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Following the damaging winds sustained across the City of Burnside on Monday 20 March there remains a significant amount of work for Council over the coming weeks. Because of this we would like to provide an update of the ongoing works and subsequent impact on some of our services.

The immediate actions undertaken in the past two days include the following:

• Field service teams have been deployed across the city to primarily scout all suburbs so that we have enhanced intelligence of priority areas. Where possible the teams are cleaning up and are logging further work such as tree work, tree inspections and additional clearing.
• Contractors and consultants have been engaged to support in the field and they are working/have worked on priority areas including the George Bolton Swimming Centre, Hazelwood Park, Kensington Gardens Reserve, main roads and Stonyfell, which has the highest concentration of mature trees.
• The Urban Forest team are continuing to triage tree assessments and are working on the most urgent areas first. This includes prioritizing large mature trees near schools and kindergartens.
• Playgrounds at Hazelwood Park and Knightsbridge Reserve have been closed for the week due to the proximity of nearby branches in the surrounding trees. The Tusmore Wading Pool remains closed due to the recent power outage, affecting sanitation capabilities, and the damaged fence.
• Large trees/logs that can be left safely will remain in place for at least two weeks while field teams work on clearing other debris and hazards.

CEO Chris Cowley said the majority of field team services have been placed on hold until at least Thursday 23 March while these urgent works are ongoing.

“Following the intense weather event we sustained on Monday we have had a significant amount of tree debris fall within our streets, parks and reserves,” Mr Cowley said.

“Our field teams have been hard at work to assess the damage and clear debris where possible, and this work takes precedent at the moment.

“I am so proud of every team at the City of Burnside for their tremendous work over the past few days to effectively deal with this situation.

“On Monday alone we received a 141 per cent increase in phone calls to our Customer Experience team, and a 230 per cent increase in customer requests.

“This was a small but destructive event, the scale of which has not been seen since the 2014 storms. I ask the community to take the utmost care and only access our local parks and reserves if absolutely necessary. Our teams are still undertaking risk assessments with a lot of ground to cover over the coming days, and we thank you for your patience as we continue to work diligently to clean up the remaining debris.”

The City of Burnside has contacted the Local Government Functional Support Group to request assistance from other Councils, with a request made for arboriculture field service teams that can clear and chip tree debris.

More information will be provided in the coming days on our website and social media pages and we thank the community for their patience and support during this time.

Mayor Anne Monceaux brings you the latest news from across the City of Burnside, including:

✅ Burnside Toy Library wins international award
✅ Harmony Week Concert on Tuesday 21 March
✅ 40km/h engagement continuing until Friday 31 March
✅ Magill Village community celebration event on Sunday 2 April
✅ And more!

Find out more about what's going on in the City of Burnside at engage.burnside.sa.gov.au

Please note the pump track at Newland Park will be temporarily closed on Tuesday 14 and Wednesday 15 March to make it even more fun! #rideburnside will be back on Thursday 16 March. Thank you for your patience during this time

With French grapevine cuttings in hand, Dr Christopher and Mary Penfold journeyed to Australia from England in 1844. The Penfolds purchased land in Makgill (now Magill) and lived in a small stone cottage known as the "Grange". Christopher planted the vines, initially using the wine to treat his medical patients. While her husband was working, Mary tended the vineyards.

The business grew in popularity and after Christopher’s death in 1870, Mary assumed total responsibility of the vineyards. Mary passed away in 1896, but her grandsons were determined to continue the company. Penfolds went on to become a leading Australian winery.

The Grange vineyard in Magill is smaller today, but the cottage, buildings and some of the vines remain as a reminder of its early history.

Photograph: Penfolds Estate 1908, Burnside Library Local History Collection

Mayor Anne Monceaux brings you the latest news from across the City of Burnside, including:

✅ Environment Awards at Kensington Wama/Kensington Gardens Reserve near the adventure playground on West Terrace this Friday 3 March
✅ New edition of Focus arriving at residences this week
✅ Your Neighbourhood Budget open now for applications
✅ City-wide 40 km/h engagement opens on Monday 6 March
✅ Library in the Park at Tusmore Park on Friday 10 March.

Find out more about what's going on in the City of Burnside at engage.burnside.sa.gov.au

The City of Burnside is hosting a range of shows as part of the Adelaide Fringe. Check these out: adelaidefringe.com.au/fringe-lists/city-of-burnside

Burnside Ballroom

Telegraph Road - Glenn Skuthorpe presents Dire Straits

Friday 3 March 7.30 pm – 8.45 pm Immerse yourself in some true classics with this music that transcends time. Tickets $21 - $28.

