by Judy Vergison, Events Coordinator, from Bulletin 6/2021

Glebe Society Walks – postponed

Unfortunately, our walks program, planned to begin in August, has had to be postponed. We will set new dates for all walks as soon as the situation is clearer. We have been in touch with those who booked the August walks and have arranged refunds. We still hope that Max Solling’s history walk through the Toxteth Estate may run on its revised date of 12 September. However, we will update those who have booked this walk of any further changes to arrangements.

Meet the Candidates Forum – postponed

Six candidates accepted our invitation to attend the Society’s ‘Meet the Lord Mayoral Candidates Forum’ on 21 August. All candidates were very accommodating to attend a rescheduled date later in August to give us a better chance of having a live Forum. We appreciated their flexibility and willingness to meet the community in person and to share their views on the future for Sydney, Glebe and Forest Lodge.

  • Sylvie Ellsmore (Greens)
  • Shauna Jarrett  (Liberal)
  • Clover Moore (Independent)
  • Linda Scott (Labor)
  • Angela Vithoulkas (The Small Business Party)
  • Yvonne Weldon (Independent)

Elections postponed to Dec 2021: Last weekend the NSW Government advised that the local government election date will be moved from 4 September 2021 to 4 December 2021, given the challenges of COVID. The COVID restrictions have a major impact on some of the basic foundations of the democratic process. The restrictions limit candidates from being able to directly share their policies with voters and put the lesser-known candidates and those with small budgets at a significant disadvantage.

In addition, the voting process is primarily around attending public polling booths, which may cause uncertainty for many in COVID times and given there is a limited access to other options, such as postal voting (which is subject to restrictions) and online voting (which has already closed).

To find out more about your voting options, head to the Commission’s website: https://www.elections.nsw.gov.au/Voters/Other-voting-options.

We will reschedule the date for the Forum to November 2021 over the next few weeks and will provide you with an update on how to book and what to do if you already had tickets to the August date.

Glebe Society’s AGM now planned for October

The Society’s AGM was planned for 19 September. Given the current COVID situation, it is now expected to be held in late October. We will come back to you with a date when things are more settled with regard to COVID in Sydney. Bookings will need to be made on Eventbrite. More details will be sent out in September 2021.

People who come to our AGMs say that they are one of the best they attend and a lot of fun. We recap on the successes and challenges of the year, have a fabulous guest speaker and afterwards gather together socially to celebrate the year.

Last year you will recall that the Glebe Youth Service (GYS) hosted our AGM and we were inspired by hearing from a number of young people who access GYS services. Those attending also saw the amazing mural room created by Aunt Kathryn Farrawell and the GYS young people.