MAYOR PATTISON: Good evening, everybody, and welcome
to our October Council Meeting.
I'm Mayor Liz Pattison and it's a pleasure to welcome members of the community
- thanks for coming in
- and those joining us online to our Council Meeting.
The meeting is being livestreamed and we have one of our Councillors,
Councillor Wellington, who will be joining us online tonight.
Live captioning will accompany the livestream
of this meeting and we hope that this assists those
who may have hearing difficulties.
I would like to acknowledge that here in Torquay at the main Council office
we're gathered on Wadawurrung Country and I pay my respects to Elders past,
present and emerging.
The Wadawurrung people have nurtured and protected these lands and waterways
for thousands of generations and I'm so grateful for the opportunity
to live and work in such a beautiful part of the world.
I'd also like to reaffirm Council's
commitment to reconciliation.
In light of recent happenings, I think it's really important that
as a Council we reaffirm that commitment and we will walk
with our traditional owners.
We also wish to acknowledge the traditional owners
of the lands on which each person is attending
and acknowledge any Aboriginal people who are viewing the meeting tonight.
October has been a lovely month of inclusive community events
and markets that have brought people together, groups
and businesses together to connect, learn, support and inspire, and some
of the highlights from the month: The Art of the Minds Festival,
which delivered a nine-day calendar of mental health and wellbeing events
across the Surf Coast Shire.
This coincided with National Mental Health Week,
with the Festival sharing powerful messaging aimed
at reducing stigma and normalising the experience
of mental illness across all ages and demographics.
With the population, there were so many great events.
I went to the song contest and it was great to hear
all the different talent we have in our community and, amazingly,
lots of the guys over at the Surf Coast Secondary College.
There were a few of those competing and there was some amazing talent,
so that was great to be a part of and I know many Councillors attended lots
of those events.
We also had the VACSAL State Senior Football and Netball Carnival,
which took place at Banyul Warri sporting precinct.
The events delivered by the Victorian Aboriginal Community
Services Association Limited and the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative
included 30 teams.
There were 500 participants and 200 volunteers from around the state,
so that was also a great event held this month.
And The Sound Doctor wrapped up their 2023 session
of gigs in the Anglesea Memorial Hall with incredible artists
over two nights to sold-out crowds.
And the Victorian Welsh Choir performed in the Aireys Inlet Community Hall.
And also just come in from last night, congratulations
to the Torquay Rubbish Rangers for their award
at the Victorian Sustainability Tiny Towns Awards.
The Torquay Rubbish Rangers will just be celebrating their first year
in February and have made a significant impact
on keeping Torquay clean, with around 30 members led
by the dedicated Dean.
They do a great job in collecting litter and rubbish around our Torquay area.
So well done to Dean and the Torquay Rubbish Rangers.
And now we move on to our agenda.
So let's get that underway.
The Council meetings operate according to our adopted Governance Rules,
which include the following procedures.
During the meeting, the mover of the motion or an amendment may speak
for a maximum of five minutes to open the debate
and then a further two minutes to make any closing statement.
Any other Councillor, including the seconder, may speak
to a motion for no more than three minutes.
I ask that members of the gallery avoid using mobile phones
during the meeting as this can be distracting to Councillors,
as well as other members of the gallery.
I also note that any unauthorised recording of the meeting is prohibited
under our Governance Rules.
However, you can always get a copy of the official recording on our website
after the meeting.
I'll now recite our Council pledge.
As Councillors, we carry out our responsibilities with diligence
and integrity and make fair decisions of lasting value for the wellbeing
of our community and environment.
I am not aware of any apologies for tonight's meeting.
We still have two more Councillors to join us but I'm sure they will come
in when they're available.
We now move on to confirmation of minutes.
Can I have a mover and a seconder to confirm the minutes
of the Council Meeting held on 26 September 2023 and 3 October 2023?
Thank you, Councillor Allen.
And a seconder?
Councillor Schonfelder.
All those in favour?
And the motion is carried.
Are there any leave of absence requests?
No?
Declarations of conflicts of interest
- if a Councillor or an Officer has a conflict of interest,
they must declare it now and do so again just prior
to the item being discussed.
Are there any conflicts of interest?
No conflicts of interest?
No.
Presentations.
Councillor Schonfelder, I believe you've got a presentation
to make?
CR SCHONFELDER: Thank you kindly, Mayor.
On the Saturday, 7th of October, I had the great pleasure
of attending the launch of 'Barwon Park: People and Place' with yourself
and also Councillor Wellington attended.
A book that has 210 pages and was edited and co-authored
by Ursula De Jong and Jacqueline Healy, and it was a great occasion attending
the launch of the book.
And I notice that in the book, the King has written a message wishing
people in the Surf Coast all the very best and, in particular, the King says
- in this instance he refers to the Wathaurong
and Eastern Maar people, who are the traditional owners
of the land that encompasses Barwon Park, and there was quite a lot
of First Nations input into the book.
And I know that you very much enjoyed visiting Barwon Park and we went
for a tour of the mansion and it was a great day.
And, as a former volunteer of Barwon Park, I along with my colleagues,
we wish the National Trust and the volunteers and all those involved
with Barwon Park and in publishing this book all the very best.
Thank you, Mayor.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
And Councillor Bodsworth?
CR BODSWORTH: Thank you, Mayor.
I'd like to give a presentation to mark the sad passing of Tess McMurtrie,
a young woman from Anglesea who passed away
in her early 20s in late September from osteosarcoma,
a very nasty bone cancer that predominantly affects people
between the ages of 10 and 19.
Tess's life was celebrated at a memorial at the Eumeralla Scout Camp Outdoor Chapel
, at which probably 500 people heard about Tess's life and gathered
to celebrate her life and her battle against a horrible disease,
and the one thing that I particularly wanted to point out to you
from that was the obvious very deep connection
of the mostly young people in the crowd with the natural environment that
they were in, both at the Eumeralla Outdoor Chapel,
which is a stunning setting, and also in Anglesea, most
of them being local people
- and Tess's deep love of the natural environment
around Anglesea, so that came through particularly strongly
and I think it's a good occasion for us all to reflect on the natural environment
of the Surf Coast and how deeply people feel it.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Bodsworth.
Councillor Allen?
CR ALLEN: Thanks, Mayor.
Sadly I report to the Council the death this month
of Lorne resident Carol Baker.
Carol was awarded in 2014 a Surf Coast Shire Outstanding
Achievement Award: Women Inspiring Change.
Carol provided fearless leadership as a champion for the preservation
of the neighbourhood character of Lorne, an issue for which, in a variety of fora,
current Councillors also advocate.
In partnership with her late husband Laurie,
she was an active member of the Lorne Planning
and Preservation League, the forerunner of the Friends of Lorne,
having significant input into the 2012 Lorne Structure Plan.
Carol, along with Alan Nance, produced, with funding from the Shire,
the Lorne Heritage Walk Pamphlet, an outstanding guide to the older homes
in south Lorne that are set in a wide reserve containing our much-loved
blue gums.
When I was Principal of the Lorne P-12 College, Carol was appointed
to the staff in 1993.
She was responsible for the introduction of Japanese into the curriculum and
for the exchange program bringing Japanese teachers and administrators to study
in our unique setting.
I wish to extend to Carol's family our sympathy.
This and future Councils will honour Carol's work if we can slow
down the destruction of Lorne's very special tree canopy.
Thank you.
Mayor, may I make another presentation?
Councillor Bodsworth reminded me that four of us attended the 100th celebration
of Eumeralla a couple of weeks ago
- Councillors Bodsworth, Stapleton, Hodge and myself.
It really was a wonderful occasion to celebrate the 100th anniversary
of Eumeralla.
It had a special relevance to me because 60 years ago, I was a scout
at Eumeralla Scout Camp, and so it was actually great to go back and be part
of that 100th celebration.
Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thanks, Councillors, for your presentations.
We don't have any submissions for this meeting
but we do have some public questions, so members of the public who wish
to ask a question to Council are able to submit their written questions
in accordance with Council's Governance Rules,
and we have two community members submitting questions.
So we have a total of four questions tonight.
Our first question is from Mat Hines.
Mat, did you want to read your question?
MAT HINES: Hi, Mat Hines from the Surf Coast Energy Group.
Earlier this year, Council announced its plans
to develop an Integrated Transport Strategy.
At the September Council Meeting, an update
on the Climate Emergency Action Plan was presented,
which listed Council's continued support for integrated transport planning
across the Shire: Action 20.
An update on the implementation of the Council plan was also presented.
The second Council plan report in a row, Strategy 5, to make it easier for people
to move around our towns and in nature without relying on cars, was listed
as one which Council would slow down on implementing.
The report noted that this was due to resource limitations and a reliance
on external funding.
Can you please outline the nature of the resource limitations
and how Council proposes to overcome these?
Can you also outline what efforts the Council is making
to source external funding and to call for the State Government to develop
and implement a regional Integrated Transport Strategy in line
with the recently released G21 Strategy?
And, finally, do you believe the Council is at risk of failing
to implement Strategy 5 within the Council plan's five-year
time frame and Action 20 of the Climate Emergency Action Plan?
MAYOR PATTISON: Thanks, Mat, for your question.
I agree with you: integrated transport is so important for our region
and an area that's really important to address.
A number of the questions relate to a more operational
and resourcing basis so I'll pass that over to our CEO, Ms Seymour.
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: Hi, Mat, and thank you very much for your question.
It's a really important question and we really value your advocacy
around improving our transport network and considering active transport
in the Shire, so thank you so much for asking your question and for coming
along, plus all of the broader work you do in this space.
It's fair to say that we're struggling and there's a challenge
to allocate the time and energy to this, and in our capacity
to develop an Integrated Transport Strategy.
And that's really because of the role that we have allocated
to do both two really important things for our Shire: housing and working
on an integrated transport strategy.
So both are really important to us but housing has taken the priority,
and given we have just one resource in order to do that,
we're going to be really challenged to be able
to deliver an Integrated Transport Strategy in this term of Council,
unfortunately.
But having said that, we worked really hard alongside G21
to develop the regional integrated transport strategy
and there's some really important pieces of work in that.
We've also developed the safe cycling strategy and we've been doing work
around our pathways.
The other work that we're doing is through our business as usual work,
so when we do renewal projects, we look to see how we can ensure that
we're considering our active transport as part of those projects and we've also
- and a good example of that I guess is the work we've been doing
around Horseshoe Bend Road near the intersection
of the South Beach Road.
We're also seeing a little more funding coming from being available through grants
and things through the State Government in this space, which we're really pleased
to see, and our teams have been putting in applications for that funding
and we have been successful with some of those applications, which
is really great to hear.
One of them is looking at what we can do to upgrade Fischer Street,
so we've received a couple of grants to help us upgrade Fischer Street
as a safer corridor for cycling and walking and we've also applied
for funding to improve the cycling connections
with Armstrong Creek between Torquay and Armstrong Creek.
In addition to that, through our budget this year,
we've allocated money around some of our missing links
in our path way network, including the planned pedestrian bridge
across Spring Creek, and also near the Spring Creek playground,
the path way through there.
So we are really committed to this space.
The staffing that we've got to address housing
and also our Integrated Transport Planning actually was a commitment of Council
through to September next year, so as part of the budget process, we'll be seeking
to make that a permanent role so that we actually have that resource
to do this really important work but, in addition that, we do a range
of other pieces of advocacy work in this space, and I might hand back
to the Mayor to talk about the work that she's been leading
in that space.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thanks, and as you mentioned
with the G21 Integrated Transport Strategy , so there's that regional strategy,
it talks a lot about the connections into Torquay
and the integrated transport needs of our Shire as well, and so I met
with Premier Dan Andrews when he was Premier at the launch of
- when we were launching that
integrated transport strategy, and so we have really been advocating
to the State Government and more broadly around the integrated transport strategy
and the specific needs within our region.
Transport issues are a regular feature of our advocacy and they are well aware
of the G21 plan and our desire to see more investment in public
and active transport options throughout the region,
and also internally, Councillor Bodsworth and myself are often pushing the bandwagon
of integrated transport.
So I know on face value that specific strategy isn't
being progressed as we had hoped we would be able to do
in this Council plan, but it is still a priority and
with the resources that we do have, we are trying to progress it as much
as we possibly can.
I hope that has answered your question adequately.
MAT HINES: Thank you, both.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thanks, Mat.
Our next question is from Myra White.
Has Myra come to the meeting?
No.
I'll read out Myra's question.
It's in relation to school crossing and pedestrian trackworks
on the Great Ocean Road and Strathmore Drive.
So the first question: on 6 July, Mr John Bertoldi of Surf Coast Shire wrote
of planning permit number 14/0374 and 17/0386 that the original planning
permit required Christian College to enter into a Section 173
agreement regarding their long-term access being via a future road constructed
as part of the proposed Spring Creek development.
As this development is now not expected to proceed,
Council will re-engage with DTP to discuss how this change impacts
the original planning permit conditions and any actions which may be
required moving forward.
As it is now October, could Council please clarify how
the change impacts the original permit conditions and if the original permit
is still valid?
So, Myra, the school crossing on the Great Ocean Road
is something that's really important for getting our kids safely to school.
There's heaps of kids from Juc that we want to encourage to ride
to school safely, as well as kids going down to other schools,
and more generally a safe connection.
There's been some things that have happened along the way around working
with DTP around speed limit changes and the like.
I'll pass it back to Ms Seymour to go into the details
of your specific question.
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: Hi, Myra, and thank you for your question.
Despite the changes in relation to the Spring Creek development,
the Section 173 agreement remains live, and the planning permit from 2017
is still valid.
The Section 173 agreement requires Christian College
for those who may not be aware to change the primary vehicle access
from the Great Ocean Road to a new internal road once such a road
is built.
The agreement doesn't require this be done by a certain time frame,
nor does it require the college to provide the new road.
Given as we all know the Spring Creek development
is no longer going ahead, our expectation is that the college
will retain its current access from the Great Ocean Road, which is
in accordance with the existing permit.
This information is relevant for college's new planning permit
application construction of Stage 3, which you raised in your second question.
MAYOR PATTISON: And the second question: on the 12th of October,
Christian College indicated to interested parents
and community members that as part of finalising plans
for the school's Stage 3 planning submission, conversations between Council
and DTP on a suitable design solution had
commenced, including around traffic/pedestrian management
and the location and funding of a crossing.
A copy of this email was provided to the Council Community Development
and Capital Works teams with permission of the school.
Can Council confirm that both the design and construction
of appropriate pedestrian infrastructure and a crossing be included
as a requirement of this planning submission,
including reasonable timelines for completion
- for example, by the end of 2024?
