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The past

East Waste had a contract with SKM until September 2018. When SKM opened in South Australia, it had a sound and market competitive business model that included building a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) for local processing. External influences of fires and China Sword caused delays and some East Waste recycling was stockpiled locally - of which we were aware - and in Victoria.

Throughout this period, East Waste engaged closely with the Environment Protection Authority in South Australia to understand risks and how they were being managed. The EPA allowed SKM to continue. This afforded East Waste a level of confidence up until a year ago.

East Waste has not sent any material to SKM in the past 12 months. We don’t know how much material stored at SKM’s sites at Wingfield or in Victoria originated from the Member Councils.

Today (27 August), the Victorian Government announced a $10 million loan to the receivers of SKM for the processing of stockpile material. This means that all the stockpiled material in Victoria, including any that may originate from East Waste Member Councils, will be processed and will not go to landfill.

“To be honest I am surprised I got this far,” says Walter Silzer when being interviewed on the eve of his 100^th birthday. “I live on my own and I do my cooking, washing and ironing. They finally talked me into getting a cleaner but I did resist it for a while.”

Walter has two daughters, 5 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren. “I am lucky – both families live in Adelaide and I see them a lot. I also have a great circle of friends and the biggest help in my life is Elizabeth.”

Walter and Elizabeth met 10 years ago in the Burnside Library and became good friends. Elizabeth, 86, has her own age related issues and is not very steady on her feet but she visits Walter almost every day.

In recent years, Walter had two replacement hip operations and also insertion of a plate in each shoulder, but he is still more active than many people years younger! “I try to keep going, walking every day for half an hour to an hour,” he says. “I walk to the bus stop and often to Woolworths on Kensington Road as well as around Kensington Oval. I use a stick now after my stroke in 2016.”

Every Tuesday morning he catches the council run bus to Norwood to do food shopping. “I try to avoid all the ready-made stuff,” he says. “My favourite dish is pasta puttanesca. I also like to cook a big pot of veggie soup and I like the Asian sauces. I love red wine and have a glass now and then – not every night!”

For 14 years Walter volunteered at Meals on Wheels and in 2015 was awarded the Pride of Australia Medal for his community service. The following year he was interviewed by The Advertiser in an article comparing people in their 90s with the Queen, who celebrated her 90^th birthday that year.

Is he celebrating for his 100^th birthday in November? “I had parties for my 90^th and my 95^th then last year we had a big party for my 99^th – in case I didn’t make it to 100,” he says.

“Perhaps I would like to do some more travelling. I’d like to see Austria and Switzerland again.”

Walter says he takes nothing for granted. “I have had a wonderful life.”

Walter’s background:

Born and raised in Vienna, at the age of 19 Walter fled his family home when Hitler invaded Austria in 1938. “One of my grandfathers was Jewish so it was unthinkable that I would serve in the German Army.”

He went, at his father’s direction, to Switzerland and stayed with relatives. Though Switzerland was neutral young male nationals still underwent military training. This led to a shortage of men able to maintain essential services such as farming. And so it was that Walter found himself a refugee in a strange country and he was sent to a camp where he was one of only two non-Jewish men. Unlike the German concentration camps he was not a prisoner and was given regular time out to visit his relatives. He did manual labour, some farm work and took over the camp kitchen with the other non Jew, a former chef.

As war continued the Swiss Government started training the refugees so they could be employed after the war. Walter chose agriculture and after finally emigrating to Australia in 1947 he started his new life with his wife and worked on farms until he had his own property at Tooperang, near Mount Compass. He finally retired in 2002 at the age of 83 (after his wife’s death) and now lives happily at Kensington Park.

Richard Webster is a self-declared Waste Warrior. “I was a waste consultant for many years and worked to reduce our environmental footprint by reducing waste.” At his home in Beulah Park there is a tub under the kitchen sink for yellow bin plastics and an old bag for soft plastics (which go the local supermarket for recycling). “All our food waste goes to our chickens. They are easy to maintain and we get the benefit of freshly laid eggs.”

His son Tom is following in his footsteps. “I just had to adapt,” Tom says. “It’s easy really – all the paper, cardboard cartons and bottles go in the yellow lid bin.” Tom takes all the lids off and stores them in an ice cream container, then into the bin. “The small items can clog up the sorting machine,” Tom says, “so it is important not to put them in loose. Remember that if soft plastic can be scrunched up then it should not go on in the yellow bin.”