A Class of Brass – Just Add Water

Sunday 5 March 2 pm – 4.30 pm Campbelltown City Band. Sit back, relax with a cuppa and enjoy as we take you on a musical journey through a multitude of musical genres and styles.

Burnside Library

Rhapsody in Chicago Blues

Sunday 12 March 3 pm Pianist Tim Barton

Pepper Street Arts Centre

Where the Wild Things Are Exhibition

Tuesday to Saturday until 17 March The breadth of works includes stained glass, textile and mixed media sculpture, mosaics, painting, photography and more.

The Regal Theatre Adelaide Fringe Events

Ticket prices vary – concessions available - bookings at bit.ly/CoBRegal

The Carpenters Songbook

Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 March 2 pm Experience all the hits from the world’s most successful brother and sister duo in this poignant and uplifting trip through the career of The Carpenters.

Sounds of Simon: Simon & Garfunkel & Beyond

Sunday 5 March 7.30 pm From his years as the visionary in Simon & Garfunkel through to his many solo hits, journey through one of the greatest back catalogues of all time.

Ashes to Ashes – Tribute to David Bowie

Saturday 11 March 2 pm and 7.30 pm A rare opportunity for Adelaidians to see Ashes To Ashes before they hit the eastern states to cement their status as Australia’s best and most authentic tribute to Bowie and his incredible and eclectic musical legacy!

Flaming Sambucas present Abba Gold

Friday 17 March 8 pm Celebrate all the greatest hits of the Swedish super group. This show is presented in an original story-telling way, and is guaranteed to touch your emotions and leave you with your spirits high.

The Creedence Revival

Saturday 18 March 7 pm Watch, dance and listen to a world class band belt out the Creedence Clearwater Revival songs we know and love.

Read more stories in Burnside Focus newsletter, out this week.

Did you know that Council provided over 20,000 plants for public and private planting last year? And we’ve made great progress on reducing the organisation’s carbon footprint. Want to find out more? The information is included in Council’s annual Environmental Sustainability Scorecard.

Important topics, such as tree planting, waste management and carbon footprint are all included. For each topic, baselines have been established. The baselines are a starting point, established in previous years, for comparison to the achievements in the last year. The Scorecard also includes other important achievements, like the Council being recognised as a Tree City of the World.

For further information, a detailed Environmental Sustainability Report is published annually and is available at: bit.ly/CoBScorecard

Read more stories in Burnside Focus newsletter, out this week.

Environmental Sustainability Scorecard 2021/22. A high-level overview of City of Burnside achievements in key areas.

Soft plastics include plastic shopping bags, bread bags and pasta bags. There are no longer collection points for soft plastics in Burnside. Previously, soft plastics were collected by the REDcycle program in Coles and Woolworths stores. Some Foodland stores also offered a collection service. But these services have been cancelled. Why? Because there was not enough demand for the recycled plastic – there was nowhere for it to go.

While soft plastic recycling had some good outcomes, there were also concerns about the recycling systems.

On average, the soft plastic recycling programs dealt with less than one percent of the plastic consumed by Australians each year.

We use too much plastic, especially packaging. Soft plastic recycling allowed manufacturers to promote their packaging as ‘recyclable’, making consumers feel better about buying their products. But most of that plastic was not recycled and there was never the capacity to recycle it all.

Soft plastic was sometimes added to asphalt or concrete. While these uses did give the plastic an extra life, it was downcycling, which means some value of the material was lost. Recycling systems should try to maintain the value of materials, like recycling glass back into glass, allowing the process to be ongoing. Downcycling loses value and degrades materials, limiting their future usage.

The removal of soft plastic recycling will concentrate efforts on reducing plastic waste, rather than pretending we can deal with the waste. We can all play a part. Buy products with less packaging (eg buy in bulk), or products with compostable packaging. Many supermarkets now have compostable bags for fruit and vegetables.

We can advocate for manufacturers, state and federal governments to reduce the use of unnecessary plastic. The South Australian government has banned some soft plastics (see www.replacethewaste.sa.gov.au). The federal government could legislate that all soft plastic packaging must include some recycled materials, creating an instant market for the soft plastic in circulation. The UK Government took another approach, introducing a tax on plastic packaging with included less than 30 per cent recycled materials.

The issues with soft plastics can all be solved by working together for positive outcomes.

We can still put rigid plastics in the yellow bin. Rigid plastics include things like margarine and strawberry punnets. They are recycled and turned back into containers and other plastic products. If you need assistance identifying materials for recycling, call the Which Bin helpline, 1300 137 118, or visit the website: www.whichbin.sa.gov.au

Have Your say on 40 km/h

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Read more stories in Burnside Focus newsletter, out this week.