Our October 2018 Council meeting was held in Linton and we were down one Councillor, as Cr Gilbert is away on annual leave.
Citizenship Ceremony
Council congratulated the following residents on their decision to become Australian Citizens:
- Mr John Callus from Malta who resides in Scarsdale
- Ms Daisa Cociuba from Romania who resides in Cambrian Hill
- Ms Farah Mohamad from Lebanon who resides in Gheringhap
- Mr Worasit Phiwphong from Thailand who resides in Lethbridge
- Ms Rose Runge from Philippines who resides in Scarsdale
- Ms Minh Chau Ho from Vietnam who resides in Dereel
- Mrs Tuyet Yeardley from Vietnam who resides in Dereel.
Bannockburn Plaza Planning Application P17-269
Having been deferred at the September Council meeting, the Bannockburn Plaza application was on the October agenda. The applicant, owner and objectors made verbal submissions. The updated Council report continued to recommend approval, and also addressed concerns raised at the September Council meeting.
Council approved the Planning Permit.
Amendment C74 – Inverleigh
At the December 2016 Council meeting, Council moved to prepare and exhibit Amendment C74 – Rezoning of land at 230 Hopes Plains Road, Inverleigh – an amendment to the Golden Plains Planning Scheme to allow for additional rural residential development. The amendment was exhibited and as a result, two submissions were received, which remain unresolved.
Offices recommended that the Amendment proceed to an independent Panel for consideration and Council supported this recommendation. A Panel Hearing is scheduled for late November.
Arts and Culture Strategy 2018-2022
Following the community feedback period, Council adopted the Arts and Culture Strategy 2018-2022.
G21 SPORTS STRATEGIES
Local government authorities within the G21 region, in partnership with Hockey Victoria, commissioned insideEDGE – Sport and Leisure Planning, to develop a regional strategy to guide the overall direction and development of hockey across the G21 region for the next ten years. With the draft completed, Council agrees to endorse the G21 Regional Hockey Strategy Draft for Public Consultation
Similar to the Hockey Strategy, Council agreed to endorse the G21 and Cricket Victoria Barwon Regional Cricket Strategy for public exhibition. This aims to guide the future planning and development of cricket across the Barwon region to 2028. It provides a framework to support the future management, development and infrastructure outcomes for the sport. The Strategy is a collaborative planning project between the G21 Region Alliance, G21 local government authorities (LGAs), Cricket Victoria, Victorian Government and the local cricket community.
Schedule 13 - Permits to Burn by private persons
It has been recommended that Council no longer issue ‘Schedule 13 - Permits to Burn by private persons’ and that this responsibility be put back to the CFA. As part of our ongoing desire to assist our residents, we have suggested that farmers can still come into the Council offices, where we can forward their applications to the CFA’s Bannockburn or Ballarat Regional offices.
Golden Plains Shire Council Annual Report 2017-18
In accordance with the Local Government Act 1989 (the LGA), Council is to hold a publically advertised meeting to discuss the Golden Plains Shire Council Annual Report 2017-18. As well as meeting this requirement, the Annual Report is a good opportunity to capture the highlights, successes, challenges and opportunities over the preceding twelve months. View the Annual Report here.
Council Plan 2017-2021 Implementation
Council was provided with its quarterly update on the Council Plan implementation, including the progress made in completing the 2018-19 actions contained in the Council Plan
RURAL COUNCILS TRANSFORMATION PROGRAM
Each of the G21, Central Highlands and Western Victorian group of councils are proposing to submit an application to Local Government Victoria (LGV) under the $20M Rural Councils Transformation Program. It is expected that the State Government will endorse 4-5 applications to progress to a full business case process. Each of the three applications that Golden Plains Shire Council is involved in will look at options to share both front of house and back of house services/functions, software and processes/policies in an attempt to ensure our ongoing financial sustainability.
Annual Report on Audit & Risk Committee Operations
Each year, we are required to present to Council the Annual Report on Audit & Risk Committee operations. It provides an overview of the areas of responsibility contained within the Audit & Risk Committee’s Charter to ensure they have been carried out. This report indicates that the responsibilities have been completed, however, Council management notes there is scope to improve monitoring and reporting.
Electrical Maintenance Services
Tenders were invited for the Provision of Electrical Maintenance Services (GPS-RFT07/2018) on 24 February 2018, closing 21 March 2018. Eight tenders were received and checked. Any tenders not meeting the mandatory criteria were excluded from further review. We recommended that three of the tenders (QA Electrical, GT Electrical and Stack Electrical) be approved to our preferred suppliers list.
Road Condition Assessment
Although we carry out road inspections by in-house staff every year, this report informs Council of the recent procurement process for the Road Condition Assessment (GPS-RFT12/2018 by an external contractor, something we must do every few years. As a result, we recommended that ARRB Group become on preferred contractor.
Bus Shelter Policy 6.1
As part of the rolling Policy Review, staff conducted a review of Bus Shelter Policy 6.1, last reviewed in 2014. No changes were proposed and it was approved to continue in its present form.
Delegates Report
Councillors advised what they have been up to over the past month. We also tabled the written records of Assembly of Councillors in accordance with section 80A of the Local Government Act 1989 from 26 September 2018 to 22 October 2018.
UNESCO World Heritage listing for the Goldfields region
A late item was raised by the Mayor, for the Council to join the other 12 councils in the Central Victorian region to participate in seeing an UNESCO World Heritage listing for the Goldfields region. Australia’s Premier National Heritage Region project is a collaborative partnership between 13 local governments, regional organisations, communities, academia and the private sector to build on one of the region’s major strengths. The whole project is designed to recognise and celebrate a unique history, heritage, character and experience, assist in driving the economic regeneration of the region and build community pride and understanding. The ultimate goal is a World Heritage serial listing of the Central Victoria Goldfields. A serial listing embraces a carefully created systematic collection of places, sites, buildings and artefacts located on public land from across the region which collectively expresses the narrative of one of the remarkable eras in world history.
The financial benefit to the region of World Heritage Listing has been identified as up to $68mil each year in added income, which will flow to jobs and local economies. It is estimated that for every 1% increase in tourism in the Central Victorian Goldfields Region, $11M is added to the regional economy. Each step in the project will assist in diversifying the economy and strengthening communities, enhancing civic pride and providing opportunities to work together to build the region.
The Central Victorian Goldfields is home to ½ million people across a diverse range of regional and rural settings. The regional opportunity of leveraging our unique goldfields heritage through a World Heritage serial listing is increased awareness, visitation, and liveability of the entire Central Victorian Goldfields region, through partnership opportunities and joined-up government projects. The case for UNESCO World Heritage listing is clear – the global rush for gold changed the world forever. The Central Victorian Goldfields played a major part in this never-before-seen wave of globalisation and modernisation. This legacy is still strongly and uniquely represented across the whole region today.
The meeting closed at 9:10pm.