Dear Members – a quick update on progress with our campaign to get
independence restored to the Charles Sturt Council; in addition to
myself running for Mayor, I am pleased to report that we have some
excellent candidates running for Council in the local government
elections. They include:

Rina Russo and Max Galanti – Hindmarsh
Jay Antoney and Peter Udycz – Woodville West
Robert Grant and Leni Brown – Woodville
Joe Ienco – Findon
Bob Randall and Grantley Anderson – Henley
Luciano Agostino – Grange

In the last two wards, Semaphore Park and Beverley it is suggested
that we support the existing Crs Ghent and Harley, who both
demonstrated their independence by voting against the land swap. We
will also contact the other candidates in those wards and keep you
posted on the outcome.

Please get behind these people who have put up their hands and are
volunteering their time to represent you; please help us by spreading
the word to your friends and neighbours and encourage people to vote
for these independent candidates. It is a postal vote and papers will
be distributed between 25-29th Oct and are due back before the 12th
Nov.

If you can help with distributing flyers in your neighbourhood
please let us know; we really need your help in the leadup to the vote
and it could make the difference on whether we save our park or not.
Thanks again to all of our walkers and cake stall volunteers who have
really helped to raise community awareness and gathered a lot of
support for the campaign – keep up the great work everyone! Next cake
stall is on 9th October so please get your donations to Leni and Marie
and don’t miss out on buying something yummy!

STOP PRESS: Don’t Miss the St Clair Variety Show at the Gov!!
Please see details below on an event that is being hosted by the
Governor Hindmarsh for us to help support our campaign to get
independent representation back on Council and save St Clair. Please
join us for what promises to be an excellent show from some talented
local musicians and other entertainers. Look forward to seeing you
there!!

Regards Kirsten Alexander
SCRRA Chair and Candidate for Mayor, Charles Sturt

Local musicians and performers will be donating their talents to help save
the St Clair Recreation Park in a fundraising event at the Governor
Hindmarsh Hotel this Sunday 10th October 2010.

The event will also be the launch of a mayoral and council election campaign
by members of the Save St Clair Committee.

Artists include rock-cabaret group Tongue ‘n Cheek, The Adelaide Ukulele
Appreciation Society, bluesman Anthony d’Antonio, 70′s gurs Flashback and
the infamous Lord Stompy on harmonica.

All proceeds from the event will aid the Save St Clair Council election
campaign.

Note from Kirsten Alexander about the above event:

The St Clair group are having a show at the Gov on the
10th October at 1pm to support independent candidates running for
Charles Sturt Council positions – it costs $20 per person or $30 per
couple, children are free. It should be a really fun afternoon with
lots of local musicians throwing their support behind it, so please
help us by coming along and by spreading the word to your friends and
networks.
Thanks and Regards Kirsten Alexander
Enquires can be made to Kelly on 0405 385 117

Hi Everyone – below is a copy of an invitation to attend a rally at St Clair Oval on this Saturday 7th August. We have extended this invitation to all of the other groups that we are aware of that share our concern over the loss of open space amid the rampant development focus of the current government. Please do your best to come along to St Clair Oval on Saturday and bring banners, signs etc telling the government how you feel about being ignored.

We are also holding an information session for prospective Council candidates immediately following the next Council meeting on 9th August. The Council meeting is at 7pm and the information session will be at 8pm at St Margarets Church Hall on the corner of Port Rd and Woodville Rd. This will be a SCRRA Committee meeting rather than a general members meeting (just to try to keep numbers workable), unless you are planning to run as a candidate for Council please do not attend this meeting; however we would love to see you at the next SCRRA Members meeting to be held after the Council meeting on 23rd August at 8pm.

We would also like some feedback from you on an alternative plan for St Clair incorporating much more open space than those proposed by Council and the LMC. We will have copies at the rally for you to look at and comment on. A representative from David Ridgeway MLC will be there, as will Stateline and hopefully Today Tonight and ABC News will be able to make it too.

