Join this online event on Monday 15 November, 8pm, to hear about the opportunities and challenges for open space in North Sydney and Lane Cove council areas.

Equitable access to open space is a hot topic on Sydney’s lower north shore in the lead up to the local government elections on Saturday 4 December.

Tensions are running high in communities. So what can we do? Where are the opportunities? How can we engage communities so they ARE heard?

How can we manage the needs of people and our environment? How can we allow room for habitat, recreation and sport?

This event will feature urban planning experts, landscape architects, and local government councillors and candidates. They'll look at how we might find a better way to manage our access to open space - and plan for the future of the lower north shore.

Date: Monday 15 November

Time: 8pm to 9:15pm

Location: Online on Zoom (link sent to registered attendees)

www.bk4lc.com/openspace

SPEAKERS/PANELLISTS

Bridget Kennedy, Independent candidate, Lane Cove Council (Central - Ward)
Zoë Baker (Independent Councillor, North Sydney Council - Wollstonecraft Ward)
Crosbie Lorimer, Public domain expert & managing director of Clouston
Rod Simpson, architect, planner and urban designer
Paul Walker, Atlas Urban Design & Strategy

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Rod Simpson

Rod Simpson is an architect, planner and urban designer and was the inaugural Environment Commissioner 2016-2020 at the Greater Sydney Commission.

He has also lived in Greenwich all his life and started his career in landscape on the Stringybark and Flat Rock Creek studies in the office of Harry Howard in the early 1980s.

Rod will be talking about the underlying natural systems and how we need to plan for water, ecology, bushland and passive and active recreation. He believes with good planning all of these can not only ‘co-exist’ in the same place but actually benefit from each other.

North Sydney Councillor: Zoë Baker

Zoë was first elected to North Sydney Council, representing Wollstonecraft Ward, in 2008.

She is now a candidate for the new St Leonards Ward at the North Sydney Council election on 4 December 2021.

Zoë has a passion for urban design and planning and a strong commitment to sustainability and innovation in all aspects of Council decision making. She has championed precinct planning, in particular in the St Leonards/Crows Nest Planning Studies, the Educational Precinct Planning Study and Council's ESD Best Practice project.

Zoë is an independent and has never been a member of a political party and is committed to fiercely representing community interests on Council.

www.therealindependents.com.au

Independent candidate, Lane Cove Council: Bridget Kennedy

Bridget Kennedy is a new community focused independent candidate at the 4 December 2021 Lane Cove Council election.

She is an active and well-known member of the Lane Cove community. In the 20 years she’s lived in Lane Cove, she has initiated or been a founding member of a number of popular community-focused projects including the Sydney Edible Garden Trail and The Sydney Library of Things. In 2019, she was awarded the honour of being the 2018 Lane Cove Citizen of the Year in recognition of her community service.

Bridget is deeply concerned about the tensions in the Lane Cove community around access to open space. As a Lane Cove Councillor, she would advocate that council work with experts and the community to find creative ways of ensuring the valuable public open space in the Lane Cove local area remains accessible to all members of our community, not just a precious few, and that decisions are made equitably.

www.bk4lc.com

Paul Walter - Atlas Urban

Paul Walter has broad experiences in the field of urban design and architecture, having worked in the State Government of NSW as well as private practice both in Australia and Papua New Guinea. This experience includes: City-scale urban plans; town centre master planning; design of residential, mixed-use projects and the development of policy. He has extensive experience on both sides of the approval process, consulting both developers and to government.

Paul chaired the Australian Institute of Architects, Built Environment Committee (NSW) from 2014 to 2020 and was Vice-president of the NSW Chapter in 2020. He has lectured locally and internationally on urban design and urban policy. He also serves as an expert witness in the NSW Land & Environment Court. In 2020 he was appointed to the NSW State Design Review Panel.

www.atlasurban.com

Crosbie Lorimer - Clouston

Crosbie Lorimer is one of Australia’s most respected landscape architects. He has led multidisciplinary teams on projects for some of Australia’s key public domain landscapes including Hyde Park and Centennial Parklands in Sydney and Commonwealth Park in Canberra. For more than two decades, he has also prepared strategic open space and recreation plans and management guidelines for state and local governments across Australia.

As managing director of Clouston, Crosbie is a regular representative for the AILA on state government committees, juries and panels, and is often called upon as an Expert Witness in the NSW Land and Environment Court particularly for Environmental Impact Assessments.

www.clouston.com.au

NB: By registering for this event you are consenting to receive communications from Zoë Baker, Councillor North Sydney Council, and Bridget Kennedy, independent for Lane Cove Council. You may opt-out at anytime.

Contact the host of Open space on Sydney’s lower north shore: It’s under pressure, what do we do about it?