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thank you, Myra, for your second question.
Council is actually not the responsible authority
for the Stage 3 planning permit application.
It's actually the Minister for Planning who
is the responsible authority for any education-related
application where the development exceeds $3 million.
As a result, the application was made directly
to the Minister, not to Surf Coast.
Having said that, it has been referred to us for comment and so, as a result
of that, we've raised the need for considering safe pedestrian crossings
and paths as part of the assessment of the application and,
as Mayor Pattison said, we're very supportive
of having a safe crossing location and ensuring that we're creating
a safe environment for kids who are travelling up and
down the Great Ocean Road and need to cross across safely.
We're really mindful of community concerns over the pedestrian safety
and we hope the Minister for Planning will consider the important issue when
they make their decision.
Thanks again for your question, Myra.
MAYOR PATTISON: That concludes our public questions.
And we have no petitions or notices of motion, so we move on to the reports
for our meeting.
So the first report is 4.1, Surf Coast Shire Council Annual Report
2022-23 and the purpose of the report is to present the Surf Coast Shire
Council Annual Report.
Do we have a recommendation?
As per the recommendation?
CR ALLEN: Yes.
MAYOR PATTISON: And a seconder?
Councillor Bodsworth.
Councillor Allen, would you like to speak?
CR ALLEN: Thank you, Mayor.
The Annual Report is a combination of the two reports presented
at the September Council Meeting, namely the Council plan Progress Report
and the 2022/23 Financial Statements submitted for audit.
The Victorian Auditor-General's Office has since audited the documents
and has issued an independent auditor's report outlining that the documents
present fairly the results of the Council's performance in accordance
with the relevant legislation.
Given the backdrop of rate capping, higher expectations placed
upon the Council by Federal and State Governments and our community,
and a growing population, I believe we have performed very well
to maintain a financially sustainable position.
Our level of borrowings fell with no new borrowings in '22/23,
indebtedness has fallen from 46.74% in 2020 to 44.15% with the prediction
that it will fall to 24.41% in 2027.
We have achieved a 1.3 million dollar surplus and a cash surplus of 2.1 million.
Expenses per head of municipal population has
declined over a four-year period.
Our population has increased by 6.4%, whilst our expenses only increased
by 2.6%, an indication of operational efficiencies.
Sustainable financial viability underpins the vast array
of the achievements noted in the report; for example,
to create a healthy connected community.
I counted in the report 30 achievements, ranging from the preparation
of the Anglesea Community and Health Hub Precinct Plan, the success
of the Torquay Youth Lounge, the completion of a range
of road safety strategy projects, the funding of 55 projects
through the Community Grants Program through to the expansion of our maternal
and child health services, just to name a few.
I say congratulations to the CEO and the appropriate staff
for achieving a sound financial position consistent with our 10-year
financial plan whilst we have delivered on the 200-plus services
for our community that were planned in the '22/23 budget.
The report highlights the challenges that we face in achieving sustainable growth,
given that tourism has not returned to the pre-pandemic levels
and that like most other areas, we have a problem meeting the needs
of business for affordable housing and accommodation for essential workers.
The strength of our events program, attracting local visitors to our region,
helps negate the decline in overseas visitor numbers.
The Anglesea and Aireys Inlet precinct developments
will help address longer term housing supply and inform other such developments
in the Shire, and our trial of Tiny Houses on Wheels is an example
of shorter term solutions.
We continue to build strong partnerships with our traditional owners in our work
to achieve genuine reconciliation within our community.
The case study titled 'Pilk Purriyn', or 'Sunrise' in the language
of the Wadawurrung, is an outstanding example.
As a teacher I often said to students, particularly those studying the VCE,
that the ultimate key to success is how you handle failure.
To most in our First Nations communities, there will be an enormous amount
of grief stemming from the failure of the Referendum for the Voice
to Parliament achieving success.
We will need to wait until our First Nations leaders suggest
a way forward.
However, I suspect that the answer will be in the refocussing of the efforts
to address Indigenous disadvantage from the National to the local
and regional levels.
I feel very proud of the number of residents in the Shire who voted Yes.
The latest figures that I have seen show that around 60% of our residents voted Yes
and this may vary in the weeks to come, but it won't change significantly.
Now, with confidence, we can say that the Surf Coast Shire's
work to achieve reconciliation has the support of the majority
of our residents.
We have a quantifiable mandate enabling us to build
upon the reconciliation successes listed in this report.
Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Allen.
Councillor Bodsworth, would you like to speak?
CR BODSWORTH: Thanks, Mayor.
So thanks to Councillor Allen for that.
It was great listening to you.
Just a few things that I would like to note particularly
from the Annual Report.
I agree with Councillor Allen.
I think the financial results are excellent, considering that the rate cap
is around half the current rate of inflation.
I'd like to acknowledge the great people that we've got on the staff and the level
of commitment that they've shown to help us achieve the results
that are set out in the Annual Report.
I particularly noted very good work health and safety indicators,
significantly better than in the previous reporting period.
I've noted a boost to the project management team
and the program management capabilities, which is an issue that's been raised
by Councillors before, and also by the Audit and Risk Committee
to tackle the project backlog and the significant burden
of carryovers that we have.
I particularly note the resourcing and the excellent work that's been put
into aiding the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority transition,
so transition of crown land from Council's management
to GOR capital management and the excellent work
of people in the community too to provide advocacy
to help us do a good job with that.
I noted that kerbside waste diverted from landfill has
- the rate of waste diverted from landfill has increased
dramatically since 2020, where it was below 50% and now 73% of waste
is diverted from landfill, so an excellent result there on waste.
But I note that we can do a lot better because 53% of red bin contents,
which is the general waste bins, is recoverable.
It is either organic waste or it's recyclable.
So some good grounds for improvement there in our communities.
I note in reference to Mat's great question before
- and thank you, Mayor, for pointing out this
is an issue I have been frustrated by over the past three years
- I note that the Victorian Government sector has no performance indicators
for walking and cycling).
So in the performance indicators in the report and elsewhere,
you will find nothing around performance on walking and cycling, which I think
is terrible in this day and age, and I think it's an indicator
of the degree to which that issue, which is crucial to communities
- we've heard it time and time again in the past three years from our communities,
how that's not given the attention that it deserves, both in our sector
and also in other tiers of government.
Thanks.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Any other Councillors?
Councillor Hodge?
CR HODGE: Thank you, Mayor.
Over the last couple of weeks it's been a really busy time
going out to the community with Positive Ageing
and I've had some really good discussions especially from the Torquay Men's Shed,
which is great.
One fellow said: "Where do my rates go?".
Well, this is the document you need to look at.
It goes through six sections and it's got where
all the money that comes in and where it goes
and what our financial position is.
There's a terrific pie chart in it that if you give us $100 of your rates,
this is where the money goes, and it really breaks it down
into a very simple formula of where your money goes and most
of the time it gets spent really, really well with the backing
of great officers that do a lot of work out in the community as well
and the Councillors that work around the table
and I just find it disparaging sometimes when newspapers pick up on one thing
about perhaps the payment of officers and things like that, but we need officers
on the ground and in leadership groups that can really drive our budget
and our Annual Report to get to where this beautiful place where
we live.
I know one of the highest rated things on the survey is our parks
and our open spaces and that's for health and wellbeing and I think that's where
a lot of money goes and people don't see that.
They don't see that we don't get returns on parkland and things like that
but it's just so important that we do.
We try to keep you safe with over 8,000 maternal and health nurse checks
and things.
We had nearly 300 of our staff going out to ensure that the food places that
you use and the restaurants are all compliant with health.
Our planners
- 618 planning applications went through and that's without the really big ones.
So there's so much going on behind the scenes that this document
in its six sections really lays out where we are, where we're going
and what's happening in the future, and just talking about waste,
I think the number was 237,000 times those trucks picked up bins
and things like that and so waste so is important
to make sure that we handle it well and make sure we're environmentally
sound with it.
And the other thing that someone said, "Oh, we didn't know that was happening.
You don't communicate".
Well, we're really trying to improve our engagement
and our community
- speaking with the community.
But just looking at what we try to do out there with our team
- we did over 125 media releases, we answered over 120 responses
to other newspapers, we had 150 sets of speeches that they wrote
for Councillors, so that's how
- we're trying to get out and talk to as many people as we can.
Facebook, if you do follow it, click on to us.
We have over 10,900.
That would be great to get that up to like 15,000.
We've also got a Twitter account, an Instagram.
So we really are trying to communicate and to make sure that you know where your
money is being spent because we're trying to do it in the best way that we can.
We all live in the community.
It's our money as well.
And I think this report and it's beautifully set out
with good photographs, that this Annual Report
for the Surf Coast Shire is a really good way to
- MAYOR PATTISON: I'll get you to
- CR HODGE: It's great.
Thanks.
CR SCHONFELDER: Mayor, I'm happy to move for an extension of time
if Councillor Hodge
- MAYOR PATTISON: I think Councillor Hodge has finished up.
Thanks, Councillor Hodge.
Would you like to speak?
CR SCHONFELDER: I would like to speak, if I may.
A very hard act, I might add, from my colleagues who have spoken
previously.
But I would just like to say that the Annual Report considers
the Council plan, which has seven themes, including First Nations reconciliation,
a healthy connected community, environmental leadership,
sustainable growth, a robust and diverse economy, arts and creativity
and also being an accountable and a viable Council.
Together with the Council plan, the Annual Report considers
the community vision plan, asset plan, budgets, financial plan,
municipal public Health and Wellbeing Plan,
the municipal planning strategy and other strategic plans,
also the work force plan and revenue and rating plan.
Now, I have witnessed tonight Councillor Allen referring
to tourism that hadn't returned to pre-pandemic levels
and also the fact that Councillor Bodsworth referred to the measuring
of walking and cycling and the importance of active transport.
I'd like to mention that when I was first elected,
I was asked what I would give the Council out of 10, Mayor,
and I said I'd give the Council 9 out of 10.
And now I still feel the same way but I do feel as though I need
to highlight the fact that I have had people in the community contact me
about Christmas decorations, and when I attended a volunteers day
at Deans Marsh, the community suggested having similar
Christmas decorations throughout the Shire to unite the communities, and this
is what other Councils have as well.
So I feel disappointed that we don't have our own Christmas decorations
and I'm hoping that in the future we're able to address that.
I'd like to add in closing that I feel the staff, the CEO, the executive team and
all the employees that I've met have exemplified professionalism,
personal integrity, team work, dedication and have the ability to learn
and add value to the organisation.
Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Any other Councillors?
Councillor Wellington, would you like to speak?
CR WELLINGTON: Thanks, Mayor Pattison.
Just to note that the financial reports were reviewed and endorsed
by the Audit Committee, and Council did approve the annual
Performance Statement and Financial Statements in principle
at its 26th of September 2023 meeting.
I think I raised this issue last year.
It is very unusual to me that the Council itself doesn't
approve its own Annual Report, even though we've obviously endorsed
significant elements of it, but I've never been on a government body
that hasn't actually signed off to approve the Annual Report.
We have been asked to note it because it has already been accepted
by the organisation.
It is just a comment about the Governance hierarchy,
and perhaps we need to look at that.
The Annual Report includes obviously lots of good things that Council has done,
and the community can read about them.
There's reports there.
I think the critical point for me in listening to the discussion,
of course (inaudible) tens of millions of dollars to deliver,
so of course we have done good things, but the really key question is
whether we're hitting the mark with what the community wants us to do
as opposed to what we decide we want to do on behalf of the community.
And I think the question asked about the walking and cycling strategy
is really relevant.
We, the Council, have made decisions to not invest in that strategy.
Every time we make a decision to invest in something else,
we're effectively making a decision to prioritise some things over others.
I think that we can't just say we have no money.
We have lots of money and we have to decide how to use it.
We put a lot (inaudible) to reconciliation.
Two big issues, obviously important policy issues,
but I suppose my view is they are predominantly National
issues for reconciliation, and State at that level as well,
and housing has always been a State responsibility,
and now this Council is effectively, I think, giving away public land
for housing developments, which is a really unusual step,
and I'm not sure the community sees that as its key priority
for Council (inaudible) to effectively (inaudible).
So I'm not sure about that.
I feel we need to get engagement better.
It's much more than telling people what we're doing via Facebook and Twitter
and (inaudible) and things.
It's about talking to the community and really listening.
And I know Councillors were saying we did that when we developed the Council plan
but I still am at a loss to understand how we got the key
priorities from the Council plan
- some of them.
I've never heard anybody in my community identify those priorities.
Their priorities are core services, planning, infrastructure
and things that only Council can deliver.
I know that 118 views of Council meetings per month
- I think that's a really good outcome of COVID, that we actually have this
on Zoom and that people in the community
- we would never in my recollection, unless there was a (inaudible) planning
issue and even not often then would we have 118 people in the chambers.
May I ask for an extension of time, please.
CR SCHONFELDER: Mayor, I am happy to move an extension
for Councillor Wellington.
MAYOR PATTISON: Sure.
CR WELLINGTON: I notice
- just a couple of other points.
I don't believe we can draw the conclusion from the results
of the National Referendum that there is support locally for a reconciliation
at a local level.
I think they're quite different questions.
The National Referendum was: do we support recognition
of Indigenous people in the Constitution and do we support a specific strategy
(inaudible) and the majority supported that and a lot of people supported it
across Australia but not the majority of States.
There is huge support in my view at least for recognition in the Constitution
and (inaudible) Indigenous voice can be heard but I don't think that means
we can assume there is support for us to (inaudible) resources to invest
into a local reconciliation strategy.
That's just my view.
I note on page 115 there were 18 Council meetings held under the auspices
- there were 18 meetings held under the auspices
of Council which were not (inaudible).
I am not sure if I've got that number right, but there was a large number
of meetings that were private meetings of this Council, not in the public view,
and three times as many, I think, of public meetings.
That is a clear problem.
I've been suggesting for years that is a problem and nobody has been wanting
to listen to that.
But the Operation (inaudible) report, which was a report into corruption
at Casey Council, very clearly recognised that as a problem
and there will be State guidelines coming out saying that has to stop.
And I don't go to those meetings for various reasons, which
all Councillors ought to be familiar with, but part of the reason
is it's not good governance to be making the type of decisions we make
- a lot of meetings behind closed doors that the public doesn't have access to.
Just a couple of final points: performance indicators,
community satisfaction about decisions in the interests
of the community, barely
- 54% it is.
Satisfaction with unsealed roads isn't reported
but it's shocking.
Staff turnover is 13%.
It should be below 10, and preferably much lower.
We don't know what staff satisfaction is
- MAYOR PATTISON: I think we'll wrap that up, if that's alright,
Councillor Wellington, because you have already had
an extension of time.
