Profile of the Week Palm Beach & Whale Beach Association Annual Report 2024/2025 + Guest Speaker: “Two Lives: Beverlie & Midget Farrelly”The Palm Beach Whale Beach Association held its 107th AGM on Tuesday May 13 2025.
Assoc. Prof. Richard West AM was re-elected President and tabled his report, made available for the community this Issue - Prof. West has already served 10 years in this capacity.
Prof. West paid tribute to Virginia Christensen at this year's AGM, stepping down after years as a Vice-President, although she will remain active as a member.
Gordon Lang will be taking up the VP role alongside fellow VP Frank Edgell-Bush AM, who continues to represent the community and its residents.
Frank Edgell-Bush received his AM in the 2018 Queens' Birthday Honours List; 'For significant service to business, particularly to improving standards of corporate governance across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.'
After presenting his report, Beverlie Farrelly, as this year's Guest Speaker, was interviewed by PBWBA Secretary Robert Mackinnon, a gentleman with a passion for local history, who is currently working on the Association's History - a legacy of looking after the local community and environment that stretches over 107 years.
“to preserve and enhance the natural beauty of the area and to protect the local amenity by promoting proper planning of all developments and by expressing positively, in appropriate quarters, the views of residents.”
History Beverlie Farrelly in interview with PBWBA Secretary Robert Mackinnon: “Two Lives: Beverlie & Midget Farrelly”Bernard "Midget" Farrelly AM (13 September 1944 – 6 August 2016) was the first world surfing champion. Mr. Farrelly, was the first Australian to win a major surfing title, the 1963 Makaha International Surfing Championships, the unofficial world surfing championship of the day. In 1964 he won the inaugural World Surfing Championship at Manly Beach in Sydney.
He was also the first president, in 1961, of one of Australia's oldest continuous surfboard riders club, the Dee Why Surfing Fraternity. He presented a ten-part television series about surfing in Australia, The Midget Farrelly Surf Show, for the ABC. Midget was posthumously inducted as a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours.
Palm Beach Whale Beach Association Secretary Robert Mackinnon's interview with Beverlie at the 2024-2025 AGM of the Association.
Seen through the eyes of Beverlie Farrelly, discover how different the Avalon Beach of the 1950s and 60s was from the one of today: life was simpler and moved at a slower pace as a community was formed in the wake of WWII.
As wife of the late Midget Farrelly, Beverlie shared insights into the remarkable life of this multi-faceted man who became Australia’s first international surfing champion.
Food Invitation to share: Naturellement Festival – A Natural Wine & Food Celebration Just a Ferry Ride Away - runs May 17 to 18 at Ettalong Beach
Events Inaugural Murcutt Symposium 2025: 11-13 September, Raturdays, Warringah Rugby's Annual Luncheon, Band Comp. at Palm Beach, 'Warringah and Pittwater Garden Heritage' Talk: May 7 - at Avalon Armchair Gardeners, Music, Markets, Social Groups, + lots more.
Community News Vale Don Mitchell, Prof. Richard West AM Commences 11th Term as Palm Beach Whale Beach Association President, Parliamentary Committee to examine early childhood education and care sector in NSW, NSW Government publishes report from Special Commission of Inquiry into Healthcare Funding, Independent review into the NSW Early Childhood Education and Care Regulatory Authority, Renewing the water main in Old Barrenjoey Road: Update, Elanora Heights Newsagency- Post Office Closing After 24 Years, Intergen. Opportunity, Appeal for Information: Warriewood, Appeal for Information: Avalon, Narrabeen Sports High School Car Boot Sale, First NSW Waste and Circular Infrastructure Plan released, Australian-first women veterans research project to help address support needs, Create NSW Cultural Grants - Now Open, Elanora Players Next production!, Have your Say on SafeWork NSW’s priorities for next financial year, Monika's Doggie Rescue Pets of the Week: Holly + Anzac, Volunteers in the spotlight as nominations open for inaugural emergency award, Have your Say on SafeWork NSW’s priorities for next financial year, Nominations open for the 2025 Public Education Awards, Volunteers in the spotlight as nominations open for inaugural emergency award, 2025 Environmental Art & Design Prize Entries Now open, Solar for apartment residents: Funding, ACMA welcomes commercial radio code of practice consultation, Nominate a Volunteer Today: 2025 Awards, Funding for war memorials in NSW, Pittwater Sports, Social, Environment, Residents Associations and Groups
