Precinct
Chairman’s Report 2003/2004
Dear
Ultimo community member
What a
rollercoaster this year was! I was twice overseas, in Europe and the
US. On my first return I learned that the former Lord Mayor had sacked
our executive, and that the Ultimo Precinct Committee had been abolished.
On my second return the news was that the State Government had sacked
the Lord Mayor, and that the councils of the City of Sydney and South
Sydney City had been amalgamated.
Wow! Anyway,
politicians come and go, but residents stay. This year was already my
third term serving on the Ultimo Precinct Committee’s executive.
So, instead of simply quitting my work for the community, I took the
initiative and temporarily convened a Resident Action Group, the Ultimo
Precinct Community (again UPC) group, thus keeping our regular meeting
schedule with both informal and formal meetings active.
I even
took it further and on 7 August 2003 launched our own website, where
I published reports, opinions and feedback from local community members,
and ran campaigns on issues like the Ultimo Aquatic Centre and our Pedestrian
Network. This website proved to be our most valuable tool and attracted
nearly 2,000 visits from residents. It now has around 200 members on
its mailing list, and receives quite some media interest.
In a way,
the turmoil caused by boundary changes, amalgamation and Local Government
elections all in one year even fostered resident action. Fifteen key
community groups from the new City of Sydney Council area agreed on
25 August 2003 to work together to achieve a greater voice. I was one
of the founding members of this umbrella group and chaired our most
recent meeting in Town Hall.
I had
hopes that Ultimo be a model precinct for the larger city. Until the
very last minute, we were led to believe in communication with Council
that the newly elected Lord Mayor had reinstated the Ultimo Precinct
Committee. Regretfully, this is not the case. However, after a phone
conversation with Mr Larry Galbraith, the Lord Mayor’s advisor,
it appears that she is keen on hearing your ideas about community consultation.
She will hold a community meeting to seek these from you on Thursday
20 May at the Ultimo Community Centre at 6.30pm.
Yours
sincerely
Gerald
Ganglbauer
Chairman
UPC