ourchat

IN THIS ISSUE

NEW STARTERS

NOMINATIONS FOR ‘WOMAN OF THE YEAR’ AWARDS

HARMONY DAY

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT AT HORNSBY

STRIVE AWARDS

GREEN THUMBS UP

APRIL 2014 ISSUE

*

THE HSC WARRIORS

TAKE ON THE STAMPEDE

New starters December 2013 to April 2014

Council cleanup...

Craig Clendinning Project Manager Major Projects Infrastructure and Recreation 2 Dec 2013

Paul Mc Monagle Town Planner Planning 2 Dec 2013

Timothy Willis Engineering Designer Infrastructure and Recreation 2 Dec 2013

Louise Johnson Work Health and Safety Adviser Corporate Support 5 Dec 2013

Gabriel Abdul-Ahed Engineering Designer Infrastructure and Recreation 6 Jan 2014

Suzanne Gerrish Administration Support Officer Environment and Human Services 6 Jan 2014

Dean Readett Gardener Hornsby Park Infrastructure and Recreation 20 Jan 2014

Elizabeth Swadling Business Information Systems Officer Corporate Support 3 Feb 2014

Gregory Strang Purchasing Manager Corporate Support 3 Feb 2014

Kate Nicolson Environmental Scientist – Fire Management Environment and Human Services 18 Feb 2014

Jannise Witt Community Facilities Officer Environment and Human Services 24 Feb 2014

Rebecca Allen Customer Service Officer Corporate Support 3 Mar 2014

Harry Bui Engineer, Design and Major Projects Infrastructure and Recreation 10 Mar 2014

Jeanine Boyd Customer Service Officer Corporate Support 11 Mar 2014

John Doyle Painter Infrastructure and Recreation 25 Mar 2014

ourchat

IN THIS ISSUE

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM DAY

EWASTE REOPENED

RICHARD SHIELDS AND DAVID MCNAUGHT RETIRE

STAFF WALK FOR OXFAM

MELBOURNE CUP

STRIVE AWARDS

DECEMBER 2013 ISSUE

*

SERVICE. TRUST. RESPECT. INNOVATION.

“The Hornado aftermath - 2013”

A concerned staff member not sure whether too raise an incident report in SafeHold or not:

“I’m a little concerned re the pic on the front cover of the last Our Chat, not everyone has their steel capped boots on, gloves or has completed a SWMS and site risk assessment for the work!”

Council Employees nominated for ‘Woman of the Year’ Awards

Lending a helping hand

Sue Pinckham, our Aboriginal HACC Access/Development Officer and Narelle Misko, our Children’s Services Manager were both nominated in different classes for their ongoing service to the community.

Sue Pinckham was one of four finalists out of 10,000 nominees in the Community Hero category in the NSW Government Family and Community Services Women of Year Award.

Sue is not somebody who likes talking about herself and feels quite embarrassed by the attention the award has brought. “It’s an absolute honour, but very humbling,” says Sue.

Sue’s work for Council involves raising awareness of the local Aboriginal community and talking with service providers to increase access for Aboriginal people across 11 local government areas in Northern Sydney.

To Sue it is not just a job, it’s a passion and her dedication to the welfare of the Aboriginal community and society in general deserves to be applauded. When asked if Hornsby Council is doing well in relating to the Aboriginal community, Sue gives a positive appraisal.

Narelle Misko, Children’s Services Manager, was also nominated in the 2014 Ministers’ Awards for Women in Local Government.

The ever helpful Waste Management team was at it again – going beyond the call of the job. As a car pulled into the eWaste drop site, Clint Drew heard the leak from the car tyre and quickly directed the car to a safe location. Between Clint and Daryl Bateup they promptly changed the tyre and the resident was on their way again, all without forgetting to unload the eWaste.

Well done to both for going the extra mile and helping the resident.

Service

All the hard work pays off!

All in a days work

Compliance Team – Planning

I would like to write to thank the team I dealt with who helped me with my pool registration. I had been trying to register my pool and unable to do so on the government site. When the site indicated that I should contact my local council I groaned and thought the worst.

I contacted your team and was greeted by and supported by some great people. I’m selling my home after a marriage breakup and it is a stressful time for me. I was worried about gaining the registration, getting fined for not registering the pool, and not being able to get my house to market without the registration etc. So you can imagine my relief and delight in the way your team handled my request without knowing the full background to my circumstances.

Thank you for your great support and service.

