Councillor Chris Harris

Sydney Harbour runs a tight race with Uluru to take the title of Australia’s most iconic and recognisable feature and likely has as bigger role in bringing tourism revenue to our country.  However, while Uluru is protected by a National Park, World Heritage Declaration and joint management with the traditional owners of the land Sydney Harbour gets used as a dumping ground by industry and surrounding suburbs and has it’s shoreline carved up by greedy developers aided by a complicit state government. 

It hardly seems fair.

My Greens colleagues in state and federal parliment have fought long and hard to protect our waterways, Sydney Harbour included.  I have always supported this fight but the contributions I have been able to make in my role as a Councillor have been modest as Councils have little direct influence over marine environments.  They control land only down the to the low watermark and in central Sydney many areas of the foreshore are controlled by state Government bodies, such as the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority and the Barangaroo Delivery Authority.

So when I came across some innovative research being carried out by a group of Australian scientists with the potential to dramatically improve the health of our local waters, in an area over which Council has direct control, I was most excited.

The research, being carried out by the Centre for Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities (EICC) at the University of Sydney, involves attaching concrete flowerpots to seawalls in the intertidal zone to serve as artifical habitats for marine life.  Around 50% of the shoreline of the harbour is now seawalls, which replaced the natural sloping rocky shores that would have originally been home to a myriad of fish, crustaceans, molluscs and algae.  The seawalls don’t provide a suitable habitat for these organisms, which form an integral part of the marine ecosystem, and the negative effects on biodiversity that this causes are more significant than the effects of poor water quality - given how bad water quality is in the harbour this shows how serious the issue is.

The flowerpots serve as artificial rockpools and the results of trials carried out on the north side of the harbour have been stunning.  Within 6-12 months of being set up the number of species in the vicinity of the flowerpots tripled and biodiversity increased seven-fold.  The next stage in the research is to test what effect different types of concrete have on the results and a motion I moved at the last Council meeting, which was passed unanimously, will see the City of Sydney look at ways to partner with the EICC to conduct these trials.

I expect the benefits of this project to be not just environmental but also social.  It will give kids of the inner City the opportunity to partake in the quintessential childhood experience of searching for life in rockpools and give nature lovers of all ages so much more to appreciate on the harbour foreshore.  It is a solid step towards helping people to reconnect with our magnificent waterway.

I hope that a productive partnership between the City and the EICC can result and that this will be the first of many steps undertaken by Council over the coming months to improve the health of Australia’s most well known and well loved waterway. 

For more information on the artificial habitat research being undertaken by the EICC see the following videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mJPS9dX9uU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuDmTVHKi40&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4QVPfL4HEs&feature=related

Things are looking up in the ongoing saga surrounding the tender to manage the City of Sydney’s tennis courts (for background information see my previous post on this matter).  At the last Council meeting a motion was passed to restart the tender process with criteria that would capture the true benefit to the community of each operator.

In addition to this, I had the pleasure on Friday the 18th of June of presenting a cheque for $2500 from the Rushcutters Bay tennis community to Plunkett Street School (see image).  The money was able to go to this very deserving school as a result of wonderful generosity Francis Douglas QC and the Rushcutters Bay tennis community.

When the initial tender recomendation was presented to Council I sought legal advice from Francis Douglas QC to confirm whether or not the recommended applicant had breached tendering guidelines.  Advice from QC’s is generally not cheap so some generous members of the Rushcutters Bay community pitched in $2500 to pay for the advice in the name of helping to achieve a fair outcome for their much loved local tennis centre operator.

The advice confirmed my suspicion that the tender guidelines had indeed been breached and this had the desired effect of prompting Council to investigate, and ultimately restart, the tender process.  When I asked Mr Douglas to name his fee he told me instead of paying him to donate the money raised to a cause that would assist disadvantaged children.  I asked the community to nominate a worthy recipient.  As the children of Plunkett Street School had been receiving free court time and coaching at Rushcutters Bay Tennis Centre for the last 15 years the community thought it fitting that the money should go to that school.

The Plunkett Street School and myself greatly appreciate the generosity of the Rushcutters Bay tennis community.  We will keenly look forward to re-evaluating the tenders to run the City’s tennis courts once criteria that recognise the input to the community of each operator have been finalised.

