testing of Capilano's subsidiary Allowrie brand. It's a horror story about imported honey, probably from China where bees don't forage on flowers; rather, they are fed corn syrup and sugar. If you care, and most people do, don't risk it by buying supermarket honey. Buy Aussie honey, preferably from a local supplier. My favourite is Leatherwood honey from Tasmania. Click here for more information

Letter to the media, published on 07 March 2017 ... I would have concern about the State Government contributing funds for restoration of St Peter's Cathedral. There would be many other equally deserving churches lining up for similar funding to fix their ageing buildings. The Anglican Church should calling on its parishioners to make a hefty contribution. It's their church and not the state's.

He visits every day. A lone Willy-Wag-Tail. He sits down by the compost bin, watching and then darting about and snapping up flying insects. He is busy all day and must be having a feast from catching all those bugs. He's oblivious to me watching. Sometimes there is a lone New Holland Honeyeater, and I've seen a bit of a stand-off between the two with the Willy-Wag-Tail winning the patch. Actually, there often used to be a large group of New Holland Honeyeaters. They too are masters at snapping flying insects. Maybe they will return when the Willy-Wag-Tail migrates for winter. I'm not that good at determining the sex of a bird; but how do I know that the Willy-Wag-Tail is a male? My rationale is that if it were a female then she would surely be quickly courted by a boy bird and I would have two Willy-Wag-Tails in the backyard. Hopefully this lonely boy finds his gal soon.

Letter to media, published on 23 Feb 2017 I am staggered by the ongoing poor handling of the golf saga at Onkaparinga Council (The Advertiser, yesterday). May I suggest that an easy solution to getting the $7000 back is by adjusting the CEO's salary at the next annual review. The golf and tennis incidents at Onkaparinga should be a warning to all councillors, mayors and CEOs across the state. If it doesn't pass the sniff test, then don't do it.

Letter to media, published on 22 Feb 2017 I refer to the letter by Michael Saies ("Council costs", Eastern Courier Messenger, February 8) and his reflection on the cost of allowances for the Mayor and councillors at Unley Council. I highlight two omissions by Mr Saies. Firstly, he should have stated that until the last election he was an Unley councillor. Secondly, he knows full well that the allowances for all councils are set by an external body. Trust me, most elected members don't seek that role for the modest allowance.

Jarlsberg cheese - it's a nice cheese. Ideal in a cheese and tomato sandwich. It's full of holes and originated from the region of Jarlsberg in Norway. You think of contented cows in the pastures of Norway. Before throwing out the empty packet I read the label. The label says ... Made by Tine SA Oslo, Norway Cheese product of Ireland Packaged in Germany Imported by: Cantarella Bros Pty Ltd 118 Wetherill Street Silverwater NSW 2128 Australia The only thing that happened in Australia was the Cantarella Brothers sticking on a label with the price, expiry date, an Australian barcode and reference to the website www.jarlsberg.com.au Click on this website and you discover that the contact is Vittoria Food & Beverage (118 Wetherill Street, Silverwater) with an email contact of marketing@vittoriacoffee.com So maybe it was the guys at Vittoria Coffee who stick on the labels. It's a small world of traders and confusing for the consumer who genuinely wants to kno...