“Well done guys. These are my favourite kinds of stories. This guy will never forget this experience and due to your actions, he will always be a member of our Fan Club. Thanks for your efforts.” Scott Phillips.

Will Fox and Warick Booth of Parks received a big compliment from Customer Service

“Dealing with both these gentleman on a daily basis through customer service is a total pleasure, they always answer the call if they are available or follow up soon after, are friendly, efficient and helpful!

One example was about removing a dead nature strip on behalf of a customer where it had hanging branches and an elderly lady had hurt herself. He went out to site and arranged for Crew 91 to remove the tree in a short period of time and phoned me back twice updating me on the progress. I phoned the customer back and they were very impressed with the efficient service. Can you please pass on my comments to both gentlemen.”

Another positive comment about our Ranger Staff, Nathan Clark

“Just wanted to say thank you to the kind ranger outside Hornsby Girls High School this afternoon. He kept my daughter company whilst I was extraordinarily late to pick her up. Even though she probably told him that I had abandoned her ... I was stuck in traffic ...usual for Sydney! Great guy ...you should keep him! “

As you can see by this photo, Animal control is not always about cute and fuzzy animals and happy dogs. Councils animal control officers are often dealing with serious matters and serious dogs.

Recently they investigated an incident where an American Staffordshire bit the bottom lip off a person.

The dog was roaming in a person’s back yard and had them trapped in their house, too scared to come out.

“The dog may not look too happy in my car but you should have seen what it was like catching him and putting him in the car. And getting them out when they are like that can be a bit of fun as well.”

Trust

Trust

Success!

Congratulations to the following staff that successfully completed their work based traineeships

Certificate IV in Recordkeeping

Amanda Mattes (Records Management) completed her course in ‘record time’ – 10 months of a 24 month program.

The principle of Linked Training commented on Amanda’s success by saying:

“You should be so proud of your achievement! You have put in a lot of hard work since you commenced the qualification, during the duration of which you have shown an eagerness to learn and commitment to providing quality work.“

Certificate IV – Local Government Operational Works

Andrew Blunden – Asset Operations Technical Officer – Infrastructure and Recreation

Cert IV in Local Government Regulations

Jamie Chesworth and Grant Martin – Traffic Rangers – Infrastructure and Recreation

Certificate III in Horticulture

Ryan Stewart – Apprentice Gardener – Parks Service Unit–Infrastructure and Recreation

Diploma in Children’s Services

Maria Gardiner – Early Childhood Worker/Cook – Children’s Services – Environment & Human Services

Chintha Abeytilaka – Qualified Educator – Children’s Services – Environment & Human Services

Lakshmi Ramaswamy – Early Childhood Worker/Cook – Children’s Services – Environment & Human Services

Christine Gagliardi – Educator – Children’s Services – Environment & Human Services

Cert III Children’s Services

Alieh Maddah – Educator – Children’s Services – Environment & Human Services (and just commenced her Diploma – also under special funding)

Certificate IV – Frontline Management

Carol Young – Environment and Human Services Division Administrator

Nichola Clarke – Team Leader Compliance – Planning

Kim Harris – Community Development Officer – Environment & Human Services

Fallon Davis – Program Director/Educational Leader – Children’s Services – Environment & Human Services

Nicole Chilvers – Program Director/Educational Leader – Children’s Services – Environment & Human Services

Zane O’Sullivan – Asset Operations Support Officer – Infrastructure and Recreation

Advanced Diploma in Management & Operational Works (double Diploma)

Andrew Flick – Parks Assets Officer – Infrastructure and Recreation

... and a big thank you to all their supervisors and colleagues that provided encouragement, time and support to succeed in their studies.

HSC Warriors take on The Stampede

Barry Dewar, Sandy Lam, Petrea Pritchard and Mitch Bocking – The HSC Warriors! Took on the “Stampede” – 10kms of varying terrain (uphill, downhill, flat, muddy, wet and dirt followed by dirt and wet) with 30 ‘obstacles’ for the Warriors to tame.

In preparation Sandy offered words of advice such as hydration, polyester clothing, spare clothes, “you’ll be fine Mitch” and Barry uttered the 5 most comforting words ever … “we won’t leave anyone behind!”.

The first noticeable thing, other than a Superman outfit and a guy in a wedding dress, was the beer tent disappearing behind us into the distance as we headed forth.

We hit the “Stampede Stagger”, a mud filled creek that Barry was straight into and up to his neck in – as if searching for a lost survey marker of the titanic! Sandy and Petrea, being girls were ‘smarter’ and took the route along the bank – soon finding out that was goat country as they were funnelled straight back into the mud with a screaming splash.