CR WELLINGTON: I just wanted to say with staff satisfaction,
we haven't had a survey reported to Council
- MAYOR PATTISON: I'll get you to wrap that up, thanks, Councillor Wellington.
CR WELLINGTON: So ...(inaudible).
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Great.
Councillor Allen, did you have any closing remarks?
CR ALLEN: Thanks, Mayor.
Look, I would respectfully disagree with Councillor Wellington
about the Referendum.
I would think that people who voted against the Referendum, if it came
to a notion of reconciliation, the vote, in fact, would go up.
I think 60% is a base vote, that if they were to talk about our reconciliation
with First Nations people, it would be vastly greater than 60%.
You can't see I'm not in the five minutes allocated,
but the capital spend of expenditure type I found interesting,
that we're spending a capital spend on buildings, drainage, sewerage,
open spaces, reconciliation facilities, community facilities, plant and equipment,
and I know Councillor Wellington would be pleased the 53% of the expenditure is
on roads.
I think where she may have a legitimate argument,
that the size of the pie should be larger, but that's for another time,
but I do highlight the fact that we do spend 53% of our capital expenditure
on roads and that the report on unsealed roads was much better than
the report that we received on sealed roads within the Shire,
is my memory of the previous information that we received.
Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
We will now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour?
And the motion is carried unanimously.
CR WELLINGTON: Councillor Barker texted me
- sorry to interrupt
- but he texted me saying he was going to be quite late.
He texted me at
- I don't know
- after 6 to say he's 40 minutes late or so.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thanks for letting me know,
Councillor Wellington.
We'll proceed with the meeting and when he arrives, he can join in.
We'll now move on to item 4.2.
The purpose of this report is to seek Council's endorsement
of the Anglesea Community and Health Hub Draft Precinct Plan
for community consultation.
Do we have a mover of the motion?
Thanks, Councillor Bodsworth.
MAYOR PATTISON: Is that as per the motion?
CR BODSWORTH: Yes, thanks, Mayor.
MAYOR PATTISON: And do I have a seconder?
Thanks, Councillor Stapleton.
Would you like to speak to the motion, Councillor Bodsworth?
CR BODSWORTH: Thanks.
I'd love to, Mayor.
So this recommendation is about us endorsing the draft plan
and associated reporting for the Anglesea Community and Health Hub
to go out for public review and community engagement and for us
to get those results back and hopefully produce the outcomes that
the community expects from this fantastic precinct.
So for anyone who's not familiar with the precinct,
it's a 1.6 hectare precinct.
It contains a number of community uses, including Angair,
Anglesea Community House, a medical centre, Barwon Health
and Anglesea Medical Centre, the Anglesea Memorial Hall, where,
as we heard, The Sound Doctor series wrapped up.
It has the Anglesea kindergarten, the occasional care,
the Anglesea Community Garden, Senior Citizen Centre,
Anglesea Historical Society and ambulance station.
So it's a precinct that combines many different uses.
One of the fantastic things about the precinct
is also that it's very much a multigenerational precinct.
There would be three to four generations of users of that precinct on-site at any
- on any given day of the week so it's a fantastic place for community mixing
across generations and across a whole lot of different world views and perspectives.
So it's a very, very special place.
It's right in the heart of Anglesea physically,
highly accessible inasmuch as anywhere is in Anglesea to public transport,
and to where most people live.
So the process in the recommendation is to enable the community to participate and
to influence the outcomes.
It's to test different land uses and the allocation of space
to those different land uses.
It's to create maximum value for the community.
It's a collaborative project and I believe that that collaborative
aspect is what makes this project
- what will make it attractive for external funding so I think
this project has really
- from what I understand to date, it has a really strong chance
of attracting external funding as it has attracted external funding
to allow us to do this planning and design work.
There's been a considerable amount of engagement to date
and there's going to be further engagement if tonight's recommendation passes,
starting tomorrow and running through until roughly the end of November.
The inclusion of key worker housing is a key aspect of this proposal
and a new proposed use for the precinct or in fact there is a historical house
on the precinct so the precinct itself has been used for housing in the past
but currently not used for housing, so the inclusion of key worker housing
is a really important thing for Anglesea and for the wider district
but I have no doubt that will be a contentious inclusion
in these plans.
I'm sure there will be people in the community
who question that proposal and who test us on the rationale and I'd like
to commend Alicia Hooper over here for the work that she's done so far
on this.
So she's our one-person-band on housing and has done a fantastic job, Alicia.
So congratulations getting things to this point and with Fraser Drive
and Aireys Inlet as well.
So super-important projects.
I think for us as a Council, with the key worker housing or
with the housing, inclusion of housing, we have to be extremely respectful
of the community's views on the housing that's been proposed
in this precinct and we have to be really clear about the need.
We have to clearly define the need and we have to clearly define the goals
that we're trying to address through this housing.
The need is particularly well set out and I refer people
to the Council's affordable accommodation Action Plan 2022.
There's some fantastic analysis in there that helps to explain the need
and that will be imperative in this process to inform people
in communities.
In surveys to date, just over 60% of survey respondents have said that
they agree that affordable housing
- or that key worker housing would be either valuable or very valuable
in their opinions.
I also note that the collaborative and multiuse integrated precinct approach
is strongly aligned to state imperatives and the housing component itself
is also very strongly aligned to state imperatives.
There are
- so far for me, I'm not 100% happy with the plans and the design as it stands
and I'm really interested to see what comes out
through the engagement phase and I'm interested
to see what else we can come up with.
There are a lot of design and layout options and now is the time
for the community to get on board, talk amongst your friends, families
and networks and help us to get this fantastic precinct right.
Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Stapleton?
CR STAPLETON: Thank you.
And thanks, Mike
- sorry, Councillor Bodsworth
- for covering this item really well.
I'll just add a few comments, so this project is vitally important
for the Anglesea community.
It offers the potential for a true community health
and housing hub that provides a shared, sustainable space
for multiple community groups while reimagining what the whole area could look
like and how it could better serve our community.
It's just really so exciting.
The involvement and support of Barwon Health in the project
is significant, along with the opportunity to address,
even if it is in a small way, some of the challenges presented
by our affordable accommodation crisis.
We know many local businesses are struggling to attract the staff
they need due to a lack of affordable housing
but there are also the doctors, nursing, kinder and child-care staff
and others who are needed to keep these important
community services running.
I'm hopeful that the inclusion of well-designed, appropriate
and affordable housing as part of this project
will help ensure these services remain viable well into the future
for the benefit and wellbeing of our community.
These draft concept plans provide just one way that we could reimagine this space
and, as Councillor Bodsworth suggested, we want to know what the community thinks
and what ways we could improve or refine these plans and whether this
is how we should progress with a shared Community and Health Hub
at the McMillan Street site.
So the community is encouraged to provide input and feedback between now
and 29 November.
There will be a survey available and an open day event, which
is a really important opportunity where people can come along, you get
to ask questions and have your say about what's been proposed.
There's a dedicated webpage on Council's website,
providing live updates on the range of engagement opportunities available.
So I really encourage residents and anyone interested to get
on Council's website and have a look at how they can get involved
in this project.
Following this phase of community input, obviously the feedback will be reviewed
and, where appropriate and possible, incorporated
into a final draft precinct plan that will come back to Councillors to consider
at a future Council Meeting, and then the adopted precinct plan would
be used as an advocacy tool by Council in efforts to consider funding and support
for the new McMillan Street Community Health and Housing Hub to be turned
into a reality Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Would any other Councillors like to speak?
Councillor Allen?
CR ALLEN: Thanks, Mayor.
The much-loved Anglesea community
- and I take the liberty here of saying Community Heritage
and Health Hub, is being reimagined in a serendipitous
manner.
Almost by chance and in a positive and beneficial way,
a precinct that has both fully and under-utilised
buildings can be positioned to suit future needs
at a time when multilevel agencies have the will for and are providing resources
to such developments.
Stage 1 in the development of the plan has been informed
by the current users, with input from external experts.
By approving this recommendation, we authorise Stage 2,
the most crucial stage
- that of receiving community input.
I am particularly interested in how affordable,
essential worker accommodation can be sensitively incorporated
into the precinct.
Essential permanent workers, crucial for the very future vitality
of our coastal communities, workers who will staff our schools,
medical facilities, provide staff for our businesses and also giving a boost
to organisations like the CFA and the SES that are currently struggling
to attract volunteers.
We all have a vested interest in this project,
one that we cannot let stumble or fail.
The Lorne community will be following Anglesea's process
with a great deal of interest.
And the redevelopment is also occurring at a time when communities are highly
aware of the need to protect heritage assets and
to scope in a way that is sensitive to neighbourhood character and
to the environmental impacts of what is proposed.
I look forward to seeing the results of the community feedback.
Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Schonfelder?
CR SCHONFELDER: Mayor, I thank my fellow colleagues
for speaking about this once-in a-generation project
for the Anglesea community and I know that part of our Council plan
is to maintain the small town feel of our communities and I know
during the briefing that a colleague actually mentioned the importance
of having access for all-abilities, because I know that
with the surf lifesaving clubs, I was one of those people who felt affection
and felt quite fond of the older buildings that existed but
they do have a certain life and it's important
to have buildings that have function that is inclusive towards people
with all-abilities and also to be modernised for future needs.
Earlier tonight, Councillor Wellington inferred
that decisions were made behind closed doors in briefings
and that has not happened to my knowledge whatsoever
and I've actually really enjoyed attending briefings to learn more
about different projects, including this very important project,
and I wish the community of Anglesea all the very best in their endeavours
to put forward their views on this project that's so important
to the community and I know here in Torquay I've said that the precinct
where we're located at is, in my mind, the heart of this community, particularly
all the sporting facilities, but I know with Anglesea,
with the Anglesea Football Club, perhaps Anglesea has two hearts
- the heart is here with what we're referring to
and also where the football club is as well.
So very exciting times ahead.
Thank you, Mayor.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Wellington, would you like to speak?
You're on mute, Councillor Wellington.
CR WELLINGTON: Thank you.
I think I have been misquoted but I won't dwell on it.
I have worked in health policy for 40 years
and I think it's become so apparent to me that the collaborative approach
between local government and the health sector is critical
to sustain health and wellbeing services and systems in communities.
I was the Chairman of the Board of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute
when the suggestion was first raised that we relocate that institute to Parkville.
I remember saying to the Health Minister at the time this would be a fantastic idea
to progress Victoria's cancer services because that co-location
with other facilities of similar intent but different expertise
and different resources actually makes the whole bigger than the part,
and I absolutely believe that, and that resulted
in Peter Mac then (inaudible) and that idea came
from the Board that I chaired.
And I really strongly adhere to that theme,
that getting a critical mass of people with a similar sort of long-term vision
about health and wellbeing and (inaudible) different
capabilities and infrastructure.
And so we should be working really closely with Barwon Health right across the Shire,
not just in Anglesea, but this opportunity to co-locate
facilities and co-locate people at Anglesea is a tremendous one.
I strongly support it.
I'd be really interested in the community's feedback
on the proposed design and those things, but the underlying principle I
absolutely strongly support.
I don't really
- because we
- I don't believe we've got a model for operating community housing.
It's kind of like if you are going to have key worker accommodation,
(inaudible).
It raises all sorts of questions for me about who would police it,
how are you going to put a doctor in key worker housing when
they have a family and kids?
And what key worker housing actually mean and does the community want
to spend its rates on giving land for housing for people like doctors
and nurses and what have you who perhaps
have other resources.
I don't understand that approach to this policy, but I do again feel
like this is like a macroeconomics issue, this issue of inadequate housing.
It's primarily (inaudible) State and Federal responsibility.
However, it's there in the plan.
We will see what the community says about it.
But I like the idea of the co-location and the ability for people
to work together across sectors and I think we should be promoting that
across the whole Shire, really actively engaging
with Barwon Health).
Maybe that should be in our strategic plan actually
as an objective about developing health and wellbeing guidelines
and infrastructure across the Shire.
So I'll be interested to see what the community comes back with.
Five weeks is probably enough because people
in this community would be very familiar with this precinct and the proposal,
so it's not
- they should be able to respond in that period.
So I'm happy to go ahead on that basis.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Bodsworth, do you have any closing remarks?
CR BODSWORTH: Just a few, thanks, Mayor.
Great comments from fellow Councillors.
Thank you all for that.
Some good questions raised there by Councillor Wellington,
which are really important questions that will come from the community, so we need
to be ready to have good answers to those.
In terms of the future of the landownership, as with Fraser Drive
and Aireys Inlet, that's not set as yet, so there's a lot
of interest in the community about the questions
of ownership versus long-term leasing and those are important questions for us
to address through this project.
The synergies I think is a really key part of this.
For example, as very much is the case at Fraser Drive and Aireys Inlet,
we have fantastic and obvious synergies between the community garden
and any new residents of housing that's developed
in those precincts.
With regard to Council's responsibility on housing,
I agree with Councillor Wellington and I think
as we can see in the Annual Report, there are quite a few activities that
we undertake that could be seen as picking up the slack left by other tiers
of government.
The fact is that there are certain activities that
we pick up because there's a critical need in communities
and others aren't meeting that need.
So I think it's really important for us to question that but it's also important
for us to be willing to step in and help out with that.
I just note a couple of things in closing.
One thing that I'm hoping can be explored through this
- and I'll be interested to hear from community on this
- is the potential for a Community Asset
Committee or another community-based management and/or governance model
that could be co-designed along with the actual spatial design
of this precinct.
So in addition to designing the precinct itself, there's the community
- how the community lives with that precinct,
and potentially can manage it either in partnership with us or themselves.
We also have potential for Angair and the Anglesea District Historical
Society to partially or wholly move into any hub building,
which would make their fantastic collections available to the public,
and we also currently lease a space for the Anglesea Arts Space
at the cost of $30,000 per year to the Council,
and I'm interested in the potential for the Anglesea Art Space to relocate
to the precinct as well, which potentially would save us
that amount of money per year in renting a shop like we do
at the moment So thanks.
MAYOR PATTISON: We'll now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour?
And the motion is carried unanimously.
We will now move on to item 4.3, Surf Coast Planning Scheme review.
The purpose of this report is to receive the Surf Coast Planning Scheme
review consultation report and consider endorsing the report
for public consultation.
Do we have a mover of the motion?
Councillor Stapleton.
Is it as per the recommendation?
CR STAPLETON: It is, thanks, Mayor.
MAYOR PATTISON: And a seconder?
Councillor Bodsworth, thank you.
Would you like to speak, Councillor Stapleton?
CR STAPLETON: I will.