Environment Feedback invited until June 3 on proposed shorter-term WaterNSW prices: IPART's Prices for WaterNSW Greater Sydney from 1 October 2025, Sydney Water sewage licences reviews open for public consultation: Warriewood + Manly, Neville Cayley Calls Just Two Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoos Visit PON Yard, Pat Connors Avian Grant for Glossy Black-cockatoo, WIRES 2025 Grants Applications Open May 19, Weed of the Week: Blue Spur Flower - please get it out of your garden, Urgent repairs to Fisher Bay and Castle Rock sections of Manly to Spit Scenic Walkway, Solar for apartment residents: Funding, First NSW Waste and Circular Infrastructure Plan released, Have your say: NSW Sustainable Communities Program - Support to minimise the socio-economic impacts of the Restoring Our Rivers 450 GL target, Have your say: Improving camping in NSW national parks, Beach Clean: May 25, Avalon Community Garden's screening of Climate Changers - Tim Flannery's search for climate leadership: May 30, 'Warringah and Pittwater Garden Heritage' talk hosted by Avalon Armchair Gardeners: June 7, Whale Census Day 2025: June 29, NSW Government’s call to action on illegal tree clearing: Have your say, Phase one of Central Coast's Lake Munmorah remediation begins, School students help Sydney save critically endangered gum, Stakeholders collaborate on chlamydia management strategy for south-western Sydney koalas, Safe passage for koalas and other wildlife: Port Stephens Drive, Where do native fish go when water flows in the northern Murray–Darling basin: new Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder’s research, Land Court rules against Ensham (CQ) coal mine due to greenhouse pollution, First big test for the newly elected government: Open Letter, ‘1080 pest management’, Volunteers for Barrenjoey Lighthouse Tours needed, Johnson Brothers Mitre 10 Recycling Batteries: at Mona Vale + Avalon Beach, Reporting Dogs Offleash - Dog Attacks to Council, Plastic Bread Ties For Wheelchairs, Stay Safe From Mosquitoes, Mountain Bike Incidents On Public Land, Report fox sightings, Marine wildlife rescue group on the Central Coast, Watch out - shorebirds about, Possums In Your Roof?: do the right thing, Aviaries + Possum Release Sites Needed, Bushcare in Pittwater: where + when, Friends Of Narrabeen Lagoon Catchment Activities, Gardens and Environment Groups and Organisations in Pittwater, Ringtail Posses, Local Turtles, Newly discovered frog species from 55 million years ago challenges evolutionary tree, It’s a hard job being environment minister; Here’s an insider’s view of the key challenges facing Murray Watt, Hidden connections of more than 100 migratory marine species revealed in interactive map, Antarctica has a huge, completely hidden mountain range; New data reveals its birth over 500 million years ago, Range anxiety – or charger drama? Australians are buying hybrid cars because they don’t trust public chargers, Farmers fear dingoes are eating their livestock – but predator poo tells an unexpected story, David Attenborough’s Ocean reveals how bottom trawling is hurting sealife in horrifying detail, From nuclear to nature laws, here’s where new Liberal leader Sussan Ley stands on 4 energy and environment flashpoints, Two lizard-like creatures crossed tracks 355 million years ago. Today, their footprints yield a major discovery, Pittwater Reserves: histories + Walks, Birds, +
Aquatics Don Mitchell: Tribute to A Community-Minded Local Legend
Children Sunday cartoons and animations: Building a Rocket - Wallace & Gromit, Surf Beach: 1965, School students help Sydney save critically endangered gum, Comet, rocket, space junk or meteor? Here’s how to tell your fireballs apart, Curious Kids: If our eyes see upside down, how does the brain flip the picture? + If an insect is flying in a car while it is moving, does the insect have to move at the same speed? + Why do people grow to certain sizes?, Stories this week: Scribbaloo and the Color Cruncher + 'Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly' read by Kyra Sedgwick, clubs fun and more for you