A long jog uphill toward the “The Esky’s” an ice filled water tank. The team all took Barry’s lead and went straight in (against his and our better judgement). Petrea screamed “Barry!” at the top of her lungs. I was underwater and still heard it

and I thought 2 things (a) how ‘bloody cold’ the ice was, and (b) if girls often scream out Barry’s name unexpectedly?

Straight out of the ice bath (dripping wet) and intentionally placed was the 10,000 Volt “Bug Zapper”. Best described as ‘it hurts’ we stumbled through electrified ‘tentacles.’ Strange how the inevitable jolts render various muscles inoperative during, and the brain seemingly inoperative prior!

“Demolition Derby” crawl under, through or over some car wrecks – choice? Barry did all 3. The “Bus Stop” climbing over a double decker bus followed by a rather high “Fireman’s Pole”. Petrea seemed to really enjoy these obstacles as she ‘described’ the height of them with such passion!

The “Aqua Lily Pads” floaty mat things in a dam – sounds so ‘cute’. You wouldn’t believe the distance that Sandy didn’t make on her attempt!

7 down and 23 to go as we powered on through Tyre Tumble, Muddy Meadows, Water Cannon and Slip & Slide.

The worst obstacle “Stuck in the Mud” – high suction modelling clay. Barry blasted across it like Jesus on the water. Sandy…well she didn’t, and got well and truly stuck! Mitch and Petrea were now the ‘smart girls’ and simply bypassed that nasty muddy mess (and the obstacle too).

The Warriors – Sandy, Mitch, Petrea and Barry

Petrea getting a hose down

In summary some of the remaining highlights were;

nn Barry heading off into the bush to… (it is Glenworth Valley after all)

nn Sandy’s determination, she didn’t even seem to stop for breath

nn Barry uncontrollably spouting “I love this sh&t” and demanding all future council land survey jobs come complete with an on-site obstacle course.

nn Petrea’s “colourful” and quite ladylike description of each leg of the course (in her defence – only audible on the uphill, downhill and flat sections).

nn Mitch spending ‘longer than expected’ in some of the water obstacles.

nn But the biggest achievement, the biggest by far... Mitch and Barry surviving completing the course with Petrea and Sandy and the dangers inherent in that!

We made it to the end, through the last mud obstacle to pick up our 3 sizes too small T-shirt and onto the stand for the finisher’s photo shoot and the final finish line, the beer tent!

Asset Operations first employee awards were presented on Friday 21 March. They plan to award a team award and an individual award voted by Outdoor staff every quarter. One of the supervisors from the team will also receive an award.

The first winners are:

Anthony Farrugia – a highly skilled Driver/Labourer, Anthony has a background of stone masonry and laying bricks and we use his talents on many job sites.

Lynn Cogswell – Organises the signs throughout the Shire, she is a very self-motivated employee achieving good results.

Respect

Asset employees recognised

Harmony Day

On 19 March, Council took part in our first ever Taste of Harmony event as a way of celebrating Harmony Day.

This is the sixth year that the Taste of Harmony event has been running. It is an Australia wide event to celebrate the wonderful diversity that exists in Australian workplaces. And we proved that we are certainly no exception to this! The diversity of the celebrations and the delicious food that was shared was truly inspiring.

There were wonderful morning teas held across Council, we heard that:

nn Corporate Support Division (complete with Mexican music and an international food trivia quiz, the history of the Iced Vo Vo and Wagon Wheel.

nn Planning Division had food galore from all corners of the globe.

nn Infrastructure and Recreation had a lovely morning tea (we know the recognised colour for Harmony Day is orange, but is a bright orange traffic cone really the best table decoration you guys could muster up? Lol!)

nn Community Services got into the spirit of the event

nn The Assets team down at the Depot – we hear that the Hungarian Brown Bean Casserole was a real hit

nn ... and many more areas too.

Perhaps a note from Leonie Enriquez from I&R summed up the day best of all:

“The Taste of Harmony Event was a wonderful experience bringing together the diversity of cultures in our Division, kicking off the day with an Aussie selection for morning tea.

Celebrations continued with food prepared for a lunch in the park from across the globe eg. Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Serbia, Syria, Croatia, Poland, German, Ukraine, Italy, Ecuador, Vietnam, Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, England, Kenya, China and Egypt.

