CR PATTISON: Hello, everybody.
Thank you all for coming in.
We're just about to start our Council meeting.
So thank you.
It's so lovely to see so many people here today
to share their views and ask us some questions and be part
of our Council meeting, so appreciate everyone coming in
and taking their time out to attend both online and in person.
So welcome to our first Council meeting in 2024.
I'm Mayor Liz Pattison and it's a pleasure to welcome members
of the community joining us tonight.
This meeting is also being live streamed, so a big welcome to those tuning
in online, and of course welcome to my fellow Councillors,
including Councillor Wellington, who will be joining us online tonight.
Live captioning will accompany the live stream
of this meeting.
We hope that that assists those who may have hearing difficulties.
I would like to acknowledge that here in Torquay at the main Council office
we are gathered on Wadawurrung country.
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 am so grateful for the opportunity
to live and work in such a beautiful part of the world.
We also wish to acknowledge the traditional owners
of the lands on which each person is attending
and acknowledge any First Nations people who are viewing the meeting tonight.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to let you know
about our offsite Council meetings.
After the success last year of our offsite meetings,
we have finalised arrangements for our meetings for this year.
We will be having our March meeting in Deans Marsh, our May meeting
will be in Moriac, and our July meeting will be in Anglesea.
It's really great to be able to take our meetings out
into the community and I'm glad we will be able to engage with our community
in this way again, although we've got a bumper audience here
today, so hopefully we can also have a great audience when we go
to the other parts of our shire.
As with our meetings here in the chambers, our offsite meetings are also live
streamed, so don't feel you need to travel to them,
you can always watch them online.
This is our first Council meeting
since mid-December and a lot of great events have taken place
across our community during summer.
A key highlight during this period was the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race,
which provided plenty of action both on and off the course for families,
fans and riders.
The elite women's and men's races were both really
exciting to watch.
I loved
- I was at the men's finish line and it was a photo finish.
It was very exciting to watch.
Images of our coast and hinterland were broadcast
across the world during the entire event's coverage and
they were spectacular and thousands of participants in the people's ride also
enjoyed the scenery firsthand.
We also have a really exciting event coming up which I'm sure lots
of you are familiar with in the Surf Coast Shire, which
is obviously the World Surf League, the Rip Curl Bells Beach surfing event.
So that's going to be on Monday, 25 March that will kick off.
The Rip Curl Pro is a standout on the Surf Coast events calendar
as it's an international sporting event with inspiring role models surfing
in our backyard.
The event provides the shire with a huge economic boost, as well
as priceless global marketing showcasing our magnificent scenery and attractions
and we look forward to watching the world's best surfers take
on the iconic breaks at Bells Beach, or Djarrak,
on beautiful Wadawurrung country.
And now to our agenda tonight because it's a long one and we've got lots
to go through.
So for those of you that aren't familiar with our Council meetings,
Council meetings operate according to our Governance Rules,
which include the following procedures.
During the meeting, the mover of a motion or an amendment may speak
for a maximum of 5 minutes to open the debate
and then a further 2 minutes to make a closing statement.
Any other Councillors, including the seconder, may speak
to a motion for no more than 3 minutes.
I ask that members of the gallery avoid using mobile phones
during the meeting as this can be distracting for 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 access a copy of the official recording on our website
after the meeting, so there's plenty of opportunities to get a copy
of the recording.
I'd now like to recite the pledge as a sign of our commitment.
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.
We now move on to apologies.
Do we have any apologies for tonight's meeting?
No.
Confirmation of minutes
- can I please have a mover and a seconder to confirm the minutes
of the Council meeting on 12 December 2023?
Moved by Councillor Hodge and seconded by Councillor Gazzard.
All those in favour.
And the motion is carried unanimously.
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 in the meeting.
Do we have any conflicts of interest?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: I need to declare an interest on item
- I should be more prepared
- CR PATTISON: It's on item 4.12.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: 4.12.
Thank you, Councillor Gazzard, 4.12.
CR PATTISON: Thanks, CEO, and you can
- when we get to that, you can step out of the meeting.
We have a few presentations.
Councillor Hodge, would you like to start?
CR HODGE: Yes, thank you, Mayor.
Sometimes we use this time to say a goodbye or a thank you
to someone who has passed in the community that has done great work.
I'd like to talk just for a few minutes tonight on John DeWitt,
who was a Torquay resident, and John was a unique character.
He was an American that came across with experience of local government
from America and I think it must work a lot differently over there because
he certainly put us under the pump a few times, but what
he achieved was just amazing.
Many community people I know are in a group
like Rotary or Lions or there's SEC or Lifesavers, they're
in an actual group that do a lot of great things,
but John volunteered in the community in a different way.
He wanted the whole community to connect.
So he did Facebook pages, the key community page, and if you live
in Torquay North with the Halloween and the Christmas, that was all John.
He started that up several years ago and worked frantically with the community,
with local businesses.
He had prizes and gave to charity.
All the Halloween and the Christmas decorations were
all John.
He was a bit of a character.
He used to get banners and put them around poles and I drove
past once when I was Mayor a few years ago and there he is on a wet day in his thongs
and in his shorts putting up a banner and I thought I didn't see it,
I didn't see it, because of course of health and safety.
And I remember one of the officers ringing me and saying,
"Who put those banners up?",
and I did plead ignorance because I know in the long run John tried
to do everything he could to let him do the work and not others.
He also did a lot of street art.
I don't know if you go past the RACV or near Quiksilver,
the services boxes like Telecom or the transport ones,
he got the students to do designs and made them into giant stickers
and put them over all these.
So on your way home or when you go past the RACV, they were all covered
because of John.
He did a lot of the work on the bus stops with the surfboards on them and
he got the kids from the secondary school workshop
to do it, he got the Men's Shed.
So not only did he try to do groups, he tried to connect groups as well,
which he did with great success.
He was a huge advocate for the local roads in Torquay North and he worked a lot
with our officers to improve the area around Pirate Park.
He was a great supporter of the rainbow flag
and certainly helped this Council and the Council
before understand the LGBTQI committee and to Steve and to all his friends,
he was a great loss.
I know I'll miss him greatly because he got things done and he did it
in such a lovely manner, to the point where you said, "Just do it,
John"
so to save me all the travel there.
But he was a great man.
He'll be missed and every Halloween and Christmas I'll certainly remember him
like a lot of the community will because he was a great man.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thanks, Councillor Hodge.
Councillor Allen?
CR ALLEN: Thanks, Mayor.
I wish to acknowledge the outstanding service given to the residents
of the shire by Ray Clinch, who sadly died in January.
Ray was a valued member of the shire's waste team for
over 22 years working at both Winchelsea and Lorne Transfer Stations.
Ed Babington from Lorne began his eulogy at Ray's service by saying,
"The easiest thing in the world is to speak positively of Ray and not have
to struggle with searching for endless platitudes
and knowing that the vast majority of people familiar with
and frequenting the Lorne tip are grieving his passing.
Ray's customer service was second to none.
It is not the easiest thing in the world to balance shire demands
and still maintain a high level of customer satisfaction.
Ray did.
"Look, Ed's sentiments are shared by the Lorne community
and I extend our condolences to Ray's family.
Secondly, Mayor, I'd just like to say the protection
of the endangered hooded plover chicks that hatched on the beach at Lorne
near the mouth of the Erskine River is another example of how Lorne
is a proactive, supportive community.
We see a need and we do what we can to address it.
The Friends of Lorne and the many residents who volunteered
their time to protect the hooded plover chicks
from dogs off the leash and human activity are to be thanked
and admired.
The chicks took flight on Saturday, the 17th.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Allen.
Councillor Schonfelder?
CR SCHONFELDER: Thank you, Mayor.
I would like to express condolences on behalf of the Council
to three wonderful people.
The first person is Ricky Calandro, who like many in our community has
a nickname and his nickname was Ricky Rat.
I'm not sure where it stemmed from, but it held with him.
He was a very good surfer and he recalled to me surfing in 1981, when I was
in grade 1, where the swells here on the Surf Coast were the best I think
in perhaps human memory.
I know the film Point Break is based on that event.
And Ricky also was a champion footballer.
He was Best and Fairest and he was my neighbour at Barrabool and
he was very popular in the Moriac district
One story I'd like to share, if I may, is that one night I was carting hay
by myself, a very hot day, hotter than today, and Ricky came over
and it was about dinner time and he made a homemade seafood pizza
and gave me a can of coke and I thought he was so nice and so kind,
and I know that Winston Churchill said you are what you give, so condolences
to the Calandro family.
Also I'd like to express sympathies to the Smith family, Ed Smith,
who was known as Wizard.
He was a footballer at Winchelsea who sadly took his
own life just a few days before Christmas and he had his memorial service
in early January and I watched that online.
He was originally from Yackandandah and I was fortunate enough
to attend a game between Winchelsea and Geelong West in Geelong West last year
and he kicked five goals and he was an incredible footballer and there
will be a game played up at Yackandandah in March between Winchelsea,
a preseason game, so perhaps if you look on the website,
the Winchelsea Blues website, for that and I express my condolences once again
to his family.
Finally, Kylie Trevena, from Moriac, sadly had brain cancer.
She had astrocytoma and she had many cycles of radiation therapy,
chemo tablets and sadly, she died in January and her family wanted
to thank the incredible help of the Grace McKellar palliative care team
, who do home help assistance.
I do recall going to the Moriac store one time
and we've had the pandemic and we've had some testing moments
and I arrived and Kylie said to me, and her nickname was KT, she said, "Hi,
Adrian.
You've arrived and the sun has just come out "and she had that ability
to make people feel really good about themselves.
I know that her funeral or memorial service was held at Mount Duneed Estate
and in recent times funerals and memorial services have become
a celebration of people's lives and that's what the First Nations people
have always done and her dog was there called
Nelly and interestingly, seeing her dog walking around,
a little Jack Russell, it made people feel more comfortable
and happier and at the end of the service a number of people,
including her lovely husband, Alan, who does give me a hard time
on Council matters, I might add, they danced
to the R.E.M song Shining Happy People and I really enjoyed attending her
memorial service and once again express my condolences to her family.
Thank you, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
We now move on to submissions.
We've received a submission from Rainbow Local Government
regarding agenda item 4.5, Advocacy Priorities.
Do we have anyone from Rainbow Local Government here tonight
to present the submission?
No?
Well, that's okay, we've received the submission.
It's been forwarded on to all Councillors and it's been circulated, so everybody
is aware of the details of that.
So we'll move on to Public Question Time.
So the next agenda item is Public Question Time.
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 16 community members
who have submitted questions and we have a total of 27
to address tonight.
So I note that there are a lot of common themes
through the public questions that we have received tonight.
We will address each question individually
However, if you do feel that your question has
already been answered, please let us know and we can move on to the next question.
I understand, though, that people have come and they would like
to read their question and so we will extend that that if people would like
to, they can read their question and we can respond, but yes,
we do have a large number of public questions submitted tonight.
We usually allocate around 30 minutes, or in our Governance Rules 30 minutes
is allocated to public questions.
I do request that you directly read out your question if you can
without additional comments as this will help us get through
all the questions that we have received.
I also note that where there are any questions that are quite technical
in nature, the response that you receive tonight may
be quite high level.
However, officers will follow up with you to provide a more comprehensive response
within 14 days.
So I just wanted to let you know that.
We will move on to the questions.
So our first question is from Tarney Spencer, of Torquay,
with regards to native title.
I understand Tarney is not here tonight.
No.
So I'll read Tarney's question: "What is Council doing to represent
and protect the interests of 97% of our non-Indigenous population
with regard to the recent application for a native title claim
over our Surf Coast public beaches, reefs and parks?"
I'll respond to this question.
Thank you for your question, Tarney.
Native title is the name Australian law gives
to acknowledge Aboriginal people's rights and interests to land and waters
according to their traditional laws and customs.
These rights can include things such as the right to hunt, fish,
gather food or teach law and custom on country.
They are known as non-exclusive rights, which means there is no right
to control access to, or use of, an area.
Therefore, there is little or no impact on non-Aboriginal
people's use of a particular area.
That said, Council officers are meeting with the National Native Title Tribunal
this week to stay informed on the detail and progress of the claim.
We now have a number of questions about an important Council facility
in Deans Marsh, where we have been doing some
planning work recently.
Tony Watts, would you like to read your question
- Tony Watts, of Deans Marsh?
TONY WATTS: I did have about 2 minutes of preliminaries,
but I'll drop them.
CR PATTISON: That's wonderful.
Thank you, Tony.
I really appreciate that.
TONY WATTS: They're very good.
Yes, okay.
It's about the conflict in Deans Marsh.
Council has included the Deans Marsh Hall renewal project in the Strong Communities
and Places Advocacy theme, a box that I think everything that Council
does should be in, but my question is how will Council's current plan
to demolish the heritage Deans Marsh Hall and replace it with a bigger
and better community hub serve to strengthen the divisions
within our Deans Marsh community?
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Tony.
I'll pass that one to our CEO.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thanks for your questions, Tony, again
at this meeting.
Council is often balancing the strategies within the Council plan
and the proposed redevelopment of the Deans Marsh Community Hall aims
to meet two of our key strategies for the current and future generations.
It's strategy 3, which is "facilitate the provision
of social infrastructure and open space to enable healthy lifestyles",
and strategy 4, which is "improve access to local services
and programs that support people to be healthy and well".
Given the significant structural issues, to retain the existing building is
to essentially replace and rebuild it and replicating the current facility would
limit the ability to design and provide a fit for purpose outcome
for future generations and to cater for all life stages.
