Dear Editor,
In July 2025, Ku-ring-gai Council released the “New Community Strategic Plan for Ku-ring-gai.”
Part of which reads, “The CSP is a long term, high level plan that outlines the community’s vision and aspirations for the future of the area, including protecting the native environment, managing balanced growth and fostering social cohesion. A ten-year plan following consultation with residents.”
Now, in reality we have countless healthy urban trees being removed illegally, with residents supposedly being fined, a minimal amount, for those breaches. We never know if those fines are ever collected or sanctions imposed.
In contradiction to the recent CSP, countless healthy urban trees are being
removed “legally” with authority from Council and/or State Government officials.
Blocks of residential land are being denuded of these “legally” removed trees to facilitate knock down rebuild
developments, which are often built by developers to sell on for significant profits, then moving on to repeat the process elsewhere, taking out more healthy trees.
If these practises are allowed to continue, and I am sure they will, together with the State Government’s Housing Plans [TOD etc.], Ku-ring-gai’s character and urban tree lined landscape will be totally and irreversibly destroyed.
The architects of which can then gladly pat themselves on the back, boasting, “Well done!! Look what we have achieved now and for future generations”.
Recently, against many expert scientific reports, Ku-ring-gai Council voted [6-2] to install synthetic turf, rather than natural turf, on Pymble’s Norman Griffith Oval. Another decision made by our supposedly environmentally aware and responsible Council.
With that decision in mind, maybe the Council should start replacing all the healthy urban “legally” removed trees with full size synthetic replicas.
Jeremy L
Turramurra “Sydney’s Green Heart”
Dear Editor,
Can someone please explain why the two high schools at Asquith need to go co-ed? Asquith Girls was established in 1959, and Asquith Boys was established in 1960. Both schools have been going successfully since then as single-sex schools. Now the state government is spending millions of dollars in building new buildings, toilets and other facilities. Does anyone really think that this expense is worth it? Is there really a need for such big changes?
I know that one of these schools is
negotiating to buy out some of their neighbours, and that is going to be a huge cost, obviously, with the price of land these days. I did not know that the state government had so much money to spare. I feel that the schools should have been left as they are, and the money spent on more worthy projects.
Sincerely,
Mike W,
Hornsby.
Dear Editor,
I see that Bradfield member Nicolette Boele, is against the North West Shelf gas development. Does she think that stopping this development will fix climate change? The world needs a lot of gas, and will for decades to come. If Australia can’t supply countries with gas, then countries like Russia will be happy to take our place. More money than to help Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
I know that the Teal party are against Australia selling coal overseas as well. If Asian countries couldn’t buy our coal, then they would have to buy coal from other countries, which would be not as clean as Australia’s coal. This then would lead to increased pollution in the world. Is that what they want? Maybe they don’t care as long as the pollution is in other countries.
With less gas and coal getting
exported, how can Australia pay for the huge expenses of pensions, the NDIS, and everything else?
I would be interested to hear what teal supporters think about these arguments.
Sincerely,
Mike W,
Hornsby.
Dear Editor,
Your reporter has finally dug up answers to questions that have never before been answered.
1. Why wasn’t the quarry made to
guarantee rehabilitation before the mine was approved? For more than 25 years this question was avoided—by Council or its expensive legal “advisers”. Your reporter pointed out that there was, indeed a
“written agreement” with the Council—that at the end of the Quarries’ life it would be remediated.
This has never been pointed out before.
2. How tiresome the promise that “Hornsby Valley was going to be the next ‘Centennial Park’” became over
twenty-five years!
2. Also amazing is your reporter’s revelation that HSC were made to pay for unwanted “fill” from “Northconnex’s” 8 km long twin tunnels—literally dirt that no-one else wanted!
Yet no-one has learned the lessons i.e. ensured that a third, independent party is entrusted with a percent of mine profits to make sure that these disasters stop happening.
Yours Faithfully
John MacKay MB BS – (retired).