It was a great celebration and inspiration, understanding and acceptance of the differences within us. It was not just the food but the cultural dress worn by some staff which made the day more harmonious and enjoyable. Word is that we should hold this event annually.

The Managers and staff were cooperative and very appreciative of what we have organised today.”

It was so nice to see everyone get behind this event and show so much support for it, and on behalf of the EEO Advisory Committee, we thank you all for helping to make the day such a success.

Harmony Day

Parks and Leisure Regional Award – goes to Hornsby

Parks Service Unit

Residential subdivision for sale at Berowra

Innovation

In March, Parks won the Award for Use of Technology for our Mobility Solutions for Hornsby Shire application. This is the Regional Award (NSW/ACT) and it will now be eligible to be judged against all other regional winners for a national award.

The program is dedicated to fostering business and public understanding of the importance of excellence in the parks and leisure sector to the social, environmental, economic and physical wellbeing of all Australians.

Geoff Witt and the Parks staff recently completed work renewing the turf cricket pitch at Pennant Hills Park number 1 oval. Although not originally scheduled for 2013/14 the pitch area was too low and therefore was easily flooded by rainwater runoff, making it unplayable even after the rain stopped.

Large and expensive pitch covers bought by the club failed to properly solve the problem and created a new problem of manual handling that was dangerous to work health and safety. Geoff identified an affordable solution that could be achieved during the current cricket season.

Geoff and his crew, Will Fox, Roger Deane, Dave Giteau, Dave Jackson, Greg Howe, Wade Russell and others dug out the pitch square, replacing it with new soil and levelling it with great precision. The work was done over the spring with several weeks allowed for the new turf to take and bind.

The cricket club is delighted, telling Council they now regard it as the best ground in the Sydney-wide Shires competition.

Council’s Land & Property Services Branch teamed up with the Design and Construction Branch in developing and selling 5 residential lots of land in a 6 lot subdivision at Berowra.

“This exciting new venture provided staff across different divisions, an opportunity to do something different and expand their skills. This project will ultimately deliver a handsome profit for the community and a real sense of achievement for those involved” said Peter Thompson, Land and Property Services.

Five of the six lots created went to a public auction on Saturday 29 March at 120-122 Berowra Waters Road.

Beyond the expected™

This is your opportunity to upsize or upgrade from your current home, you may also be considering your 1st building experience, then you must see these 5 exceptional near level building lots waiting to build your dream home or new investment with ease. Water, sewerage connected to all lots. Conduits for electricity and telephone and internet also installed to all lots. Easy building sites, once in a life time opportunity to build your dream home.

√ Best Location Location Location√ Near level easy building sites√ Sunny aspect√ All services available√ Stroll to Berowra village & schools√ Walk to railway station√ Contour survey available√ An opportunity not to be missed

Auction Saturday 29 March 2014 at 2:00pm on site - if not sold priorView Saturdays 1:00 - 1:30pm or by private appointmentKarl Effenberg 0418 640 147karl.effenberg@lsre.com.au

Berowra Heights 120-122 Berowra Waters Road

LAND - THAT TICKS ALL THE BOXES!

Hornsby | 9477 3500lsre.com.au/hornsby

Beyond the expected™

FRONT

BACK

The Environmental Sustainability Team signed up to the Sydney Water Council Partnership Program in March 2013 with the aim of engaging 35 local businesses to implement water saving initiatives to reduce their water consumption by at least 15%.

The team also looked at Council’s highest water using accounts and noticed that the Berowra Pipeline account was unusually high. After a lengthy investigation Sydney Water confirmed that Council had been double charged over a number of years and reimbursed Council $163,746.89 in February 2014.

As part of the program the Team is looking into further energy and water saving initiatives to save Council more money in the future – stay tuned for more savings.

Did you know:

nn The average NSW household throws away more than $1000 worth of food each year?

nn More than one third of the average household garbage bin is filled with wasted food each week?

That’s a lot of wasted food… and money! To receive some great tips to help save you time, money and reduce your food waste, check out www.foodloversrepublic.com.au.

There are also great prizes to receive for Hornsby Shire residents as well.

The Food Lovers’ Republic is a pilot program coordinated by Hornsby Shire Council’s Waste Education team and Willoughby City Council in partnership with the NSW Environment Protection Authority (NSW EPA). The pilot program has been made possible thanks to a grant provided by the NSW Environment Protection Authority’s Love Food Hate Waste program.

Waste is undertaking a recycling campaign called Recycle Right. An audit last year found that a lot of residents were putting plastic bags and plastic packaging in their recycling bins (which can not be recycled in the yellow bin).