The current and future needs of the community have been established
through the community engagement within the project and the expertise
of the architect and Council officers.
Meeting these needs aims to strengthen the Deans Marsh
and surrounding communities.
Specifically regarding your concerns about heritage,
I do feel this is something that we addressed
in previous questions in the public question time
in December I think it was and officers I know have written
to you about that.
Given the large number of questions tonight, I refer you
to that information.
TONY WATTS: If I can be clear, officers have actually banned
me asking questions, but that's alright.
So I want to apologise that I can't stay for the whole meeting.
I live in Deans Marsh and I don't like driving in the twilight.
So I'm not being
- I hope you don't think I'm being rude when I leave.
CR PATTISON: Thanks for letting us know.
TONY WATTS: Much of section 4.5 in tonight's agenda
- this is the whole question I submitted
- is about aligning Council's policies and projects with those
of its external partners for efficiencies and access to funding streams, and so on.
Why is it then that Council's proposal to demolish
and replace the heritage Deans Marsh Hall is so out of alignment
with Council's own evolving strategies and policies, such
as promoting a circular economy in the shire, promoting sustainability,
promoting environmental protection, and ensuring heritage protection, as well
as so contrary to the protection and celebration of heritage as promoted
by such external parties as the Municipal Association of Victoria
and the State Government?
There's a pamphlet on this for Councillors.
We'll make sure you get it.
That's my question.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: We do have that pamphlet
TONY WATTS: Good.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thank you, Tony.
TONY WATTS: Has anybody read it?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Of course they have read it.
TONY WATTS: Excellent.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: So officers believe that addressing the community needs can be
consistent with the kinds of policies and strategies that you're talking about.
TONY WATTS: Yes.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: The project has been progressing in response
to these community needs and as part of that has considered reuse of materials
and use of recycled content where possible , avoiding the demolition and relocation
of the skate park, a 6 Star Green Star certified rating
with improved environmental performance than the current facility, and the use
of the facility as an emergency relief centre
beyond the capabilities of the current hall.
TONY WATTS: Mayor, may I have one sentence of the stuff I cut out?
CR PATTISON: Pardon?
TONY WATTS: Can I have one sentence of the stuff that I actually cut
out of the first question?
CR PATTISON: Just one sentence.
TONY WATTS: One sentence, one sentence.
The division in the community is between the old families
and the newest generation, who are profoundly conservationists.
The old generation
- that's comma.
The old generation had to deal with very little money and to make do and
to keep things going and repair them, and so on.
The new generation is being brought up on consumerism and get the newest
and the best and that's what the division is and it ain't going away
if you demolish the hall.
That's my sentence.
Thank you very much.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Tony.
I appreciate that you're keeping it succinct.
Thank you so much and thanks for coming in and speaking with us.
We now move along to Gen Picot, from Deans Marsh.
GEN PICOT: Thank you very much for letting me ask this question.
I'll be very brief and go straight to the question.
In the 20 years since Council has had the obligation to protect places
of heritage significance, has Council ever issued a planning permit
to demolish a place of heritage significance within the shire?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thank you, Gen, for your interest in heritage
and heritage sites.
You are correct in noting that our Planning Scheme has
included heritage overlays for the past two decades
to protect our significant places.
A heritage place can hold significance either individually or as part
of a broader precinct and the detail of what makes a place significant
is recorded in a Statement of Significance,
which I know that you are aware of.
Under the overlay, any demolition activity requires
a permit even if the portion to be removed does not add
to the site's significance.
Looking at Council's register of planning applications,
we've issued fewer than 30 permits over the past 20 years that relate
to some form of demolition.
Largely, these involve partial demolition of a building, removal
of outbuildings or fences or trees, and to a lesser extent removal
of a building.
However, thorough review of these permits and whether the demolition was
a significant place is a time-consuming process and isn't something that we've
kind of investigated at this time.
When considering the permits involving demolition within a heritage overlay,
we consider the Statement of Significance and what contributes to the significance
of the heritage place and whether the demolition will impact
on this.
To assist our decision making, we also engage expert heritage advice
to ensure applications comply with the objectives of the overlay.
I hope this information helps answer your question.
GEN PICOT: Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thanks, Gen.
The next series of questions are about the devastating events happening
in Gaza.
As this relates to an item on the agenda tonight, the CEO
will be responding to these questions.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Before we go to specifically the questions
- thank you, Mayor
- I just wanted to acknowledge the human tragedy that
we're all very aware of has been unfolding and to really acknowledge the
huge sympathy for all who have encountered the death,
the injury, the destruction of homes, the loss of freedom, the removal
of human rights and discrimination.
We also understand that this is a very difficult issue for people
in our community who are observing these terrible events from afar.
Council will be considering the receipt of a petition on this matter shortly and,
if supported, this will commence a formal process for Council
to consider this matter in depth.
We are listening to the concerns of residents and I think we can agree
that everyone wishes to see an end to all the suffering.
CR PATTISON: Now, the first question that we have
is Sarah Molner, from Torquay.
Would you like to come and read your question, Sarah?
SARAH MOLNER: Hi, everyone.
I think you've kind of just answered it, but we'll proceed.
Given the horrific humanitarian crisis in Gaza
- for example, that roughly 2 million Palestinians now
are facing possible imminent death, whether directly via the Israeli
Occupation Forces or through the Israeli Government-sanctioned
actions and their policies on starvation, disease and ethnic cleansing
- and in light of the local community support
in this LGA, will this Council please move an urgent motion in support of Palestine
and advocate for an immediate ceasefire?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thank you, Sarah, for your question and thank you
for your continued interest and concern for people impacted by the situation
in Gaza.
I acknowledge that this is really distressing for many people
and our hearts go out to all of those who are suffering
through this conflict.
That's very genuine.
As you know, Councillors will shortly receive a petition
on this topic.
Petitions are a really important means for community members to raise matters
with Council and so we have a formal process for considering them.
So just to kind of take you through what that looks like,
once a petition is received, officers research and review the matter
and then bring a report back to Council with a recommendation on how to proceed.
We take petitions really seriously and we do so for this one as well.
It's through this process that we research and explore topics in depth
and form a view for consideration by Council.
We will let you know when we have a report coming back to Council.
Just so you know, our minimum commitment
- so the longest we take in reviewing petitions
and bringing report backs is three months, but we will do what we can
to expedite noting the call for urgency on this matter.
So thank you, Sarah.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Sarah.
Our next question is from Sarah Claydon.
Are you here, Sarah?
And Sarah is from Torquay as well.
SARAH CLAYDON: Good evening, everyone.
The Palestinian genocide is terrifying and numbers are incomprehensible.
To contextualise, the entire Surf Coast population would be
dead or injured.
Every child in every school in the Surf Coast P
to 12 would have been murdered three times over.
As a mother, I wonder what could ever warrant this.
A child's life is a child's life.
Yet we avoid the reality unfolding before us, actively working to shut
down efforts to advocate for human rights of Palestinians.
Why is that?
Regardless of race, culture, religion, we're all living in this world together.
Your purpose is to exist to help our community thrive.
How do we thrive whilst ignoring the suffering of people begging
for our help?
We're all impacted by the plight of Palestinians.
How can we show support through proactive change
in systematic practices and policies embedded
in our society that privilege white people and disadvantage people of colour?
How do we recognise and change a system that ignores human rights
and simultaneously recognise that our actions show far more solidarity than
our conditional responses?
If not support for an immediate ceasefire, then what?
How will Council uphold international law supporting constituents to fight
for human rights indiscriminately?
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Hi, Sarah, and thanks for your question.
The situation in Gaza is incredibly distressing.
Council is committed to fair and equitable decisions.
The questions received tonight and at our last Council meeting along
with the petition that will be considered tonight
will give us important context as we consider this issue
and seek a way forward.
I understand that you are looking for a more urgent action from Council.
While we are not in a position to decide on actions tonight,
we understand the urgency and the importance of the situation.
We will let you know when the report is going to be tabled in Council
and I acknowledge your interest and your concern and thank you
for the question.
SARAH CLAYDON: Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
The next question is from Khristo Newell, from Torquay.
If people can bring the microphone closer
- if you bring them closer, then it makes it louder.
KHRISTO NEWELL: Testing, testing.
Councillors, thanks for listening to our concerns.
It's good to see you all here and Councillor Wellington on the screen.
My question pre submitted was titled "Council Motion Re Plausible Genocide
in Gaza"
and my question is
- can you hear me?
Oh, sorry.
On behalf of the Friends of Palestine in Torquay, my question to each
and every individual Councillor and to you as a collective elected representative
body is why when a plausible genocide
is occurring, as determined by the International Court of Justice
in January, regarding Israel's campaign of deaths
in Gaza are you not using your individual and collective power and influence
to speak out publicly, use your platforms, educate the community,
and actively empower residents regarding the horrific crimes
against humanity that are occurring?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thank you, Khristo, and thanks for coming tonight
and thank you for asking your question.
As I mentioned earlier, the war in Gaza is horrific and we are all very mindful
of the impact it is having.
As mentioned in my response to Sarah, we will be considering a petition tonight
and if supported, a response will come back to Council.
We understand your desire for urgency and assure you we
will give this our careful and urgent consideration.
But thank you again, Khristo, for your question and concern
regarding the situation in Gaza.
KHRISTO NEWELL: My follow-up question as pre submitted: I on behalf of Friends
of Palestine Torquay note and stand in support
of this Council's broad commitments to social justice, human rights
and community education, but also note that genocide is clearly one
of the gravest issues to ever face us all as global citizens,
in which case I ask Council to urgently or even immediately pass
a strongly worded motion in support of Palestine and advocating
for an immediate ceasefire.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Khristo, I think I answered that question
in my last question to you in the sense that we have a petition coming
to Council that will be considered.
We have a process that we need to go through in considering that petition
and we will bring a response back, a report back to Council on that.
I understand that you're looking for a more urgent response, but that
is the way, that is the process by which we respond to petitions and so
that is
- and that petition will be considered by Council this evening.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thanks, Khristo.
KHRISTO NEWELL: That's not all of the process, though, is it?
You do have the ability to call for an urgent motion.
This is a genocide.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Khristo.
I agree it's a very distressing situation.
Stella Schubert, would you like to read your question?
Oh, no, Stella will not be attending.
Sorry, I've got that here.
She's not here?
No.
I'll read that question: "ASIO boss Mike Burgess is quoted saying,"
As I have said previously, words matter.
ASIO has seen direct connections between inflamed language
and inflamed community tensions", October 12th, the Financial Review.
Is the act of asking for a ceasefire in Gaza inflammatory considering
the implications that Hamas will therefore not be dismantled and
will continue to execute plans to kill Jews.
If the answer is yes, will the Surf Coast Shire Council take any
responsibility should the rise in antisemitism continue to go up?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thank you, Stella.
Thank you for your question.
Hopefully you're watching online.
As mentioned in the previous responses, Council will shortly receive a petition
on this matter.
Should Council vote to accept the petition, officers
will then prepare a report for consideration
at a future Council meeting.
In preparing such reports, our approach is to carefully consider all points of view
and weigh up the impacts of any recommendations made.
We appreciate you bringing your concerns to us and I assure you we
will consider them carefully.
Thanks again, Stella.
CR PATTISON: So that brings the questions in relation to Gaza to an end
and the next series of questions relate to the Anglesea Community and Health Hub.
As these also relate to an item on the agenda, I'll be asking the CEO
to respond to these questions.
I wanted to also say before we move on thank you to all those that are here
that have shown their support and have come out presenting
for those questions, so it's great to see so many people showing their
concern for different issues.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thank you, Mayor.
I just want to note that I'll address each question
in turn in relation to the Anglesea Hub, but also emphasise that Council
will be considering a report on the hub at tonight's meeting which might further
address the questions raised during our public question time.
The project is being undertaken to ensure that we are planning
for the infrastructure required to respond to both the current and the future needs
of the Anglesea Community.
CR PATTISON: Howard Taylor, from Anglesea, are you here and would you like
to read your question?
Would you be able to read both of your questions
and then we'll respond together to both of them, if that's alright, Howard?
HOWARD TAYLOR: Yes.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
HOWARD TAYLOR: Good evening to all.
My questions are I would like to ask if there has been a thorough business case
undertaken for the Council's proposed Anglesea
Community Hub development and if the answer is in the affirmative,
then I respectfully request to have a look at a copy of this document.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Howard.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thanks, Howard.
Thanks for coming along and thanks for your question.
The current project phase is the development of a concept plan
for the precinct, so a business case would really
- we'd develop a business case at a later stage and it depends
on the concept planning.
This work is informed by the project drivers,
which include that the current facilities are ageing and struggling
to meet community needs.
Given the complexity and range of responses from the recent engagement
to the draft precinct plan, the recommendation before Council is
to re-engage with the community through a co-design
of the Anglesea Hub with representatives from the community.
With a concept plan not yet resolved, a business case
on a concept plan has not been undertaken.
Once an option
- once we're clear on the option and it's been resolved by Council,
a more detailed analysis can then be undertaken to understand the costs
and benefit and confirm implementation and potential funding options.
HOWARD TAYLOR: Okay, thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thanks, Howard.
Colin Anderson, from Anglesea, would you like to read your question?
COLIN ANDERSON: Thank you for the opportunity.
My question is has the Council undertaken any
assessment of the carbon footprint and environmental impact and cost analysis
of wrecking four substantial buildings rather than repurposing them?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: The current phase of the project is the development
of the concept plan, as I was mentioning earlier,
for the precinct.
