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St Clair Erskine Park

Federal Member for McMahon Phone (02) 9604 0710

chris.bowen.mp@aph.gov.au JUNE 2018

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Ph: 9834 2966 Em: mulgoa@parliament.nsw.gov.au

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ISSUE 33

Footy funding Member for Mulgoa, Tanya Davies MP joined the St Clair Comets to announce a $15,000 grant towards a water tank to keep the playing fields healthy at Peppertree Reserve, Erskine Park.

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Explorers Conveyancing By KeRRIE DAVIES

Helen Kostrubiec and Jade Fletcher met several years ago working together at a local law firm, and decided to combine their experience to form Explorers Conveyancing. When asked what it was that had guided them so easily to success, they believe it is a combination of their dedication to helping people with their most important asset, their ability to overcome challenging transactions and their people skills. “I think clients like coming here because we talk their language - unlike some solicitors or conveyancers who forget that the clients aren’t used to the legal jargon,” Helen said. “Yes, we explain things in terms that are easy to understand, and we’ve made so many good friends out of clients over the years,” Jade added. Helen and Jade are both licenced conveyancers and their knowledge of the property conveyance process is immense. While sitting in their office based on Explorers Way, St Clair I noticed that the home office was a hive of activity. We conducted the interview between a phone that constantly rang and clients popping in to say hi. These very talented girls took it all in their stride, showing that juggling several projects at once is something they do with ease! And the thing that stuck out the most is that they absolutely love their work. They work incredibly well together, they bounce ideas off each other constantly and most of all, smile and laugh through their day. If you are buying, selling or transferring property ownership, give Jade and Helen a call on 9670 1161. They are a breath of fresh air and I believe you’ll thank me for making the recommendation! Chances are you will be sorry to say cheerio when the transaction is completed, but like many others in their massive client base, you’ll probably want to call past and say hi long after their service to you is completed. In fact, I didn’t want to wrap up the interview. Great girls!

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Blokes joining forces to help others

By KeRRIE DAVIES

OST blokes enjoy the times when they get together as a group and have a good chinwag. The “men’s shed” concept is providing a great platform for just that, and what’s even better is they are using their time together to complete projects that are a huge help to the local community. Minister Ray Williams and Member for Mulgoa Tanya Davies have announced $3,000 for St Clair and District Men’s Shed which is located at Mamre House. The funding will support the local Men’s Shed to upgrade equipment that will enable the volunteers to continue to support other groups, schools and charities with their skills. Tanya Davies said she was proud to be a patron of St Clair and District Men’s Shed whose members give their time to help strengthen the community. “Besides a great way to catch up with friends men’s sheds allow members to greatly use their skills to contribute to the community while also promoting social connectedness,” Tanya Davies said. Minister Williams said it was a pleasure to meet members of St Clair and District Men’s Shed who provide a real sense of community spirit to the area.

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“Mens Sheds are recognised as one of Australia’s largest male-based community development organisations, and it’s great to see the Shed at Mamre House thriving and serving the local community,” Minister Williams said. St Clair and District Men’s Shed President Aurel Vasilescu said the organisation was most grateful for the funding. “Members of our Men’s Shed regularly donate their time to personal and community projects that help others in the community. Thankfully my job is also made easier thanks to the work done by the members of our executive committee,” Aurel Vasilescu said. “This contribution not only helps foster a positive community spirit, but participants are also given the opportunity to meet others and gain new skills.” St Clair and District Men’s Shed is one of 930 Men’s Shed’s across Australia for men to come together to participate in activities, talk and share common interests. Minister Ray Williams and Tanya Davies also visited the Nepean Riding for the Disabled facilities. Tanya Davies then hosted a morning tea for Minister Williams and the local multicultural community.

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St Clair Erskine Park

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is proudly brought to you by the Nepean News team. To contact the team call: Office:

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Kerrie Davies 0422 067 644

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From the Editor’s Desk

by Kerrie Davies

HIS week I am feeling very proud and want to share the great news that my BFF Michael Creed, also known as Mikey, has become a groundbreaker of sorts - the pioneer of a first in Penrith. No, it’s not because he is getting married to his gorgeous partner James following the changes to the marriage act - at which I have a starring role as bridemaid I might add - as incredibly exciting as that is. It is that he and James are the proud owners of Thor’s Cafe in High Street, the first ever pet-friendly cafe in Penrith! And people are flocking to Thor’s to enjoy a puppaccino - sorry cappuccino - with their pets in tow while they woof down the amazing food that Thor’s has to offer. So, owners of well-behaved pets across the Nepean region, give it a go and take your pooch on a doggie date to Thor’s and tell Mikey that I said hello! See the ad on page 11 for more information.