Thank you, Mayor.
So over the past 12 months, a technical review
of the Planning Scheme has been underway as required by the Planning
and Environment Act.
Tonight we are being asked to endorse the draft report that has been
generated through this review so that we can share the findings with community
and seek feedback on the recommendations that have been made.
The Planning Scheme review report is attached to tonight's agenda papers but
if you're not inclined to read the 60-odd pages, you
will find the officer's report provides a very useful summary
of the work that has been undertaken, proposed changes and priorities
for future strategic work.
A Planning Scheme review is essentially a health check
of the Planning Scheme and it is primarily a technical review
to assess the performance of the scheme and identify areas for change.
The scope of the review is clearly defined by the Planning and Environment Act
and this part of the process has been undertaken ahead
of community engagement to ensure Council was meeting
the requirements of the Act.
This Planning Scheme review has also been delayed a number
of years while the distinctive areas and landscapes, or DAL process,
could be completed by State Government.
Readers will find that there are five areas
identified in the review for further strategic work, and this
is where Council is really keen to hear back from community in terms of
whether these priorities align.
The five recommended priorities are to plan for and improve resilience
to climate change and other environmental risks;
to finalise the Urban Futures Strategy, which will determine how growth is
to be accommodated in the Shire, and this will be discussed further as part
of the next item on our agenda tonight.
The third priority is to undertake further strategic work
in Torquay and Winchelsea which is consistent with the Statement
of Planning Policy; the fourth is to consider refinements
to planning controls for coastal townships from Anglesea to Lorne,
finding the right balance between preserving significant landscapes,
preferred character outcomes and managing bushfire risk; and the fifth
is to undertake infrastructure planning in response to planned growth.
There are also other recommendations around heritage considerations, waterway
and environmental projects and general scheme administration.
The review also points to some things that are super-important
to consider in the context of the Planning Scheme but generally
beyond the scope of what Council can achieve, and, as such,
present an opportunity for Council to advocate to the State Government
for change, and this includes things like planning controls around short-term
accommodation, strengthening environmentally sustainable
design and development, and including more context
about the need to recognise, conserve and promote Aboriginal cultural heritage.
Overall, the review indicates the Surf Coast
Planning Scheme is generally robust and Council's statutory planning processes
are performing well relative to other rural and peri urban Councils.
But, of course, we're keen to ensure we're on a path of continuous improvement
and we'd like to hear from the community, particularly
about the strategic work priorities that have been proposed.
These priorities will set the Work Plan for the next five to 10 years,
so community feedback is really important to help Council determine whether
they are right.
There are many ways that community can engage with this review,
including a dedicated page on the website, an online survey.
There will be three general information sessions in Torquay, Winchelsea
and Aireys Inlet, and meetings with key community groups
will be organised.
Submissions will also be received from those wanting
to provide more detailed comment.
Finally it's important to note that a Planning Scheme amendment
will be needed to incorporate the agreed recommendations
into the Surf Coast Planning Scheme.
However, this is a separate and a future process.
So following community consultation on this draft report, the feedback
will be assessed and this review report amended
where needed.
A final report will then be prepared for Council to consider.
Once adopted by Council, the final Planning Scheme report must then
be forwarded to the Minister for Planning.
And then the Planning Scheme amendment can occur following the required statutory
processes to implement the changes into the Planning Scheme.
So essentially it's a very long process.
It's not going to happen quickly but we're really keen
to make sure that the community is involved, is providing feedback
and that Council can take on board that feedback when preparing
the final report.
Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Bodsworth?
CR BODSWORTH: That was so thorough.
Thank you.
I haven't got that much to add.
But seeing as Peter Doyle is here tonight in the gallery
from Anglesea Community Network, who has been instrumental
in bringing feedback back from what's called the Three Towns Group
- Aireys, Anglesea and Lorne
- it's a great example of how
- well, there's already been a lot of work going on in the background
for community perspectives on the Planning Scheme to come
into this process.
So it is super-important.
That's what this recommendation is about tonight.
It's about getting those community perspectives brought
into the Planning Scheme.
It can be fairly dry content but it has a big impact on people's lives.
And I think in terms of the strategic work and finalising the Urban Futures Strategy,
I'll speak a little bit more to that in the next item on the agenda,
but I think it's really important for us to grapple not just
with the quantitative parameters around growth and where
to accommodate growth but the qualitative aspects and what it's
like for people to live in these areas and what we can do in our planning
to ensure that these are good places to live in, that they support healthy
and happy living, and good, strong businesses,
and make that contribution to prosperous, happy and healthy towns.
So some dry content but really that's what it's all
about in the end.
So it matters a lot, and if people can, they should get into it, and if they want
to focus on just a couple of things, it's that further strategic work
and the advocacy priorities.
Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Would any other Councillors like to speak?
Councillor Wellington?
CR WELLINGTON: Thank you, Mayor.
I just have a question.
Given that Winchelsea and Torquay are identified
as the growth nodes
- and (inaudible) are such a significant issue in itself
- why were workshops only held in Anglesea areas and not in (inaudible)
for growth and no capacity much for growth?
MAYOR PATTISON: I'll pass that on.
I think they're to do with the town character workshops,
not engaging on this Planning Scheme review.
But I'll pass that to our CEO.
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thank you, Councillor Wellington.
We had the three in the coastal townships, as the Mayor said, really to kind
of understand what were the priorities from those townships in relation
to town character and what might that look like in relation
to the Planning Scheme review in that context.
There has been other work happening in Winchelsea as well
with the community action planning where we got some clear input from the community
around the priorities in Winchelsea.
The DAL is fairly prescriptive around the intentions around Torquay.
But the next phase in this work is absolutely having those sessions
with groups like Growing Winchelsea and the leaders
of the Community Action Planning process as part
of ensuring that we get good engagement and input from each
of our towns in the Shire.
CR WELLINGTON: Can I ask a follow-up question?
So the actual sequence of consultation
- it's really unclear to me (inaudible) and others may understand it but I don't.
So we're actually talking about the most important issue certainly
for the Torquay community.
I think planning is number one for them.
I can't follow from this
- we're going to give them four weeks to respond to a nearly 80-something-page
report.
Is that enough time (inaudible) professional meetings
- why are we giving such a short time frame
I realise we think we know a lot, and we do know a lot,
from the (inaudible) community, but why have we put a four-week
time frame on this?
It's the most critical issue I think to the Torquay community
- MAYOR PATTISON: I'll take that question and pass it to our CEO.
So around the time frame for the consultation.
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: So the General Manager of Placemaking
and Environment might have some other information to add to this,
Councillor Wellington.
The intention, though, was because it is quite a technical document,
to actually ensure that we're prioritising working with a lot of those groups that
we know are very interested in the planning and go directly to them,
as well as also encouraging other broader community engagement in the process,
so the intention is to arrange both those public meetings
and the very targeted meetings to those interest groups
within the next four weeks to ensure that we've got input
from those groups and more broadly the community, as well
as promote the opportunity to engage more broadly across the Shire.
But perhaps the General Manager Placemaking
and Environment might have some further information to add to that.
CR WELLINGTON: Sorry to interrupt before he's started
but where in the report does it say that there's a process of meeting
with community
- another process of meeting with community groups on (inaudible).
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: So the report does talk
- I would have to find it, Councillor Wellington
- but it talks about three community sessions and meeting
with particular interest groups and that really refers to groups
like Growing Winchelsea in your ward, Growing Winchelsea,
and the two Community Action Plan representatives, for example,
in Winchelsea, and each of the towns have their own kind
of particular groups who are interested in planning who we hope provide really
good engagement and input into this review.
CR WELLINGTON: And we're proposing
- MAYOR PATTISON: Councillor Wellington, we'll just let
- can I just let
- CR WELLINGTON: This is important that
- MAYOR PATTISON: I was going to let
- because your initial questions around the time frames,
our CEO has responded, and she then referred it to Mr Pike.
If we let Mr Pike answer the question, he may answer some
of your concerns that are continuing to be raised, and then
if there's further questions, you can ask after that.
So we'll pass on to Mr Pike.
OFFICER: Through you, Mayor, I point Councillors to paragraph 50.
50 is the one that briefly outlines the elements of the engagement process
and then in relation to the duration, around four, five weeks
is typically an engagement period for strategic planning exercises,
Planning Scheme amendments.
The team contemplated what time was required
to undertake the engagement that's outlined in the report there
and felt that would provide an adequate
- one of the concerns that would be on their minds,
acknowledging that this would have that happening up around the end
of November.
It's just as we start to get closer to Christmas and the ability
to gather people's attention.
But I also acknowledge Councillor Wellington's comments.
It's a significant piece of work and there's another item on the agenda
after this that's also significant in this space.
MAYOR PATTISON: Would you like to speak to the motion, Councillor Wellington?
CR WELLINGTON: I would.
As I said, I believe planning is the most significant issue
for a large number of people in the Torquay ward
and in the hinterland Winchelsea ward.
The issues of development density and growth nodes and all of those things
- there is enormous development pressure on the hinterland, on rural land,
and every time I attend community groups there is discussion around more proposals
to commercialise (inaudible).
Those issues are really important in this sort of review.
It is a technical review but people in the community
- I have been amazed and impressed at the ability of people
in community groups to actually focus on the Planning Scheme,
understand the technical issues and actually debate them really
meaningfully, and we saw that in the Cypress Lane issue.
The knowledge of community members about the Planning Scheme
and how it fitted in, that was really impressive
and I don't think we should just skim over it
- so if it's a bit technical, we will just get high-level input.
I don't believe four weeks is enough.
You will have some groups that will want the meeting next week.
They won't have time to digest 80 pages of technical information
and another couple of hundred pages of the next item number on the agenda,
which is completely related to this.
So you've got two huge items which, together, are consuming something
like 300 pages of information, and we're asking community groups to get
across that and come up with meaningful advice to Council.
First of all, we know that it's out there, which often takes time, and then
to give meaningful advice to us, 300 pages of that sort of information and do
all that within four weeks?
How are we going to convene meetings with these groups within four weeks?
I think this is being completely rushed for some internal reason, not for reasons
of genuine community engagement.
I would like to move an amendment to the motion that
we make that consultation period
- I believe we should be consulting at least up until the Christmas
- which effectively means up to mid-December.
I know that will delay things
- MAYOR PATTISON: Are you moving an amendment now, Councillor Wellington,
just to clarify?
CR WELLINGTON: I would like to move an amendment
to say that we consult at least until mid-December on this.
MAYOR PATTISON: OK.
Could you just clarify exactly for
- we will get Governance to put the motion up.
So it's on section 2, it says four weeks.
How many weeks would you like to propose?
CR WELLINGTON: I don't know how many weeks that is, between 24 October
and say
- MAYOR PATTISON: If you just look at your calendar
and let us know the number of weeks so we can put it on the screen.
CR WELLINGTON: OK.
So 15 December, which is one
- maybe an Officer could help with that because from the 24th
- so tonight there's one, two weeks up to the 4th.
Three, four, five, six, seven, to the 9th of December.
Eight weeks to the 15th of December.
So I would say at least eight weeks, and even then it's terrible
- MAYOR PATTISON: So for the motion that you want the amendment,
can you just clarify exactly how many weeks?
CR WELLINGTON: A minimum of eight weeks.
MAYOR PATTISON: So eight weeks.
So Governance will put it up on the screen.
We'll just wait for Governance to get that.
I just wanted to clarify also for everyone's reference,
our planning team have already locked in our meetings with relevant stakeholders
across all of our regions, just
to ensure that that engagement can happen
- when they proposed four weeks, that they could actually get that done.
So there are meetings locked in with, for example, growing Winchelsea,
Greater Torquay Alliance, 3228 Residents Association and the like,
just to clarify that that's been locked in ahead.
CR ALLEN: Can I ask some questions whilst Governance is preparing the amendment?
I'd be interested from the Officers to see whether if we were
to debate Councillor Wellington's motion, whether there are any other reasons why
we can't extend it to eight weeks?
Are there any reasons?
MAYOR PATTISON: I'll put that question to our CEO.
CR STAPLETON: I just wanted to add that eight weeks actually takes us
up to 20 December, not mid-December, just so that's in mind.
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thank you for the question, Councillor Allen.
I think it's possible to extend until kind of mid-December as opposed
to late December.
I think it is possible to do that to allow people more time.
Having said that, this particular review is an audit of our Planning Scheme.
We already have the meetings locked in as the Mayor said with the key groups
who have a really strong interest in the Planning Scheme
and we've done a lot of work to try to ensure that within the four weeks we'll
able to complete that.
But we can do it.
We can extend it for six or seven weeks to allow more time.
Our intention would be to try and bring it back in the February meeting,
so we'd want enough time to be able to really understand that feedback
and then do the work that's required in order to bring it back
to the February meeting, which if we extended it until that sort
of mid-December, we should be able to accommodate the work that's required
then, albeit hopefully we'll have people on deck who can actually do that work,
but we should be able to do that without checking people's availability.
MAYOR PATTISON: Councillor Wellington, the motion on the screen,
is that acceptable to you as your amendment?
Yes?
And do we have a seconder of that?
CR ALLEN: I would second it.
I just wondered whether Councillor Wellington would be
prepared to make that six weeks because I think 20 December is a bit late.
MAYOR PATTISON: Councillor Wellington, are you prepared to make that for a period
of six weeks, so it's a two-week extension?
CR WELLINGTON: I would like to keep it at eight for the moment but I would like
to explain to Councillor Allen why I think that's
important.
MAYOR PATTISON: We will need to wait to see if he seconds it
before we have a debate on it.
CR SCHONFELDER: Can I just ask: with this amendment, is it acceptable
to the mover of the motion?
MAYOR PATTISON: No.
Once debate has started, it needs to go to the vote of all Councillors,
and debate has started.
Therefore, it needs to go to the debate.
So we need a seconder before we can move on.
Is anybody seconding this?
Thank you, Councillor Allen.
Councillor Wellington, would you like to speak to your amendment?
CR WELLINGTON: To Councillor Allen, I appreciate that.
I guess if we really want engagement to be meaningful, we have
to do better than give people four weeks to respond to documents like this
and the next one.
I will have the same thing to say about the next one.
There's a lot of people that can really contribute
to this and will spend the time to go through these reports
and can understand them and can help us to get a better focus.
It's about strengthening the planning framework to try and get more clarity,
to try and get better understanding within the statewide framework
with which we're required to comply.
There are local nuance we can get into this which deserve proper
consideration and they include consideration
by the community.
Planning is an absolutely critical issue in both the Winchelsea ward
- well, in all wards but it's less impactful on Winchelsea ward
because of the (inaudible) limitations
on development.