The detailed analysis like the one that you describe would be
part of the business case at a later stage.
There are a range of matters that will inform a decision
on any redevelopment of the precinct.
These will include the environmental and sustainability considerations
and the costs and benefits for the redevelopment of the precinct.
The costs of maintaining and renewing the current buildings are
also a relevant factor which inform investment decisions along
with their ability in the short and longer term to respond to the needs
of the community.
COLIN ANDERSON: And the second question is has the Council considered
the disadvantage of bringing together disparate
organisations such as Angair, medical centre, kindergarten,
community house and activities, early child care into one building
and the effects on traffic and people movement?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: There's definitely pros and cons with integrating community
and health facilities in the hub and I guess from what we've heard
from precinct users and the community to date is that there is an opportunity
for some facilities to be integrated.
But the co-design process that we're proposing
will enable this to be further explored and consider specific use facilities
and how they can operate as part of any redevelopment.
COLIN ANDERSON: Thank you.
The co-design group who makes that up
- CR PATTISON: That's being considered at tonight's Council meeting
and there's a process that people apply and come together for that,
but there's lots of details of it in the agenda if you want
to have a look at that and there will be more media coming out depending
on the decision of tonight's Council meeting.
Geoff Lewtas, from Anglesea, would you like to read your question?
GEOFF LEWTAS: Thank you.
My name is Lewtas, Geoff Lewtas.
CR PATTISON: Sorry.
GEOFF LEWTAS: With regard to the Community Hub, assuming the social
and affordable key worker housing remains part of the precinct redevelopment and
is subsequently funded and constructed, will the Council donate this part
of the land to a not-for-profit organisation as it has agreed
to do in the case at Aireys Inlet?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thanks, Geoff.
Before I answer the question in relation to Anglesea, I just want
to clarify the situation in Aireys.
Council hasn't made a decision about whether or not it would sell that land or
whether it would lease it to Housing Choices Australia, our provider
in Aireys Inlet, so that decision has not yet been made.
GEOFF LEWTAS: Okay.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: But in relation to Anglesea,
you'll see in the Council report that the intention is to maintain the land
in public ownership, not to sell the land, to be really clear, so Council will need
to determine how then it brings on a housing provider, but the land
will be remaining in public ownership.
GEOFF LEWTAS: Okay.
My second question is knowing there is widespread disapproval amongst Anglesea
property owners about the location of the affordable key worker housing
proposed for the precinct, will the Council explore the possibility
of this development being relocated to an Alcoa-owned
site in Wilkins Street in Anglesea?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: So the data we have collected to date indicates that
many people support the idea of affordable housing for workers
on the site.
If you have a look at the summary or the detailed engagement
report, you'll be able to see the various views of our community
in that space.
We of course know there are opposite views too, as I'm hearing expressed here tonight
The proposition in tonight's report is that this
is an important inclusion in a concept plan for the precinct.
We are not looking at Wilkins Street site due in part
to the bushfire risk.
The State
- the State
- CR PATTISON: Please keep it down so we can continue with the questions
and everyone can be respectful, please.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: State Government policy does not support residential development
in areas like that that present extreme risk.
Instead Council has focused its attention on land it has control over and which is
within the settlement boundary and has a lower bushfire risk profile.
GEOFF LEWTAS: If I can just say I've been a resident in Anglesea for many years,
something like 58 years.
I know a lot of people in Anglesea.
I do not know one person that I've spoken
- I've been a member of most clubs, most organisations in Anglesea
over the years and I do not know one person who is
in favour of this proposal.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Geoff.
GEOFF LEWTAS: Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thanks for coming and sharing your question.
Peter McGain, from Anglesea, would you like to read your question?
PETER McGAIN: Sorry, who was it?
CR PATTISON: Peter McGain?
PETER McGAIN: You can't hear.
CR PATTISON: I'll bring it really close and speak extra loud.
PETER McGAIN: Thank you for the opportunity.
My first question is when were the Anglesea ratepayers
and residents asked whether they want the McMillan Street Hub
redeveloped to include affordable housing?
CR PATTISON: As with the other questions, our CEO will be responding.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thanks for your question, Peter.
The idea of affordable housing for essential workers has been tested
through both phases of community engagement.
The first stage findings are included in the document library on our website
under the project page.
The second stage findings are included in tonight's Council report.
Ratepayers have been informed about this process via Council's
newsletter, a postcard drop in every letterbox in Anglesea,
our website, newspaper articles, community newsletters
and posts on community-owned social media and through local community networks.
We've also promoted the process in the precinct and in the windows and
on counters of local businesses and organisations.
PETER McGAIN: With respect, and I know that you can't really answer
this, if you have a look at your own documents,
the one that was handed out in April, the one that was handed out again
in late April or early May, none of them appeared to have anything
about affordable housing in them and the first document that came out was
in late October/November, so what you're saying is not correct.
CR PATTISON: Thanks, Peter.
I'll ask you to read out your second question, please.
PETER McGAIN: The second question is would a new building housing
a kindergarten, children's daycare centre, community house, senior citizens as well
as a medical centre be able to cope with a major pandemic or flu outbreak?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: The situational analysis included interviews with community, health
and early years service providers in the precinct
to understand their spatial and functional needs.
This included understanding their operations during the pandemic and
in other emergencies.
The concept of bringing services together has not been
dismissed based on concerns relating to infectious outbreaks.
The situational analysis also recognises a range of facility-specific
building standards and guidelines that are relevant
- for example, the building and design fit-out guidance
of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
and the Victorian Health Building Authority.
Thank you for your questions.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Peter.
We'll now ask
- sorry, I'll let you move yourself back.
Ron Canale, would you like to read your question, from Anglesea?
RON CANALE: Good evening and thanks for the opportunity.
I've got a question with respect to the report
and preferred option provided by Tract Consultants for the Community Hub
at McMillan Street in Anglesea.
This was first produced and shown to members
of the community in the November onsite meeting.
My questions are: who produced the brief for the consultant's scope of works?
What instructions were provided by any Councillors or Council officers?
Since $250,000 was eventually spent, I might be wrong,
but that's what I've been told, and $50,000 of that was by the Council,
was there a tender process to choose the consultant company?
And what process was entered into to approve the extra $50,000?
Finally, can I have a copy of the brief?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thanks, Ron.
Council officers produced the brief and we'd be really happy to share this
with you.
The procurement process
- a select tender was run in accordance with Council's procurement policy and also
in line with the Local Government Act.
Council approved the allocation of $50,000 from its integrated
Planning Operational Budget 2022-2023 as the 1:4 co-contribution
to the investment fast-track fund to McMillan Street Anglesea Precinct
Plan with a total estimated budget cost
of $250,000, you're right, at the 23 August 2022 Council meeting.
RON CANALE: Question 5.
So can I have a copy?
CR PATTISON: Would you go to the next question?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: I said yes, we're happy to provide you with a brief,
with the brief.
RON CANALE: The reason I'm asking those questions is that we came from a position
of not knowing anything about the process to being presented with the plan
of consolidating lots of activities in a small area so
we could create land for the social housing
and it would seem remarkable that consultants could come up
with those provisions and ideas without being led to that.
So I'm asking questions to find out if they were told that we were
to have social housing in the plan without any of the community knowing
about it.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Ron, I know that wasn't your next question,
but just to clarify that, the intention of consolidating the precinct was not
to create capacity for housing.
That wasn't the driver for consolidating the community
and health facilities.
RON CANALE: Why would you do it then?
CR PATTISON: We haven't allowed multiple questions.
You have got a second question and there will be much more engagement
and consultation around the health hub, so I'm sure that can be addressed
at a later time.
RON CANALE: It worries me that we're talking about co-design
of something the community doesn't even want.
That's enough.
Second question: with respect to the abandoned elderly citizens building
, are the Council prepared to employ the same engineering company as
they used to write the dilapidation report to establish a scope of works and cost
to repair and repurpose the building so that it may be used
as a new community house?
The original report never instructed demolition.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Regarding your suggestion
for the senior citizens building, that's not something that has been part
of our planning to date.
Tonight Council will determine whether to commence a co-design process
with the community in April and May.
You might like to express your interest in participating in this where the pros
and cons of these kinds of ideas can be discussed and negotiated
with your fellow community members.
RON CANALE: So the answer is that the elderly citizens has
to be demolished in order to have any of that plan put in place?
CR PATTISON: Ron, we have come to the end of your questions
and we have given you some extra leeway.
There still are many more questions to follow,
so it's important we're respectful for everybody that's here tonight
and their time.
But thank you for coming and asking your questions.
Peter Doyle, from Anglesea, would you like to read your question?
PETER DOYLE: Councillors, officers, thank you.
Put my glasses on, it would help.
I believe that the underlying issue here that's driving the unrest
in the Anglesea community, the division, and this is evident here, is the absence
from public view of what I'd call the business case,
but I've since learnt should be perhaps rephrased
as the Council's reasoning, logic, what's supporting and driving this project
for the redevelopment and critically the absence
of the data supporting the proposal for the redevelopment
of the entire precinct and its components.
My first question is that in the interests of community cohesion and collaboration
and collaborative engagement with the Council on this project,
will Council commit to providing its business case,
its reasons, for the proposed development with the specific data which supports
the case for complete precinct redevelopment,
each of its component parts as well as a draft of the funding strategy
for its proposal?
Thank you.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thank you.
Thanks a lot, Peter.
The project drivers include that buildings in the precinct are ageing and struggling
to meet community needs and housing is being considered in recognition of how
a lack of affordable rental accommodation is impacting the economy
and the sustainability of the local communities.
In Anglesea this site provides an opportunity for the Council
to investigate an option of how it can respond to this housing challenge
when there appears to be no other viable options
that Council can influence.
The detailed work completed on the project to date has been made available
on the Council's website.
This includes a Situation Analysis that includes detail on key issues
and future needs for user groups in the precinct.
This data supports the position that buildings are in poor condition
with limited capacity, in particular to meet future service demand.
The project is still in the concept design phase and,
as such, matters that would inform investment
decisions, including costings and a funding strategy,
have not yet been completed.
Once a concept plan option is resolved, more detailed analysis can then be
undertaken to understand costs and benefits and confirm implementation
and the potential funding options.
PETER DOYLE: Thank you.
I think my underlying point is the data that
is driving those initial decisions, the community would like to see that
and understand where has it outgrown the current use of those buildings,
what is positioning, what is supporting Council's position
to redevelop the whole site?
I don't doubt that you have it.
I'm just saying please share it.
My second question, and firstly, I'd like to commend the planning team
for recognising that
- I think they've recognised they may have undercooked the initial
consulting community consulting engagement but they were a little busy
with planning scheme reviews and urban strategies and had a lot
on their plate at the time.
I think they're responding very well, recognising that
and responding with this co-design and workshop program and I'd like
to commend that.
I believe, as many in this room know, that open collaboration between shire
and community on this and other projects, but this in particular,
is now even more important as we all wish to see the initial division overcome
to produce a wonderful final proposal and then to find the money to fund it.
My question is will Council commit to include questions submitted
by the community in its agenda for the co-design
and associated community workshops and to provide its reasoning
and supporting data in regard to each question?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Peter, that's not something we're planning on.
The detailed engagement report will be made available
as an input to the co-design phase along with the background work undertaken
on the project to date.
This includes the reasoning and the supporting data that inform why
the project is being undertaken and what the key challenges are
to be addressed.
The idea of the representative community panel is
to stimulate the range of views in a workable size group and
to enable them to wrestle with the different issues at play.
The panel's work will be shared with community once it's drafted and it
will meet for a fourth time to contemplate community feedback
before Council consider the final concept plan.
PETER DOYLE: Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Peter.
Rick Whitelaw, from Anglesea
- I don't think Rick is here, so I'll read Rick's question.
"The latest Victorian Health Department design guidelines
for community facilities are recommending that medical centres be freestanding
and not integrated with kindergartens, child minding, senior citizens, et cetera,
to minimise the threat from COVID.
Will the Surf Coast Council now abandon the concept for McMillan Street so
they don't create an unhealthy hub? "MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thanks
for your question, Rick.
Hopefully again you're online watching this.
We're happy to look into this and would appreciate you sharing the link
to the latest Victorian Health Department design guidelines for community facilities
and medical centres.
Our work with Barwon Health and the Anglesea Medical Centre identified
a couple of sets of relevant standards that I mentioned earlier,
the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
and the Victorian Health Building Authority.
Input from Barwon Health, the Medical Centre
and other service providers at the precinct identified infection
control requirements which influenced the draft design.
However, none of these service providers raised this
as an issue that would prevent the consideration
of an integrated facilities on the site.
We'll continue to draw on their expertise and reference any relevant
standards and guidelines.
So if you can send through that link, that would be much appreciated.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
And that draws to a close the end of the Anglesea questions.
We now move on to some other questions.
Myra White from Jan Juc, would you like to read your question?
MYRA WHITE: Hi there.
Thank you for the opportunity.
These two questions are in relation to agenda item 4, so if it's easier
to answer those in relation to that agenda item to move things along,
that's totally okay.
Up to you.
Question 1: in response to our recent joint letter, I was informed
by a member of the assets and engineering team
on 19 February that there was unlikely to be progress for another 12 months
on a crossing.
Are all Councillors aware that there continues to be no safe way
to cross the Great Ocean Road near Bellbrae Primary School
or Christian College, Geelong Surf Coast campus in any capacity
and that community has been raising concerns with Council since 2020
on this issue?
CR PATTISON: Thanks, Myra.