Despite making numerous commitments to sustainability, Fraser’s have failed to control environmentally damaging stormwater runoff from their redevelopment of the Carlton United Breweries site on Broadway (see images).  Below is a media release on the matter that I sent out last week.  Many thanks to local sustainability expert Michael Mobbs for bringing this matter to my attention and for this article he recently published on the topic.  

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Greens Councillor Chris Harris wants the City of Sydney to issue a please explain to the Frasers Property Group after torrents of sediment laden storm water were seen leaving their development at the Carlton United Breweries (CUB) site on Broadway during recent heavy rain.  Clr Harris says that the stormwater pollution, which overflowed from the site into gutters and street drains leading to Blackwattle Bay, is completely at odds with the claims of sustainability that Fraser’s have repeatedly used in relation to the development.

Several years ago Fraser’s committed to a number of sustainability goals following litigation, organised by Clr Harris and commenced by Matthew Drake Brockman – a Sydney Law student.  Cr Harris: “These goals included the capture and recycling of rainwater from the site but Fraser’s failure to effectively manage the recent torrent of pollution casts a cloud over whether they are really serious about this. 

“It’s disappointing to see that Fraser’s feel the sustainability goals they committed to don’t yet matter because the development isn’t yet completed. It may take up to 15 years to complete and I don’t think the environment is going to wait.

“The fact that the development isn’t yet complete won’t make a lick of difference to the marine environments of Blackwattle Bay that received several million litres of sediment laden stormwater from the bare dirt at the site over the last few weeks.  Who knows what contaminants this torrent contains?  I also worry about whether or not the rain caused the heritage sewer line that runs through the site to overflow, adding raw sewage to the stormwater that Fraser’s failed to stop.” 

Clr Harris said that plans for the construction of a massive new stormwater drain prompted further questions about Fraser’s intentions for the project. 

Cr Harris: “In May this year Fraser’s announced that they were going to spend 6-7 months, working 7 nights a week, to build a new stormwater drain along 200m of Abercrombie Street.  Six months to build 200m of drain makes me think that this must be one hell of a drain.  Why would a site that’s going to be capturing most of it’s rainwater need such a huge drain?”

“Fraser’s claim to have put in additional silt traps and redirected runoff in response to the heavy rain, but attached photos show that this work was either too little, too late or both.  The same goes for the site’s holding pond, which is far too small to be effective.  “Both these examples show that the planning work put in to ensure that the site was sustainable during construction was inadequate.” Clr Harris said.

“A true commitment to sustainability starts when the first sod is turned.  It doesn’t mean you wait around for a decade while you finish building before you clean up your act.  I’ll be keeping a close eye on the CUB site now and will make sure any further episodes like this aren’t swept under the rug.” Clr Harris said.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s exclusion of Councillors from meetings is undemocratic.  Below is a media release I sent out today detailing how her recent uncooperative approach to meeting times is unfair and exclusionary. 

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City of Sydney Greens Cr Chris Harris was critical of undemocratic action by the Lord Mayor Clover Moore who deliberately reduced Greens representation at Committees of the City of Sydney on Tuesday June 15th. Clover Moore Party members used their majority to amend the date of June’s Council meeting to 21st June so that Ms Moore could preside over the meeting as well as attend a council funded trip to China on the originally scheduled meeting date of 28th June. The Committee meeting was then rescheduled to Tuesday 15th June.  However the new Committee date excludes Harris’ fellow Greens Councillor Irene Doutney from the committee as well as Labor’s only representative Cr Meredith Burgmann.

“Councillor Doutney planned an overseas trip several months ago and arranged it so as to avoid her personal activities interfering with her duties on Council.”  Cr Harris said.  “For the Lord Mayor to turn around and arrogantly move the Committee dates with a few weeks notice is outrageous especially given that Ms Moore received her invitation to visit China in October 2009.”

Both Greens Councillors wrote to the Lord Mayor requesting that the meetings be moved to a date that would allow them both to attend. However their letters were ignored and the Lord Mayor failed to respond to either Greens member. 