The whole family (including Mum Clara and younger brother Nico) are well educated and diligent in handling their household waste. So much so that they rarely put their red lid bin out as it is usually empty. “We might have a few old clothes or some foam food packaging which can get a bit smelly,” says Richard.

Tom, 14, says he and his brother make a game out of it to see who does best with recycling and waste disposal. And he has protested against climate change in the organised ‘School Strike 4 Climate’. “My friends are conscious we are inheriting the planet and we are scared about our future. The earth will be three to four degrees hotter if we don’t take serious climate action.” Tom is pushing for his school (Marryatville High) to introduce yellow lid bins to encourage students to recycle.

We are sometimes asked why there is only one pub in Burnside, when neighbouring councils have many more. A little research in the Library’s History Room uncovered some interesting facts.

Many of the early European arrivals to Burnside were Protestant dissenters who were mostly teetotallers, explaining why there were relatively few hotels originally built in the area.

Those that were built were placed in locations with naturally running water (creeks), to provide water supply to travellers, and also served aerated waters.

The water was often contaminated so despite the moral stance on alcohol, beer was always popular as a way to avoid drinking the water. It was also common, in the early days of liquor licensing, for hotels not to be purpose built but rather were private houses that the owner had received a licence to sell liquor from.

In 1849 the first Burnside hotel, the Turf Hotel, was built on the corner of Glen Osmond and Greenhill Road. At that time the Victoria Park Racecourse was located at the southern end of the parklands and the hotel was in a prime location – on a busy intersection and overlooking the course.

It later became the Parkside Hotel and in the 20s it was a common sight to see jockeys exercising horses just across the road.

The Turf was demolished in the mid-1990s and replaced by a fast food outlet, but for a short time it was one of two hotels in Burnside – the other the Burnside Inn. Built in 1853 in High Street, Burnside, it later became the Burnside Hotel until its closure in 1909.

In 1966 a new hotel was built on the site of an old wine saloon on the corner of Glynburn Road and John Street, known as The Feathers Hotel. At the time the nearby residents would only agree to the building of the hotel if it did not look like a hotel!

After the closure of the Turf, The Feathers Hotel became, and remains, the only hotel in the City of Burnside.

(Select the title of this story to see the photographs)

Businesses and residents living on Magill Road will soon see Stobie poles disappearing as the final electrical testing of new underground cabling is underway. Over the next three months SA Power Networks will be in touch with residents to connect their properties up to the new power lines.

The section of Magill Road from the Penfold Road and St Bernards intersection west to Vine Street will be the first to be connected. Residents east of the intersection up to Winsdor Avenue will still have a little while to wait as work to install the underground new power lines is still underway.

The City of Burnside’s Project Manager, Aaron Schroeder said that the connections are due to be complete by SAPN in a matter of months.

“The City of Burnside and Campbelltown City Council been in collaboration on this project since mid-2012 – consulting with the community, working with the State Government to gain support and funding, working closely with the businesses - to see work happening in Magill is incredible,” Aaron said.

Aaron says that the Stobie poles will soon be removed. “By October, once all the properties are connected to the new power lines, the Stobie poles will be removed,” Aaron said. “This will be a major milestone for this project and the culmination of many years of work, completely changing the look and feel of Magill Village.”

The two Councils are working to create a ‘village’ feel for the precinct that will include improvements to the streetscape and the urban landscape using more greenery and street furniture.

More information on the project here

At 91, John Brooking still maintains a busy social life, attending Council’s Men’s breakfast on Mondays, regular monthly Gents Day Out trips and is a member of the Burnside Writers’ Group. He is also learning Italian! “I have a lot of hobbies and it keeps my brain active”, he says. John and his wife are residents at Pineview Village and love the facilities that Burnside offers. “We use the Library constantly as I am a big reader. I love the friendliness of the staff at the Library, on the desk and at the Men’s activities.” John and his wife recently celebrated their 60^th wedding anniversary. “I am little unsteady on my feet these days,” he says, “But I still get out and about, catching the bus or a taxi”. When asked if he planned to take on any more hobbies, John says “I don’t really have space for any more activities.” But he always makes time for his three daughters and four grandchildren.

We asked John about his career and he shared some highlights with us.