I pass that on to our CEO.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thanks, Myra.
Yes, we're aware that there's still a safety concern
and officers have briefed Councillors on that safety issue.
The crossing is required to be delivered by Christian College Geelong or
the Department of Transport, so we've been advocating for the works
to be carried out for the last couple of years.
Indications from the department, with support from the Minister for Roads
and Road Safety, are that they're looking at delivering multiple crossings,
but it's important to keep all of our collective advocacy up
as the timing is not clear and we know funding for road safety
is highly contested across the state.
We'll certainly keep pushing for this outcome.
MYRA WHITE: Thank you.
And question number 2: do Councillors believe Council teams are meeting desired
community engagement standards on these projects as articulated
in Council's community engagement policy?
Excerpt from this policy states, "Community engagement is
about sharing information and seeking meaningful
and influential input into decision making."
It refers to planned processes designed to work across communities
and stakeholders to shape decisions or actions in relation
to an issue or opportunity.
Thank you.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thanks, Myra, for your feedback on our engagement
on projects and at this location.
If you feel like
- if you're concerned that we're not meeting our engagement standards,
I'd be really interested in understanding where you feel
we're falling short.
And I understand that you're in regular contact
with our engineering team, but if there are specific concerns,
I know our relevant General Manager, Chris Pike, would be keen to find out more
to see what's possible.
He's let me know he'd be really happy to have a chat to you about this.
MYRA WHITE: Thank you.
We appreciate that.
CR PATTISON: Thanks, Myra.
Melissa O'Shanassy, from Jan Juc?
MELISSA O'SHANASSY: Hello.
Thank you for the good work that you all do and the opportunity to speak.
Page 227 of the agenda at point 15, which deals
with the Torquay North development, identifies a balance of 5.2 million
for the Future Development Contribution Plan, the FDCP, in addition to a long-term
financial plan of 10.6 million for asset renewal in 2024/25.
Given that the Council has a strategic risk rating for safe crossing
of the Great Ocean Road and connection to the Ridgeline trail has a strategic
risk rating of serious and a residual risk rating of high
for failure to plan and deliver, please advise why additional funding
is being sought as per page 16, point 5.
Our question is why can't the DCP funding already
reserved be brought forward for this serious matter?
CR PATTISON: It is trying to be resolved
- the noise in the background, in case it was distracting you, is trying
to be resolved.
I'll pass that on to our CEO.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Melissa, thanks for your question.
Council officers can only access funding that the Council allocates
through its annual budget or through decisions at Council meetings
throughout the year.
The funding within Council's current year budget only
includes the design and construction of the pathway
between Bellbrae Recreation Reserve and Christian College and the design
of the pathway between Christian College and Duffields Road.
There currently is no allocation within the current budget
for the construction of the second section of the pathway.
Therefore officers intend to propose funding to be allocated
for this construction within next year's financial year
for budget 2024/25.
The design work for the section of pathway between Christian College
and Duffields Road is currently still in the early stages
and it's not anticipated that construction will be ready to proceed prior to the end
of the financial year on 30 June this year.
Therefore, it's appropriate to wait for funding to be allocated
by Council in the upcoming budget for the next financial year.
But thanks for your interest and your questions.
MELISSA O'SHANASSY: My next question is all Councillors I sent a letter that
we received from the Planning Minister's office
dated 29 November.
The excerpt out of that is that in response
to this local government investment, the Department of Transport
and Planning has begun developing options to improve access
across the Great Ocean Road at Duffields Road and
at both intersections of Strathmore Drive.
In developing these pedestrian crossing points, the Department of Transport
and Planning will engage with the community
and the Surf Coast Shire to ensure users of the path can provide feedback
through the design process.
Once these designs are complete, upgrades to the Great Ocean Road will be considered
in future road upgrade programs.
So my question is please advise the status and expected timeline of where the Council
is at referred to in the Minister's letter.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Thank you for your second question.
Our officers, Council officers, met with the Department of Transport
and also Christian College representatives earlier this week to discuss options
and the way forward for these works.
At the meeting department officials indicated they were progressing the design
for a crossing at this location.
Construction of the crossing will be dependent
on the department receiving funding to deliver the project.
Council isn't considering a supervised crossing point.
Our focus is on securing the crossing infrastructure
from the department.
So we'll continue to advocate on behalf of community for that crossing.
MELISSA O'SHANASSY: Yes, thank you.
I'd just like to point out that there's five parents represented
here at the meeting and it's been a long process for everyone.
I understand there's a lot of things going on with Spring Creek, but we just feel
like we're getting the runaround and watching kids, parents, buses, cars,
it's just a real accident waiting to happen.
So we're just asking for your leadership collectively
to advocate and continue to advocate to get something actioned.
Thank you.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: We will.
This is a priority for us too, I can reassure you,
and our engineering teams in Chris's area meet
with the department frequently and this is definitely a key focus of a lot
of the communications they have with the department.
MELISSA O'SHANASSY: Okay.
Thank you for your time.
CR PATTISON: Thanks, Melissa.
That brings us to the end of our epic question time.
I appreciate everybody's patience and being respectful and listening.
But now it's the main part of the agenda
- obviously question time is really important,
but now we have the reports to move on to.
So first of all, though, we do have a petition.
So we have received one petition for this meeting.
This petition is requesting that Council receives
and notes the petition titled "Surf Coast Stands in Solidarity: Petition
for Surf Coast Shire Gaza Motion".
Officers have advised me that as this petition does not quite meet
the format requirements in our Governance Rules, we will also need
to resolve to accept this petition
in a non-conforming format.
That's okay, it often happens, but I'm just noting that so that people
are aware of that when our Councillors move
a motion.
An amended recommendation identifying this will be displayed on the screen
for our consideration.
So you can see up there point 2, "receives the petition in a non-conforming
format".
It's just a technicality, but it's important that that's included
in the motion.
Do I have a mover
- do I have anyone who wishes to move that?
Councillor Stapleton
- is that as per the motion on the screen there?
And a seconder?
Thank you, Councillor Schonfelder.
Does anybody wish to speak to the motion?
CR WELLINGTON: May I ask a question before we speak, Mayor Pattison?
CR PATTISON: Yes, you can.
CR WELLINGTON: Thanks very much.
I'm just wondering why the petition has not been disallowed given that it relates
to a matter beyond Council's powers or duties which
under clause 23.6.1 of our Governance Rules allows such
petitions to be disallowed.
At the previous meeting in December the Council CEO told Council
and the questioner, who I think is here tonight,
that Council does not have means to influence the conflict in Gaza and
is not proposing to take a position on the matter.
I'm just wondering why we're now accepting the petition on it.
CR PATTISON: Thanks for your question, Councillor Wellington.
So if you look at 23.6, it says "The chair may disallow any petition or
joint letter which is considered if it relates to a matter
beyond the power, duties of Council".
So that's why it's come to our council meeting
because it's a decision that happens at the Council meeting.
Given that we are an elected Council of Councillors,
I think it makes sense that the motion comes before our Council and we vote upon
whether the motion is allowed and it's at my discretion, Councillor Wellington,
to decide that and so we now
- CR WELLINGTON: (Inaudible) to decide that at this point.
CR PATTISON: So what I've said is it's going to the Council
as per the motion that's been displayed.
So we've got a mover and a seconder and would anyone like to speak
to that motion?
CR STAPLETON: I guess I would just like to note that the purpose of the item
is only to decide whether we receive and note the petition, so it's not
about the content of the petition, that's not up for debate tonight,
but I guess more so the right of individuals to submit a petition
and have it considered by Council, which I think is an important part
of our democratic process regardless of individual opinions on the matter.
I think people in our community have a right to be heard about issues that are
important to them.
Council does have a formal process for this to occur
through its Governance Rules and I think we owe it to our community
to consider the issues that they raise.
So therefore I will be supporting the tabling
of the petition tonight.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Would any other Councillors like to speak?
Councillor Schonfelder?
CR SCHONFELDER: As the seconder, I thank those who participated
in this petition for bringing it to Council and would like
to note the fact that his Royal Highness Prince William spoke out
about the Gaza conflict and also the fact that the Australian
Prime Minister and the Canadian Prime Minister,
along with other political leaders, have actually called for a ceasefire.
Just in closing, I'd like to say that in a world where there is
- that can be cold and uncaring, we should fill us with loving and sharing.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Councillor Wellington, did you have another question?
CR WELLINGTON: No, I would like to speak to the motion.
CR PATTISON: Sure, thank you.
CR WELLINGTON: Thanks very much.
So I think at the last meeting the CEO did say
that Council had decided it didn't have any means to deal with this or
to influence the conflict in Gaza, was not proposing to take a position.
I don't think that was
- Council had not decided that, actually.
That was officers' advice and it perhaps came across as
if Council made that decision, but it hadn't.
In my view, it should have.
The war in Gaza, it is just an appallingly dreadful
situation, of course it is, and we all have a right individually
to hold that view and to advocate for that view, but the Prime Minister
of Australia has a role in public policy and foreign policy, we haven't.
We've got a role in the Surf Coast Shire and our role is to provide good governance
in our municipal district for the benefit of municipal community.
That's our role under the Act and the conflict
in Gaza simply doesn't fall within that role.
I think we're exposing ourselves to a significant risk
by involving ourselves in a conflict about which I suspect most people
- I very much question whether many of us around the table could even point
to where Gaza is on a map, to be quite honest.
CR SCHONFELDER: Point of order, Mayor.
Mayor, I find that comment highly offensive
and I ask you to direct Councillor Wellington
to withdraw that comment and apologise.
And Councillor Wellington may laugh, which is also very offensive given that
young children are dying right now as we speak.
CR PATTISON: Councillor Schonfelder, I understand that that comment was
offensive.
Could you please continue, Councillor Wellington, in a respectful
manner with the rest of your
- CR WELLINGTON: Thank you.
Well, I don't think it was offensive, Mayor.
I think it was simply an observation of my views about how many
of us actually understand the globe and global issues.
It's not what we're here for.
CR PATTISON: Sorry, Councillor Wellington, I'll have to ask you to stop now
because you have offended Councillors and we will leave it at that, thank you.
Would any other Councillors like to speak to the motion?
Councillor Barker?
CR BARKER: I can appreciate the concern shown through the public questions earlier
The issue of human rights is deeply concerning to me.
The human rights abuses shown by the Australian
and Victorian Governments over recent years was impacting all of us
in this room and the shire more broadly.
I was part of a group proposing these abuses
outside this chamber and I did not use this chamber to do so
because I think it's important that the appropriate level of government deals
with the relevant issues.
I encourage those in the room and watching at home with concerns
about foreign matters to contact their relevant federal MP.
It's disappointing that many of those advocating for this petition left
the chamber before the item was debated.
As a former member of the Australian Defence Force
and having served overseas, I've seen the waste that comes
from conflict.
I'm now a libertarian and as such am vehemently opposed to conflict,
especially this war being the topic of conversation between Gaza and Israel.
The harms to innocent civilians on both sides is atrocious,
but we shouldn't be discussing this matter in the chamber, though.
Whilst state legislation allows us to basically do whatever we want,
we don't have to see that as a free ticket to get involved in
all things international.
If this motion passes, it will consume ratepayer funds
through work officers will be compelled to compile the report.
Now, you may think this is okay and in some alternate reality I may well
support the motion if all our roads were car worthy,
our waste management (inaudible), our open spaces maintained
to a high standard and we didn't have years worth
of plant matter disrupting what could be tidy road edges
along the Surf Coast Highway.
Let's put the remit of Council to one side and look at the numbers.
Are we happy to utilise the rates paid by tens of thousands of ratepayers
for the desire of 18 Surf Coast residents?
My answer is no.
Does the petition conform to the requirements others need to conform
to?
My answer is no.
Are we obliged to say yes to this recommendation?
My answer is no.
This is another fork in the road where Councillors can choose one
of two directions: one, go down the path of big government, big spending
and big noting; or 2, go down the path of small government,
small spending and reticence.
I invite my fellow Councillors to do the latter and join me
in opposing the motion.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Gazzard?
CR GAZZARD: Thank you.
I'd just like to thank the petitioners for submitting their petition and
for their advocacy on this human rights issue.
We have accepted non-conforming petitions before and so I will vote for this motion
to allow voices to be heard.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Stapleton, do you have any closing remarks
- oh, sorry, Councillor Allen?
CR ALLEN: Thank you, Mayor.
I'm very conflicted over the issue.
I take the point that we do expose ourselves a little bit
by accepting the petition.
Should officers' time be spent responding to a petition
against the Russians invading Ukraine?
30,000 people are dying, have died, Ukrainians have died in that conflict
and I think the answer would be no, it's not our role, it's the role
of the Foreign Affairs Department.
There are 11 civil wars currently operating in the world.
Are we concerned about Somalians, are we concerned about Syrians?
Of course we are.
We all hate
- we hate what's happening with conflict.
I just really do think it isn't our responsibility,
it is a Foreign Affairs
Federal Government responsibility.
Otherwise I can see officers' time being involved in a whole range
of conflict resolutions that aren't our responsibility.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Allen.
Councillor Bodsworth?
CR BODSWORTH: Thanks, Mayor.
I support Councillor Stapleton's call and that is to receive
and note the petition and to refer the petition for consideration
within the organisation and in doing that, I would expect that that consideration
would include the issues brought up by the other Councillors,
which I think are really important ones.
But as far as the recommendation is concerned, I support the receival
and noting of the petition and the referring of the petition
to the GM of Strategy and Effectiveness.