There's certainly a strong suggestion
- and it's correct
- in this document that Winchelsea is probably going to be the development
node of the future.
It shouldn't be assumed that the community will support that, although a lot
of people in Winchelsea do, but it needs to have a long period of time.
Most people don't sit and watch Council meetings.
Probably there might be 100 people out there we have found
on average that sit and watch this on the web,
and I don't know how many are in the chamber,
but most people don't devote their fourth Tuesday of the month
to watching this sort of debate.
A lot of people don't read the papers.
A lot of people don't cruise Council's website.
So to get out to people and really
- for both Council and the community groups to get out to people
and let them know that this is happening is really a challenge, and genuinely
to listen to them.
My view is that it doesn't really matter whether it's early December or
mid-December.
There's no way that Officers will be dealing with that feedback,
even if it was six weeks, before January, I would imagine,
because everyone's rushing to try and get things done and closed up
for Christmas and then there's the Christmas-New
Year break, and the reality it is will be probably from around 10 January
before this will all be collated and put together.
So we should give the community the maximum possible time
and show real good faith about this because this
- I don't know
- I don't see how people could do this.
I read these documents and it takes me hours and hours and hours.
People in the community don't have background knowledge.
This is a really big ask of them to actually read them
and properly contribute, not just answer the questions that are
asked of them but actually read the documents
and put forward their comments, and they need time to do that
and there are people in the community that will take that time to do it well,
and I think we should give them the opportunity.
I am quite shocked that we would put this forward for four weeks.
It's impossible for people to just drop everything and do this
in four weeks.
And we couldn't assume that the community groups are leading all the debate on this.
They're very important stakeholders but they're not the only ones.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Wellington.
Councillor Allen, would you like to speak?
CR ALLEN: Thanks, Mayor.
I am sympathetic to the view that the period should be
extended.
I have trouble getting my head around it and I'm subject to
all these briefings and so on.
I don't know whether
- apologies to Winnie the Pooh, that makes me a bear of very little brain,
but I do struggle.
And so I can understand Councillor Wellington's point of view.
It is important
- both documents actually are very important and I would be sympathetic
to an extension.
I am not sure about eight weeks but anyway, as Councillor Wellington said,
it wouldn't be dealt with by the officers until next year anyway.
So I'm happy to support the amendment.
MAYOR PATTISON: Would any other Councillors like to speak?
Councillor Stapleton?
CR STAPLETON: I just have a question first
I'm not opposed to extending it either but I would like to get clarity
around that six weeks versus eight weeks and will that make a difference
to Officers who are receiving that feedback and the engagement process?
MAYOR PATTISON: I'll just pass that over to Mr Pike.
OFFICER: We're interested in good input from the community, so, no,
there's no concerns between eight weeks and six weeks.
MAYOR PATTISON: Great.
OK.
CR STAPLETON: I think it's probably important also just to clarify that what
we're engaging on at the moment is the Planning Scheme review report.
It's not the amendment to the Planning Scheme.
So I think that there will be
- this is a continuous process and there will be additional opportunities just
to be clear to the community, there will be additional opportunities next year
when a Planning Scheme amendment is developed on the back
of this review report for the community to engage and actually provide feedback
about what's been proposed as far as changes in the Planning Scheme go.
I just wanted to clarify that.
But happy to extend the consultation time.
MAYOR PATTISON: Great.
Thanks for clarifying that, Councillor Stapleton.
We'll now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour of the amendment?
And the motion is carried unanimously.
So we now move back to the substantive motion,
the change being that it's a period of a minimum of eight weeks
for the consultation period.
Councillors Stapleton, Bodsworth and Wellington have spoken.
Would any other Councillors like to speak to the motion?
CR WELLINGTON: Mayor Stapleton, I'm not sure that I
- MAYOR PATTISON: Mayor Pattison.
CR WELLINGTON: Oh, sorry.
Mayor Pattison.
I'm not sure that I finished my time.
MAYOR PATTISON: I think you had about a minute 20 left.
Does Governance have a record of that?
Can we put a couple of minutes up?
Thank you.
CR WELLINGTON: Thank you very much.
The only point I wanted to make was I think Bellbrae should be
included.
It really doesn't get a feature in this and I know it's a little community
but there are issues there in Bellbrae as well that would be of relevance
to this Planning Scheme review.
The rural strategy also features heavily in this document.
People will have a lot to say about that.
In my experience, when I started as a Councillor,
there were two towns in the hinterland.
Moriac and Winchelsea were
the main towns and Bellbrae-Torquay.
But in my ward it seemed to be Moriac and Winchelsea
as being the key development areas.
And now we've got a proposal for another town at Modewarre, which
is CORA, effectively a town, and another town at Buckley, which
is being developed and discussed very actively
in the community, that there's a developer out there buying land and talking
to people about quite a major development there.
So there needs to be some overall
- the framework should not allow development proposals just to pop
up where there's a strategic plan and a strategic plan and then all
of a sudden you get some people who want to buy land and develop it
and the whole thing is sort of thrown out with the bathwater and we start again
with a new strategic plan that has new towns in it.
This seems to me to be very, very reactive planning,
and somehow this project
- if you're looking at the planning scheme and saying,
"How is that happening and should it happen and why don't we try
to work out a way to get a bit more certainty for people
around those kinds of deviations from the Planning Scheme?".
So I think in relation to Councillor Stapleton's comment
that this is only a discussion document and then people will get an ability
to respond to the amendment, that's true, but I can hear the debate
of the amendment now, "Oh, but it was supported in the discussion
document"
or "it wasn't objected to"
and probably the reason might be that people were so busy coming up
to Christmas that they couldn't object.
So I think it's (inaudible) to extend that time.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Any other Councillors like to speak to the motion?
Do you have any closing remarks, Councillor Stapleton?
CR STAPLETON: Just quickly, that clearly community engagement on this
is really important.
Of course we want Bellbrae residents to engage as well and when we get
to the next item on the urban futures strategy,
you will see that Bellbrae is one of the nine townships.
It is defined as areas for us to consider in terms of urban futures
and where those settlements should be.
Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
I will now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour?
And the motion is carried unanimously.
We now move on to item 4.4, Urban Futures Strategy background context
report.
I just wanted to let people know that given the changing
of the time frames for the previous motion, we need
to align those time frames, so, Governance, if you can put up
on the screen when you have it, the recommendation will have minimum
of eight weeks so that both consultation periods align
with the Planning Scheme review and the Urban Futures Strategy.
Yes, whoever moves the motion
- this would make sense.
Obviously people can choose to move the motion they like
but this would make sense so that they align.
So the purpose of this report is to seek Council endorsement
of the draft Urban Futures Strategy Background Context Report, September 23,
and associated district profiles document and the Surf Coast Shire Strategic
Bushfire Assessment July 2023 for the purpose of public consultation.
We have a recommendation that's up on the screen.
Would anybody like to move a motion?
Councillor Stapleton, is it as per that recommendation?
CR STAPLETON: Yes, with the eight weeks.
MAYOR PATTISON: With the eight weeks.
Thank you.
And do I have a seconder?
Someone?
Thank you, that would be great.
Councillor Stapleton, would you like to speak to the motion?
CR STAPLETON: I sure would.
Thank you, Mayor.
So like the Planning Scheme review, work on the Urban Futures Strategy did
commence about 12 months ago followed the gazettal
of the Surf Coast DAL Statement of Planning Policy.
The Urban Futures Strategy is a planning document that lays
out where future residential development can
and cannot take place in the Surf Coast Shire, so clearly again another very
important and significant document for the community to consider.
This planning is complicated by a range of environmental risks, challenges
and constraints along with high rates of population and housing growth.
We know that this is an area of great interest to many people
in our community and the purpose of this agenda item is
to endorse three draft documents for community consultation in relation
to the Urban Futures Strategy.
One is the background context report, the second is the district profile
and the third is a strategic bushfire assessment.
So if Council accepts this recommendation
tonight, officers will include these three documents
in the community engagement process for the Planning Scheme review
as obviously the two pieces of work are very interrelated.
Much of the relevant information on the Urban Futures Strategy can be found
in the agenda report but I'll try to provide a brief summary.
The background report is one of the first key aspects
of the overall project and will be used to inform the community and stakeholders
about the scope and parameters that will be considered
in preparing the Urban Futures Strategy.
We know that the Surf Coast Shire is an area
of outstanding environmental cultural and landscape importance
and this needs to be protected and enhanced in planning
for future urban growth.
Whether or not people want growth to occur, we need to plan for it,
with strategies like this to ensure that residential development
aligns with community aspirations, occurs in appropriate locations,
respects cultural values and protects significant landscapes
and the natural environment.
If we do not plan carefully for growth, there is a great risk that it will happen
outside of our control, in unsustainable ways that do not align
with our community needs or values.
The Urban Futures Strategy will consider how growth can be
accommodated in a sustainable manner to help ensure healthy
and connected communities and to protect the Shire's significant
landscapes and habitats as well as respond to the impacts of climate change such
as bushfire risk, in an appropriate manner.
As part of this work, Council will be reviewing population
and dwelling forecasts for the Shire and consider what level
of population growth should be accommodated, including options
for where growth could and should take place.
Forecasts have been made in the past about future population
and dwelling growth.
However, these did not take into account the impact
of protected settlement boundaries that we now have with the DAL and
will clearly restrict the capacity of Torquay to grow and will therefore need
to be reviewed.
The background report provides information on relevant State Government policies
will feed into as well as limit local planning decisions
around growth and there's a summary of the environmental values risks
and challenges that will constrain the options available
as well as a town by town summary of recent residential development,
current planning provisions, constraints of future urban growth and suitability
for additional greenfield urban growth.
For the purposes of this work, the Shire has been broken up
into eight districts, each with a township to build a profile
and help identify opportunities and constraints around urban growth
in each location.
This profile document is really helpful to have a look at.
It provides key data on population, housing, the role of each township,
community infrastructure services and utilities and environmental hazards
and assets relevant to that district.
Much of the Surf Coast Shire is located within a bushfire-prone
area and much of the southern portion is covered
by a bushfire management overlay including all the coastal townships south of Jan Juc
and some areas around Deans Marsh.
State policy directs new residential development to low-risk
locations, which for us primarily points to the northern hinterland areas
of Winchelsea, Moriac and parts of Dean Marsh as lower risk
and most suitable for additional urban growth, along
with parts of Torquay and Jan Juc.
The background report identifies that all the coastal townships have very
limited capacity for future growth, given their significant
landscapes and environment, and the extreme bushfire risks
in these locations.
The future capacity for growth in Torquay will obviously also be significantly less
than historically envisaged.
Winchelsea is identified as having future constraints and, as such,
is likely to continue as one of the urban growth centres in regional
and local planning policy.
Through the upcoming community consultation, the project team
will seek targeted feedback on the district profiles
and provide an opportunity for community input
through a project survey.
I do encourage as many as possible to get involved in this process.
This now extended process of eight weeks.
Read the reports, attend at least one of the community meetings
and please let Council know what you think so we can plan appropriately
for the future of the Surf Coast Shire.
Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Gazzard, would you like to speak?
CR GAZZARD: I don't think I have much to add to that.
Thank you, Councillor Stapleton.
I agree that I think eight weeks of extended consultation
with the community is a great idea.
I think the community will appreciate that, so thank you,
Councillor Wellington.
I think it is really important that we have a strategy like this.
It's difficult to balance the State Government policies
and limitations with the need for housing, without environmental values,
and the diversity of landscapes in our Shire, coastal, the heathlands,
the hinterlands and the National Parks.
It will be informed by the distinctive area landscape
Statement of Planning Policy and I encourage the community
to get involved in the submission process.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Would any other Councillors like to speak to the motion?
Councillor Allen?
CR ALLEN: Thank you, Mayor.
I think it's difficult to overestimate the importance
of this work, given that predicted population growth
in the Shire, particularly in north Torquay and Winchelsea,
and given the recent State Government housing statements that flags increased
densification within existing town boundaries
and the implementation of the DAL.
Then overlay climate change, bushfire risk, the need
to accommodate essential workers, and doing this while balancing current
planning priorities and constraints on growth.
I would be very interested in the engagement phase, which is
to inform the community of the content and importance of this work and
to seek their input on all three pieces of the work.
Thank you, Mayor.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Bodsworth?
CR BODSWORTH: Thanks, Mayor.
I agree the Victorian Housing Statement I think is a really important piece
of work in the context of this Urban Futures Strategy
because it provides for a far greater degree
of State Government control over major developments and I agree
with what other Councillors have said, that it's very important for us to be
on the front foot when it comes to planning for good places.
One thing that I'm really interested in, and that I hope might come
out through consultation, is as I mentioned with regard
to the Planning Scheme review, the qualitative aspects of growth,
so there's a huge amount of content in this regarding the quantum of growth
and the scope for new growth and for added development
but there's not a lot in my mind around the qualitative aspects, which is
around what it's like to live in these places and what's important
to the people who are living in these places and
to the people who are establishing their businesses in these places
and who are employed there.
So I hope that at some point we can perhaps inform
- inform our view of future planning with surveys
of people who are experiencing what it's like to live in the recent subdivision,
say in Moriac, Winchelsea and north Torquay, what's life like
in those subdivisions that previous Councils oversaw the planning for,
and what does that tell us about our role in overseeing the planning
for future developments?
That's something that I'd be really interested in.
I've been in the west coast business park across the road recently and it seems
to me to be thriving.
There's obviously a lot of people employed in there.
It has a very vibrant look about it.
It seems to be really successful development.
But I'd like to hear from the people who are
in there who've established their businesses there and who are working
in that place and find out how it is performing from their perspective.
I think as Councillor Wellington mentioned with regard
to the reactive versus proactive thing, I think this
is a highly attractive municipality for developers and I think that that gives
the Council important leverage in regard to passing on the community's views
on what we want, and again I'm talking about the qualitative aspects, so things
like environmentally sustainable design, that public transport
and active transport piece, so what is it that's going to contribute
to people living more healthily and more happily in these places
and then we can pass that on to developers and we can make sure those things are
embedded in future growth and development.
And I'm out of time.
I'll leave it at that.
MAYOR PATTISON: Great.
Thank you, Councillor Bodsworth.
CR BODSWORTH: I'm looking forward to the input that people provide.
MAYOR PATTISON: Councillor Stapleton, did you have any closing remarks?
CR STAPLETON: No, that's fine.
MAYOR PATTISON: We will now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour?
And the motion is carried unanimously.
We now move on to 4.5, strategic waste projects.
The purpose of this report is to seek Council approval to transfer funds
from the Waste Reserve for strategic waste projects.
Do I have a mover of the motion?