Details of rally are: 12pm at St Clair Oval, Woodville Rd on Sat 7th August

An invitation from St Clair to a Rally to Save Our Open Space – Stand Up Against Development Happy Government before the Bulldozers Come to Where You Live!!

Developers are funding the government and the government is raping and pillaging our precious open space and rural land to pay them back the favour!!

The government clearly did not learn anything at the last election and has continued on its merry way at St Clair, Cheltenham, Glenside, Mt Barker, Gawler, Mt Pleasant, McLaren Vale and on and on and on!!! They have not listened and do not care!!!

While the Federal election is in full swing, this is your opportunity to show that you do care about open space and that you vote!! Come along with your group’s signs and banners and join us at St Clair in a show of solidarity and concern.

Sausage sizzle provided, and lots of community spirit!! See you there!

Regards Kirsten Alexander, SCCRA Chair

Hi everyone – apologies for not being in touch for a while; we have been busy making plans for the SCRRA AGM on 24th May (there will be notices out via the post on this shortly asking for nominations for the committee and providing an outline of some amendments that are proposed to our constitution to tidy a few things up) and we have also been getting our letter-boxing campaign up and running again in advance of the Council Elections in October (more about that later).

We have also had a few meetings with Council and government representatives over what is planned at St Clair. There is not much to report so far from these meetings other than that we have continued to raise questions that they do not apear to have fully thought through and a further meeting is planned on the 29th April with the Council and LMC CEOs at which we hope to get some answers. We will keep you posted and please come along to the SCRRA AGM so that we can give you a good update. (Please let me know if you don’t receive a notice in the next week or so).

You may have heard there was a “community day” at Cheltenham recently on the new “Actil Park”; those that were able to go can report that there were generally more Council “green shirts” in attendance than there were residents (at what cost we can only imagine!!). I have attached a copy of the feedback sheet (and my email below) that I have forwarded to Michelle Mader at the Council, to describe some of the things that we value about St Clair Park and our opposition to the loss of it as open space. I am sure that there were others who also handed in their thoughts on the day!

The Council will also be consulting next week on the “revitalisation” of Woodville Road – this includes the TOD on St Clair – so please feel free to go along to their “visioning workshop” on the 21st April and tell them exactly how you feel about the proposed TOD apartments on the park!! It will be held at 7pm at the Woodville West Torrens Football Clubooms off Oval Ave at Woodville South. We have made no commitment to contribute to this as an organisation as we do not agree with what they are doing at St Clair, however you may want to go along and have your say about it!!

Please let us know if you are interested in getting involved in the campaign to get better representation back onto the Charles Sturt Council – we would be happy to hear from you! We will also be cranking up our fundraising again and getting the cake stall etc back into action – stay tuned!!

Lastly – thanks very much again for your help and good wishes during the election campaign; I am pleased to report that we did give them a scare, and we were also successful in helping to get another independent candidate into the Upper House; Kelly Vincent of Dignity4Disability – we wish her all the best!! The Community Voice Coalition is alive and kicking and we intend to grow this as an avenue for grassroots community groups like ours to support one another and campaign for more accountability and honesty in local and state government.

All the best and hope to see you at the AGM, if not before!! Please don’t forget the Council meetings are on every 2nd and 4th Monday at 7pm; it is always good for them to know that they are under scrutiny!! Also stay tuned to the Save St Clair Recreation Park!!! Facebook page or CharlesSturtRatepayers.org for regular updates.

Thanks & Regards……..Kirsten

PS Email to Charles Sturt follows….

Michelle – you and Natalie received much of this feedback from us at the meeting, but I thought it would be useful for you to have a written copy of it too. I have not bothered to repeat all of the questions that we have raised previously (and I look forward to discussing these with the two CEOs), but in this feedback sheet I have concentrated on what I know the residents value about St Clair Park in the vain hope that someone, somewhere in the Charles Sturt Council administration actually does care about what we think.

The residents we represent are totally opposed to the use of St Clair Park as anything other than open space. You only have to look at the previous referendum held by Council in 1964 on St Clair Park to know what the result would be today if you had truly put this to the residents of Charles Sturt. There is no reason to suspect that the answer would be any different today and all the pretty pictures and propaganda in the world from you and the LMC are not going to change our minds about apartments going on our park; surely you can not blame us!!