I think it's important to note that for people
in communities who feel powerless to help in a situation like this,
having us receive a petition may provide, you know, a small feeling
of having done what they can to address the situation
and I think we shouldn't take that
- we should take that opportunity really
seriously.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Hodge?
CR HODGE: Yes, and very quickly.
You talk about which pathway to take and I too am concerned
with Council officers' time.
But we've got to listen to a community, a community of 18 people.
We do petitions with 10 people, we do petitions with 8 people.
To have those 16 signatures and the others I think is significant
and I thank them for the work that they've done
and their compassion and I'll certainly be taking down the road
and accepting this petition because it's what a community group want
and I think if it's important to them, it should be important to us.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Stapleton, any closing remarks?
CR STAPLETON: No, thanks, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: No.
We'll now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour.
And all those opposed.
And the motion is carried 7-2.
There are no Notice of Motions, so we now move on to the reports
for the evening.
So the first report is a Response to Joint Letter
- Traffic Control and Safety
- Safe Crossing of the Great Ocean Road
- Connection to the Ridgeline trail
- Strathmore Drive Jan Juc.
The purpose of this report is to respond to a joint letter
regarding traffic control and road safety improvements
on the Great Ocean Road at Strathmore Drive, Jan Juc.
We have a recommendation before us.
Does anyone wish to move a motion?
Councillor Hodge
- is that as per the recommendation?
CR HODGE: Yes, thank you.
CR PATTISON: It is.
And do we have a seconder?
Councillor Gazzard.
Would you like to speak to the motion, Councillor Hodge?
CR HODGE: Yes, firstly, thank you, Myra and Melissa,
for your questions today.
You're certainly keeping us moving along with this.
And thank you, the work that's been done on it has been quite extraordinary,
so I thank you for that.
It is very important for us and we've all had kids going to crossings and things
and I think it is important to know that local government can move
in a slow motion, but we've got an officer,
a project manager.
I know that I think one has been changed and a new one is on.
But as you've heard, the CEO has said you can talk
to our officers and keep it moving.
When it works with Department of Transport and Christian College, it adds more people
to it and it just may stretch it out a bit.
But we would love to see it done.
I know the coffee van is back at Bellbrae and so some cars can go
along there.
They're small steps I know, but the small steps that you take can
gather into a bigger picture.
I know you've got the bigger picture and hopefully we can continue working
with you.
We want to continue, we've said that in all our recommendations,
to make sure that there's safety for those children to cross.
So look forward to seeing it and budget time is coming up,
we can discuss that, but looking forward to your advocacy at Christian College end,
but also Department of Transport.
We know they can be very slow, but we do want those kids
to be crossing in a safe manner.
So thank you, and thanks to the parents that do
all that safety work too.
It's amazing you've got a roster on and stuff.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Councillor Gazzard?
CR GAZZARD: Thank you.
I would like to thank the community members for
all your advocacy on this and ongoing correspondence.
It's obviously still a considerable safety issue for the kids crossing the Great
Ocean Road and I live right around there.
And even with the changes in the speed limits,
cars still go very fast along there.
We really want to be encouraging our kids to get involved in active transport,
walking to school, bicycling, scootering, however you want to get there, but we need
to make sure it's safe and as a paediatric emergency doctor,
I have seen the trauma of road traffic accidents.
It's a major cause of accidental death for children aged zero to 14
and it's something we definitely don't want to be seeing in our shire.
So I share your frustration that this is happening slowly when you're there
every day worrying about your kids and hopefully we can get things done
promptly.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Would any other Councillors like to speak.
Councillor Bodsworth?
CR BODSWORTH: I agree with the other Councillors and I'd just
like to express my congratulations to the community for advocating
on this issue.
I think that agencies, including our own, Department of Transport and lots
of others are lagging behind community expectations on walking
and cycling and people who are advocating strongly
on this and who are persisting in that advocacy
despite the time that it takes are helping to drive the culture shift towards walking
and cycling and I think it's really important.
I thank you for it and I wish all power to you, thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Wellington?
CR WELLINGTON: Yes, I'm rather surprised that we've got
a school here with a major road and a dangerous road
and we haven't got a crossing yet, so I know that this has been
raised several times.
I don't feel there's an appropriate sense of urgency about this.
I feel that if this were at a hospital, and Councillor Gazzard
and I have both worked in hospitals and we have a real focus on safety
and safety is the number one priority and if you were to identify a risk
of this nature to a child in a hospital, say in Councillor Gazzard's paediatric
ward there was a hazard to a child, it would be addressed immediately.
You could not hold your head up and defend a decision
to not do something about it.
I'm just very surprised that this has gone on for so long,
that the parents are clearly identifying a safety hazard and we've written a report
that sort of talks about pathways on the north side of the Great Ocean Road,
not crossing the Great Ocean Road but it kind of says we're putting pathways
in there and we'll keep trying for this.
This is not getting the appropriate level of urgency, in my view,
that we should have as a Councillor towards the safety
of our young people.
I look at the advocacy priorities and I see that we've got advocacy
priorities for all sorts of
- we're going to advocate cleaning up plastic.
That's a very important issue, obviously, but it's not as important to me in my role
as a Councillor as keeping kids safe on the Great Ocean Road and I would say
to officers and Councillors
- I think the comment was made in response to the question that officers can only
spend money when Council allocates it, but the reality is that officers do 95,
96% of the budget and present it to Councillors and then there's a bit
of movement at the edges.
My view is this should be funded.
I think it should be an advocacy priority.
I'd rather see it in the advocacy priorities than a number
of the priorities.
We're talking about spending $8 million on knocking down the hall at Deans Marsh
and replacing it and yet we haven't got a safe crossing for children going
across the Great Ocean Road.
So I am with the parents on this.
I would hate to be looking back in a year and saying,
well, there was an accident there and a child has died or seriously
and permanently injured and we've had multiple Council reports
telling us about it and we haven't addressed it.
So that is my view.
I don't think we should just be noting it and continuing to work.
There's no urgency about those recommendations
and I'm not going to vote for those.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Hodge, do you have any closing remarks?
Oh, sorry, Councillor Barker, you'd like to speak?
CR BARKER: Thanks, just briefly.
Christian College Surf Coast was opened in 2015 and it's taken nearly 10 years
to get a plan together to make it safe for children
to cross the busy Great Ocean Road.
Read the recommendation before us as a bit of fluff piece.
I'd like to see action on this topic, but am unsure if anything productive
will actually come from the motion passing.
I hope to be proven wrong.
I think a simple solution would be for a timed and/or pedestrian-activated
lower speed limit signage combined with a crossing could potentially do
the trick, but that's not before us at the moment.
I will support the motion to continue discussions,
but have reservations on anything constructive being made
in a timely manner.
CR PATTISON: Councillor Stapleton?
CR STAPLETON: I guess
- forgive me if I get this wrong, but my understanding
is that Christian College actually has a planning application in
with the Minister at the moment and until that planning application
is resolved, Council can't go ahead and make decisions
about funding a crossing and in any case, the funding
for that crossing would be provided by Christian College as part
of its planning process.
So I think to suggest that Council's
- SPEAKER: (Inaudible).
CR STAPLETON: Yes, I understand that it's the pathway.
I guess I'm just sort of hearing conflicting view points
and I just wanted
- well, hopefully
- maybe it's a question for the CEO.
I just wanted to get clarity around that planning process
because my understanding is that it is sitting with the minister.
CR PATTISON: Thanks, Councillor Stapleton.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: To be clear, there's two parts to this issue.
One is the pathway, which is our responsibility
and we are building the pathway from Bellbrae
to Christian College this financial year, doing the design of the pathway
from Christian College to Duffields Road this financial year
and proposing to build that next financial year.
The piece around the actual crossing is, as you say, Councillor Stapleton,
a Christian College and a Department of Transport responsibility
and that was part of the planning permit originally,
the requirements for Christian College, and so that
is why we are advocating and working with both Christian College
and the Department of Transport to see how quickly we can get
a crossing in place.
Hence it's not Council responsibility to build that.
We need to advocate to transport to make sure that we get that in place.
So that's the two kind of components to be clear
around where our responsibility sits.
CR PATTISON: And just to clarify, the speed limit change has been enacted
through advocacy of community and Council working together, so there
is a timed speed limit change through that section already in place.
CR HODGE: And just to finish off, thank you, I'll certainly
- CR PATTISON: Councillor Stapleton, are you finished?
CR STAPLETON: Yes.
CR PATTISON: And closing remarks now, Councillor Hodge?
CR HODGE: Yes, look, I will be certainly supporting
the recommendations here and I think most Councillors will
because we want to continue working, we want to continue to advocate
for planning permits to come through quicker
to get the Department of Transport, so these recommendations are for working
with you and I'm sure Councillors will support that.
I think that's a great idea.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Hodge.
We now put the motion to a vote.
All those in favour.
And all those opposed.
Councillor Wellington, are you going to vote either way?
CR WELLINGTON: I'm abstaining, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: Abstaining, okay.
The motion is carried 8-4, as in 8 in favour, not 8 for.
That was confusing.
Sorry about that.
We now move on to 4.2, response to a petition
on the Barwon River Loop Board Walk
- Winchelsea.
The purpose of this report is to respond to a petition
on the Barwon River Loop Board Walk Proposal in Winchelsea.
We have a recommendation before us.
Does anyone wish to move a motion?
Councillor Wellington, is that as per the recommendation?
CR WELLINGTON: Thank you.
CR PATTISON: And do I have a seconder?
Councillor Schonfelder.
Would you like to speak to the motion, Councillor Wellington?
You're on mute, Councillor Wellington.
CR WELLINGTON: This report is in response to a petition put out
by some local residents who discovered that these people have lots
of land which borders the Barwon River in Winchelsea and they were surprised
to find that there was
- a walking path in front of them between their properties and the river and
they were surprised to find that a platform was planned
in front of their properties and it hadn't been discussed with them,
so the first they knew about it in fact was when
they found people drilling holes to determine where the foundations
of the platform should be put.
So they put in their petition.
They've since had meetings, or a meeting at least, with officers.
They put their consent forward about this being in a location which
is not really under direct scrutiny from the sort of general community,
it's in quite a private part of the river, and that putting a platform there would
potentially create a gathering place for people that might not be
able (inaudible) public observation, therefore not necessarily
meeting safety requirements.
They felt that that meeting was useful and they were happy that they had been able
to have it and as a result of that meeting,
I understand that they've been
- that it's been agreed that the platform will be made a smaller size
and that it won't be designed in a way that will actually invite people to kind
of hang around, so to speak.
So they feel that that's,
in the circumstances, not a bad outcome.
But the problem with this all is, of course, that it all happened
without the local community knowing anything about it and when
- I think when it was first raised in Council,
and it's in the report tonight, it was pointed
out that the local community groups had supported the concept of the walk
and the platforms but, you know, you can't put the responsibility
on community groups to consider the needs of the small number
of adjacent neighbours who are affected and I think we need to learn from that.
In fact, we should never be doing something
like this without talking to the neighbours who are affected by it
and that's been one of my very strong positions
for a long time.
We can't just say, "Well, the majority support it,
therefore it's fine."
It's not the majority's role necessarily to put the view of the minority,
but it's our role to go and find that view and unfortunately,
we didn't do it in this situation and I hope in the future we do do it.
I think also at this point we're told in the report
that there is engagement planned in late February, but my understanding
is platforms are designed, the artwork is commissioned,
the decision is made, so it's a bit unclear what the purpose
of the engagement is and I suspect it's simply
to tell people what we're doing.
So I think we've got it a bit back to front and I would like
to see that changed in the future and I would very much like
to see a Council that goes out and says to people, "Look,
we're thinking about this, what do you think?"
And we mightn't necessarily agree with what they say, but we owe them the
- you know, this is their community, their back yard or front yard,
and we owe them the right to listen to them and not to read about this sort
of thing in the paper or to find out about it when an engineer comes along
and starts to dig testing holes.
So I think there's a few things to learn.
I think that they are satisfied, reasonably satisfied with the outcome.
They're resigned, I guess, to the outcome, which is that it's going to go there.
They don't see the point of the February consultation now
that it's all decided, but the petition has achieved some
response, which is good.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Schonfelder?
CR SCHONFELDER: I'll reserve my right, thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Would any other Councillors like to speak to the motion?
CR BARKER: Just briefly.
CR PATTISON: Councillor Barker.
CR BARKER: Yeah, the community engagement plan
for late February can't come quick enough.
While I think the project isn't overly necessary in the current economic climate,
I look forward to seeing what locals have to say about the project.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
- Councillor Schonfelder, did you want
- no?
Councillor Wellington, do you have any closing remarks?
CR WELLINGTON: No, thank you.
CR PATTISON: No.
We now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour.
And the motion is carried unanimously.
We now move on to item 4.3, Response to the Winchelsea Visitor
Information Centre Petition.
The purpose of this report is to consider the response to a petition
"Save Winchelsea Visitor Information Centre".
We have a recommendation before us.
Does anyone wish to move a motion?
CR WELLINGTON: I'd like to put a different motion, Mayor Pattison.
CR PATTISON: Have you provided that to Governance, or would you like to
- CR WELLINGTON: I have.
CR PATTISON: You have?
I'll just ask Governance to put that on the screen.
So we'll just give Councillors a moment to read that.
Can everybody see it adequately to read?
Maybe just zoom up a bit, yes.
The other way.
Thanks.
Have Councillors had adequate time to read and comprehend the motion?
CR GAZZARD: Can I ask a question?