At the age of 14 John got his first job at Melbourne radio station 3DB. “I started as an office boy and two months later joined 3DB’s Advertising Department, as a copywriter”. His writing was so good that he also wrote comedy programs and serials. Occasionally he would go on air as a stand-in. In June 1945 John was handed a piece of paper and told “Read this on air.” It was the announcement of the end of World War II. “I was 17 and it was a joyous time after such turmoil”. In 1954 John worked as a freelance in Sydney, enhancing his writing skills and co-writing “The Cadbury Show” and other scripts for comedians.

“I’ve had several careers really,” John says. “The first in radio in Melbourne and Sydney, then as a university lecturer in Social Work and finally as Superintendent of the Child & Family Treatment Centre, a division of the Department of Psychiatry in the (then) named Children’s Hospital, Adelaide.”

In 1960 John had started at Melbourne University and completed a Bachelor of Arts and Diploma of Social Studies (before later obtaining a post graduate Diploma of Education at Adelaide University). After a spell as a classification officer at Pentridge Prison, he worked as a social worker with families involved with interpersonal problems, foster care issues and child abuse. He also trained voluntary probation officers and students in field work placements.

In 1968 John and his wife moved their young family to Adelaide where he took up the role of Lecturer in Social Work at the (then South Australian Institute of Technology). “I was very interested in psychology and family therapy. At the Child and Family Centre, my staff consisted of an administrative assistant, two social workers, a psychiatric nurse, a psychologist and teachers and teacher aides seconded from the Education Department. We explored various approaches to therapy, working with disturbed children and family groups.”

In 1975 John had received a scholarship enabling him to travel to the USA and spent several months working in and studying mental health services from California to New York.

Retiring in his 50s (“I had worked for a long time”) John and his wife moved to Clare for a few years but then moved back to the city where he was a volunteer guide for 20 years at the Art Gallery of S.A.

Congratulations to Dr Phil Roetman, Hazelwood Park resident and Council’s Environment & Sustainability Officer, who was named Unsung Hero of South Australian Science Communication at an awards ceremony on Friday night, which kicked-off National Science Week in South Australia.

For the City of Burnside community Phil supports the development of citizen science through the Australian Citizen Science Association and leads the Burnside Urban Foresters, a project focused on trees and the wildlife they support. Residents can register their interest to participate at: http://trees.burnside.sa.gov.au/

“It was an honour to receive this award as recognition of the work I have done over the years with the community, which has been really rewarding,” Phil said.

He has also been recognised for his work in running innovative citizen science projects and events at UniSA for many years. These projects involved thousands of citizens in activities such as counting koalas, tracking cats, spotlighting in rockpools and recording bat calls. The data collected has helped in understanding the distribution of species, the home-ranges of domestic cats, the management of abundant species and the locations of threatened species.

Phil was the founder of Discovery Circle, a major citizen science initiative which delivered such projects as Corella management engagement, the Great Koala Count and Cat Tracker.

The City of Burnside is part of the Smart Cities program which uses technology to create opportunities for people to connect with council and each other to exchange information, experiences and opportunities.

Smart Cities use technology and data to do good things better.

As part of the project 29 smart sensors have been installed in Tusmore Park to measure the live usage of facilities including tennis courts, the wading pool, playgrounds, barbecues and carparks.

Car parking and traffic technologies that identify vacant parking spaces and road congestion points have been installed, along with sensors that register if the tennis courts and barbecues are being used. You can check to see if they are available to use before you head to the park for a barbecue or a hit of tennis

This data will be available to the public in the coming year.

Burnside was other smart technologies already running that you can access like Action Burnside where you can report potholes and footpath damage online, for example, and track in real time the priority and schedule for repair.

Smart rubbish bins are being trialled at the Glenunga Hub. These bins know when they need to be emptied sending an alert to the Depot team - keeping public spaces clean and tidy, and streamlining collection services.

The Urban Forest Interactive (UFI) map was launched in 2018 storing the data of more than 40,000 public and street trees. You can view data for individual trees throughout the City, including tree species, age, height, environmental benefits, and more. You can also find useful information about the importance of conservation as well as how Council are planning to grow the Urban Forest. Future plans for the UFI may include Citizen Science opportunities for the community to be able to report on the trees using this platform.

Burnside’s Library and the Glenunga Hub are also smart community hubs that connect people physically and virtually with each other, with council services, and with the digital landscape.

