Sydney’s first playground for seniors Reply

by Yasmin Parry

Seniors at play in Leichhardt. Photo: Yasmin Parry

Leichhardt Council hopes its new Seniors Playground at Leichhardt Park will become a fitness and social hub for the elderly community. Mayor Rochelle Porteous unveiled Sydney’s first playground for seniors on March 17^th to coincide with NSW Seniors Week. The park contains eight exercise machines designed specifically for people aged 60 and over.

“Leichhardt Council is very committed to its seniors. We strongly support them, ” Mayor Porteous said.

The future of retail: virtual is a reality Reply

by Oakley Kaddish

Virtual shopping with Sportsgirl is a mobile app away. Photo: Sportsgirl

“Since today’s consumer can buy anything online, what is the point of your store?” Chris Sanderson and Martin Raymond asked retailers at the annual Future Laboratory Retail Trend Briefing at the Art Gallery of NSW earlier this year.

Mr Sanderson and Mr Raymond, who are co-founders of the Future Laboratory, a research consultancy reporting on global retail trends, made a presentation called The Retail Transformation Age to introduce new concepts in virtual retailing.

“UK retail sales were down four per cent in the first quarter of 2011 and about 26,500 high street retailers will be forced to close by 2015. With traditional stores failing, more retailers are moving online,” Mr. Sanderson said. “UK online sales were up 11 per cent.”

A new footy empire for a worthy cause Reply

by Brendan Gallagher

The inaugural Sydney Community Cup saw the Sydney Sailors beat the Western Walers at Henson Oval. Photos: Brendan Gallagher

Adam Spencer, the ABC breakfast radio host, has already started recruiting for next year. “I’m going after Hayden Ballantine, Fremantle’s serial pest,” he says. “He’s done Q&A so he counts as media.” He also plans to get Swans player Adam Goodes on a program to make him eligible. “I’m going to use all the tentacles of the ABC to build this team.”

He is using the national broadcaster to build a football empire for a worthy cause. It follows on from his captaining the Sydney Sailors to a 7-4-46 to 5-7-37 win over the Western Walers in the inaugural Sydney Community Cup, played at Henson Oval on Sunday, March 18.

More than rising water levels Reply

by Karen Thorne

Sylvania Waters residents face increase in home insurance following Sutherland Council’s decision to name Sylvania Waters a flood-risk area. Photos: Karen Thorne

Angry Sylvania Waters residents have formed a Shire FloodWatch committee in response to the Sutherland Shire Council’s decision to label their homes ‘potentially flood prone’.

Garry Lynton, a founder of the Shire FloodWatch committee, says “The Council has zoned Sylvania Waters as a potential flood-risk prone area by changing section 149 Certificates, without residents knowledge.” A Section 149 Certificate is required when a property is redeveloped or sold, and is in accordance with the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act. Mr Lynton is also worried about the rise in house insurance premiums.

A social triumph for indie radio station Reply

by Hugh Robertson

FBi Social celebrates its first anniversary. Photo: FBi

Barely two years after FBi Radio was in dire financial straits and close to bankruptcy, the radio station’s live venue, FBi Social, celebrated its first anniversary in March with a series of special shows and events demonstrating the breadth of its audience’s interests.

It was late August 2003 that the fledgling Free Broadcast Incorporated (FBi) came in to existence, focusing on alternative music from around Australia and especially from Sydney. It immediately found a small but passionate audience and now, as then, the station is run almost entirely by volunteers.

FBi Social, based at the Kings Cross Hotel, was established in March 2011 with the aim of expanding opportunities for the acts supported by the station itself, and with the added benefit of giving FBi’s listeners a place to come together and celebrate their love of all things indie.

Highlighting the beauty of the natural world Reply

By Paul Clark

A stunning lightshow among the giant figs in the Earth V Sky installation. Photos: Sydney City Council

A new art installation in Bicentennial Park in Glebe by Sydney artist Allan Giddy, entitled Earth V Sky, was officially opened by the Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, recently. The work uses nine Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights to project coloured light on to two Moreton Bay Fig trees on the Glebe foreshore for 90 minutes each day at sunset.

The installation is designed so that the lights project colours that contrast with the sunset on to the trees. A wind turbine located nearby provides power for the light display.

Stem cell therapy for dogs Reply

by Catherine Harris

Vets are now using groundbreaking treatment using stem cell therapy to treat degenerative joint disease in dogs. Photo: Warchild

While it is not unusual to see a dog chase a ball, Chloe Verbowsky watches in amazement as her eight-year-old German shepherd, Jimi, outruns the most boisterous of puppies.

Thanks to veterinarian Glen Kolenc and groundbreaking treatment using stem cell therapy, Jimi has been given a new lease on life.

“Three months ago I couldn’t take him on walks. Now here he is chasing balls and jumping around,” Ms Verbowsky says.

For years Jimi suffered from degenerative joint disease, a condition that affects one in five adult dogs. Attacking the joint cartilage and adjacent bone, the arthritic disease is caused by stresses on the joint that occur naturally or as a result of trauma.

“His quality of life was really poor. I would have to inject him with painkillers every day and it got to the stage where putting him down seemed like the most humane option,” Ms Verbowsky says.

It was Dr Kolenc who suggested stem cell therapy as a solution.

Bringing corporate spirit to competition Reply

By Jemima Miller

Nissan Corporate Triathlon: it’s about corporate spirit. Photo: adityasen

More than 4000 office workers competed in the Nissan Corporate Triathlon on April 25 at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair. In celebrating the event’s 25^th anniversary, it wasn’t just the fact that any desk-strapped office worker who fancied themselves as amateur athletes could compete. There was more to it than that.

“It’s the competition between friends and colleagues that makes it such a fantastic event. It’s great to be in an active environment outside of the office,” said Janssen competitor Mat Klintfalt.

Renaissance of an island Reply

by Laura Drysdale

A giant mural bounds across the side of an old building on the northern side of the island. Photo: Clive Collins

A rare plot of land with a million dollar view is up for grabs on Sydney harbour. For once though, the silvertails won’t have a chance to snap it up.The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust is seeking expressions of interest for innovative business ventures to move into the docks precinct of historic Cockatoo Island.

“We’re throwing the doors open to everyone,” says Susan O’Brien, Property Manager at the Trust.

With the island previously the site of a convict settlement, reformatory school, reality TV set and now home to a thriving tourism and arts trade, there’s no telling what type of business plans might be offered.

Chinese medicine registration standards approved Reply

by Thomas Crooks

A Chinese medicine cabinet: Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council approves the registration standards. Photo: roaming-the-planet

The Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council has approved the registration standards for the upcoming national regulation of the Chinese medicine industry.  In a process that has drawn the ire of acupuncturists and Chinese herbalists across Australia – as well as their industry representatives –  the jury is out as to whether these standards will be reflective of the needs of practitioners, the healthcare sector, or the Australian public.