New accessible toilets at Mosman Junction are now open.

The amenities, adjacent to the Raglan Street West Carpark, were partly funded by a NSW Government ‘My Community Project’ grant.

The ‘My Community Project’ program invited residents to apply for funding for projects that would benefit their local community in one or more of six categories: accessibility, culture, health, liveability, revitalisation and safety. Members of Mosman’s Access and Mobility Committee worked together last year to develop a grant application and promote the accessible amenities project to their fellow residents.

Projects that met the selection criteria were published online for a public vote, and the project or projects from each NSW electorate that received the most votes received funding. The accessible toilets project was one of 12 submitted from the North Shore electorate, and received overwhelming support from the Mosman community. A grant of $200,000 was subsequently provided by the NSW Government for this project and Mosman Council, as sponsor, provided supplementary funding and delivered the project within 12 months.

The new amenities are an important addition to Mosman’s accessible infrastructure, and include family-friendly, ambulant and unisex toilets, as well as a drinking water fountain.

Two exciting opportunities currently exist for community members interested in Mosman’s environmental sustainability.

Community Representative – Climate Action Community Consultative Committee

Members are now being sought for the Climate Action Community Consultative Committee, recently established to provide advice to Council on Climate Action by Council and the Mosman community. Up to six members of this new Committee will be community representatives with suitable experience, interest and/or qualifications in climate science, community engagement, conservation, sustainability or engineering. Apply by completing the Expression of Interest form (Word or PDF doc) and submitting to council@mosman.nsw.gov.au by 5pm Wednesday 16 September. Contact Manager Environment and Open Space Steven Smith on 9978 4025 or s.smith@mosman.nsw.gov.au for further information.

Director – Mosman Environmental Foundation Trust

Applications are also being sought from community members interested in becoming a director of the Mosman Environmental Foundation Trust, established to support environmental works in Mosman. Up to seven independent directors with qualifications, experience or other interest in environmental preservation and enhancement are needed to manage and conduct the affairs of this significant Trust for Mosman’s future. Apply by completing the Expression of Interest form and submitting to quotations@mosman.nsw.gov.au by 5pm Wednesday 16 September. Contact Manager Customer Service Kate Day on 9978 4023 or k.day@mosman.nsw.gov.au for further information.

Now re-emerging from a brief closure due to COVID orders Mosman Square Seniors Centre will mark a major milestone this August: a quarter of a century as an integral part of the Mosman community.

Officially opened on 26 August 1995, over the past 25 years the Centre has become a vital social hub for Mosman residents and visitors aged 55 and over, as well as their family members and carers. It now operates 36 different programs and services, with the assistance of almost 200 volunteers.

The Centre’s usual programming includes a wide variety of activities that focus on fun, socialising, and health and wellness. They include special annual events, a community restaurant, art classes, exercise classes, technology workshops, dancing, walking groups, excursions and discussion groups. The Centre also coordinates and hosts a popular program for the annual NSW Seniors Festival.

In more recent years the Centre has been extensively renovated to further improve accessibility, amenities and audio-visual tools. Last year it was visited by almost 25,000 older residents, at an average of 2,000 per month. The transport service provided more than 5,000 trips, the community restaurant served almost 3,500 meals, and Mosman Meals delivered 13,800 meals.

During the height of New South Wales’ COVID restrictions earlier this year the Centre was required to close to the public, although Council continued to deliver critical support services for elderly and more vulnerable isolated residents, including Community Transport, home-delivered Mosman Meals, and a Home Bound telephone support service.

The 25th anniversary comes just after the Centre has reopened its doors, and is progressively resuming programs and services, in accordance with public health orders.

Local residents and visitors have welcomed the Centre’s reopening, and an initial Winter activity schedule that includes Tai Chi, art classes, Qi Gong, movie club, and discussion groups. In accordance with current health guidelines and the Centre’s safety plan, numbers for activities are limited and pre-booking is essential. Interested visitors can call 9978 4128 to book for an activity.

For more information on Mosman Square Seniors Centre and services provided by Mosman Council’s Community Care team visit mosman.nsw.gov.au/seniors.

Council has partnered with ClimateClever to offer residents and local schools a 12 month subscription to the ClimateClever app for half the standard subscription fee.

A product of research at the Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute, the ClimateClever app enables users to measure and monitor their environmental impact through electricity, gas and water consumption, and provides an action plan on how to be more energy efficient, and reduce emissions and utility bills.

ClimateClever works in three simple steps:

• Measure – Calculate carbon footprint and track consumption, emissions and costs.
• Audit – Understand how the home or school consumes resources, and how this contributes to carbon footprint and utility costs.
• Action – Create a custom action plan to systematically reduce resource consumption, emissions and utility bills.