Waste developed a campaign to educate residents on the right things to put in the yellow bin and is currently mid way through stage one of the program conducting bin lid lift audits. For stage two they are looking for interested members of the community (you must live in Hornsby Shire) to have their photo taken and used in the campaign. The photos may be used in brochures, Facebook, truck sides etc. They are looking for a mix of residents eg. families, singles, couples etc.

Please send Narelle Bowly an email nbowly@hornsby.nsw.gov.au if you (and your family) are interested and willing to participate.

Partnership Program saves Council $$

Join ‘The Food Lovers’ Republic

Recycle Right

From January to April 2014, Ronja Schott worked as an intern with Human Resources and assisted with projects including auditing and updating our licence records, new letters of offer, formatting Determinations and Guidelines and the implementation of the on-line learning platform Learning Seat. Ronja also experienced many administrative duties.

Ronja also attended a few training events including team days with Assets and Libraries, sat in on some HR meetings and selection interviews, went out with Kristy Guise watering monitoring, Chris Murphy on parks and oval inspections and visits to Somerville Park Childcare centre.

As well as gaining an insight into Local Government in Australia Ronja has been able to experience the Australian culture and lifestyle. And to improve her Aussie/English language skills – her first taste of Rugby League with the Social Club at the Souths v Manly match on Friday 14 March. She is now a “Manly’’ supporter ‘sorry Paul & Mike! You wanted me to choose a team and Manly has such a beautiful beach!’ Shaun was so happy with her choice he took her to the Manly v Parramatta the following weekend.

Ronja has had some time to travel and has been to the Red Centre on a 3 day safari visiting Uluru, Kings Canyon and Kata Tjuta. She has visited the blowhole at Kiama, Newcastle for a surfing competition and experienced the Blue Mountains. When finished at HSC, Ronja will be going home via Melbourne, Adelaide, Byron Bay, Brisbane, Fraser Island, Whitsundays and Cairns.

International student at Hornsby

We asked Ronja what the major differences in Council and Culture that you have observed at Hornsby compared to at home?

“In Germany we are very formal. I first realised, that I am allowed to address everybody by the first name, which was a really nice change. There are differences in the salary system and the leave system. In Germany we get paid monthly which is nearly unbelievable for most Aussies. We do have 26 to 30 days annual leave depending on the age of the employee (changes are in progress).

The organisation of a council is nearly similar. We don’t have a General Manager but our Mayor is popularly elected, too. We have departments like the regulatory authority, finances, HR, building regulatory agency, alien’s authority, and so on. In contrast to Australia, we do also have youth welfare offices and social welfare offices looking for homeless people, unemployed people, socially deprived people,...

Concluding I would like to say thank you for the support, the funny aussie-slang lessons, the sausage rolls and chiko rolls, the Pavlova and everything else! It was a great experience to work overseas!”

HR thoroughly enjoyed hosting Ronja as part of her studies in “Public Management” at the University of Applied Sciences, Kehl, Germany.

Mark Bracknell from Advance Physio came to the WHS forum to explain the process of pre-employment assessments and the philosophy behind them. The aim is to reduce the risks of injury to employees and thereby reduce workers compensation insurance premiums.

The sometimes rigorous nature of the pre-employment assessment is to try and fatigue people so as to get a true picture of what they will be like in a real situation. This assessment is relatively new and is a breakthrough technique used in all the big sporting teams in the USA, that gets participants to do 7 exercises and they get a score out of 21. This score gives an indication of their risk of injury.

Mark did the functional movement assessment (FMS) on one of our health and safety representatives – Michael Collings (Brick Pit Supervisor).

Congratulations to the Strategy and Communications Branch for pulling the awards together and making it such a successful event. Unfortunately, as organisers of the event, Strategy and Communications were not eligible to submit any entries.

Scott Phillips was thrilled with the great response and of the popularity of the Awards across the organisation.

Gary Bensley said how proud he was that the Corporate Support Division accounted for 14 of the 41 applications that were submitted for the Awards.

Whilst congratulations should go to the winners, acknowledgement should go to the high quality of all applications.

For those teams who submitted but did not win an Award, please be assured that you all very close in a hot field of applications. Keep it up for next years awards!

Workplace Health and Safety (WHS)

STRIVE Awards

L to R – Pedro Pajuelo-Velazco, Mary Campbell, Pamela Cook, Kathryn Belshaw.

Green thumbs up!