Youth Narrabeen News: ARIA Chart Topper- Nick Woodford, Pittwater's Australian Emus, Surf Beach: 1965, More than 1,000 apprentices, trainees and cadets to start careers in NSW councils, School students help Sydney save critically endangered gum, Opportunities: Big Brother Movement's Scholarships Now open for All Young Australians + Soundboks Oz Grom Open + Band Comp. at Palmy + 2025 Environmental Art & Design Prize + Inaugural Murcutt Symposium, Financial help for young people, School Leavers Support, Word Of The Week: Wild, Men are shaving off their eyelashes on TikTok; Here’s why that might be a bad idea, Dishevelled, dehydrated delirium: new Aussie film The Surfer, starring Nicolas Cage, is an absolute blast, Don’t click without thinking – and 4 other ways to keep yourself safe from scams, How a toxic seaweed choking Caribbean beaches could become a valuable resource, How Denmark’s oysters are transforming foodies into citizen scientists, Bronze-age Britain traded tin with the Mediterranean, shows new study – settling a two-century debate, How to write a perfect wedding speech – according to ancient orators, Australia’s ‘inconvenient’ women writers blazed a trail through the 20th century, Meta’s new AI chatbot is yet another tool for harvesting data to potentially sell you stuff, Physicists at the Large Hadron Collider turned lead into gold – by accident, Comet, rocket, space junk or meteor? Here’s how to tell your fireballs apart, Forest home of ‘polar dinosaurs’ 120 million years ago in southern Australia recreated in detail for the first time, local groups and services for you
Seniors Prof. Richard West AM Commences 11th Term as Palm Beach Whale Beach Association President, Surf Beach: 1965, VALE Don Mitchell, Intergenerational Opportunity, Elanora Players Next production!, AvPals 25th Year: Term Two Newport Sessions, Don’t click without thinking – and 4 other ways to keep yourself safe from scams, New chronic pain therapy retrains the brain to process emotions, Meta’s new AI chatbot is yet another tool for harvesting data to potentially sell you stuff, Dementia risk depends on more than lifestyle factors. Overstating this can cause stigma and blame, Viking pregnancy was deeply political – new study, Australia’s ‘inconvenient’ women writers blazed a trail through the 20th century, Local services and groups for you
DIY Ideas Potted Colour for Winter Brightness As Summer crop is harvested: Natives + Perennials + what to plant now for A Winter Vegetables crop
The basil, lettuce and rocket planted as seeds at the end of Summer have all gone into yummy tomato and basil salads, bruschetta and the like over the past few weeks. Some of the lettuces are still producing leaves and will for the next several weeks, as will the last of the basil. Just make sure your plants are getting some good sunlight hours as the days shorten and cool.
That's the beauty of a potted food garden - you can move it around to suit what happens each year.
See: A Summer-Autumn Salad Garden for a Balcony or at Waist-height
We didn't need to water them too often due to all the rain, but did get some all-purpose powerfeed, the seaweed variety, from Johnson Brothers Mitre 10 in Avalon to give the plants a boost once the seedlings had settled. Well diluted for young plants, given once week, and with heaps left for what we'll use it for this Winter and next Spring, this product can turn pennies into pounds in your garden.
We also put in some Marjoram, Mint and Rosemary and Thyme to keep the Parsley company a few weeks after the seeds sprouted and to set us up for the use of these over Winter in soups, sauces and to add flavour to roast veggies. Dried herbs are great but no match for that potent sprig just picked from your own little potted garden.
In May in Sydney, you can still plant cool-season crops like lettuce, spinach, radishes, carrots, and beets, as well as some warm-season crops that can tolerate cooler temperatures, such as peas - although you may need a bigger pot for some of these and casters for the base so you can move it around more easily.
May is also a good time to start seeds indoors for warmer-season vegetables like tomatoes and eggplants.
This Issue some flowers you can plant now for Winter brightness.
Park Bench Philosophers Future of Sydney’s transport unearths a window to its past: colonial-era merchant, Prosper de Mestre's Pittwater Connection
Pictures Mona Vale JRLFC's Inaugural Beau Hewitt Cup on The Raiders Home Ground
Inbox News Community-run food co-ops can reduce food insecurity and boost healthy diets, Pacific voyagers’ remarkable environmental knowledge allowed for long-distance navigation without Western technology, A law change will expand who we remember on Anzac Day – the New Zealand Wars should be included too, Using a blue inhaler alone is not enough to manage your asthma, Appointments to the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW, Young detainees often have poor mental health, Soon your boss will have to pay your wages and super at the same time; Here’s how everyone could benefit, View from The Hill: Ley says Liberals must ‘meet the people where they are’- but how can a divided party do that?, This 6-point plan can ease Australia’s gambling problems – if our government has the guts, Beacon Products Zandox Group and Mr Warren Skry in court for alleged misleading and unconscionable sales practices: ACCC, NSW nurses recognised for their dedication and compassion, NSWNMA Stronger Together Awards