Councillor Hodge.
Is that as per the recommendation?
CR HODGE: Yes, thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: And a seconder?
Councillor Bodsworth.
Councillor Hodge, would you like to speak?
CR HODGE: Thank you.
Just quickly on this one, this is one of the core services that everyone
knows of rates, roads and rubbish, and we've got to look
and make sure that we strategically plan for the future
to make sure that we put money into planning where we know our best
outputs of the project will help inform where waste management
and costs are and will influence where we have our charges.
The Anglesea Transition Plan
- that was interesting to read.
It is expected our landfill could be at capacity at 2027, so we've really got
to work on what we're going to do in the future and this money
will help decide that; determine the management
and residential waste post closure rehabilitation and the future plan.
Of course, the very popular Torquay waste drop-off
site in Messmate Road could also be a future transfer station but
with this money do all options, will it be there and
will we need a buffer zone before the next lot
of residential lands there, or does that move as well?
Our depot, and the drop off station.
So it's a really important project because we know we've got to do it and
if we can get it done and then plan and budget for it in the future,
it will be much easier for our residents, knowing what we're doing with it and,
of course; we've got to make sure we're very responsible
in this area of waste management.
Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Bodsworth?
CR BODSWORTH: Thanks, Mayor.
So I'd just like to give a shout out to officers who have coped really well
with State Government mandates and guidance around waste,
particularly in the rollout of the new EPA Act and responding
to things like buffer zone requirements, which is part of the story
with the Torquay transfer station, and also finding budget for implementing
- it's a very changing landscape around waste so I think that good work has
been done around that.
I have no doubt this work is essential and the Waste Reserve
is the appropriate source of funds and that we should get cracking
on the work.
So I endorse the recommendation.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Closing remarks?
Councillor Hodge?
No.
We will now put the motion month the vote.
All those in favour?
And the motion is carried unanimously.
We now move on to Parklet Program Pilot.
The purpose of this report is to seek Council's endorsement
of a pilot parklet program to facilitate outdoor dining
at the Beach Hotel, Jan Juc, during the summer period prior
to considering a Shire-wide approach in 2024.
Do we have a mover of the motion?
Councillor Gazzard, is it as per the recommendation?
CR GAZZARD: Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: And do I have a seconder, Councillor Hodge.
Councillor Gazzard, would you like to speak?
CR GAZZARD: Thank you.
The Beach Hotel has extended their outdoor dining setting during COVID
and we've approved that as ongoing.
It's been very popular in the Jan Juc little precinct.
So this parklet pilot program
- it's a bit like a tongue twister
- will be over the summer period and then with the option to hopefully extend that
into the future.
Parklets are a unique kind of dining space that really took off
in COVID but I think the first one started in San Francisco some time in the 2000s
and they're very popular there.
They're unique in their size, the public space and they're developed
by people who come from the community, so it does foster a real sense
of community like dining area and outdoors and really works towards our
sense of placemaking, so I think this is something
- a really positive program, and as measurable, positive impacts
on residents around quality of life, health and interconnectedness, so I think
if we get rid of so many parking spaces throughout our Shire and make it
into more positive places for
- well, placemaking I suppose, yes.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Hodge?
CR HODGE: Yes, thank you, Mayor.
With COVID and it was the fresh air dining program
that the State Government introduced, some of our businesses really felt
that was a great idea and they did it and it's proved really successful
and the community, as Councillor Gazzard said,
really enjoyed it.
With this one, it is interesting and I'm really glad the officers have
worked really well with the hotel management
to make sure it can happen over this time and it is still a pilot so it
will be really good to hear from the community that live nearby.
There are residential homes nearby, and also there was no police objection
to it as well, so that was really good.
The owners of the hotel will still have strict controls.
They'll do maintenance and make sure that the area is clean
and safe and making sure that public safety and,
importantly, accessible for people, safety has got to be there as well
and amenity and they're all going to do this.
And there is a financial contribution to us as well.
But they must operate under their planning permit
around the extension of the red line and that's
through the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulations.
So there is still a lot of rules around it.
But I think with the management from that hotel
and the public that really empowered it last time and really enjoyed it,
I am sure it will be hopefully successful and the submissions coming back for or
against really show which way we should be going with this.
I am glad we can change course sometimes with our local laws and to get this pilot
up was a lot of work done and I'm very appreciative of it
and I'm looking forward to going there myself.
I don't live far from it so I'm hoping it goes really well
and there's a window for this pilot to do over that December-January,
so it will be great.
Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: Would any other Councillors like to speak
to the motion?
Councillor Schonfelder?
CR SCHONFELDER: Thank you.
I'd like to announce that in relation to this pilot,
it encourages more people in the community who may have a medical condition the same
as I actually have but I have never spoken publicly about it,
but I believe the CEO, Ms Seymour, is aware of it
- I'm actually claustrophobic and I am a person who actually prefers
to dine outside if possible and I don't like confined spaces,
and I think that having this type of dining option available
to people allows those people who may have a similar condition to feel more welcome
and to be able to experience dining where they may not have been able to in the
past.
Also our Shire has amongst the highest pet ownership in Victoria
and I know many people like to take their dogs for walks and they also
like to include their dogs to accompany them when they have coffee or
they have something to eat or drink, so I feel as though that allows that
to happen as well, which I think is a real positive, and I know with COVID,
there's a saying that every cloud has a silver lining and I agree
with Councillor Gazzard, with San Francisco, how
they have dining options there as well with the different alfresco options.
It has become more popular.
Particularly in Melbourne at Lygon Street, I have noticed it has been adopted
by a number of places in that precinct.
So I really encourage this pilot and look forward to hearing feedback
from the community as well.
Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Wellington?
CR WELLINGTON: Thanks.
Can I just start with a couple of questions?
So paragraph 22 says they're looking for an amendment
to the existing planning permit so that they would want to alter the requirement
of patrons having to purchase food while consuming alcohol.
So does that mean that people will be able to drink in this area
without consuming food, in this alfresco area?
MAYOR PATTISON: It is my understanding that they're currently
- the Beach Hotel is seeking a change to their red line, but I'll get our CEO
to clarify that.
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: That's correct.
They are seeking that change through a planning permit change,
Councillor Wellington.
CR WELLINGTON: It's not a red line
- it's a planning permit issue of Council because I
- MAYOR PATTISON: No, it's not a Council decision.
It's changing their red line and it's through the liquor and gambling
- CR WELLINGTON: Well, if I could just ask a second question,
Mayor Pattison.
So there was an application launched I think from this facility on the 16th
of October and approved on the 17th of October.
I haven't had an opportunity to look at this in detail
but was that the application to remove the requirement for food
to be served with alcohol?
I'd have to say that's the quickest planning permit
application I have ever seen approved
- in one day
- but is that about something else or is that about this?
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: I don't believe that is correct, Councillor Wellington,
because this will involve a referral to the Victorian Commission for Gambling
and Liquor Regulation.
To achieve that in a 24-hour period would be remarkable,
so I don't believe that that
- and I don't think we have received that application at this point,
is my understanding, unless the GM of Placemaking and Environment has
- OFFICER: No, through you, Mayor, I'm not aware of that.
MAYOR PATTISON: Did you have another question, Councillor Wellington?
CR WELLINGTON: Well, I just wonder if somebody could look at that because it
is actually quite important, I would have thought.
I suppose while somebody is perhaps doing a quick search of the web
- MAYOR PATTISON: I think the document says that they are currently seeking
that change so I think it's clear, it's in the report,
they're seeking that change and it hasn't happened yet.
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: And as part of that, there's a consultation period as well,
Councillor Wellington, in order to make that change.
MAYOR PATTISON: So that change hasn't happened.
Did you have another question or a follow-up question?
CR WELLINGTON: Well, I'm just wondering why
on our planning permit, planning online, there's an application
from Bells Beach Hotel that says "extension
of existing liquor licence outdoor alfresco area"
and it says on that that the application was made
on the 16th and approved on the 17th.
And my fundamental question is: is this an application for people
to drink?
If you look at
- important date, sorry, on that Planning Scheme,
it says event lodged on 16th October.
Original decision 17th October issued.
Final decision 17th of October issued".
So what's going on?
MAYOR PATTISON: We will take that one on notice, Councillor Wellington, and we
will get back to you on that one.
Did you have another question in relation to the item on the agenda?
CR WELLINGTON: I think Councillors should know this before they decide on this.
My other question is I don't understand how Council resolved
in May that we should have policy guidelines, and it's not been brought back
to Council to say we're going on a different path
but we've got a motion tonight that says, "We've done all this and we've agreed
on a different path and we just want Council
to effectively note that
- MAYOR PATTISON: Are you speaking to the motion or do you have a question,
Councillor Wellington?
CR WELLINGTON: Alright.
I'll get to my specific question.
Is it correct that the intention is that people will be able to drink
without eating in this area?
MAYOR PATTISON: I'll put that to our CEO CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: So
in relation to the eating and the drinking, my understanding,
albeit your question tonight, is that we are expecting an application
to come from the hotel to allow drinking without eating.
But my understanding is we haven't actually considered that
at this point, albeit the issue that you have raised
tonight that we would need to check.
MAYOR PATTISON: So the intention is, yes, that people would drink
without eating in the parklet.
That is the intention.
CR WELLINGTON: My other question was
- so this is on the margins of a residential area.
Was there any feedback from residents during the COVID period
about this operation?
Did it cause any amenity impacts that we're aware of?
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: My understanding, Councillor Wellington,
is there was a small number of issues raised by local residents
and the lot of that was then addressed by the hotel
and the police have also had some visibility of that.
CR WELLINGTON: And are the local residents aware that we're proposing to approve this
for the summer period tonight, that Council is considering approving this
- the residents that had some issues with it last time, have
they been notified that this is on our agenda or that a planning permit
has been applied for?
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: I'll have to refer that to the GM of Placemaking and Environment,
Councillor Wellington, for a response.
OFFICER: So through you, Mayor
- so the concerns previously had been expressed by Vic Police.
I'm not quite sure who brought the issue to their attention
but the police were concerned about public urination, I believe,
and the issue has been taken seriously by the hotelier
to the point that the police are satisfied with the proposal that's been put forward.
We haven't consulted specifically with adjoining residents prior
to undertaking this pilot.
The intention would be to see how the pilot goes
over the summer period before making any decisions
about its extension here or the consideration
of guidelines more broadly across the Shire.
MAYOR PATTISON: Would you like to speak to the motion?
CR WELLINGTON: Is music going to be permitted
in this outdoor area?
OFFICER: I'd have to take that on notice, Councillor Wellington.
I don't know the answer to that.
CR WELLINGTON: I would like to speak to this, Mayor Pattison.
I'm a big fan of alfresco dining.
We don't have to go to San Francisco to see that it's everywhere
and it's great, and I use it a lot in Winchelsea and
in little country towns (inaudible) it's terrific, of course.
But the issue here is
- and I'm sure this hotel is a great hotel and they run a rally good business
and they've obviously been quite proactive with their communications, got a petition,
got themselves
- you know, a great idea.
I am deeply concerned if the local residents don't know
about this.
It is a hotel that is on the margins of a residential area, on the boundary,
and I'm a very, very big advocate for people's amenity.
It doesn't mean that they have no noise or no disruption,
but there's a concept of reasonableness in the Planning Scheme
which this Council, I believe, does not and has not
in various proposals in the past
- has not given adequate weight to, and residents have been subject
in various parts of the Shire
- and I know because I've helped them and worked with them to try
and get these issues resolved
- where they have been subject to really unacceptable amenity impacts
from something which everyone else (inaudible).
And it's difficult and there's a notion of reasonableness around this.
So it's not reasonable that people get locked into their homes
with their windows shut on stinking hot nights because
they can't bear the sound of the doof-doof music or something.
I don't know if that will happen with this site, and maybe it won't,
but I know there are other areas in Torquay where I've had tremendous
complaints from residents about this, about the real disruption of their sleep,
their amenity, the pleasure of their homes because of music and noise, and this
is planned to go until 10 o'clock in the evening.
I am shocked, to be quite honest, that these residents potentially
don't even know that this Council is going to agree to this tonight,
as I'm sure it's going to do.
And I just want to make that point, though, that, heavens above,
we've got a transparency policy.
I think if an application for a permit was made on 16 October
and it was approved on 17 October without neighbouring residents even being
notified and potentially without appeal rights
- because it says "appeal, non registered",
but if that's the website, which is the Surf Coast Shire website
that I'm looking at, "Important date: lodged on the 16th, original decision
on the 17th, final decision on the 17th, issued",
what is going on?
(Inaudible) or there's some real problem with it.
So I don't think
- it's not about the majority.
We've got 1,500 people that want it.
We've got 7 or 8 local residents that might lose their amenity
and their home for the whole of the summer period.
It is not a numbers game like that.
It never can be.
That is not just and fair.
And so I'm not going to support this, not because I don't think it could be a
great idea but there is totally inadequate information,
and without resident engagement, this is grossly unfair.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Allen, would you like to speak to the motion?
CR ALLEN: Yes.
I was going to vote for the motion but I think Councillor Wellington has
raised some significant issues that need answering
before I feel comfortable doing so.
So because we can't provide those answers now, I think I'll have to vote
against the motion.
MAYOR PATTISON: Councillor Bodsworth, would you like to speak to the motion?
CR BODSWORTH: I would, thanks, Mayor.
Personally I'm strongly support the motion and I'm happy with the controls built
into the pilot that's in the agenda papers
I think that those controls are adequate to address the concerns that Councillor
Wellington has outlined.
And I strongly agree with the importance of amenity for local residents.
I sympathise with Councillor Gazzard's tongue-twister
quandary on this.
It got me thinking about pikelets.
I've (inaudible) a few pikelets in my time.
Anyway, I strongly support this.
But I just wanted to dwell for a second on the cost.
There's an amount of $2,325 per parking bay, which I think
is appropriate.
We've got a business which is occupying parking bays
for their business and I think it's appropriate that there's
compensation for that.
But if we look at the 1,000-odd parking bays in central Torquay,
which people get to park their private cars in for free,
by that rate of $2,325 per parking bay per year, we're missing
out on over $2.3 million per year.
So for a cash-strapped Council who has got a whole lot
of things that we want to try to achieve but we can't afford,
including active transport, as we talked about before,
I think that that's something we need to look at.
There's value.
This whole petition and this whole movement
- and as Councillor Gazzard said, it's a global movement.
It's about reallocating space from private cars, from providing a place
for people to park their private car, their private asset for a period of time
on public land, and it's reallocating that space
for public good, for people.
In this case, it's people drinking, which you might say is not the best aspect
of it, but in any case, it's reallocating space from cars
to people and I think that's a really
important thing.