Regards…….Kirsten Alexander

PS I realise that this is slightly after your cut-off date, but I trust you will accept a late submission from us, as you did from the LMC in relation to the land swap…

Just a reminder everyone the feedback to the council needs to be done by Friday the 16th of April 2010 at 5pm. Things that you could write about are the increase of traffic on Woodville Rd if there was to be a road coming out onto there, the increased risk of flooding, the unfair exchange of land as it isn’t one for one (roads and already allocated space does not equal 4.7 hectares) the disadvantage to existing residents by moving the new park onto the Cheltenham racecourse making it really a backyard for the new residents and the TOD.
Also reading in last weeks messenger the 170 people that went through the community day want a pooch park and an outdoor adult gym! well those things also eat into the open space. Why can’t we have the open space that already exists in St Clair and add those things onto the Cheltenham site?

The feedback form can be downloaded from the following link, filled out electronically and emailed to council@charlessturt.sa.gov.au – Note: We do not recommend using the “email” link at the bottom of the form as it is set to access multiple links and may pose a computer security risk.
Download Link: http://www.charlessturt.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Community_Open_Day_-_Feedback_Sheet.pdf
Kelly Thomas

Please click on the link below to download a “How To Vote Card” for Max Gallanti, who is standing against Michael Atkinson in Croyden.

Remember, Max stands for saving St Clair, while Michael Atkinson is in favor of building high density housing on our pristine park and giving us contaminated land without grass or trees in its place.

HOW TO VOTE CARD FOR MAX GALLANTI IN THE SEAT OF CROYDON

The State Election Flyer below is also provided in PDF format that will allow you to print it and give it to your friends and neighbors. David Winderlich & Kirsten Alexander have played a pivotal role in fighting against the injustice of the St Clair Reserve land swap. Their Top 10 Policies are a creditable demonstration of their commitment to fight for the justice of Community Democracy and other issues that cannot be disputed as critical for the viable future of South Australia.

We urge all who are committed to fighting the injustice of the St Clair Land swap to vote for David & Kirsten in this week’s State Election (Upper House).

Vote for Community Justice!

Vote for Community Democracy!

DOWNLOAD HOW TO VOTE PDF

A Redmond Liberal Government will retain St Clair reserve as open space – giving the local community what it wants.

Isobel Redmond - Leader of the Opposition

In contrast to the Rann Government the Liberal Opposition has listened and will work with the community to ensure the reserve remains an important neighbourhood asset in the western suburbs.

Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond said the land swap at St Clair was just one of the controversial issues the Rann Government has failed to consult with the local community on.

“After eight years the Rann Government is arrogant and has stopped listening to what people want,” Ms Redmond said.

“The list of projects on which the Rann Government has failed to consult local communities continues to grow – they include:

• Its plan to demolish the Royal Adelaide Hospital
• Its plan to sell off 42 percent of Glenside for a film hub and a housing and shopping development
• Its tram extension to the Entertainment Centre

“A government’s role is to listen to the community – not force something on them whether people want it or not.

“The people of Adelaide’s western suburbs can be assured that a Redmond Liberal Government will consult with the community and listen.

“And this means the St Clair reserve will remain open space under a Redmond Liberal Government.”

We are unable to apologise in regard to a comment made against Michael Atkinson by an individual on the Save St Clair Facebook site.  This site is not, and has never been, associated or affiliated in any way with the above-mentioned Facebook site. The authors and domain owner have absolutely no control or influence over posts made on that site, which merely addresses the same issue as this site – that of the stealing of the St Clair community land from residents and ratepayers to their detriment, by the City of Charles Sturt.

An apology has been requested by Mr Atkinson and is refused, as such may incorrectly indicate some liability on the part of this site – and we have absolutely no liability in the matter. The previous apology posted on this site was done so in error and is withdrawn.

Mark Walker
Administrator