I have just received an E-mail from Mr Chris Munroe who i again called this week below is a copy of the E-mail he sent me.

Dear Thomas,Many Thanks for your email about stormwater pollution at Redleaf Pool. I have checked our Drainage Maps and there does not appear to be any direct stormwater drains flowing into Redleaf Pool. I have attached a map below which shows the drainage lines in Blue. There is however a Stormwater Drainage outlet on Seven Shillings Beach. This drain collects all the runoff from New South Head Road and Victoria Road, and would be the most likely point source of pollutants There is also a stromwater drain on the western side of Redleaf Beach. I'm pretty sure this pipe only releases localised stormwater flows from the Council Chambers, and the Council Carpark. Stormwater runoff collects a range of land based pollutants as it makes its way to the receiving waters. Pollution sources include:
Litter from general sources;
Sediments and suspended solids from construction sites, and poorly landscaped areas,
oils, surfactants, heavy metals and other road pollutants,
organic matter such as leaves and twigs from gardens and street trees,
nutrients from fertilisers and detergents,
faecal coliforms from animal faces. and sewage overflows
toxic materials from accidental spills Habourwatch water quality The EPA measures the recreational water quality of Sydney Harbour and the surrounding beaches through the Horbourwatch and Beach watch programs. These programs involve the routine monitoring and reporting of Bacterial levels (Faecal coliforms and Entercocci) to determine water quality at recreational swimming locations. Please see the link below for the latest results for Redleaf pool:

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/beach/bwsob0607/bwar06074s.pdf

The state of the Beaches Report 2006-2007 is posted on the link above and provides information on water quality in Sydney Harbour's swimming beaches.

Unfortunately due to my e-mail site i have been unable to veiw the attachment of the map he sent me as such i will have to continue my MDC as befre and again contact Mr Munroe.

Today I followed up my E-mail with a call to a Mr. Chris Monroe. The man I sent my E-mail to is going to forward it to Mr Monroe in the near future so that he can read it and discuss it with me. He is looking forward to helping me and giving me some information that will help me get to my eventual goal, which is to put a stop to Rubbish in Red leaf Pool. As soon as he gets the E-mail he is going to send me some information and we might be able to set up a meeting. He seemed very enthusiastic to help me out and I am hopeful that I will finish my MDC succsesfully in the near future.

Today I sent my E-mail to Mr Michael Casteleyn who is the design engineer of drainage at Woolahra Council. Below is a copy of the E-mail I sent him.

Dear Mr Casteleyn,

My name is Thomas Gibson and I go to Cranbrook School in year 6. In school at the moment we are doing a unit of study called a Make a Difference Challenge started by the government. We pick an issue in the local community and we try to fix it. This is called taking action. On the Woolahra Council website it says not to go swimming in Redleaf Pool up to 3 days after heavy rain due to rubbish and pollution from stormwater drains. This is the issue that I have chosen to fix, however when I went down to Redleaf Pool there were no visible storm water drains. I was hoping that you could advise me on this problem and or set up a meeting so the we could discuss possible solutions.

Sincerely,

Thomas Gibson

I have not yet received a reply but am expecting on in the next week or so.

Last week I went into the council to set up a meeting with a member of the council who could help me to continue to take action on my issue. I went down to the service area and told the woman beheind the desk about my Make a Difference Challenge. When I was finished she told me that she would go and find their design engineer for drainage. However when she came back I found out that their drainage engineer was out for the day and that I should send him an E-mail instead. She told me to send it to the records@woolahra.nsw.gov.au and address it to Mr. Michael Casteleyn my E-mail with it.

Today I visited Redleaf Pool below the council, the current area that I am focusing my Make a difference Challenge on. While I was there I looked around for any evidence of the stormwater drains but to no avail. I walked all around the area but I couldn't find any evidence of storm water drains. However I know that there are some around because of an exerpt of the council information page on Red leaf saying not to go swimming in Red leaf up to 3 days after heavy rain due to pollution from storm water drains. My next idea is to ring the council up and enquire as to where I can find them .

So far I have failed to visit Red leaf Pool and so have not finished getting informed. So the next thing I have to do is to visit Red leaf and located the storm water drains and weather they have metal grilles covering them yet. If they do then I will have to come up with a different way to clean up Red leaf. However if they don’t then I will proceed as I have planned and request that they attach the metal grilles. It may be that the metal grilles are failing to work and if that is the case then I will ask the council to fix them so that there is no more rubbish in Red leaf.