It's an absolute massive global movement.
It's high time that that occurred and I think we really need to look
at the value of the space that we're providing
for people to park their cars in for free that in central Torquay alone
is worth $2.3 million a year.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Bodsworth, for that food
for thought.
CR WELLINGTON: Mayor Pattison, can I just ask a question.
We're about to go for a break presumably because we always have a break
at this time.
Could I ask that this item be deferred for 10 minutes to allow Officers to look
at this website?
I'm sending it to the CEO at the moment.
I think it's an important issue.
MAYOR PATTISON: I think, Councillor Wellington,
it's not good governance that we have a break whilst we're in the middle
of a motion.
I don't think
- CR WELLINGTON: I'm suggesting we defer it for a moment and have a break
and come back and see if we can
- MAYOR PATTISON: But we're deferring an item that is live
and our Governance policy doesn't encourage us to take breaks because,
theoretically, Councillors could be talking about things
and influencing others, so typically it is not good governance
to take breaks in the middle of a motion
- CR WELLINGTON: With respect, it's not good governance to be unable
to answer these questions
- MAYOR PATTISON: Would you like to put forward a deferral of the motion?
Is the that what you are proposing?
CR WELLINGTON: Yes, I would.
MAYOR PATTISON: I'll just confer with our Governance Rules on deferral.
(Pause).
Thank you for that short break.
So I'll just confirm, Councillor Wellington, you're seeking
to defer until the November Council Meeting so
that Councillors can provide information around the red line permit?
CR WELLINGTON: No.
I was hoping to defer it until after the break
- MAYOR PATTISON: We can't defer until after the break
because that would leave the meeting
- so we can defer it to a later meeting.
CR WELLINGTON: Can we stand down
- suspend Standing Orders and allow Officers five or 10 minutes
to look at this and tell us what they think?
It's pretty important
- MAYOR PATTISON: I think the intent
- just to clarify.
The intent of the report
- it aligns with the intent of the report, which is a change
to the dining arrangements.
Whether it's happened or is going to happen, it's in the report.
That's the intention.
So people are voting on it in that context
- CR WELLINGTON: But questions about how that could happen
without neighbours even knowing about it, when they live next door
- MAYOR PATTISON: I'm not prepared to stand down Standing Orders in relation to that.
If you would like to defer it, you can put forward to defer a motion,
otherwise we will put it to a vote.
CR WELLINGTON: If I can't suspend Standing Orders while Officers respond, I will move
to defer it to the November meeting.
MAYOR PATTISON: Sorry.
Just give me a moment.
So, Councillor Wellington, I don't think it's good governance
to suspend Standing Orders because then all Councillors are off
on a break while there is a motion is still live.
If you would like to defer the motion, you're welcome to do so.
Otherwise, we'll put the motion to the vote.
Would you like to defer
- CR WELLINGTON: I move that we defer to the November meeting.
MAYOR PATTISON: To the November meeting so that Officers can provide further
information around the red line permit.
I'll need a seconder for that?
CR WELLINGTON: The planning permit.
MAYOR PATTISON: The planning permit.
I'll need a seconder for that.
Is there any seconder?
Councillor Allen.
And, Councillor Wellington, would you like to speak to that?
CR WELLINGTON: Look, I'm just a bit
- all I can ask Councillors is to think about the governance implications of this.
We don't know and the community doesn't know
- reading this report, we don't know whether there's going to be music.
We do know that there doesn't have to be food.
The police have ticked it off but the neighbours know nothing about it
and haven't had an opportunity to have a say.
It may well be fine, and I absolutely accept that,
and I hope it is, but the critical thing for me
is that the Surf Coast Shire planning website says there was a permit
issued four days ago
- from a week ago and nobody around this table seems to know about it.
And it was issued
- according to our website, it looks like it was issued within 24 hours.
So I don't understand how that can happen.
I think I would like to know how that can happen
before I vote on this, and I am broadly supportive
of this concept but I believe we
- just because there's only seven houses or only eight houses that are affected,
you cannot trample on their rights.
The 1,500 people who want this have done this.
Those small number of other people have rights too
and we need to be satisfied that those rights are not
going to be disrupted for the entire summer period
for the people living in those houses.
The notion that we will control
- I need to be convinced
- we will control the amenity impacts, I need to be convinced of that.
I need to know what the complaints were, what the residents' experience was,
before I will make a decision on this.
So I really plead with Councillors.
This would be appalling governance to approve this in the context
of not having that information, and I really, really plead
with Councillors not to do that.
It's not fair and it just leaves individual residents
feeling like they don't matter because the majority rules.
I've been in that situation personally with a planning matter
in my community where the same thing happened to us.
In the end we won but it was a very difficult period for us.
And I know what it feels like and it's not good.
So I understand the hotel wants to get on with this and for some reason,
it's taken us five months not to do what we said we would do
with the last resolution in May and come back saying, "Quick,
let's get this through"
without talking to the residents.
I can't see how we could do that.
I'm sorry but it's just beyond my comprehension
of good governance.
So that's why I would like Councillors to really think about this before you vote
on it tonight.
Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: Would any other Councillors like to speak
to the deferral?
Specifically the deferral?
CR ALLEN: I seconded the motion, didn't I?
MAYOR PATTISON: Yes.
Did you want to speak to it?
CR ALLEN: Thank you.
Look, Councillor Wellington has raised some issues that I would like answered,
and because we can't answer them tonight, I do support the deferral
to get those answers.
MAYOR PATTISON: Any other Councillors?
Councillor Gazzard?
CR GAZZARD: A question.
Will there be ramifications for the program if we aren't able to vote
until the week before it starts?
MAYOR PATTISON: I would imagine so.
I'll pass that to our CEO.
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: I would imagine it will set us back, yes.
I think we would not be able to do the pilot in December.
It would have to be pushed back before it could begin.
But perhaps the GM Place Making and Environment might like to comment
on that.
OFFICER: Through you, Mayor, yes, I think it would just
- it's really a decision to be made by the operator as to when
they make their decisions on investing in the infrastructure
and establishing it and their confidence in doing that prior
to Council making a decision on the program.
So I think it would inevitably lead to a delay to the start.
I don't know what the duration would be.
Presumably the length of time between two Council meetings.
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: They also need to prepare
- MAYOR PATTISON: Our CEO is still answering the question.
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: Sorry, Councillor Wellington.
The other point that Mr Pike was making was that the Beach Hotel are going
to purchase the actual parklet and so they need to order that, get it in
and apart from any of the other kind of components
- so until they have certainty, they won't make that investment.
MAYOR PATTISON: Councillor Gazzard was speaking.
CR GAZZARD: I suppose it's sort of a question or just a proposal that what
if we were to make an amendment that as part of the recommendation
- well, as part of the motion, we say that we'll notify the adjoining
neighbours of the program?
MAYOR PATTISON: Is that an amendment that you would like to put forward?
CR GAZZARD: I suppose if the deferral doesn't get voted for.
MAYOR PATTISON: So you're foreshadowing an alternate amendment.
Great.
We'll now put the deferral to the vote
- sorry, Councillor Stapleton has a question and then you have a question,
Councillor Wellington.
CR STAPLETON: I just wondered if officers were able
to share any feedback.
Obviously the parklet ran during COVID.
I know that Victoria Police were involved but are officers aware of complaints
from those residents that remain unresolved or that were not adequately
addressed?
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: I'll pass that through to the General Manager of Place Making
and Environment to respond to.
OFFICER: Through you, Mayor, my best response to that
is I've had numerous briefings from my staff and participated
in briefings with the exec and briefings with councillors and so I am not aware
of any issues having previously been raised about the amenity impacts
and the behaviour of patrons beyond the one I mentioned earlier where
the police had some concerns about public urination and believe
they have a very cooperative operator of the venue and are supportive of this.
MAYOR PATTISON: So this is to the deferral?
CR STAPLETON: Yes.
I absolutely value community amenity and I understand Councillor Wellington's
passion around that.
I think that given that the parklet operated during COVID,
the residents would be familiar with it and the idea of a pilot is
to actually test it and to develop appropriate guidelines
to enable it, if that's the decision, to operate in the community in a way
that's welcomed by all.
I don't think the hotel would want to make an investment like this
and not see it succeed, so I would imagine they'll be very
compliant and willing to work with neighbours, with the police,
with Council to make sure that it can operate
successfully.
So I would support the pilot on those grounds,
and hopefully any issues that do emerge
- and I'm not saying there won't be issues
- but there will be an opportunity through the pilot to address those
and work with the community to make it a success.
CR WELLINGTON: Can I ask a question, Mayor Pattison?
MAYOR PATTISON: Yes, you can ask a question.
CR WELLINGTON: My question is: would it not be possible
- Council has briefings scheduled every week pretty much on every Tuesday.
Why couldn't there be a public notice of a Council Meeting in a week
and Officers could come back with the answers to these questions
and the decision could be made if people could join in person or
by video?
Is that a possibility?
MAYOR PATTISON: It is really important on these things that we have
all Councillors present, which is often challenging
on Special Council meetings.
I'll put the question to our CEO.
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: It is possible.
MAYOR PATTISON: It is possible.
We currently have a deferral on the table.
Does anyone else want to speak
- CR WELLINGTON: I move a motion that
- well, let me think where the motion is at.
So I moved
- MAYOR PATTISON: The motion is currently at a deferral.
We have the original motion that was moved by Councillor Gazzard, seconded
by Councillor Hodge.
Almost everybody has spoken on that motion.
You have now raised a deferral, which is seconded by Councillor Allen.
Most Councillors have spoken on the deferral.
I would like to put it to the vote.
CR WELLINGTON: Can I amend that deferral to say we defer until
- MAYOR PATTISON: I am not sure that we can amend.
I will just check our Governance Rules.
If you just wait, Councillor Wellington.
I am not sure that we can actually amend deferrals.
(Pause).
So our Governance Rules are silent on that.
You're welcome to foreshadow an alternate deferral date
if this one has lapsed, Councillor Wellington.
So, given that, if you would like to foreshadow an alternate deferral date,
if this has lapsed, you can do that.
Otherwise we'll put it to the vote.
CR WELLINGTON: So explain that to me.
MAYOR PATTISON: So you can foreshadow that if this deferral is lost,
you will put forward a different deferral in a week's time.
Would you like to foreshadow that?
Great.
We will now put the motion to the vote for the deferral of the Council
- of this to the November Council Meeting.
All those in favour of deferral?
All those opposed to deferral?
And the motion is lost.
So you would need a seconder for your alternate deferral.
CR WELLINGTON: My alternate deferral would
- I think we have to give five days notice of a Council Meeting or something,
so can I just ask for advice from Governance, what's the period
of notice we have to give?
Or would next Tuesday be adequate because people will presumably
because it's a briefing day
- MAYOR PATTISON: It's the fifth Tuesday.
There's no briefings next week.
So two weeks.
CR WELLINGTON: Well, I'd suggest that we do a deferral
for a week.
Most Councillors would be able to make themselves available
for a 15-minute video conference, I would think.
MAYOR PATTISON: I don't know that everyone is saying that
they are necessarily available.
I don't think we can assume because people have holidays organised
and the like, given it's only that we very rarely have
a fifth Tuesday off.
So we can't assume that everyone can attend.
We also don't have Councillor Barker here.
CR WELLINGTON: OK.
Well, we'll make it a fortnight then.
Deferral to a special meeting to be convened
- MAYOR PATTISON: Do we have a seconder for Councillor Wellington's deferral?
If there is no seconder, it lapses.
Then we can move to the motion and make a decision on the parklet.
Is there a decision for that deferral?
MAYOR PATTISON: Oh, that's Cup Day public holiday.
So two weeks also won't work, Councillor Wellington.
CR WELLINGTON: OK.
Deferral to a Council Meeting to be convened as quickly as possible
to address this issue when a Council Meeting can be constituted preferably
within the next week or within a fortnight
- MAYOR PATTISON: So on 8 November?
That's the earliest that it can be done, 8 November.
CR WELLINGTON: Well, that's not the earliest.
People can be convened earlier than that
- MAYOR PATTISON: Do I have a seconder for this deferral?
Because if we don't have a seconder, we can move back to the motion and move on
with our agenda.
Is anybody going to second this deferral?
CR WELLINGTON.
Until the next Council Meeting unless a Special Council Meeting can be organised
MAYOR PATTISON: Thanks for that, Councillor Wellington.
Do we have someone that wants to second this motion?
No.
So this has lapsed.
We move back to the motion.
So Councillor Gazzard has spoken, Councillor Hodge has spoken,
Councillor Allen, Councillor Bodsworth, Councillor Schonfelder
and Councillor Wellington.
Does anybody other than that wish to speak?
Otherwise we'll go back to Councillor Gazzard.
Any closing remarks?
No.
We'll put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour of the initial recommendation
for the parklet program?
And all those opposed?
The motion is carried.
CR WELLINGTON: By what, Mayor Pattison.
MAYOR PATTISON: We have eight here.
So it's 6/2.
We now move on to our next item of business.
Oh, we'll have a break.
Certainly.
Councillor Schonfelder is moving for us to have a break.
Do I have a seconder?
Councillor Allen.
Thank you.
We'll take a 15-minute break.
So it's 8.22 now.
We'll come back
- oh, we all need to vote on the break, sorry.
Councillor Allen, come back.
You've got to vote.
All those in favour of a break?
The motion is carried unanimously.
So we will come back at 8.40.
Thank you, everybody, online.
We will see you at 8.40.
(Short break).
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
We have just had that short break.
Can I have a mover to resume Standing Orders please?
Councillor Allen and seconded by Councillor Stapleton.
Our next item is the
- oh, and a vote, sorry.
We all need to vote on resuming Standing Orders.
That motion is carried unanimously.
Our next item is 2024/25 Blackspot
Project Funding Opportunities.
The purpose of this report is to inform Council
of the Federal Government 2024-25 Black Spot Funding Program grant
opportunities and seek approval to submit applications
for three road safety improvement projects
Do we have a mover?
Councillor Schonfelder.
Is that as per the recommendation?
And do I have a seconder?
Councillor Hodge.
Would you like to speak, Councillor Schonfelder?
CR SCHONFELDER: Thank you, Mayor.
I would just like to say that this item recommends
that Council authorises the Chief Executive Officer or their delegate
to lodge Black Spot Program funding applications
for the following projects: number one, Bell Street between Surf Coast Highway
and Rudd Avenue, up to $590,000; secondly, Bambra Aireys Inlet Road to $580,000; and,
thirdly, Darian Road between Surf Coast Highway
and The Esplanade up to $510,000.