CR PATTISON: Yes, sure.
CR GAZZARD: In 4c, is that a recommended alternative location
CR PATTISON: Actually, sorry, I'm just conscious do we need to move
- you've moved the motion and we probably should
- before we discuss and ask questions, do we have a seconder for this motion?
Councillor Barker, you'll be seconding the motion.
And now Councillor Gazzard, you can ask your question.
CR GAZZARD: Yes.
So 4c, "a recommended location for the Winchelsea Visitor Information
Centre",
is that separate from the library?
CR WELLINGTON: Well, hopefully it will be the library,
but if it's not the library, then they need somewhere else to go.
So it's not assuming it will be the library, but that would be,
you know, a good outcome.
CR GAZZARD: Okay.
CR PATTISON: I might note that the questions should be to officers
and Councillor Wellington will have an opportunity to speak
to her motion.
Councillor Stapleton, did you have a question of officers?
CR STAPLETON: Yes, my question was about the proposed date of 31 May
because I note in the report that it says the timeline
- "once the timeline for the completion of stabilisation works is known, officers
will consider the resumption of a visitor service from that location",
which has been removed from this motion.
So I'm interested to understand from an officer perspective
whether that's a realistic timeframe.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Stapleton.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Councillor Stapleton, we've got the design for the remediation
of the groundwork that needs to be done of the VIC.
We need to put that out to tender and it would depend on the response
to the tender, but if we can get the tender out
and we get a response, then we're likely to have some information
around the timeline by May I would have thought, yes.
CR PATTISON: Thanks for clarifying.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: I think we should be able to.
CR PATTISON: Councillor Wellington, would you like to speak to your motion?
CR WELLINGTON: Thanks very much.
Look, regrettably, this is another beautiful historic building
in Winchelsea that's been out of action for a couple of years now.
In fact, it's had stability problems for quite a long time,
since the Princes Highway went through, and initially I think the stability
problems were blamed on the highway works and then the building has continued
to move and crack and has been closed.
The VIC operated very successfully out of
- the Winchelsea Visitor Information Group was a really strong little group,
very proud of the town and very happy to tell people what they could do there
that was the visitor experience in Winchelsea and
of course when the building was no longer accessible to them, they were moved
to the shire hall, but it was really in the wrong location.
It's on the wrong side of the road for most visitors coming through.
It wasn't a spot
- it's not really a spot that visitors would generally stop off at very much and
they had to share it with a lot of other people who wanted
to use the shire hall and when there was any function or event
on in the shire hall, then they really couldn't do their job.
I'm told by officers that we've had a loss of volunteers generally across the shire
and I think that has been a general trend across our society as a result of COVID
and people perhaps readjusting their priorities and what have you,
but we have definitely lost volunteers.
In that environment it's important for us, I believe,
to really support our volunteers even more so that they know they've
- you know, they know they've got a purpose,
they know there's a future for them, they know that they're valued
by the organisation.
Unfortunately, therefore, the service failed in the shire hall.
Quite a number of volunteers have peeled off and I'm told by people who are part
of that group that a significant part of the reason was that people just felt
that there was no vision really for the future of that volunteer group and
for the future of the Visitor Information Centre
in Winchelsea.
I know it's going to take
- I think, as I understand it, the building needs underpinning really
and it is going to take a while and I'm glad that there's a process now
in place to implement a permanent fix because unfortunately in Winchelsea,
the repeated closure of valued public assets,
and there's been a lot of closures over the last several years, has just led
to a lot of disappointment and cynicism about, you know, timing
and priority for projects.
So I think it is important to note that when the library was being
used, it was a really successful location and there was a very active group
and we still have the remnants of that group and they are still prepared
to get together and work and they are confident that if we had a vision
and a future, they could actually attract people to,
you know, help them with that syllabus.
I thought a bit about the timeframe.
31 May to me feels like a long way away, but at least
if we have a stake in the ground that says we're going to get a report back,
and hopefully earlier than that in fact, but we are going
to get a report back not just about whether the building can be fixed
because I think that's a given.
I can't envisage any situation where we say the building is not repairable and
will have to be left to fall down.
It's an incredibly beautiful and important building and it will have
to be repaired.
So we know it's going to have to be repaired
and hopefully we'll have a timeframe.
If we don't, we can't ask officers to do the impossible.
They can just come back and tell us, "We have not yet got a timeframe."
I think options for accommodating the VIC, there are not very many,
but there may be others to think about and I think it is important
for officers not to do this work sequentially, that is,
wait until the building is under control and then think about what to do
with the VIC.
I'm just asking officers to sort of do two things at once really,
address the building and also address the future of the VIC
and give those volunteers a bit of a sense of a vision and of Council's support
and the fact that they will have a home in the future
and I would imagine that it will be the former library
because it's a very ideal building, you know,
it's really ideal in a very ideal sort of location with other complementary sort
of facilities around it, toilets and a coffee shop and all that sort
of thing.
So I thought that this was a better recommendation than just saying
we'll wait until we work out what's happening with the building
and then we'll think about the VIC and probably by that time there
will be no VIC left, no Visitor Information Group left.
So I don't think that that's a good strategy.
So I would like Councillors to support this
and support the Visitor Information Group in Winchelsea, which
is a really great bunch of people who love their town
and have provided a really good service over time.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Barker, would you like to speak?
CR BARKER: I'll be as quick as I can.
To me it seems to be a case of some sunk cost fallacy at play here.
The building is old, loved by many, but degrading at a rapid rate.
To continue the efforts to restore it purely
with ratepayer funds I don't think is a wise move.
If you like heritage buildings remaining, we should have a facility
for interested people to be able to chip in themselves.
I'd personally like to see large signage put up
at the site notifying passers by that the building is degrading
and requires funding to be rectified.
With regard to the alternative pod concept, I'd like
to know who came up with the idea of hiring a container.
It definitely wouldn't be someone who is spending their own money.
Container ownership is always more economical than hiring
if used for long-term projects, which this would no doubt be
if that path was chosen.
I'd also invite interested people from Winchelsea to contribute
to the voluntary needs of the Visitor Information Centre
and associated fire drops.
Without significant voluntary contribution from the community, the concept
of visitor information centres may become a thing of the past.
I may be voting against this motion, though, not because I dislike the notion
of a Visitor Information Centre or the suggestions made
by Councillor Wellington, but because of the idea of investing thousands
upon thousands of ratepayer funds on infrastructure that supports a
few people per day on average isn't a particularly wise
investment.
I may be swayed by comments by other Councillors, though.
If the volunteer pool can be increased and philanthropic funds can be used
to fund the works required to save the original VIC,
then I'd be happy to support its renewal.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Any other Councillors?
CR ALLEN: Mayor, can I ask a question, please?
CR PATTISON: Yes, sure.
CR ALLEN: Could we ask the officers are there any other issues apart
from the timeline that this change to the motion would bring about?
CR PATTISON: Certainly
- good question, Councillor Allen.
CEO?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Councillor Allen, I think
- no, I think it's fine.
CR ALLEN: Okay, thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
CR SCHONFELDER: I'd like to speak, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: Councillor Schonfelder, yes.
CR SCHONFELDER: I note in the Bible it says
"one should not envy another person's possessions"
and the Lorne Information Centre is an outstanding building and one
of the best I've ever seen and I'd like to highlight the importance
of mental health and the fact that the volunteers
dedicate their time, you know, for free to help with visitor information centres.
And with the point that Councillor Barker raised about a couple of people a day,
the statistics are actually an average and some days, depending on the weather,
you could have a large influx of people and then on other days,
when perhaps the weather is more inclement,
you'd have perhaps no people visiting.
I know that, having visited Niagara Falls, there's a visitor information centre there
and there are people who want to go and ask in person for advice about where
to visit and have person-to-person contact and I feel as though
by having the former library restored and reopened,
that would be an asset that we have where people can avail themselves to go,
visitors perhaps from the coastal communities also like
to come to the hinterland.
As a former volunteer at Barwon Park, I know a lot of people come
from the coast as well, including interstate visitors,
and they comment about how nice the roses are here.
I believe our climate is better for growing roses.
Once again, with mental health, I think we should also consider
the mental health of the actual volunteers as well and how they fear,
or how they shouldn't fear
- perhaps they do fear about the building being restored,
but how they
- their own feelings.
I must say that I thank them for the work that they do
and I know that one of the volunteers is Shirley Leek, who was the number one
and probably I think still is number one ticket holder
at Winchelsea Football Club, and I know that I've seen Shirley there
many times and I know as a Councillor, and it's probably the same
with my colleagues, I call in and visit the Visitor Information Centres
to see what different visitors and local residents, how they feel
about certain issues and I find it very helpful
and very insightful.
So I'm very fond of the library and I know that Growing Winchelsea perhaps
- members there have told me it would be a lovely gingerbread house decorated
in lights for Christmas time.
So that's something that would lift spirits in the community.
So there are lots of options available.
Thank you, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Any other Councillors?
Councillor Bodsworth?
CR BODSWORTH: Mayor, I'd just like to have another look at the motion,
if we could, please.
CR PATTISON: Yes.
Can we have the motion back up, please, Governance?
Did you want to speak to it or you would like to look at it?
CR HODGE: Can I just ask a question of Councillor Wellington just
about something that she said?
CR PATTISON: We don't normally ask questions of Councillors.
CR HODGE: I was just wondering I've got the right place, that it's where the
- what the clock tower is, it's that building there.
CR WELLINGTON: Yes.
CR HODGE: Because there was a mention that it failed at the shire hall
because it was on the wrong side of the road, but it's actually
on the same side of the road.
Am I right?
But it's around the corner.
CR WELLINGTON: Can I speak?
It's on the same side of the road, but there's a massive amount
of traffic that goes in there to the public toilets and
to the coffee shop, whereas on the shire, the shire hall, the other end of town,
there's no traffic stopping and it's just
- yes.
So it's not really being on the wrong side of the road.
The shire hall, if it were on the other side of the road,
would be a great location.
CR HODGE: Yes.
Thanks, Councillor Wellington.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Bodsworth, would you like to speak?
CR BODSWORTH: No, I don't need to speak.
I'm happy to have looked at the motion again.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Great, thank you.
Any closing remarks, Councillor Wellington?
CR WELLINGTON: Yes, I think there's really two issues
about this actually that have been highlighted a bit
by the people that have spoken.
One is
- there's two purposes, I think, about this.
One is about the volunteers and them feeling valued
and that's really important because they're delivering a service
for the community.
So it's not about them personally
- people do volunteering in a very selfless way.
They want to be able to do their jobs and if we had to pay for people to do the jobs
across the shire that are done by volunteers,
we would absolutely be broke.
We wouldn't be able to do anything really.
So to me supporting the volunteers is about just giving them the tools
to do their job and the visitor information volunteers
need somewhere to live in order to do their job.
So that's what that's about.
Then the job they do for the rest of the community is a really important one
and particularly in the context of Winchelsea, which
is developing its much more outward-facing persona really and there's a lot of things
to do in the town and people are really proud of that and it's
about community pride and about having the opportunity
to welcome people to your community and to show them that you're proud of it and
to encourage them to have a good time.
I really
- I hope I can persuade Councillor Barker to support this.
This is not about whether the VIC should be restored.
We clearly disagree on that.
There is no way in my mind that we could conscientiously
allow that building just to fall over.
You know, heritage is really important to our identity and it is about
- it's really important to our identity.
I can't contemplate that that building won't be renovated.
So the question is what's it going to be used for?
Also the question of where are we going to house the volunteers,
those two questions need to be answered.
So we're not voting on whether the building should be restored.
We're voting on given that it's going to be restored,
can we tell the volunteers where they're going to live?
And that's what I would like to see that we could give them
that assurance.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
We'll now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour.
And all those opposed.
And the motion is carried 8-1.
CR BARKER: Mayor, I just wonder if that noise there is a reminder
about our break at 8 o'clock.
CR PATTISON: No, it's not.
It's somebody's phone.
Just to point out we have a number of Anglesea people that are interested
in the Anglesea motion, so we will proceed until that and once we've resolved
the Anglesea motion, then we can have an amenities break
because we've all been here for a while.
But we will do the Anglesea motion next.
I would hate for you to be sitting here waiting for that.
So we'll move on to the Anglesea Community and Health Hub Plan.
The purpose of this report is to inform Council on the findings
of the recent engagement for the Anglesea Community
and Health Hub Plan and make recommendations on next steps
for the project.
We have a recommendation before us.
Does anyone have a motion to move?
Councillor Bodsworth
- is that as per the recommendation?
CR BODSWORTH: As per the recommendation, thanks, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: And seconded by Councillor Stapleton.
Would you like to speak, Councillor Bodsworth?
CR BODSWORTH: Thank you, Mayor.
So I'd like to start with some personal reflections first
and then I'll run through a few of the individual components
of the recommendation.
In terms of personal reflections, I love the precinct.
Firstly, I'd like to say thanks to the Anglesea people who've attended
tonight and for sticking around until this point in the evening.
I love the precinct and I appreciate people's passionate views
, thorough questioning that we've heard tonight and that's been going on
for a long time, and engagement in the process.
To me personally, the draft designs are nowhere near right,
both functionally and aesthetically.
But it's early days.
To me there's a difference between our understanding, "our"
meaning our Council
- our understanding and community understanding
of the case for change.
Again, we've heard that tonight in the questions.
For those who are open to change, there are different views
on what good change looks like.
Again, that's to be expected.