The next part of my MDC is to take action. I am taking action by contacting my local council. Below is the first draft of the E-mail that i plan to send as soon as I get it checked, get the E-mail adress.

Dear Sir or Madam

My name is Thomas Gibson and I am in year 6 at Cranbrook Junior School. This semester we have been doing a ‘make a difference’ challenge. My MDC is to keep rubbish out of Red leaf pool after rain or storms. It has come to my attention that after rain Red leaf pool becomes filled with rubbish, possibly from storm water drains. If this is the cause of the problem then my solution is to put a metal grille over the storm water drains that can be opened and shut. After the rain someone from the council can come down and collect the rubbish that the grille has kept from going into the water. If the storm water drains are not the reason for the ‘rubbish in Red leaf’ then please contact me.

Sincerely,

Thomas Gibson

Below is a link to a article written in 2003 about Sydney's sewrage system and that it is crumbling leading to pollution and rubbish in the harbour after rains and storms.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/04/1059849343872.html

Below this entry is also a report from the N.S.W Governmaent Department of Environment and Climate Change talking about the heavy pollution from storm water drains leading into the harbour. And people thrOwing their cigarettes into the harbour and how this is a big problem.

However where I am just focusing on Redleaf the government is focusing on the whole harbour.

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/stormwater/casestudies/cleanharbour.htm

The Department of Environment and Conservation recommends that you avoid swimming during and at least three days after heavy rain at Harbour swimming areas due to the possibility of pollution from stormwater drains. Harbourwatch Information line 1800 036 677, or EPA Pollution Line 131 555. This is a qoute from the woollahra council websites for which there is a link below. It shows that the council knows that there is always the chance of pollution and rubbish after storms and rain. The way to fix this problem is to set up nets at the bottom of the stormwater drains so that they pick up the rubbish but not the water going into the harbour. Then after any storms or rain someone can come down from the council and collect it to dispose of it properly. I am still getting informed about my challeng but i am going to start taking action sometime soon. I am also putting some pictures down the bottom of this blog entry.

http://www.woollahra.nsw.gov.au/services/parks/parks_and_playgrounds_by_alphabet/redleaf_pool

This is the sort of cover that i am talking about, however it will be kept clean and usable[not broken] and the cover will be detachable so that someone can collect the rubbish.

For my Make a difference Challenge I am thinking of doing the problem of rubbish in Redleaf beach after storms and rain instad of lobbying for a cycling track at Christison Park. I am going to do this becauseRedleaf is a freindly and fun place to spend the afternoon but after storms and rain it is full of rubbish and pollution because of the stormwater drains.

Doing this as my Make a difference challenge is a better idea, because by cleaning up Redleaf I will actually be making a difference, whereas lobbying to the council to build a cycling track does not really help anyone in the slightest apart from letting them ride a bike in the park.

I still need to get informed about this problem but as far as I know there is no plan underway to get rid of the rubish in Redleaf. My plan to clean it up is to set up catchers around the storm water drains leading into Redleaf and have a collector go down down once a week and coolectall the rubbish up. The council is only about a hundred metres away from Redleaf so this should be no hardship.

So far this is my new Make A Difference Challenge. Think Locally Act Globally.

For my make a difference challenge I am going to try and make the council add a cycling track in Christison Park for bikes skateboards and rollarskates. I am going to do this because Christison is on the cliff and has magnificent veiws and what better way to enjoy them thanon a bike. Also going on regular bike rides and and things like that keep you fit and having a bike track will encourage people to go for bike rides.

I am not entirely sure that this is a very good make a difference challenge because it doesn't actually help anyone. Having a local bike track would be fun but it wounldn't really make a differenc in any way that I can see. I will have to do some more research before i choose what to do.

Once I have chosen my challenge what I have to do is to get informed. this could include interviewing experts about the issue, reading books about it, doing a survey on what people think about it, watch any news that may be related to it or going and checking it out myself to see what can be done.

After I have gotten informed I have to take action, I can write to the local newspaper, organise a fundraser or talk to the council. Anything that will contribute to the issue and in the end fix the whole problem.

Our slogan is Think Locally Act Globally