This also authorises the Chief Executive Officer to sign Black Spot Program funding
agreements on behalf of Council for any application which is successful.
I encourage my colleagues to support this item
because I know that these three roads mentioned require safety upgrades and,
as a person who frequents Bell Street quite often,
I realise that the numbers of people who congregate there,
and I've attended birthday parties at the different venues in the area.
The volume of pedestrians crossing those different
- well, the different intersections of (inaudible) in particular,
I've noticed an increase in patronage, and I also note Darian Road too
has become busier.
So I think these roads
- other colleagues can speak about Bambra and Aireys Inlet road,
but I know that when it comes to prioritising certain roads and streets,
these three streets are of very high priority.
So I'm hoping that we can secure external funding for road safety improvements
in line with the principles within the Council plan
and the road safety and safe cycling strategies
with no Council funding required to deliver the recommended projects.
Thank you, Mayor.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Hodge?
CR HODGE: Very quickly, I really do hope these are successful
with the grants, especially the Bell Street one because
as Councillor Schonfelder said, this is a really high pedestrian area,
especially around Christmas time and until Easter with
all the camping ground people there.
So the safer that area is, the better.
There is a lot of shopping there too so it would be great
for that to be safe.
And Darian Road too is one of the big connection roads as people come
into Torquay and turn left to go down to the The Esplanade.
It is good to see a cycling lane improvements
to be established as well.
So the three roads
- I'm not that familiar with the Bambra area Aireys Inlet part
of the road, but I am sure what we looked at earlier in information sessions,
it needs to be done.
So I'm just really hoping that these are successful in the grants that
we are asking for.
Thanks, Mayor.
MAYOR PATTISON: Councillor Stapleton?
CR STAPLETON: Yes, I'll just add a little bit
about the Bambra Aireys Inlet road site for people who aren't familiar
with the area.
It's the dirt road that links the back of Aireys Inlet through to Bambra
and either left to Deans Marsh or right to Winchelsea.
And this blackspot funding application will provide for road safety improvements
from the intersection of Breakfast Creek Road
and number two road up to Hammonds Road.
So the proposed location is on a very high risk bend.
It's the site of four recent crashes and, if successful, the funding would be used
to obviously improved road safety around that intersection
and the roads leading into it by extending the sealed surface
at the intersection, adding some limited guard rails,
and improving signs and lines on the road.
This is identified as one of the higher risk accident locations
within the Surf Coast Shire and obviously one
of three that have been recommended because they've been identified
as most likely to be successful in securing funding
through this Federal grant opportunity.
I'd just like to add that I'm really grateful
for the blackspot funding.
I think that the reality is that local Councils, particularly those
in rural and regional locations, just don't have the resources
to do everything that's needed for their communities
and providing safer roads is obviously one of the key priorities.
So hopefully we're successful in the applications.
Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Bodsworth?
CR BODSWORTH: Thanks, Mayor.
I agree with Councillor Stapleton.
It's a really important program for us, and in item 4.9
of the project budget adjustments and cash refer transfers,
we see amounts totalling $1.26 million for previous blackspot funding projects.
So that highlights the importance of the program for us,
and I strongly support the proposed measures on Bambra road
from a safety perspective but I'm going to regret them
from an aesthetic perspective because it's a beautiful setting there
and part of my regret is around the default speed limit
for rural roads, which is 100 kilometres an hour,
and I know that we have advocated to Department of Transport and Planning
around that default speed limit and the National Road Safety Partnership
Program notes that a lot of rural roads are largely unsuited
to high-speed travel.
At 80 kilometres an hour instead of 100, there's 20% more time to react,
there's 30% shorter stopping distance and there's a 75% versus a 10% survival
rate of crashing compared to 100 kilometres an hour.
So there's really important safety implications in that difference
in speed limits, and I hope that we can continue
to advocate for changes to that default speed limit
on rural roads.
And another reason for that is the high wildlife toll that high-speed
travel on those roads brings because Bambra Aireys Inlet Road
particularly has always a lot of wildlife along it and there's always a lot
of road kill along there and so I think there's
important reasons for us to continue with that advocacy.
But talking about advocacy, I'd really like to congratulate the team on their
past success with this and other road safety funding programs
because they've been really successful and the background work that they've been
doing has provided a fantastic evidence base to base these funding applications
on, so great success to date and hopefully this
will also be successful.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you.
And Councillor Schonfelder, did you have any closing remarks?
CR SCHONFELDER: No, thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: We'll now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour?
And the motion is carried unanimously.
We now move on to the three-year rolling Strategic Internal Audit Plan.
The purpose of this report is for Council to consider endorsing the rolling
three-year Strategic Internal Audit Plan '23-26.
Do I have a mover of a motion?
Councillor Wellington, is that as per the recommendation?
And a seconder?
Councillor Bodsworth.
Would you like to speak to the motion, Councillor Wellington?
CR WELLINGTON: Yes, very briefly.
Thank you, Mayor.
Council is being asked to endorse this Strategic Internal Audit
Plan.
It did come to the audit committee and I noted
at that meeting that it hadn't actually been to Council, and I think it
is very important that Council does actually know what (inaudible) is doing
and turns its mind to whether or not the projects that are
(inaudible) federal and plan are the priority projects
for Council internal audit is critical around compliance and effectiveness and
all the things that we want to be as a good Council.
So I'm pleased that it's coming to Council.
At least people will know about it.
Councillors will know about it.
But it has already been
- (inaudible) have already started and there's nothing
about it that's objectional in any way, but I again I think it's a bit upside down
from a governance perspective that it's been started
before the funding body actually has endorsed it.
So I think I might have
- I am not sure if I raised this issue last year.
I hope at some point we'll get the process in the right order and Council
will endorse it (inaudible).
But for the moment it's a good plan.
The audit committee endorsed it.
I'm happy with it.
It's just going to be after the event.
Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: And, Councillor Bodsworth, would you like to speak?
CR BODSWORTH: Nothing to add, thanks, Mayor.
MAYOR PATTISON: Any other Councillors like to speak?
Did you have any closing remarks, Councillor Wellington?
CR WELLINGTON: No, thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: We will now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour?
And the motion is carried unanimously.
We now move on to 4.9, project budget adjustments
and cash reserve transfers for October '23.
This report contains proposed budget adjustments and cash reserve transfers
for Council approval.
The report presents adjustments including existing projects requiring adjustment,
project closures, new projects to be initiated,
Chief Executive Officer approved transfers under delegation or corrections
to prior reports presented by the Council.
Do we have a mover of the motion?
Councillor Allen?
CR ALLEN: As per the recommendation.
MAYOR PATTISON: And a seconder?
Councillor Bodsworth.
Would you like to speak, Councillor Allen?
CR ALLEN: Thank you, Mayor.
I want to highlight a couple of things connected
to the Lorne School traffic management improvement.
Stage 2 at the front of the college, where the buses and parents drop
off their students and pick them up
- when I was principal, I was always concerned about that area.
It was a very busy, messy area, and it had been founded
through the local roads and community infrastructure program
from the Federal Government.
The Council did go to public tender in 2022 but they only received one tender
and it was significantly over budget.
The officers then rescoped the project to meet the approved budget
and I was grateful actually to receive an invitation
to attend an on-site meeting because the community had expressed
concern about the fact that 12 trees were going to be removed in the process
of the development.
I was reassured that that's been cut down to six
and that those trees would be replanted with appropriate vegetation.
Now, following that rescoping, the school then requested that
the concrete pathway, which had been removed from the scope,
be returned as it really was considered essential
to achieving the desired connection between the bus bay
- to achieve safety outcomes for the children.
So within the Council's annual roads to recovery allocation
from the Federal Government, we have, due to the delay and the delivery
of a project, we have the capacity
to reallocate $100,000 to the Lorne P-12 college project.
The second element was that we're allocating 55,000
from the accumulated unallocated cash reserve.
The crossing supervisor retired earlier in the year and the school has been unable
to get a replacement.
Now, understanding the layout, the bus collection and parent pick-up,
the area is under staff supervision because that is a busy area after school.
Now, there are a small number of children who do in fact cross the road,
so the suggestion of putting in a wombat crossing I think
is quite a safe and a cost-effective way and the officers recommended
that 55,000 be allocated, and that money would be recovered
within three, three and a half years by not paying
for a school crossing supervisor, and not compromising student safety.
So I support both of those elements.
I was also pleased to see the project management corporate
reporting system from the project savings account.
I think a lot of problems that have occurred in the
past do go back to some project management a couple of years ago, and so
if this system improves that, it would be an essential part
of project delivery.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Allen.
Councillor Bodsworth?
CR BODSWORTH: No, thanks, Mayor.
MAYOR PATTISON: Any other Councillors wish to speak?
Councillor Wellington?
CR WELLINGTON: I've got a question.
Can anybody explain to me what a wombat crossing is please?
MAYOR PATTISON: There's a few that have recently been put in Torquay but our CEO
is probably best placed to explain.
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: They're a raised platform, Councillor Wellington,
that slows traffic down in a precinct, so in places like Bell Street and also
in that area outside the school, it would slow the traffic down to a speed
- I can't even speak, sorry
- to a speed that is safe for pedestrians moving across the road
to reduce risk.
MAYOR PATTISON: Would you like to speak, Councillor Wellington?
CR WELLINGTON: Actually, I would like to speak on another issue.
I have a question from a resident which I will read sort of in part.
I'm glad she asked it because it's a reasonable question.
Do you know why Stribling Reserve gets a new ice machine and Eastern Reserve
in Winchelsea gets the dodgy old one?
Wouldn't it be easier to allocate the new one to Winchelsea
and leave the old one where it is?
And then this person
- MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Wellington.
We've had this question that has come to a few Councillors.
So I'm sure our CEO is happy to answer it.
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: Councillor Wellington, you'll be really pleased
to hear that actually the ice machine that is being sold to Eastern Reserve
is brand new, it's never been used.
It just doesn't fit in the space at Stribling and so a new ice machine
is being purchased that will fit appropriately and Eastern Reserve
will get the brand new ice machine that was originally for Stribling.
CR WELLINGTON: Thank you very much.
Can I ask what they cost?
CR ALLEN: 4,000.
CEO ROBYN SEYMOUR: It's about $4,000, Councillor Wellington.
CR WELLINGTON: Thank you.
Look, that's great.
Thank you for that.
I am sure the Winchelsea people will be thrilled with that.
I think you get concerned if someone has made a mistake
- there's not a problem with making a mistake,
but I do hope we have a system of learning from these mistakes.
If somebody bought an ice machine that was too big, that's
like buying a fridge for your kitchen that doesn't fit,
I presume.
But I'm glad that there's a new ice machine coming to Winchelsea
and we're not getting a dodgy old one.
But now we have spent $8,000 instead of 4,000, presumably.
There you go.
We could have spent that money on planning for integrated transport potentially.
Thank you.
MAYOR PATTISON: Do you have any closing remarks, Councillor Allen?
CR ALLEN: No MAYOR PATTISON: We will put that motion to the vote?
All in favour?
And that motion is carried unanimously.
We now move on to 4.10, Councillor expenses and attendance
at meetings.
The purpose of this report is to present the report
of Councillor allowances, expenses and attendance at meetings
for the September 2023 quarter.
Do I have a mover of the motion?
Councillor Stapleton.
And seconded by Councillor Schonfelder.
Did you want to speak to the motion, Councillor Stapleton?
CR STAPLETON: No, that's fine, thanks.
MAYOR PATTISON: Anyone want to speak to the motion?
Councillor Wellington?
CR WELLINGTON: Yes, I just want to reiterate what I have said previously.
I don't come to briefings for a number of very good reasons and it
is pretty clear on that that I'm not attending
- sorry, we're talking about expenses, I beg your pardon, not briefings.
What I would say about that is that my total expenses look to be zero
but they're not.
There's a significant backlog of travel expenses for me.
I'm intending to put it in a claim.
I was accused of cheating and I have to be honest, that this
is not a task that I relish doing.
I was cleared of cheating and I certainly have not cheated
on my travel claims.
They are quite modest.
But I was accused of that.
There will be a big bill at some time when I can get the mental
energy to put this together.
But I went through many, many months of anxiety and I was really affected
by that accusation because it is not what I am.
So that's why I've got no travel expenses there but they will come at some point and
they will be big because they span back to when that accusation was made,
which is now three years ago, and it took a long time
to confirm that it was malicious and unfounded.
CR HODGE: Can I just ask a question?
When it says 'travel', is that actually petrol money, though?
It's not, isn't it?
So the travel isn't
- your expenses are in the performance of the role.
MAYOR PATTISON: Yes, that's right.
CR WELLINGTON: I always thought that was travel
- MAYOR PATTISON: Travel is for conferences and things.
I think your car allowance
- it's like kilometres goes in expenses to fulfil the role of a Councillor.
It's all captured in the table.
CR WELLINGTON: Yes.
Anyway, I think my expenses are very minimal.
That $248
- I don't know what that was for.
A book.
I think I bought a book that anyone is welcome to borrow if they would like
to.
So I haven't claimed my car mileage for the reason that I've explained.
MAYOR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Wellington.
We will now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour?
And the motion is carried unanimously.
The last item in our public meeting is the Instrument of Appointment
and Authorisation Planning and Environment Act 1987.
The purpose of this report to seek Council's endorsement
for authorised officers under the Planning and Environment Act 1987
through the updated instrument of authorisation and appointment.
This instrument requires updating due to recent staff changes.
Do I have a mover?
Councillor Hodge.
And seconded, Councillor Gazzard?
CR HODGE: No need to speak to it.
MAYOR PATTISON: Great.
Councillor Gazzard?
No.
We will now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour?
And the motion is carried unanimously.
- sorry, I was wrong.
There is one more item.
There is conflict of interest records.
The purpose of this report is to present conflict
of interest records received since the previous Council Meeting.
Do I have a mover of a motion?
Councillor Stapleton.
As per the recommendation?
And seconded by Councillor Bodsworth.
Would you like to speak, Councillor Stapleton?
Councillor Bodsworth, would you like to speak?
CR BODSWORTH: No, thanks.
MAYOR PATTISON: Anyone like to speak?
I'll put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour?
The motion is carried unanimously.
There is no urgent business and so that is the end of our meeting for the public.
Thank you very much to those in the gallery and thank you
to those that have joined us online.
Goodnight.
So, Councillors, we have a confidential item to consider.
We have a confidential item to consider tonight
and we have said goodnight to the gallery and everyone online.
Thank you for joining us.
So do I have a mover to move into confidential?
Councillor Schonfelder and seconded by Councillor Bodsworth.
All those in favour of moving into confidential?
Thank you.
And the motion is carried.