Pittwater Life February 2023 Issue

News
SEEN…
If anyone needed reminding that the
major intersection at Avalon Beach
was a flood plain and not the place to
mess about with due to problems with
drainage, then look at this blast from
the past (above). This B&W image was
taken by photographer John Stone in
1974, from the corner outside current
Ecodownunder, with Swell cafe next-door but just
out of site. The view is north/north-west, with Dunbar Park
in the middle distance… Congratulations to local businesses
Red Cross Newport and C Side Kids Creative Playcentre
Collaroy who were judged best Window Displays in their wards
(Pittwater and Narrabeen) in NB Council’s recent Christmas
shopping promotion. Pictured are Red Cross’ Heather Menzies,
Didi Gilder and Gisele Hindhaugh (manager).
HEARD…
After being boarded up for two years, the restaurant and café
spaces at Avalon Beach Surf Lifesaving Club could be occupied
again – but probably not before next Summer. Council tells us
it finally released a new tender for the spaces on 15 December;
these will close on 17 February whereupon submissions will be
evaluated. It’s expected short-listed applicants will be reported
to Council in the coming months. The long delay was caused
by a legal wrangle/settlement with the former out-of-area
leaseholder; Council says the tender could not be released until
after the former lease was officially terminated and works
required inside the premises were completed. We can only
hope Council has learned a valuable lesson here, given one of
the peninsula’s hero locations has been left a virtual ghost
site for so long.
ABSURD…
A flashpoint is brewing between the Northern Beaches
Indoor Sports Centre (NBISC) and the NSW Department of
Education over what one of NBISC’s directors Alex McTaggart
says is years of disregard for the not-for-profit organisation’s
lease terms. He said the lease provides the adjoining
Narrabeen North Public School and Narrabeen Sports High
School free but not unfettered use of the Centre, from 8am-
4pm, for supervised sporting activities. Mr McTaggart said
NBISC had requested the schools notify them of any times
they were not scheduling activities, so they might utilise
for their own purposes. He said
that request had been met
by a brick wall for more than
five years. Mr McTaggart said
their CCTV camera footage
showed the schools were
using the centre just 22 per
cent of the time. Also, NBISC
has requested the Department
stop teachers, students and
parents from using its car
park, which sits between the
centre and the schools. NBISC
says this compromises their
insurance policies. Further
conflict has arisen from the
new redevelopment
of both schools as part of
the upgraded Narrabeen education campus. In December,
temporary classrooms were erected on land adjoining the
NBISC; these covered a Right of Way (ROW) path for the public.
The Department’s contractors have laid a temporary mat
path as a substitute ROW. NBISC says it’s on their land and
further exposes them to insurance liability. When Council
(as the NBISC lease guarantor) approached the Department,
they were told the temporary path was not on NBISC land. So
Council has requested a survey to confirm. Meanwhile the
Return & Earn machine, which sat half on NBISC-leased land
and half on the Department’s land, was removed in January.
Mr McTaggart suspects it’s to clear access so heavy machinery
including cranes can use the corridor for school construction
works. But the lease states that can only happen if NBISC
grants permission. So far NBISC has not been approached by
the Department. A fed-up Mr McTaggart said: “A not-for-profit
shouldn’t have to contemplate taking legal action against the
Government.” Watch this space.
34 FEBRUARY 2023
The Local Voice Since 1991