St Clair Community Deputy Mayor Phone 0417 365 313

Greg DAVIES East Ward Councillor

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Todd CARNEY East Ward Councillor

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Phone 0417 762 219 todd.carney@penrith.city

Penrith City Council

New Councillors get ready for the job ahead

By KeRRIE DAVIES

UR two newest Councillors settled in to their new chairs in Chambers recently, following their successful bids in the by elections last month. South Ward winner, Liberal’s Brian Cartwright said he was looking forward to rolling his sleeves up and getting into the job of serving the community who elected him. “It is a great honour, I’m looking forward to representing my community and building on the great work being done. My focus is going to be on making sure that although we have some great assets in the local area it is important to keep them well maintained,” Cr Cartwright said. East Ward’s elected representative, Labor’s Robin Cook said she was very pleased with the result “after a short but hard-fought campaign.” “I am ready and very eager to start serving the community in whatever way I can. I will do my very best as it is a privilege to be in this position and I am very mindful of that,” Cl Cook said “During the campaign I received a lot of positive feedback on my stance to advocate for improved

accessibility to essential services and inclusiveness for members of the community with mobility issues. Having first -hand experience with this issue I feel that I am well armed to advocate in this area. “I am also proud to add to the gender balance bringing the number of women on council to four.”

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Feral pigeons invade our neighbourhood

By Ken Bailey

rskine Park and St Clair seem to be in the midst of a feral pigeon epidemic and if you live in a double storey home with solar panels on your roof, it seems likely these ‘flying rats’ will nest under your panels. However it’s not just the annoying early morning cooing of pigeons above bedrooms that residents are contending with. As is the case with rats, pest birds play host to many diseases, parasites and mites that, left unchecked, can spread disease to the home occupants. Ultimately, pigeons nesting under your solar panels will deposit droppings absolutely covering your roof tiles, solar panels, and the side of your house and airconditioning units whilst filling your roof gutters. And my goodness is it foul. So what can local residents do about this? As the old adage goes, prevention is better than cure, so if pigeons haven’t colonised your solar panels yet, get them meshed. Solar panel meshing prevents damage and

filth caused by birds, rodents and possums as well as obstructing the build-up of leaves under the panels. Locally-sourced solar bird prevention mesh requires no drilling or screwing thereby protecting the warranty and reduces maintenance costs. This solution comprises of galvanised UV PVC coated welded wire mesh and specially-designed clips for securing to solar panel frames. If pigeons are already frequenting your solar panels, it’s best to act quickly. Local businesses such as EcoKleenSolar Nepean will clean the droppings from the gutters, destroy the nests, clean under the panels and remove chicks where possible. They install the special mesh around the solar array and wash the solar panels. Essentially they remove the ability for pigeons to nest under your panels and clean up the mess. To effectively control this plague, neighbours need to work together. Remove pigeon nesting spots by having your solar panels meshed and cleaned, don’t feed pigeons, have them exterminated, and act quickly once you notice them.

Bar-stool opinions welcome

rime Minister Malcholm Turnbull and Senator Marise Payne were available for a beer and chat with locals recently at the Peachtree Hotel. “The Politics at the Pub event at the Peachtree Hotel was a great success and a chance for local residents to catch up with the Prime Minister in a social environment,” Sen Marise Payne said. “The Prime Minister responded to questions on a range of local and national issues from a lively and knowledgeable crowd. “He set out the Government’s plan to deliver tax relief to working Australians and guarantee essential services. “It was also great to hear him detail our plans to work with local and state governments to ensure

growth in Western Sydney is positively managed, sharing the benefits and maximising the region’s potential.”

Grant to help with community food deliveries By BART BASSETT

epean Food Services celebrated the opening of their new annex recently which includes a large freezer and packing room. Nepean Food Services Manager Ditte Kozak said the facility was made possible thanks to The Hon Tanya Davies MP who supported the grant application through two separate funding years of the Community Building Partnership Grant totalling $55,000 and Penrith City Council for project management. The new facility will now allow our service to grow into the future. “There is a growing need for Nepean Food Services that include Meals on Wheels and social support with Penrith’s population rapidly ageing,” said Ditte. “By 2021 the number of Penrith residents aged over 65 years will nearly double to over 24,000 people which will be 11.5% of Penrith’s population. “Penrith’s growing over 65 population will also experience the challenges associated with increasing frailty, mobility issues, hearing loss and vision impairment. “Our increased capacity which will be delivered because of the facility upgrade will assist us and Penrith City Council in the common goal to support older people to remain living independently in their own home.” There are approximately 36,000 residents identified as living with a disability living in Penrith including over 11,000 with a profound or severe disability who need assistance with daily activities.