At this stage in the process, which is an exploratory stage rather than
a proposal for approval, those differences are to be expected
and I believe the proposed community deliberation and co-design
approach can help bridge those differences
Clarity of purpose and good design are the keys to a successful plan
and I believe they will also come out of the co-design process.
I'll move on to addressing a few of the components of the recommendation.
In terms of the engagement summary, I believe it provides a thorough
and accurate record of participants' views.
I think it reflects the complexity of issues, the diversity of stakeholders,
and the passion for the precinct.
It indicates support for the higher-level intent, but it also shows a lot of concern
at the conceptual designs.
It notes that there was relatively low engagement from people 35 years
and younger who are, after all, the future of Anglesea.
I believe the engagement results provide a good knowledge base for the next stage.
In terms of the proposed co-design approach, which we're being asked
to endorse, I believe it will provide a good way
of combining community creativity, experience and passion
with professional back-up.
It is going to rely on co-design participants' ability to work together.
It's going to rely on clean air, broader community trust in the co-design
process and in the work of participants, and it's going to rely on good, unbiassed,
transparent background information, and we heard questions
about that also tonight.
In terms of the project objectives, statements of intent
and design parameters, I believe they provide a good, clear sense
of direction for the co-design process and I note that
they provide a strong guide, but they are also open to adjustment
by participants in the process.
On the EOI, the Expression of Interest for Regional Worker Accommodation Fund,
I simply note that submitting an EOI is essential at this stage
to ensure that funding for housing remains an option pending
co-design outcomes.
I just want to remark on a few key issues.
In terms of housing, it's been a standout contentious issue.
There's opposition to the use of this precious community land
as a site for housing.
I see some housing as an appropriate part of the mix, with purpose, location
and design being key.
Locating rental housing on land owned by Councils is not unusual and we need
to also consider that broader housing settings could change,
affecting housing availability and affordability.
I'm talking about rental housing.
Good design is the key, in my mind.
The existing conceptual designs have not done justice to the site or
to community preferences.
The concepts have triggered a defensive response that has been somewhat contagious
Existing concepts are seen as a poor response to functional needs
and a poor fit with Anglesea's style.
Good design and collaboration is the key to shifting from defensive back
to constructive.
In terms of integration, we've heard some questions and concerns
about which functions and groups are or are not compatible.
I think those are good questions.
I note our MAV, Municipal Association of Victoria,
2018 report New Futures For Senior Citizens Project noting that membership
of senior citizens centres has been falling, senior citizens are moving
to progress groups, Men's Sheds, u3a and things like that.
Lorne Community Connect provides a really useful case study in rolling
from senior citizen centre to a more multi-functional facility
and it shows how there's strength and vitality through integration.
I'm just rattling through the last extra 30 seconds
if I could, please, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: Sure.
Okay, we do have a very short timeframe, so 30 seconds, Mike.
CR BODSWORTH: Alright.
Whatever changes are settled on will happen in stages over many years.
The project is looking 20 to 30 years ahead.
On parking on roads, very briefly, about 30% of the precinct is allocated
to roads and parking.
It's a dominant land use as the Office of the Victorian Government Architect
noted.
The precinct is within 1.5km or a 15-minute
walk or a 5-minute ride of almost all of Anglesea.
Is free parking for private cars the highest and best use
of this precious land?
Is parking for private cars a higher priority
on this precious land than secure housing for key workers?
For those concerned about traffic and noise, the biggest generator
of traffic and noise is parking.
I'll leave it at that.
I'm looking forward to hearing from everybody and I'll join you
for the summing up.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Stapleton?
CR STAPLETON: Thank you, Mayor.
I'd also like to thank the Anglesea residents
who have come tonight and stuck around to listen to the discussion on this item.
Firstly, I think it's really important to make it clear that Councillors are not
voting tonight on a particular design or development
of the McMillan Street precinct in Anglesea or even
whether it should definitely go ahead.
Tonight we are considering whether to note the engagement reports,
endorse a co-design process to develop a concept plan,
to undertake further consultation with the community and
to ratify an expression of interest submission
for the Regional Worker Fund.
None of these commit Council to a particular outcome
at McMillan Street, but they do signal a commitment
to engage further with the community about the potential
to reimagine how the precinct might evolve over the next 20 or 30 years
to best serve the community into the future.
Any decisions we make about McMillan Street
will not be made lightly.
Reflecting on this agenda item over recent weeks,
I've been thinking a lot about my own experience with the precinct
over the past 22 years and how much, like many, I value its unique character
and the significant role it plays in our community.
I first discovered McMillan Street in 2002, having recently moved
to Aireys Inlet with my husband and our new baby.
An appointment with a maternal and child health nurse led me
to discover that there was an occasional childcare service nearby.
It did take me a while to locate it, but the child care I was able to secure
for my three kids over the next five or six years was
invaluable.
Due to capacity and long waiting lists, I was never able to access enough hours
for my children, but the connections we made
and the services we received there were just as important as the childcare hours
- well, almost.
Fast forward 20 years to 2024 and child care is still in the same boat,
long waiting lists and not enough space or capacity.
I'd hate to think we fast forward another 20 years
and our children can still not access adequate child care for their own kids.
But this requires good planning.
My connections at McMillan Street have extended
beyond occasional care.
My three children attended Anglesea kinder
I volunteered for a number of years with the Sound Doctor and performed
with the Anglesea Players at the memorial hall.
I edited News Angle for the community house for many years
and have enjoyed events like the wildflower show
and more recently the twilight market.
Our family has received amazing care at the Anglesea Medical Centre
over many years.
So I feel I know the place pretty well.
Obviously I've not been involved in everything that takes place
in the precinct, but I know how much it is loved and valued by other users too,
like Angair, the Historical Society and the community garden.
The point I'm trying to make by sharing my history and connection
of the place with you is that I know how important it is
to the residents of Anglesea and Aireys Inlet and I want
to reassure our community that decisions around any future development
of the precinct will not be made lightly.
We know there's been a lot of interest in this project and there are mixed views
about how the community hub could and should evolve, but overall,
people are keen to explore a long-term plan for the precinct.
I've really valued hearing different perspectives from a range
of residents and thank those who've been in touch with me to discuss them.
CR PATTISON: Thanks, Libby.
I'll get you to finish up there.
CR STAPLETON: Okay.
I had two more lines.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
And do we have
- Councillor Barker?
CR BARKER: Thanks, Mayor.
I'll be opposing this recommendation for similar reasons
to why I opposed the Torquay pool.
While it would be nice to have a Ferrari, I can't afford a Ferrari so I
don't buy a Ferrari.
Additionally, it feels like there's a topdown approach
that hasn't appropriately engaged with the local community.
Thank you to the residents who questioned this idea,
but again, as with the Gaza petition motion,
I'm disappointed that many of those advocating
for this issue have left before the item was debated.
With the concern being shown at this stage by people local to the area,
it would be logical that there is much more concern in the Anglesea
region.
I fear that the funds of ratepayers to fund this will only worsen the cost
of living crisis many in our shire are facing.
Additionally, it may well be another white elephant that will continue
to cost ratepayers more than what it's worth
to the residents who will use the facility.
CR PATTISON: Councillor Allen?
CR ALLEN: Thanks, Mayor.
I think this is an exciting opportunity for the Anglesea and broader district
to plan for the long-term needs of these communities.
Given Anglesea's expanding population, it will be a complex matter balancing
the rapidly changing demands for and delivery of services
within the unique nature of the precinct.
The project is now entering, to my mind, the most important phase.
The preliminary work has been thorough and from the feedback that I've received,
obviously different feedback to Councillor Bodsworth,
the feedback that I have received highly valued the preliminary work that has been
done from a variety of perspectives.
However, from the experience of Point Grey in Lorne, the work
of the co-design group comprising input from a variety of community organisations
and individuals is crucial.
The quality of the resulting draft concept plan that
will be subject to further community consultation
is the key to ultimate community acceptance.
When considering the shire-wide crisis in the provision of long-term
essential worker housing and accommodation,
the Anglesea precinct can be an important part of the solution.
I wish to say to my fellow Councillors and to the Anglesea community we have
a problem that we cannot wish away or complain away.
Present and future Councils will need to make some hard decisions.
Accommodation in this precinct along with added Aireys Inlet Fraser Drive
provides rare opportunities along the coast to attract
and support our future doctors, nurses, teachers, chefs and management staff.
It would be irresponsible not to think creatively of how
to incorporate this element into the project
without compromising neighbourhood character and I look forward
to seeing the outcome.
I wish to say on a personal note if it had not been for the availability
of affordable housing in a complex in Lorne, I would never have retired
to my home town with family connections that date back to 1875.
During this time I have been actively involved as a volunteer
in seven different community organisations , becoming President of three.
Standing down from leadership roles, I then put up my hand to serve the Lorne
and Deans Marsh communities as a Councillor.
I will leave others to judge the effectiveness
of this involvement.
I simply wish to make the point that affordable housing
for those who can make important future contributions is at the heart
of building sustainable communities.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
CR SCHONFELDER: Can I ask a question, Mayor, please, and that is as far
as the housing issue is concerned, my understanding is that at Aireys Inlet
with Fraser Drive there seems to be strong support
for affordable housing there, but at Anglesea I deduce that
there are residents who are quite opposed to housing and I just
- I wonder
- CR PATTISON: What's your question, Councillor Schonfelder?
CR SCHONFELDER: No, at McMillan
- CR PATTISON: Councillor Schonfelder, can you just please put forward your
question so we can get a response?
CR SCHONFELDER: Well, I'm wondering with the housing proposal
at McMillan precinct, and that's what I was purporting to say,
whether it's possible to have those who work at the precinct,
live at the precinct, only people who work at the precinct live there.
CR PATTISON: Thanks for your question.
I'll put that to our officers.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Councillor Schonfelder, we will need to look
at how we develop a mechanism for determining who would be those
critical workers that are needed to support,
whether it's our health workers, our teachers,
our kindergarten teachers or those who work in our restaurants and cafes.
We still need to work out how we would determine who would live
in the accommodation should it be a decision of Council to support that,
but I think we wouldn't want to limit it to the users of the precinct
because there are other schools and businesses outside of the precinct,
both in Anglesea but also, as Councillor Allen talked about,
in Aireys Inlet and potentially Lorne where there are significant needs
for affordable rental accommodation for long-term workers,
not just seasonal workers.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Would you like to speak to the motion, Councillor Schonfelder?
CR SCHONFELDER: I would, yes, please.
With my question that I put just now, my belief was that it was the McMillan
precinct where the residents had concerns about affordable housing being located
there, not the fact that you're opposed to affordable housing,
and I just hope that the people who live in that area have been consulted
thoroughly enough about it because I worry about traffic movements.
And I understand Councillor Bodsworth's support for active transport
and people who are able to cycle and walk to work, hence my question
about people being able to live and work at the precinct.
However, my own former late grandmother, who lived to 91, I had to drive her
to certain venues and parking I find is an issue
with an ageing population that's so important and I just hope that
with this precinct that does need renewal and it does need upgrading whether there
is ample parking for elderly people and also all abilities,
people who need parking and perhaps also those with young children
in prams and babies also.
So I do agree with Councillor Bodsworth about the design and I know the amenity
and keeping the small town feel is so important
and the fact that the Anglesea community hold the precinct in such high regard
and have such affection for the area.
Thank you, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Any closing remarks, Councillor Bodsworth?
Oh, sorry, Councillor Wellington, I didn't see your hand up there.
Would you like to speak to the motion?
CR WELLINGTON: I would, thank you.
I find it really surprising that we're sort of in this position where
we seem to be facing at the start of the project somehow the project itself
has generated quite a lot of division in the Anglesea community
clearly.
I've been contacted as a Councillor.
It's not my ward, but I've certainly had quite a lot
of feedback from people who are concerned about what's being proposed.
Normally if you are going to do a planning project for services
like health services and kindergartens and what have you you'd start saying
what do we need, rather than
- it feels like we're going about this backwards
because you would normally start with a needs analysis, what
is it that the Anglesea community needs and what are the problems
with the current precinct and what's the best way
to address the needs.
Affordable housing has been dropped in on this I think
because Council has identified itself as a provider of affordable housing
and I don't think that is our role and I don't think that we should be trying
to sort of leverage affordable housing into projects where it doesn't necessarily
fit and it's not clear to me why (inaudible) on this precinct.
I've never seen an analysis of the need for housing in Anglesea or in Lorne
for that matter or in Torquay, I've never seen an analysis
for who key workers are that can't get housing.
I know there's a view that there's a shortage of housing
and I'm sure that's correct.
I work in health care and there's often difficulty getting
housing for healthcare providers, but various organisations find ways
to deal with that.
I suppose the question is I don't know the scope
of the problem that Council is trying to solve.
I don't know why we think that putting 14 apartments and 5 townhouses
is going to be the solution.
In the absence of any detail about how this accommodation
is going to be managed in a way that actually people who would otherwise
not come to Anglesea to work sort of come there and work, that is,
how is it going to solve the problem that's in front
of us, which is that we can't get accommodation
for key workers, is Council going to run that facility?
Are we going to turn into a landlord for key workers in Anglesea?
What are we going to do with the facility over winter,
when presumably there's far less demand for key workers?
All those questions.
It just seems to be sort of a here's a solution that the problem
didn't actually throw up.
The problem is not properly defined and it's not clear to me why this solution
of affordable housing on this site is actually an answer to a problem which
in my view hasn't really been presented properly to Council
to show us what the need is.
I feel this has been quite divisive.
I get very nervous about co-design processes, particularly when it starts
from the premise, which it does in this case, that affordable housing
will be a part of this site.