Staff volunteer for a good cause

Unmasked

Hornsby Shire Council’s Community Nursery won the Best Government Nursery Award from the Nursery and Garden Industry Association (NGIA) for NSW & ACT.

The Community Nursery which produces over 52,000 indigenous tube stock and street trees every year is run by one staff member and 40 active volunteers, who contribute over 2,700 hours annually. The Community Nursery has been an accredited member of the NGIA since 2005.

This means that we were eligible for the National Awards in Sydney in March 2014.

Ross attended the Gala dinner on the 13th March and… we came a very close second place to the nursery from Hobart, which then makes Hornsby’s Community Nursery the Best Government Nursery on the mainland!

Geoff Sharpe with his sons Matthew and Daniel regularly volunteer at the Disabled Surfers Association Central Coast branch event. This year held at Toowoon Bay on Saturday 8 March.

The Masked Announcer (aka HR Manager Jim Mitchell) in ‘Annie’ which recently sold out at the Parramatta Riverside Theatre.

Volunteers and staff at Hornsby Shire Council’s Community Nursery

Team Days

Building Services and Depot Administration Services

After eight months of surveys, some self-discovery sessions using the Strength Deployment Inventory™ (SDI) and discussions about shared leadership we set off on our team day to Manly for a “Be Challenged Manly Mayhem event”.

For the uninitiated, this is a photographic scavenger hunt! We divided into teams and set off to be the first to the finishing line with as many challenges fulfilled as we could.

Much hilarity following:

nn Shaking hands with a person in uniform

nn Kissing fish

nn Patting dogs

nn Posing as store dummies

nn Pole dancing and so much more!

After being exhausted in the heat we retired for a well deserved lunch.

“You guys have put so much into team development over the past year, well done troops.” Julie Manning L&D.

Asset Management & Maintenance

How did we do it, we managed to pick the first hot and sunny day in three weeks to head to Milson Island.

After the ferry ride, the day started by debriefing our team survey. We discussed topical issues and explored the findings.

Following tea break we embarked on a bushwalk backed up with some commentary about the chequered past of the Island from our guide Mick. Some archery before lunch which included a few “ping” bruises from the bow string and some classy shots on the target with Ed Meiluk scoring a bullseye and a couple of close ones for Mike O’Connor and Ronja Schott.

Some of us maybe shouldn’t have returned to the BBQ for additional sausages given we were about to abseil! Most of the group were new recruits to the abseiling gig, there was a mixture of feelings from, “yes bring it on” to “no wait, hang on”.

Naturally there were plenty of Engineers on site to check the safety aspects of the ropes and pulley’s!

First prize goes to Bala Suthersan for his “encouraging” words to Manori Suriyarachchi as she was preparing for the vertical drop.

“You are on your own now Manori, no one can save you” he cried, we all gave him both barrels of dis-encouragement as he started down! The group agreed he has a potential career as a motivational speaker ahead of him!

A happy bunch then headed down river for the trip home.

Social Club

Bonus for Social Club members: $10 off the first book purchased.

The new 2014/2015 Entertainment™ Book will be available from mid-April, and we will be selling these as part of our social club activities.

Entertainment™ Books are packed with hundreds of up to 50% off and 2 for 1 offers for the best restaurants, cafes, hotel accommodation, attractions and activities.

You will receive $15,000 worth of valuable offers, so you can choose what you want to do and when you want to do it up until 1 June 2015.

Choose from three editions of the 2014/2015 Entertainment™ Books:

nn Sydney/Sydney North $70 – Special combined 20th Anniversary Edition

nn Sydney Greater West $65 (formerly Parramatta, The Hills, Blue Mountains and Macarthur)

nn Newcastle/Central Coast and Hunter Valley $60

Advise Sheree via email shanley@hornsby.nsw.gov.au if you wish to purchase one of these books by Thursday 17 April. Payment will be due mid-May upon collection of the new book.

This year the Entertainment books can be purchased as a DIGITAL edition for you Android or Apple device. Visit the link for more information about which membership to choose (book or digital):

www.entertainmentbook.com.au/about/Choose-your-Membership

When replying via email to order a book please specify:

nn the edition required,

nn if you are a social club member and

nn whether you wish the book or digital edition.

Click the link below to view the current books and the offers online.

www.entertainmentbook.com.au/Search-the-Book

Please view the Social Club Calendar of Events 2014 from Social Club’s intranet page intranet.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/staff-handbook/social-club

Contact Andrew Leahy if you would like to contribute to the next edition of Our Chat