Clr Harris said: “At the council meeting I attempted to amend the motion to leave the Committee meeting where it was and simply move the Council meeting forward to Friday 25th. This would have allowed both Greens to participate and would have accommodated Ms Moore who was scheduled to fly out of Sydney on 27th June. Ms Moore offered no explanation and simply used her numbers to ram what she wanted through. Now the Committee meeting, which members of the public are able to address, will be on a Tuesday instead of the usual Monday and this may exclude community members as well.”

“This is just the latest in a series of very telling signs that the power of having a majority on Council has gone to Ms Moore’s head.  There was no reason given, not even an acknowledgement, other ideas & suggestions were simply ignored”

Last week I presented a 1000 signature petition from skaters to a Council meeting. The petition urges the City to build the skate park that it has already spent significant time and money planning for Prince Alfred Park.  After weeks of trying to present the petition to Lord Mayor Clover Moore, who talks big on skate parks but never took the time to respond to the groups calls or emails, they gave up in frustration and gave the petition to me to present.

The Prince Alfred Park skate park traces it’s origins to 2006 when the City commissioned a ‘Youth Facility and Skate Facility Needs Study’ to inform & advise councillors and staff on possible locations for skate parks in the City’s local government area. The number one recommendation was for Prince Alfred Park and Clover got right behind it. The skate park was included in the master plan for the long awaited makeover of the park’s swimming pool, basketball court, open space areas and the Coronation Centre. The skating community were thrilled until the skate park was deleted at the last minute by the Lord Mayor who had suddenly decided the location was ‘unsuitable’.

The skating needs study confirmed the need for improved skate facilities in the City of Sydney and identified the need to construct these facilities in highly visible, easily accessible areas that are co-located with other facilities that will be used by young people.  Areas like Prince Alfred Park, or perhaps another park like Victoria Park near Sydney Uni, would be ideal.

The findings make it clear that the City’s parks are the best places for skate facilites. That is why it is frustrating to see the planning for expanded facilities stopped in their tracks as soon as a few residents lobby the Lord Mayor to oppose them.

The objections are typically noise, graffiti and antisocial behaviour but it will be clear to any well informed person that skate parks are not places where any of these things run rampant - they are quite simply spaces where young people can spend hours honing their skills, socialising and getting some healthy exercise. The skating community in Bondi for example are so concerned about these ignorant perceptions that they have banded together to warn off others who want to tag their skate park with graffiti and are even planning to paint over tags when they appear. Further, the perception that skaters create anti social behaviour is not based in fact but is founded on fear & ignorance. In contrast research has shown that alcohol consumption definitely leads to anti social behaviour but alcohol is available in great quantities throughout the City and I don’t hear anyone suggesting we ban that.

The main demographic of the skating community are young people under the age of 24 and this group comprise around 25% of the City of Sydney population.  The City therefore has an obligation to identify the recreational needs of this group and provide for them, just as it provides for every other group. The skate study has identified the need and the City must now be proactive in creating the facilities.

The Lord Mayor has said publicly (and mistakenly) that skate parks should be in grungy laneways and in places where no one else wants to go. Hardly a welcoming message for the young people in our community. The suggested Millers Point site under the freeway was an example of this - the location wasn’t ideal but the Greens councillors fought for it because we saw the need for such a facility and it was better than nothing.  In the end Clover was scared away from the project by the a vocal minority complaining that the noise of skaters would hurt their property values, despite the fact that 120 000 cars per day also pass those properties.  My Greens colleague Irene Doutney then called for a skate park to be built at Barangaroo, a call which the Lord mayor eagerly supported - in typical fashion Ms Moore is calling for someone else to do something she is too frightened to do herself. While a skate park at Barangaroo would be great, it will take years to appear if it eventuates at all and it just wouldn’t tick all the boxes like Prince Alfred Park does.

Hopefully the 1000 signatures collected by dedicated members of the skating community will serve as a wake up call to Clover Moore and she will reverse her previous backflip and restore the cancelled plans for Prince Alfred Park or as I have suggested Victoria Park near Sydney University.  I will be keeping up the pressure and now it is clear that at least 1000 others will be too.