If you're like I was a couple of years ago, you'll have no idea why our streets were full of kids dress up yesterday but it’s Book Week, and a reminder that primary school has improved considerably. My pick of the bunch: a kid as the Tin Man, assembled from the family pots and pans, who looked the part and could be heard coming a block away.

On my daily run I also noticed the demolition of the former Comm Bank building is well underway. For those who missed it, the boarding house next door is being converted and joined to it, to form a co-living space with 91 rooms.

What does connecting with community really mean? It's a question I've been asking myself ever since I started this newsletter. Sally Gillespie answered it on the spot - better than I've managed to in a year of trying. She's a key contributor at Whites Creek Community Garden, a writer, a climate psychologist, and every bit the thinker. If you have a couple of minutes, the 3min summary of our interview is here… but betters still, if you see her around, stop and have a chat!

The stairway linking Susan Lane and Booth St is called Astrid Steps, named for Astrid Spielman - artist and singer with 1980s pop group The Particles, who lived on the lane for close to twenty years. Now a song has come of it: Stevie Rooney, a Scottish musician living locally, has written a track called Astrid Steps, out today, with an album launch to follow near Glasgow next month. Nice to think a quiet set of steps here has crossed the world and come back as a tune. Thanks to Troll reader Ingrid Spielman, Astrid's sister, for getting in touch to tell us.

Troll reader PB wrote in about the new-style street signs going up around Annandale. "What was the cost in dollars and time replacing perfectly good signs?" they asked. Their verdict was blunt: "What a waste of money that could have been better spent helping people." It’s a fair statement but there are already plenty of places to complain about council. What we'd rather do with a reader tip like PB's is make something out of it.

Someone designed that sign. Whatever you think of the spend, a person sat down and made those calls. So we thought we'd open it up. Design your own Annandale street sign. Your street, any style at all, hand-drawn, painted, made on a computer, built out of Lego and photographed. We'll print the best ones on a mug and post it to the designer.

Open to all ages, and we mean it. We want the six-year-olds and the retired graphic designers in the same pile. To enter: email us a photo or file. Include your first name and your street.

There are eight new police officers finding their feet around the Dale. Leichhardt's local command has welcomed eight probationary constables from Class 369, and over the coming months they'll be learning the streets and neighbours across Annandale and the suburbs around it. If you spot a fresh face in blue getting their bearings on Johnston St, give them a wave. Welcome to the neighbourhood. (Source: Leichhardt PAC FB Page)

Callan Park Bushcare is turning 30, and to mark it the volunteers are writing up their history - three decades of clearing weeds and coaxing back native growth along the foreshore. They'd love to include maps of where they've worked, but nobody in the group knows mapping software. So they're putting the call out: if you've got GIS skills and a few spare hours, they could use a hand. A nice way to pay tribute to a patch of green a lot of us walk right past. (Source: Annandale 2038 FB Group)

The council was due to consider its new Affordable Housing Policy on Tuesday night, and the housing sector has lined up behind it. The idea is straightforward: when developers gain from major planning changes and rising land values, renters share the benefit through affordable homes built to stay affordable for good. In a suburb where about 42% of us rent, that's no small thing.

Common Equity, Shelter NSW, Bridge Housing, Hume and the Women's Housing Company all backed the draft, saying it's a practical way to keep nurses, teachers, childcare workers, artists and young families living locally. Mayor Darcy Byrne said the real question isn't whether the Inner West grows but who benefits from that growth. (Source: Inner West Council news)

Sincerely,

Mark (resident of Annandale)