We chatted to JP, Fit and Fab instructor and Auldana resident Kana Nathan about his sporting achievements, his love of gardening and his plan to never retire!

Kana was very active at school and university. “I used to play a lot of sports at school and at uni– I was an athlete. Then marriage and children and work got in the way and sport went by the side.”

At the age of 61 he saw a promotion for the Australian Masters Games in Adelaide and made some inquiries. “I didn’t want to make a fool of myself so I asked the organisers for the results of participants in my events of previous years,” he says. “When I saw the results, I thought ‘I can do this’.”

He has since competed in the Australian Masters Games at Regional, Interstate and international venues for 20 consecutive years in pole vault, high jump, triple jump, long jump, 60 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres, the field pentathlon and in multiple throwing events.

As an 81 year old Kana has close to 500 medals “I lose count” and keeps them in a box. “My grandchildren loved to play with them when they were little.”

In October Kana will be competing in National Masters Games Adelaide in seven events (in the 81 – 84 year category): javelin, discus, hammer, weight throw, shotput, throws pentathlon. He will also compete in the high jump but gave up the pole vaulting, long jump, triple jump and the running events in 2016 after surgery.

He has had his share of health issues with 2016 being particularly bad. “I had a heart attack and now have five stents in my arteries. I had an abdominal aneurysm which almost burst and a mild stroke - it was a bad year.” But Kana credits his fitness with getting him out of hospital quickly and back into his normal routine; going to the gym at least three times a week for a minimum of one hour, all year round, to build muscle power and strength.

His love of fitness also translates into his volunteer work. He runs Fit and Fab classes for seniors twice a week at the Civic Centre with his team. “I want to keep seniors out of nursing homes by improving their strength, balance and mobility – and to have fun! It’s a bit of Tai Chi, weights, bands, meditation and a little bit of jazz.”

His youngest clients are in the mid-70s, lots in the 80s and he has two 94-year-olds. “I call them mature people not oldies.”

Kana is also a Justice of the Peace (since 1980) and has volunteered at Burnside for 11 years.

But his big love is his garden of tropical and sub-tropical fruit trees. “I believe we need to grow as many trees as possible to keep our air clean. But instead of growing 10 apple trees I can graft 10 types of apples on one tree,” he says. He also grows multiple grafted stone fruits, persimmons and lots of exotic fruit trees. He also does a lot of grafting for friends and family. In 2016 Kana won the inaugural City of Burnside Garden Award for his edible garden.

Kana is also a biology graduate and worked as a teacher. His lust for learning sees no bounds. “I had a bad back and went to a chiropractor who fixed it so I decided to study chiropractic.” He still operates his business one day a week and has no intention of retiring. “Retirement is for people with no imagination,” he says. “My ambition is to serve the community.”

Achievements:

Awarded ‘The Celebrate Age Award 2017’ by Active Ageing Australia, in recognition for his contribution to Active and Positive Ageing through his exercise program at Burnside. He received this award from the SA Governor.

In 2018 Burnside City Council awarded him ‘The Certificate of Appreciation’ in recognition of his Outstanding Achievement as a volunteer at the council in the community centre.

Represented Australia in the Masters Games in New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Cook Islands and Malaysia.

Represented Malaysia at the Asian Masters track and field games.

Certified fitness leader by Active Ageing Australia.

Athletic Capitan of Royal Military College Malaysia and received the college colours for athletics 1957.

Capitan of the Mysore University Athletic team 1964.

Holds the South Australian State Master track and field record in triple jump, pole vault and hammer throw.

Mount Osmond resident and internationally renown artist, Emma Hack, will launch her SALA Festival ‘Be Still…' exhibition at Burnside Village, at 5.30 pm tomorrow (Tuesday 6 August) in the Fashion Mall. Emma will be onsite Monday, Wednesday & Fridays 11 am -1 pm; Artist Talk Saturday 10 August 3 pm. The exhibition runs 6 - 25 August.

This SALA sees Emma create her latest collection featuring multiple bodies, a true test of her talent and vision. COLLAGE (2008) and her collaboration with Designer Rugs will accompany the new works exhibited within the beautiful Burnside Village Fashion Mall.

Emma works in the unique medium of her refined body paint installation through a combination of painting on canvas, body painting and studio-based photography. Exhibiting extensively worldwide since 1999, Emma’s astounding artworks have since captured the attention of collectors and art lovers worldwide.