⏱️ The 146th edition of our newsletter is a nine-minute read.
Morning all, we’ve got a boatload of North Shore news for you this morning.
I was up bright and early Tuesday to be escorted down, down, down into the subterranean North Shore, to see the progress on the Western Harbour Tunnel. Originally this newsletter had the title of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under Waverton … but some quick maths ruled that out, and I went with a more accurate description.
Chatting to some of those in charge of the project, I learned about what happens to the colossal tunnel boring machines when the job’s done and how work conditions have changed since the last harbour tunnel was constructed. I also asked the road minister if buses will run through the tunnel to and from the North Shore.
Check out our full video below.
🗞 Onto the rest of the news …
HEARD THIS WEEK👂
Ⓜ The best places to visit along the new Metro line
On Friday, the southwest portion of the Sydney Metro line officially opened, connecting the North Western, North Shore and South Western regions of Sydney.
The new service means that a trip from Crows Nest to Marrickville can be as short as 20 minutes. If you’re a North Shore resident unsure what this means for you, here are a few ideas for exploring the South Western metro line.
The Greenway via Dully
With the addition of Dulwich Hill to the metro line, Sydneysiders now have direct access to the GreenWay shared walking and cycling trail.
The 6km of pathway runs through the Italian bastions of Haberfield and Leichardt, finishing at Iron Cove, where shared cycleways continue on to Drummoyne and Balmain.
Marrickville Ale Trail
Since the early 2010s, the industrial area of Marrickville has developed a reputation for craft breweries, now forming much of the “Inner West Ale Trail”.
Within walking distance of Marrickville and Sydenham stations are Batch Brewing Company, Philter Brewing and the Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre. A little further north are Bracket, Grifter and Young Henrys.
Image: The Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre
Local bakeries
Around the stations of Canterbury, Campsie and Belmore are a number of Lebanese bakeries selling fresh flatbread or za’atar manoushe.
For flatbread to take home, head to Canterbury Lebanese Bread. For fresh manoushe, try Campsie Lebanese Bakery and Belmore Lebanese Bakery.
Image: Canterbury Lebanese Bread
Dinner in Lakemba
The main drag of Lakemba is host to a mix of restaurants and cuisines you’ll struggle to find north of the bridge: try bolani, a stuffed flatbread from Afghanistan; Moroccan chicken tajine; or mutton madfoon, a spicy slow-cooked Yemeni dish. Finish off with a hefty slice of knafeh.
The annual “Ramadan Nights Lakemba” is on Haldon Street in February and March.
Read the full guide below.
🔌 New rules would pull the plug on data centres using too much power
North Shore data centres that don’t follow rules about energy use could have their power cut under a new proposal from federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen.
What happened: Much has been said about what rules will be enforced on data centre companies; less on how those rules will be enforced.
This week, we got our first look at what rule-breaking data centres can expect from the national energy regulators.
The rules: On October 20, Energy Minister Chris Bowen wrote to the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) — which sets the rules for the national energy market — to amend the National Electricity Rules.
Bowen’s request regards the energy demands of data centres, and how Australia will enforce the rules it sets around these demands.
This change would work in conjunction with several other data centre reforms, such as those regarding renewable electricity obligations and connection agreements.
What is it: Under the proposed rules, whatever energy data centres use will need to be replaced with new, renewable energy projects.
Data centres use a lot of power. Under these rules, if a data centre wants to set up in Australia it needs to build green energy infrastructure — wind or solar farms — that will supply that power.
Typically, a company breaking Australian energy rules results in that company paying a fine.
The new policy suggests this “may not be an adequate disincentive” and instead proposes a “load-shedding penalty”.
This means that if a data centre is using more energy than it is supplying, it would be forced to reduce this until it is in line with how much it can supply.
Local voice: “From a Federal Government perspective, they seem to acknowledge we need regulations,” said Lane Cove’s Sasha Titchkosky, who has been pushing against local data centres. “But they're still allowing data centres to be approved without these regulations.”
In the request, Bowen claims the purpose of the change is to ensure if a data centre fails to follow Australian energy standards, the impact of that falls on the data centre company, not consumers.
The Lorikeet sought comment from NextDC, Goodman Group, IFM Investors and Airtrunk, who operate or are building data centres in and around the North Shore.
Goodman Group and NextDC said they were “unable to provide comment”.
Read the full story here, or watch our video explainer below.
🦃 Cremorne man charged with “recklessly beating” bush turkeys
A North Shore man has been charged with maiming bush turkeys and possessing a prohibited weapon, following a NSW Police investigation into injured bush turkeys around Cremorne.
What happened: On Monday morning, a 56-year-old man living on Green Street, Cremorne, was arrested by North Shore Police officers “following an investigation into alleged animal cruelty”.
The investigation was launched after reports of injured bush turkeys in the vicinity of Green Street. In each of these cases, the bush turkeys were taken to a wildlife hospital and euthanised due to their injuries.
Officers attached to North Shore Police Area Command executed a search warrant and allegedly located “two slingshots and a number of metal ball bearings”.
The man was taken to Chatswood Police Station and charged with three counts of recklessly beating and seriously injuring an animal and two counts of possessing or using a prohibited weapon.
The man was granted conditional bail and will appear before Manly Local Court later this month.
Full story below.
🟣 Where to see the Jacarandas?
As jacarandas on the Lower North Shore bloom, North Sydney Council has started to close McDougall Street to allow crowds to admire the purple blossoms.
Despite an overcast sky and warnings of rain, the jacaranda-lined McDougall Street in Milsons Point was packed last weekend.
The closures are in place from 7am to 7pm on weekends, and do not apply to residents of the street.
The blooming season typically runs from October to December, and the closures will be in place for a maximum of six weeks.
See the full video below.
LOOKING NATIONALLY 👀
🇲🇹 The curious case of the Australian media company registered in Malta
Australia Daily and New Zealand Daily have well over half a million followers across Instagram and Facebook.
The don’t appear to name any journalists and the National Account couldn’t find any sign of original reporting.
The pages are run by Folia Media Ltd, a company registered in Malta, which is ultimately owned by two men listed as Australian, according to company records in Malta and Cyprus. Neither responded to questions by deadline.
Watch the National Account’s Archie Milligan below:
That’ll be all from me today.
As always, if you have a news tip, an idea for a story or think there’s something I should be covering, hit reply to this email or reach out at [email protected].
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Cheers,
Huw
