It was ‘standing room only’ in the gallery at the Bannockburn Shire Hall for the Ordinary Meeting of Council on Tuesday 26 March with all Councillors, many community members and several new Council staff in attendance.
International Women’s Day Recognition
The meeting began with a special recognition in honour of International Women’s Day, which celebrated the social, cultural, economic and political achievements of women while also campaigning for greater progress towards gender equality, on Friday 8 March 2019.
As part of International Women’s Day celebrations, Council created a social media campaign which featured filmed interviews with 11 local woman. It was a great success with more than 7,000 views on Council’s and the Mayor’s Facebook pages.
Following a screening of the compilation video, Deputy Mayor Cr Joanne Gilbert presented certificates of acknowledgement from Council to the following women: Dr Fiona Gray (Maude), Julie Kaye (works in Bannockburn), Zoe Lugg (Shelford), Patti Manolis (Batesford), Barbara Phillips (Inverleigh), Diane Ritchie (Meredith), Ailish Seaton (Teesdale), Noeline Trevor (Bannockburn), Kylie Turville (Linton), Lauren Ware (Steiglitz) and Claire Whiteley (Teesdale).
In addition, councillors nominated three other local women for acknowledgement: Alice Knight OAM (Linton), Shannon Robinson (Bannockburn) and· Andrea Van Der Meer (Teesdale).
The recipients in attendance are pictured above with Deputy Mayor Cr Joanne Gilbert and Cr Helena Kirby.
Amendment C74
Council considered the first Agenda item which proposed to rezone part of the land at 230 Hopes Plains Road, Inverleigh from Farming Zone to Low Density Residential Zone. Having been through an Independent Panel process which recommended approval of the rezoning, Council adopted the recommendation and will now forward the Amendment to the Minister of Planning for approval.
Inverleigh Structure Plan
With a large group of residents in the gallery, Council considered the adoption of the new Structure Plan for the Inverleigh Township. Developed over the past two years, community engagement on the new Inverleigh Structure Plan included a community survey and several workshops with residents and local groups.
The officer’s recommendation proposed Council’s endorsement of the plan and the commencement of a formal planning scheme amendment which will incorporate the new structure plan into the Planning Scheme. Following resident submissions and a robust discussion, Council adopted the draft Inverleigh Structure Plan and officers will now progress with the exhibition of the Planning Scheme Amendment.
G21 Regional Hockey Strategy
The G21 Sport and Recreation Pillar has developed the G21 Regional Hockey Strategy to provide clear strategic direction for the sport of hockey in the region over the next 10 years. The development of the Strategy has included significant consultation with the hockey community, input from key stakeholders and a public exhibition period of six weeks. The Project Control Group and the G21 Sport & Recreation Pillar have endorsed the document and are now seeking Council endorsement, which was received.
Community Engagement Strategy – Annual Review
Since its adoption in 2016, an annual update on the implementation of the Community Engagement Strategy has been presented to Council. This report outlined key milestones and feedback regarding implementation of the Strategy in 2018, and indicates that there has been a greater emphasis on community engagement from Council and an increase in participation by community members in engagement activities during the year.
Council Plan 2017-21 – Annual Review
This report satisfies the Local Government Act 1989 requirement that the Council Plan be reviewed annually and it outlined the additional community engagement that is being done over and above what’s required. The engagement process includes an initial round of consultation before a draft updated Council Plan is prepared for formal public exhibition alongside the draft 2019-20 Budget and Strategic Resource Plan.
Communications and Marketing Strategy 2019-2021
The Strategy aims to strengthen positive communication with local residents, business owners and other stakeholders, keeping these audiences informed of Council activities and more engaged with what is happening across the Shire. The draft Strategy that was presented to Council in December 2018 has since been amended to incorporate feedback received during the engagement process allowing Council to adopt it at the meeting. The strategy received praise from a local Inverleigh resident who had made a submission to the draft document.
Rural Councils Transformation Program (RCTP)
As part of the broader reforms, the 2018-2019 Victorian State Budget committed $20 million to the Rural Councils Transformation Program (RCTP) to explore and implement options to improve the long-term financial and operational sustainability for rural and regional councils.
Golden Plains Shire Council has partnered with surrounding local councils to submit applications for funding under this program, and is involved in three of the seven shortlisted projects.
The program aims to:
· Improve the financial sustainability of rural and regional councils by achieving economies of scale including through regional service delivery or collaborative procurement;
· Promote more efficient and improved service delivery through collaboration and innovation;
· Facilitate benefits for rural and regional communities, with priority given to those for rural communities; and
· Demonstrate potential efficiencies to be gained through regional service delivery.
Council looks forward to the announcement of the successful applications.
Tender forTeesdale-Lethbridge Road
Having undertaken a competitive tender process for the contract to reconstruct and widen a 740 metre section of the Teesdale-Lethbridge Road, and having evaluated and assessed the tenders received, Council approved awarding of the contract to BituMil Civil Pty, for the tendered price of $403,000. This project is fully funded by the State Government.
Audit & Risk Committee Allowances
In accordance with the Local Government Act 1989, a Council may pay an allowance to its Audit Committee members who are not a Councillor or member of Council staff. At the March 2012 Council meeting, the payment rate for the Audit & Risk Committee independent member allowances was set.
Since that time, the Chief Executive Officer has applied annual increases to the allowances equivalent to the percentage rate prescribed by the Minister for Local Government for Mayoral and Councillor Allowances. This reports sought formal approval from the Council to ensure all future increased align with the annual Ministerial increases for Mayoral and Councillor Allowances. Council agreed with this recommendation.
For more information on the meeting, visit the Meetings, Minutes and Agenda page.