About Us
Treeline Lurline is an alliance of local residents, businesses, community groups and government with a shared commitment to transforming Lurline Street into a place of trees, beauty, art and story.
The Treeline Lurline volunteer working group was established in 2019 and auspiced by the Katoomba Chamber of Commerce & Community. Our partners include Blue Mountains Tourism, National Trust (NSW) Blue Mountains branch and the Upper Mountains Arborist Alliance.
In March 2022, the Australian Government became a partner with its Black Summer Bushfires Grant to Katoomba Chamber for Stage One of the project.
As the public land owner, Blue Mountains City Council (BMCC) then also became a partner and the project manager.
Treeline Lurline Steering Committee
The Steering Committee was formalised in July 2022 through a Memorandum of Understanding with BMCC. It is constituted of 14 volunteer community members, almost all from the original working group established in 2019. It also includes two senior Council executives and the contracted project manager.
This Committee meets monthly. It is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the project, providing independent advice and feedback to the Council project team, facilitating community engagement and regular project reports to the Katoomba Chamber.
The skills and experience of the committee members include horticultural, arboriculture, architecture, landscape architecture, stone masonry, engineering, planning, tourism, heritage, Gundungurra and Darug culture, visual, literary and performing arts, communications, marketing, graphic design, creative direction, finance, law, project management and governance.
The full Terms of Reference for the Treeline Lurline Steering Committee are here.
Community Representatives
Aunty Carol Cooper
- Darug and Gundungurra Elder
- Aboriginal Liaison Officer, Katoomba Public
- Retired Nurse
- Born and raised in the Gully, Katoomba
Rachel Black
- Design consultant and graphic designer, Kollectiv
- Creative Director specialising in food, tourism, home and living
Kerry Brown (Secretary)
- Horticulturist, Nectar Garden Care
- Former journalist, publisher & public relations manager
- Blue Mountains City Councillor (2016-2021)
- Volunteer Director, Bendigo Community Bank Katoomba
Mark Jarvis
- President, Katoomba Chamber of Commerce & Community
- General Manager & co-owner, The Carrington Hotel
- Founding Volunteer Director, Bendigo Community Bank Katoomba
- Accountant
Jessica Lawn (Chair)
- Consulting Arborist & Horticulturist, Arborvitae
- Representative of Upper Mountains Arborist Alliance
- Heritage Advisory Committee, Blue Mountains City Council
- Resident of Lurline Street
Jenny McLaughlin
- Proprietor and resident of Shelton Lea Bed & Breakfast, Lurline Street
- Blue Mountains Tourism member
- Born and raised in the Blue Mountains
Paul McLaughlin
- Proprietor and resident of Shelton Lea Bed & Breakfast, Lurline Street
- Blue Mountains Tourism committee member
- Former business & commerical development manager
- Born and raised in the Blue Mountains
Ron Powell
- Landscape Architect and Stone Consultant
- Architect (retired)
- Co-author, Lurline Street Katoomba Landscape & Street Tree Plan Final Report, BMCC 2015
- Heritage Advisory Committee, Blue Mountains City Council
Kevin Schreiber
- Blue Mountains City Councillor
- Emeritus Mayor and former Councillor of Sutherland Shire Council
- Chair, Mayoral Reference Group for Business, Blue Mountains City Council
- Member, Central Blue Mountains Rotary
Michael Small
- Blue Mountains Photographer, Kumbayah Studios
- Member & Past President of Rotary Club, Upper Blue Mountains Sunrise
- Former Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, Qantas
- Born and raised in Katoomba
Pennie Steel
- Master of Visual Art and Design
- Visual Artist and Educator
- SteelReid Studio, Lurline Street
Rod Stowe PSM, FRSN
- Chair, Blue Mountains Branch of the National Trust NSW
- President, Blue Mountains Association of Cultural Heritage Organisations
- Volunteer member, Heritage Advisory Committee, Blue Mountains City Council
- Former NSW Fair Trading Commissioner
Lowell Tarling (Deputy Chair)
- Novelist, biographer & educator
- Poets in the Pub convenor
- Visual artist
- Artists for Treeline Lurline co-ordinator
Andrew White (Deputy Chair)
- Partner & Solicitor, Benetatos White, Lurline Street
- Immediate Past President, Blue Mountains Regional Law Society
- Volunteer Director, Blue Mountains Tool Library (Toolo)
Blue Mountains City Council Representatives
Jeff Roorda
- Director, Economy, Place & Infrastructure Services
- Civil Engineer
Will Langevad
- Director, Planning & Environment Services
- City Planner
Mark Liebman
- Treeline Lurline Project Manager (contracted)
- Director and Principal Engineer, Sustainability Workshop
Project Control Group
The Project Control Group oversee the logistics of the project including budget management and the appointment of contractors through the City Council’s procurement processes.
It is constituted of six experts from the Steering Committee. The three community delegates are Jessica Lawn, Mark Jarvis and Ron Powell with Rod Stowe as a reserve delegate. The three Council delegates are Jeff Roorda, Will Langevad and Mark Liebman. See profiles above for further information.
Expert Advisors
The scoping, costings, business case and grant applications for the project were only possible with the assistance of built environment experts in engineering, planning, landscaping and quantity surveying.
Their assistance was mostly pro bono. A Bendigo Community Bank Katoomba grant assisted with some of the major technical work such as the concept designs by a consulting electrical engineer for undergrounding power.
Landscape design & planning
Ron Powell, architect, landscape architect, stone consultant, Powell & Associates
Oi Choong, architect, landscape architect, Context Landscape
Hamish Dounan, planner, landscape architect, Context Landscape
Craig Burton, architect and landscape architect, CAB Consulting
Josh Allen, principal architect, 8Squared Architects
Brad Carmady, planner, Boskae Environmental Planning
Engineering
Mark Liebman, hydraulic engineer, Sustainability Workshop
George Azzi, consulting electrical engineer, AlfaOmega Engineering
Quantity surveying
Matt Turner, quantity surveyor, Matt Turner QS Services
