St Ives to finally get its eruv
AFTER six years of planning and multiple disappointments, the North Shore eruv is finally on its way to being a reality.
Previous attempts to create a St Ives eruv have been met with claims that it would result in ugly wires across the leafy north shore, but The AJN can reveal most of the eruv has already been in place since November without people noticing.
It will comprise existing Ausgrid power poles and telecommunications cabling in the St Ives area.
The project is not yet completed and the eruv still needs the halachic sign-off required to make it functional.
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Vic Alhadeff said: “The eruv will undoubtedly enhance Jewish life in the St Ives area, and with negligible impact on the environment.
“This has been a long time coming and its authorised establishment is to the credit of the many individuals involved over the years in making it a reality.”
A spokesperson for Ausgrid said it had been approached by the Northern Sydney Eruv Association to establish an eruv in St Ives “some time ago” and it has no concerns about safety.
“We recognise there was some interest in the community about this matter, so we spoke to the association about the importance of it talking to the community about its plans,” the spokesperson said. “Ausgrid’s role is to make an assessment based on our network standards which focus on safety.
“The conduits pose no risk to the local power supply or the local community because they do not conduct electricity.”
Together for Humanity director Rabbi Zalman Kastel, who lives in the area, said it would mean a lot to observant Jews in the area who would use the eruv.
He explained that a lot of families currently have to find non-Jews to transport their items to and from synagogue on Shabbat.
“It would mean a lot to young families going to shul,” he said.
“They’ll also be able to go to other people’s houses to socialise.”
Previous attempts to establish an eruv in St Ives have been met with stiff opposition and controversy.
Comments on the North Shore Times website in 2010 spilled over into the realm of anti-Semitism while Channel Nine’s A Current Affair claimed in 2011 that Orthodox Jews were trying to turn the area into a religious enclave.
The NSW Land and Environment Court in 2012 upheld Ku-ring-gai Council’s refusal of a development application to erect a pole on public land that would have completed the eruv.
GARETH NARUNSKY
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