For residents

Mosman residents are invited to subscribe to the ClimateClever Homes app for 12 months for $15 (ex GST). For more information and to subscribe with this discount follow this link.

For schools

Mosman schools are invited to subscribe to ClimateClever for 12 months with a 50% price reduction. Schools using ClimateClever typically save at least 10% on utility costs, and the app links carbon reduction initiatives to the curriculum and enables action based learning. A subscription comes with teaching resources, opportunities to connect with other ClimateClever schools, comparison data and progress reports. For more information and to subscribe with this discount follow this link. Note, pricing depends on school size.

Following public consultation and consideration from Council, amendments to Mosman’s Development Control Plans (DCPs) have been made.

The review of the DCPs follows the adoption of our Community Participation Plan (CPP) called “Involving the Community in Planning”.

To simplify Council’s planning documents and to remove duplication between the CPP and DCPs, ‘Part 3 Notification of Applications’ of all of Mosman’s DCPs have been removed.

In addition, a number of housekeeping amendments to the DCPs were made to ensure currency with NSW planning legislation, and to correct errors, omissions or provide clarity of content. These minor amendments include updating references to the recently updated Planning for Bushfire Protection 2019 policy and clarification on when works to significant rock faces may be undertaken.

Click here to view the updated plans.

Mosman Chamber of Commerce, supported by Mosman Council, has launched Think Mosman First, an initiative to assist local businesses by encouraging residents to spend locally.

Look for the Think Mosman First decals and promotion in shop windows and at counters of participating retailers and services.

Mosman residents can help businesses through this difficult time by spending locally as recommended by local identity Kate Waterhouse who has thrown her support behind the campaign. See more about the campaign.

A free household clean up will take place for Mosman residents in August.

Residents are reminded that household clean up items go to landfill, so if you have items in good condition consider registering with The Bower for collection and rehoming of goods.

Glass and breakable items should be wrapped and secured, and mattresses kept to the side for separate collection. Recyclable items such as large pieces of cardboard and cardboard boxes, should instead be cut up and placed in recycling bins.

The household clean up does not collect building materials, chemicals or e-waste. E-waste items can be dropped off at the e-waste collection on 13 September at the Mosman Square Car Park. Separate collection facilities are offered for Chemical Clean Out (for household chemicals) or the CRC for paints and oils.

For more information, including collection dates, which items are accepted and other recycling options, visit mosman.nsw.gov.au/cleanup.

Barry O’Keefe Library’s daily opening hours have been extended to 9.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday (with no special hours for seniors) and 11am to 3pm Saturday and Sunday.

• Loans and Returns
• Newspapers
• Public Computer Access (limited numbers): Bookings will apply to public computers (maximum two hours per booking)
• Meeting rooms will be unavailable in the short term and two-hour bookings will be applied to study desks/carrels
• Photocopying and printing available – no cash transactions. Credit card or EFTPOS only.

The library’s returns chute is open with loan extensions continuing until 30 June.

Visitors may be asked to briefly wait to ensure we adhere to capacity limits and to reduce shared surfaces, our furniture, including chairs, has been minimised. Please make use of our available hygiene products and remember to stay home if unwell.

Our online library remains available for access to our eCollections or use the Library’s new app (Apple App Store and Google Play) to stay updated on the future scheduling of events and activities.

For any urgent library related enquiries residents can email library@mosman.nsw.gov.au

New PV solar panels have been installed on the main roof of the Marie Bashir Mosman Sports Centre, to reduce the centre’s greenhouse gas emissions significantly and improve its sustainability.

The 51kWpDC PV system will generate approximately 68,000kWh per year, and save 61.2t CO2 in greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated the upgrade will boost the centre’s solar electricity generation by 70%, and reduce electricity consumption by 27%.

A display screen inside the centre shows live data on the power being generated by the panels.

In making the decision to install new panels, an important consideration was that regulations and Australian Standards have evolved significantly over the past eight years since a first set of panels were installed, and components of the old system did not meet the Clean Energy Council’s certification criteria. The new panels also have improved durability for all weather conditions.

To further improve sustainability the old PV solar panels and components were recycled by PV Industries.

“Currently nearly all solar panels are going to landfill in NSW and across Australia, so our goal is to provide a sustainable long term solution to stop this from happening,” said James Petesic, co-founder of PV Industries.

Aluminium racking was recycled through a metal recycling partner, and the panels and inverters were transported to PV Industries’ facility for future processing. Some panels were also sent to the University of New South Wales, for research and development on advancing PV end of life solutions and recycling technology.