Abla’s folds – 94 problems but gentrification ain’t one – Uni-lateral win
• Abla’s Patisserie in Dulwich Hill has shut down. The iconic Lebanese sweets emporium has left the building (on New Canterbury Road) with nothing left but a ‘For lease’ sign. It’s not all bad news, as their Granville store is still around and has branched into online retail. Still, the bakery had graced our area with baklava, lady’s fingers and znoud el sit for over 30 years. It’s sad to see it go.
• Canada Bay Councillor Neil Kenzler is refocusing on the issue of affordable housing in his steadily gentrifying LGA, motioning at the meeting on Tuesday that the council follow up a response for a letter sent to the Minister of Planning Rob Stokes last year by the then mayor Angelo Tsirekas. The letter outlines a request for the State Government to consider absorbing the council into its 94F provisions, which would protect the council’s ability to collect contributions from new developments to go into Affordable Housing stock. Currently only two councils, City of Sydney and Willoughby Council, fall under the provision. Canada Bay Council has 26 affordable housing properties, and is looking to expand its portfolio, specifically in response to concerns Concord Hospital staff are being lost to hospitals in areas where staff can afford to live nearby. Speaking of which there’s a development in the pipeline on Majors Bay Road…
• Sydney University is gloating this week after some serious success at the Olympic Games. Chloe Dalton (pictured above), a member of the gold-winning women’s Rugby Sevens, rowers Sasha Belonogoff and Cam Girdlestone, part of the men silver-winning men’s squad scull and bronze winning Jess Fox, who kayaked in the women’s slalom’, are all University of Sydney students. Indeed, if the uni was to cede from Australia, it would still place 36th on the leaderboard, tying with Slovenia. Can we claim the wins for the Inner West?