Nepean Food Services said that they are a registered provider for NDIS allowing them to provide enjoyable and nutritious meals to people with a permanent and significant disability. Ditte said she also wished to thank Coverit Building Group for their professional work in building the new facility which they are very proud of. The expanded packing room will boost our capacity to respond to the growing needs of our community and help us to contribute to council’s goal to be a Local Government leader with regard to access and inclusion, and to include people with a disability in community places, programs and events.

Woolies St Clair reaffirms green future commitment

he launch of a new reusable shopping bag that will support the next generation of environmental champions and the phase out of plastic straws from sale are among a number of sustainability initiatives customers shopping at Woolworths St Clair will start to see soon. This follows an announcement made by Woolworths Group CEO Brad Banducci on the eve of World Environment Day at an industry sustainability event hosted by the company. With the removal of single-use plastic shopping bags from June 20th, Woolworths St Clair is changing its popular green, reusable bags available for customers to purchase in store to a Bag for Good™. Woolworths St Clair Store Manager, Kevin Ispirto said; “Our Bag for Good™ costs 99 cents, and when it gets damaged, we will replace it for free, no matter when you bought it from us. We’ll then recycle your old bag via the REDCycle program.” But the ‘good’ doesn’t stop there. Any money made from the sale of the Woolworths Bag for Good™ will fund the Junior Landcare grants program, encouraging young Australians to play an active role in ensuring the sustainable future of their environment. Landcare Australia CEO, Dr Shane Norrish said; “The Woolworths Junior Landcare program will help younger Australians to be more aware of environmental issues in their own backyard. “They will have the opportunity to have handson environmental education in the class and in the schoolyard, which will only help to better future generations. We look forward to seeing applications from schools in the local area when the next grant round is launched in a couple of months’ time.” Plastic straws will also no longer be available for sale at Woolworths St Clair by the end of this year. Kevin added; “It has been well documented that plastic straws do significant harm to marine wildlife

and this move will help reduce the impact of plastics on the marine environment. Across Australia and New Zealand this move will see us remove 134 million straws from circulation each year.” Woolworths will also continue its ongoing program of plastic reduction in fruit and vegetables, which has seen the removal of 140 tonnes of plastic in the last year in Australia. A further 80 produce items are earmarked for plastic reduction trials in the next 12 months. Planet Ark CEO Paul Klymenko said; “Woolworths’ is taking big strides in the right direction and the butterfly effect of these initiatives on the community and environment is powerful.” “Cutting down on single use plastic waste such as straws is so important - businesses getting behind this is key but as an individual, you can also make a difference by switching to reusable or recyclable options.”

Tanya Davies announces $15,000 for St Clair Comets

By KeRRIE DAVIES

ember for Mulgoa, Tanya Davies MP joined the St Clair Comets to announce a $15,000 grant towards a water tank to keep the playing fields healthy at Peppertree Reserve, Erskine Park. Tanya Davies presented the cheque to St Clair Comets President, Darren Mudford, and St Clair Comets players Coopa McMahon, Braxton Grigg and Jake Harper. “The St Clair Comets have a long history of providing their players with the best possible training and facilities,” Tanya Davies said. “Many A-grade NRL players started out in the Comets and this funding will see the Comets continue to train great football players.” “It was a pleasure to join the players on Saturday and to continue to support them by providing this grant.” Tanya Davies also met with Luke Gibson, Nathan Corbett and Robert Henderson and congratulated each of them on their 300 game record with the St Clair Comets. Darren Mudford, Club President, thanked Tanya Davies for her support on behalf of the Club. “The St Clair Comets are very grateful to Tanya Davies for supporting our club and our 800 junior rugby league players,” Darren Mudford said. “The grant from the Community Building Partnership program is much appreciated by all our juniors players.” The installation of the 120,000 litre underground water tank will replace the existing 21,000 litre

water tank, to provide better field irrigation and ensure the fields are maintained all year round. The $15,000 grant was provided through the Community Building Partnerships Program. The next round of Community Building Partnership is now open until Friday 15 June 2018. For community organisations looking to apply, please visit: www.nsw.gov.au/cbp

Hospital performance data released

Left to right - Allyson Lukic (registered nurse), Zoe Clarkin (registered nurse), Dr Vaany Mayuran (medical officer), Lailendra Chandra (clinical nurse specialist)

ew figures from Bureau of Health Information (BHI) show several Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) hospitals performed strongly against treatment time targets in the face of big surges in presentations, particularly in emergency departments. Across the WSLHD, the proportion of patients whose treatment started on time was up by 16.5 per cent to 66.8 per cent. The percentage of patients who left the ED within four hours was up 12.3 percentage points to 71.2 per cent. Blacktown Hospital recorded an ETP of 69.3%, up from 53.7% in the same period last year. It logged 13,073 ED presentations, a 9.35% lift from the same period in 2017. ED performance surged at Blacktown Hospital after a redesign of how patients are managed after presenting. As key part of this initiative, called Project RED, more roles were created to streamline triage in ED. Other tactics such as allocating dedicated cleaning crews helped free up beds more quickly for new admissions. “The roll out of Project RED delivered big improvements in ED performance at Blacktown and it is now being rolled out at Westmead Hospital,” WSLHD chief executive Danny O’Connor said. “It is just one part of our new approach which focuses on moving patients more quickly from an emergency setting to the wards. “Our staff are so committed that they managed to

