Golden Plains Shire Council will now offer residents a condensed version of the Council meeting minutes as a further service to residents who wish to learn about key Council business, but may not have the time to read the minutes.
Our new ‘Council meeting summaries’ will complement the Council meeting update video from the Mayor as well as the detailed meeting minutes, which are made available to the public a few days after the meeting.
Please note these summaries do not outline all of the discussion or decisions from the Council meeting – these updates provide key information and meeting highlights.
New start time
The Council meeting began at 6pm rather than the historical meeting time of 4pm, in an attempt to see if the later time slot would be more convenient for community members.
Assembly of Councillors
The first few reports that Council considered were procedural, in that they were reports that are generally more administrative in nature. The first dealt with the record of Assembly of Councillors for the past month. As required under the Local Government Act, we must document all times that the Councillors and officers get together to discuss Council business.
Reviewing appointments and authorisations
Next Council reviewed the appointments and authorisations under the Planning and Environment Act. This is the power that Council provides to Planners to allow them to make most decisions. With new staff, Council needs to formally resolve to provide those staff with the authority necessary to do their job. Similarly, as rules and regulations change, Council has to review the delegations that they provide to staff across the organisation and this last report did just that.
Golden Plains Community and Civic Centre
Council then moved on to the actual decision-making reports. The first one was in relation to the Golden Plains Community and Civic Centre (GPCCC) final Engagement Results Paper and final Concept Plan.
Having completed the extensive engagement process, the overall community response was generally positive with people welcoming the opportunity to engage and understand the project. There was some concern expressed regarding the proposed cost and the potential impact on rates. In most, but not all cases, the provision of detailed information by Council helped allay community fears. There was some feedback from the northern parts of the Shire that indicates that some residents feel the project is not important to them. While technology links were acknowledged, there was concern expressed that face to face customer service continue for this area. A number of suggestions were made in respect to the future of the Shire Hall in Bannockburn with the major theme being that it be kept for community use.
There was strong community feedback on using the new municipal chambers for broad community activities and this prompted a number of changes, including a permanent Community ICT Training Centre that will convert annually to serve as the Municipal Emergency Coordination Centre (MECC) and the Golden Plains Auditorium, a multi-purpose space that the community can use for events and performances and, when required, as the Council Chamber for official meetings. As a result, by including the following items we have been able to apply for $1M in funding from the Federal Government to include:
- Acoustic sensitive walls, ceiling and floor, operable walls and retractable seating
- Sound, lighting and rigging, video conferencing and a hearing loop
- Fit out of a commercial grade kitchen for events and storage space
- A covered area that will allow for indoor/outdoor events and better connection with Victoria Park.
The recommendations of the engagement process were:
- Council acknowledges and considers the key messages from the community and stakeholders as summarised above and detailed in the Engagement Results Paper to inform the development of the final scope of works for the project.
- Council acknowledges the high level of interest and support across all stakeholder groups responding to the engagement process for design features to minimise the environmental impact of the redevelopment in the longer term. Council will consider maximising the investment in environmentally sustainable design elements to reduce the overall lifestyle cost of the facility.
- Council continues a clear and transparent approach to keeping the community informed on the redevelopment project as the planning process continues and the project moves to implementation.
- Council utilises the current final scoping of works and design process to update the total project cost for any additional scoping. The total project cost will be identified as a ‘range’ rather than specified amount to allow for any variability in a final total cost as the project develops.
- Council acknowledges and develops a response to the concerns of residents in the north of the Shire around ongoing customer service and interface with Council, particularly the future of the Linton and Smythesdale civic facilities.
- Council acknowledges the views of a number of residents on the future of the Bannockburn Shire Hall with the transition of the Council Chamber to the new facility, with the majority of opinion focused on retaining the Hall as a community facility.
With the Engagement report endorsed, Council will now proceed to engage the Design Architects in the hope to have the construction contract let by the end of the year and for construction to begin in early 2019.
Planning permits
Following a deferral at the January Council meeting, Council reconsidered a planning permit application for a dwelling and shed at Lot 1 on Title Plan 352919L Glenelg Highway, Linton. The officer recommendation remained unchanged, recommending refusal. However, as the Council were more favourable, they decided to yet again defer the matter and allow the application to be formally advertised, so that neighbouring property owners had the right to consider the proposal. The matter will be re-tabled following the advertising period.
Audit and Risk Committee
Another procedural item, the Council received the minutes from the quarterly Audit and Risk Committee. This independent advisory committee to Council assists us in the effective conduct of its responsibilities for financial reporting, management of risk, maintaining a reliable system of internal controls and facilitating the organisation’s ethical development.
Financial reporting
Our Quarterly Financial report highlighted that as of 31 December we are generally on track with both our Operational and Capital Works budget.
At the end of the meeting, the Mayor and the Councillors discussed their attendance at meetings and events over the past month.