Thank you to everyone who took part in Inner West Council's survey on park safety in Camperdown Memorial Rest Park and Fleming Playground. The results are due to be tabled at our Council meeting on Tuesday 11 December, and they make for interesting reading.

The 28 August 2018 meeting of Inner West Council saw us debate whether to adopt the revised development control plan (DCP) for the recently rezoned Victoria Road Precinct in Marrickville. Council's strategic planning and legal teams had recommended not to do this, as the contributions plan that compels developers to pay for infrastructure upgrades needs to be revised to match the new zoning. They advised that approving the DCP before this is done could leave Council facing costs of up to $50 million with limited ability to claim this from developers.

The Mayor, Darcy Byrne, moved that we adopt the DCP instead, which passed after all the Labor and Liberal councillors, plus Victor Macri, supported it. Here's the transcript of the speech I made during the debate on the night, explaining why I couldn't support this, and would be voting for what our officers had recommended instead.

I'm also supporting a rescission motion to overturn this decision at the next Council meeting on Tuesday 11 September. If you'd like to speak at this meeting, you'll need to register on Council's website by 2pm Tuesday. The meeting starts at 6:30pm at Ashfield Council Chambers. It's Item 18 on the agenda.

After years of campaigning by thousands of residents, the Upper House of the Parliament of NSW has agreed to conduct an inquiry into the impact of WestConnex. My personal submission to this inquiry runs to 71 pages, and you can read the full version on the parliamentary website. Here's the much shorter cover letter, which summarises my key points.

On Thursday 16 August, I joined my fellow Inner West Council councillor Colin Hesse on Radio Skid Row to discuss the ongoing disaster that is WestCONnex - specifically, the NSW government's failure to provide proper soundproofing to residents whose homes are being impacted by noise from the tollway's construction and/or operation. Also interviewed was Kate Cotis, one of the residents who is currently fighting the government for proper noise mitigation measures.

A quick update on the dust pollution incidents I've witnessed at the Sydney Metro dive site at Marrickville, just over the border from the Stanmore ward.

Residents living near WestConnex construction sites are still being denied proper soundproofing measures, despite this being part of the tollway projects' conditions of approval. Some have been fighting for proper noise mitigation for months, which is why I'll be moving the following motion at next week's meeting to get Council to advocate more strongly for these residents.

Back in March, I put a motion to Inner West Council for a report on WestConnex noise and air quality monitoring. That report's now come back and will be tabled at our meeting tonight, and I'm planning to propose the following actions.

Here's my latest supporter newsletter, with updates about our ridiculously long Council meetings, my motion and petition on reversing cuts to Inner West buses, Pride Seats, local democracy and more. Want to get these in your inbox? Sign up here.

As promised, I've sent the following letter via email to the Minister for Transport, Andrew Constance, outlining community opposition to the decision to terminate the 422 bus at Central instead of the CBD, and directing his attention to the petition signed by nearly 350 people in just two days. I also sent a very similar email to the Secretary of Transport for NSW.

Last week, Inner West residents in Newtown and St Peters discovered that Transport for NSW was making changes to bus services that are due to take effect from 6 May 2018. This will result in changes to routes, route withdrawals, and in some cases, reduced service. That's why I'll be tabling the following motion for urgent consideration at Council's Extraordinary Council Meeting on Tuesday 1 May. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know.