improve performance even when confronted with the big numbers in emergency departments. “We recognise we still have work to do refining the way we deliver our healthcare but the improvement is outstanding.” Mr O’Connor said while less urgent presentations to our emergency departments have gone down compared to last year some patients still come to hospital emergency departments for nonemergency reasons who could receive treatment more appropriately by accessing services such as their general practitioner or local pharmacy. The speed at which patients were seen in ED at Mount Druitt Hospital improved significantly with an Emergency Treatment Performance (ETP) of 80.2 per cent, well above the state average of 74.4%. During this period, Mount Druitt recorded 8,465 presentations to its ED, a 6.3 per cent rise in presentations for same period in 2017. The BHI data was released as the state’s hospitals bolster their resources to cope with an expected surge in demand for health services over winter. However NSW Shadow Health Minister, Walt Secord said the data showed that Nepean Hospital was the “most under pressure hospital in the state.” “Nepean Hospital is the most overstretched hospital in the state with nearly half of all patients 46 per cent - forced to wait more than four hours in the emergency department,” he said. “Make no mistake, Nepean Hospital is at breaking point and patients are suffering.”

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Arthritis in dogs and cats

By Dr Richard Miller

Symptoms of Athritis in Dogs

rthritis is a very common problem in our pets and it’s this time of year, when it’s getting colder, that they feel it the most. Arthritis can be seen in young dogs affected by juvenile joint problems including Hip and Elbow Dysplasia but is most common in older dogs and cats. It is relatively rare in cats because of their small size. Being big, overweight and very active throughout life are all predisposing factors for arthritis when older because, fundamentally, it is a wear and tear thing. Moving parts in cars wear out so they do in our pets. Arthritis can affect any joint with spine being most common then hips then elbows. Symptoms range from stiffness to lameness, reluctance to get out of bed in the mornings to difficulty standing up, short-stepping or shuffling gait, swollen painful joints to generalized lethargy including crankiness if they are particularly uncomfortable. Mamre ROAd

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MG on the mark

w i t h M A RK G EYER

At the half-season mark here’s my Emmy G awards! As we hit the half way mark (wow! Already!) it’s time to dissect the season thus far and hand out some awards, as well as a few gongs. Let’s start with the competition’s best team. Panthers. Sitting atop the competition table after 13 rounds the Panthers have brushed off all off-season speculation re their coach and dismissed all the outside headnoise in playing a great brand of footy to watch. Worst team - Parramatta So much was expected of the Eels this year after an almost fairy-tale ending to 2017 but alas, the fairy-tale has turned into a nightmare. Currently languishing at the bottom of the ladder with only 2 wins this year the Eel’s year from hell doesn’t look like easing. Most improved team - Dragons Like the Panthers the brand of footy the Dragons are playing this year is a breath of fresh air. Ben Hunt and James Graham have been a superb addition to a team who’ll be hard to beat come the business end of this year. Team gone backwards - Cowboys Who else really? I suppose Manly can be thrown into the same basket but the Cowboys were EVERYONE’S tip to win the whole thing this year. Whenever you have a player like Jonathan Thurston in your team you have to be considered; but it’s just not clicking for the boys from Townsville. Best player - Kalyn Ponga Every decade or so ‘that’ player comes along who is impossible to take your eyes off. Currently second in the Dally M medal counting, the 20-year-old dynamo has the rugby league world at his nimble feet. Best Buy- James Maloney Quite simply, the bloke’s a winner. Like Glen Lazarus in the 90’s, every team Maloney goes to has success. His leadership of the young Panther cubs has been a highlight. Most disappointing off season buy - Kieran Foran So much was expected of the Bulldogs this season, purely on the back of their 2 big off-season buys in Foran and Aaron Woods, but they haven’t struck a blow. Foran is visibly ‘not right’ as he seems to be carrying ongoing injuries. Most improved player - Damien Cook Sitting twiddling his thumbs last season on the

 Two teams flying!

 Two teams not so

bench for Souths, he has been a standout this year with his speed out of dummy half earning him a much deserved origin call up. Best coach - Griffin and Seibold Coach most under pressure - Brad Arthur Who will play in the Grand Final - Penrith v Souths Who will get the wooden spoon - Parramatta There you have it, my mid-season report card, let’s come back at the season proper at the end of August and see how many of these have changed. See you at the game...

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