So we're not saying to the community, "What do you think?"
We're saying Council's statement of intent, the precinct that Council
will seek a suitable partner that has capabilities to manage affordable housing
for key workers.
There's a presumption there that of course the community is upset about.
I think we should start
- take a big breath and start again is my view.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Wellington.
I just wanted to clarify the Surf Coast Shire Affordable
Accommodation Action Plan that came through Council in 2022 does go into need
for key worker accommodation and the like, so I just wanted
to make that clear that it has been presented to Council and there
is significant evidence and data around the key worker accommodation crisis
- CR WELLINGTON: With respect, Mayor Pattison,
I'm not sure that that actually did fulfil that need and to be honest, I think
- CR PATTISON: Councillor Wellington, I'm not participating in a debate.
Based on the Governance Rules
- based on the Governance Rules, if there is a point that requires clarification,
there is a right for myself or officers to make that clarification.
So I'll now
- I was just clarifying that so that the people in the chamber
and those listening can understand that there has been extensive work
around the key worker accommodation statistics.
Councillor Bodsworth, would you like to make any closing remarks?
CR BODSWORTH: Thanks, Mayor.
Firstly, thanks to the Councillors for some really great thoughtful comments.
I was going to try to answer Councillor Wellington's
questions with the same answer that you provided, Mayor,
and there's also a lot of background documentation specific
to McMillan Street.
But in summing up, I think that anyone who wants the best
for the precinct and for its users should support open-minded
community deliberation and co-design, give the process clear air, make room
for others' voices and respect outcomes.
As other Councillors have said, we're in an exploratory phase at present.
We're not promoting a specific proposal and business case.
We're not trying to provide the solution to the housing crisis.
We're aiming to make a small but impactful contribution at this site,
while also working on options elsewhere on both public and private land.
To me, accommodating some housing at the precinct looks like an appropriate
and achievable thing to do without jeopardising the precinct's unique
character and amenity, but I'll wait and see what comes
out of the deliberative and co-design process.
In the end, Councillors will have to vote on a plan for the precinct.
If Councillors and the local community don't see
the benefits of the plan clearly outweighing the risks,
they won't support it.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
We'll now
- do you have a question, Councillor Wellington?
CR WELLINGTON: No, thank you.
Sorry.
CR PATTISON: We'll now put the motion to a vote.
All those in favour.
And all those opposed.
And the motion is carried 7-2.
Now, that brings us to well over 8 o'clock.
I appreciate the Anglesea community for staying and listening
to that important conversation and decision.
Do I have a mover to suspend Standing Orders?
Councillor Barker, and seconded by Councillor Schonfelder.
We'll suspend Standing Orders for 10 minutes and we'll be back at 8.30
- alright, 8.35.
Oh, we've got to vote, sorry.
All those in favour of suspending Standing Orders.
And the motion is carried unanimously.
So we'll be back at 8.35.
Thank you.
(Short break) CR PATTISON: So now we'll resume our Standing Orders
and continue on with our meeting.
Thank you for those that are still watching us
online and for those that are here with us.
Thank you.
Do I have a mover to resume Standing Orders?
Councillor Stapleton, and seconded by Councillor Barker.
All those in favour, and the motion is carried unanimously.
So we now move on to item 4.5, which is Community Asset Committees
Update Advocacy Priorities, including ALGA and MAV motions.
The purpose of this report is to seek Council's endorsement of motions
to be tabled at the Australian Local Government
Association 2024 National General Assembly in July and the Municipal Association
of Victoria State Council meeting in May this year.
We have a recommendation before us.
Does anyone wish to move a motion?
Councillor Allen
- as per the recommendation.
CR ALLEN: As per the recommendation, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
And a seconder?
Councillor Stapleton.
Would you like to speak, Councillor Allen?
CR ALLEN: Thank you, Mayor.
The Advocacy Priorities 2024 report attached to the recommendation covers
a variety of advocacy areas.
However, I wish to focus upon the second of the main two advocacy priorities listed
in the recommendation, which is probably a segue
from the previous agenda item.
It was with a great deal of disappointment that I read the second
dwelling provisions contained in last year's Victorian
Government's Housing Statement.
As the guidelines currently stand, I believe that a golden opportunity
will be lost in our coastal communities to help address our desperate need
to provide housing and accommodation for our long-term
essential workers if we do not advocate for changes to the guidelines.
If our neighbourhood character is to be compromised by second dwellings,
then please let it be in the cause of helping us
to address our essential worker housing and accommodation shortfall.
Those municipalities that have a proven shortfall should
- no, actually, must
- have input into the granting of second dwelling permits.
By all means, allow properties in Balwyn, Wantirna and Essendon have no restrictions
on the occupancy of second dwellings, but why should Lorne, Fairhaven,
Aireys Inlet and Anglesea have more
Airbnb and other short-term listings.
In 2022, I moved a motion declaring an essential worker housing
and accommodation crisis which was endorsed by this Council.
In doing so, I understood that local government had
little opportunity to solve the long-term problem, which realistically rests
with the State and Commonwealth Governments.
We have been able to tinker at the edges to support our businesses
by amending the Local Amenity Laws, by supporting adopted worker initiatives,
to advocate for the Victorian Health Department
to revisit their short-term occupancy rules in certain types
of short-term facilities, to work with other local agencies such as GORCAPA
and township organisations to seek solutions
to a seasonal worker accommodation problem
This is still current.
So it was understandable that we were briefly optimistic that second dwellings
could provide a significant part of the solution to long-term accommodation
and housing provision, only to be disappointed by the fine print,
hence the need to adjust our advocacy in this area.
By endorsing the updated set of advocacy priorities, our advocacy
through the Municipal Association of Victoria will be more finely aligned
to our strategic goals and certainly to the needs in the case
of second dwelling provisions of our coastal communities.
I also fully support the motion to lobby the Federal Government
through the Australian Local Government Association to have stronger controls
to minimise the use of soft plastics and PFAS chemicals.
I support the motion which endorses advocacy priorities 2024.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Allen.
And did you have anything to say or did you want to speak
to the motion, sorry, Councillor Stapleton?
CR STAPLETON: Sure.
Thanks, Mayor.
ALGA and MAV are both important avenues for advocacy to State
and Federal Government on matters of significance to our community.
However, there are parameters around what motions
will be accepted from Councils.
Importantly, while the proposed motions under consideration tonight are aligned
to our existing strategic plans and commitments, they also need to align
with the strategic priorities of ALGA and MAV, which ultimately reflect
the broader needs of the local government sector.
The motion proposed to be tabled at the national ALGA conference
in July this year is essentially calling on the Federal Government
to introduce regulations and standards that address problematic
materials and product packaging, like soft plastics.
Currently in Australia there's no effective market
for recycling soft plastics, so unfortunately the majority of them end
up in landfill or worse, as litter in our beautiful environment.
A quick shoutout to all our rubbish rangers in Aireys Inlet,
Anglesea and Torquay, who do a wonderful job helping to collect
and dispose of waste like this.
We expect this motion would be well supported
by the local government sector nationally and it supports our Council plan objective
to divert more material from the waste stream.
The second motion on our agenda item is on second dwellings
and that would be tabled at the MAV State Council meeting
in May calling for the State Government to make a change
to the second dwelling provisions that would better support housing
availability and affordability, as Councillor Allen has already outlined.
I'm hopeful that this too would also receive wide support
from the local government sector given the well-documented
challenges related to housing affordability and availability.
The third part of this item tonight is the consideration
of endorsing an updated suite of advocacy priorities which
will help Council to direct its advocacy efforts to align
with our strategic priorities.
This is really important to give our Council representatives
the best chance to advocate in an effective and strategic way.
I encourage everyone to have a read through the advocacy priorities outlined
very nicely in a short 10-page prospectus to gain some insight
into Council's current priority projects across five themes of housing, climate,
prosperity, environment, and stronger communities.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Stapleton.
Would any other Councillors like to speak?
Councillor Schonfelder?
CR SCHONFELDER: Thank you, Mayor, and I'd like to thank Councillor Allen
and Councillor Stapleton for their sentiments which
they have expressed on behalf of the Council pertaining to the motions
of ALGA and MAV.
I'd like to just elaborate a little bit further
on the advocacy priorities and say that I'm delighted that
on page 114 the funding to progress short
- and long-term stages of the Council and Barwon Water Scheme
to ensure healthy rural landscapes and build a sustainable economy.
That project of bringing water from Thirteenth Beach,
or Blackrock in particular, is something that I think is so important
and it's a resource that has been referred to as liquid gold
and I know in the hinterland farming communities
and those who are involved with horticulture, as an example,
would really value this initiative.
There are other priorities also stated, planning scheme changes
that enforce more sustainable, climate-resilient design
in buildings and subdivisions, funding for catchment drainage studies
and resourcing to support the development of integrated water management plans,
state-level flood and inundation mapping combined with plans
and policies to provide certainty about where to direct development,
and I know that locally with Spring Creek and also with other waterway areas,
the community really values the importance of those wildlife corridors
and the fact that they do also have a usage for drainage
as well.
Tomorrow is going to be a very worrying day
for firefighters and the SES with the weather that's been predicted
and I know that on page 115 I've been contacted recently
about improved mobile and internet coverage
with increased data capacity, so important given that emergency services
, for example, and volunteers at the CFA require effective communication
and there are a few black holes, sadly, with there seems to be a data divide
and it's something that we need to address and lobby the Federal Government about.
Also, very quickly, with plastic recycling and to address the use of soft plastics,
not only do plastics kill marine life and wildlife,
they also have a detrimental effect on livestock as well,
so I'm glad that we're advocating and continuing our lobbying in relation
to this.
Thank you, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Would any other Councillors like to speak?
Councillor Barker?
CR BARKER: Thanks, Mayor.
These priorities and motions are authoritarian and I
will not support the recommendation.
If you are an authoritarian, which means favouring or enforcing strict
obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom, then you might want
to vote yes to the motion.
The themes driving this topic are from the global woke agenda
that disregards those who just want to be left alone.
The priorities are an unjust use of funds taken from hard-working
ratepayers who in many cases are struggling to put food
on the table.
The first motion is at best market intervention and
at worst globalist kowtowing.
Market intervention seeks outcomes that ignore the outcomes
of organic human interaction and I won't support that.
If you don't like products containing PFAS or soft
plastics, don't buy them.
If enough people do this, manufacturers will stop using PFAS
and soft plastics overnight.
The second motion is an affront to property rights and
will add further weight to an already struggling housing sector.
If you want to support global, not local, please go ahead and support the motion.
If you want to support less government intervention,
I invite you to join me in opposing the motion.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Barker.
Councillor Wellington, would you like to speak to the motion?
CR WELLINGTON: Thank you, Mayor.
I'm just going to speak about three things.
The first thing is the PFAS motion.
- I don't agree with Councillor Barker, actually.
I mean, PFAS are terribly harmful substances
and they're pervasive in the environment and they don't break down
and they're quite dangerous to all sorts of beings, human and animal,
and all sorts of
- you know, we don't really know what the impacts
of these poisonous polyfluorinated substances are and they need to be banned.
Europe is ahead of us on this.
But what I don't understand is that the Australian Government has this
responsibility and the Commonwealth is developing new mandatory requirements
for packaging under the federal Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020 already
and that will be ready to go by the end of next year
and apparently the Commonwealth will become the regulator, there
will be design requirements for packaging which will be finalised
by the end of 2024.
So I don't understand why we in local government should be spending
time telling the Commonwealth how to do its job.
It seems to be onto it, if you read the internet,
and I don't really see that local government telling them that they need
to do this is necessary because it seems to me there's a program in place and it
is going to happen and (inaudible) obviously,
but our motion seems to almost imply that it's not doing
anything, but it looks like it is to me.
So I don't see the need.
In terms of second dwellings, I agree with Councillor Barker,
a market intervention like this seems obvious and simple,
but at the end of the day it's just
- it will be a very complex issue and I'm not sure that it's the
right answer to this.
I think there is a problem with Airbnb and short-term housing
and it's creating a problem with housing affordability in a lot
of places, but it's all relative.
It may well be creating it in Balwyn or Glen Iris or wherever,
you know, Barwon and Torquay, but at the end of the day big levers need
to be put in place to address these issues,
not small punitive sort of things that you are controlling who
you can have in your property.
I don't support that at all.
There needs to be taxation levers or very big levers that will create impact
across society in terms of turning this around and suggesting that we ban people
from having certain types of people staying in their property,
but not others seems to me to be sort of futile and not really well thought
through and it does seem to me that
- and to enforce this, we can't even
- there's so many things that we can't enforce at the moment
because we don't seem to have the resources to do it.
I can't imagine us going around and knocking on the door of Airbnbs
to see who's in them.
And the third thing is the Belgrave Hall
- can I move for an extension of time, Mayor Pattison?
Sorry, the Deans Marsh Hall, I move for an extension of time.
CR PATTISON: You can have, as the others, 30 seconds.
CR WELLINGTON: Thank you.
As I understand it, there was an error in the agenda
and the agenda said that we were going to spend $8 million on knocking
down a building that we as a Council are supposed
to have been protecting.
I do not support that.
There's 600 people
- about 300 people live in Deans Marsh and 300 people in the district.
Why we would contemplate spending $8 million on a hall for that community is
beyond my comprehension really and I really
- the whole project
- the fact that we've been the custodians of a heritage building that we now say
can't be repaired is really an indictment on us.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Wellington.
We still have
- CR WELLINGTON: And I don't support that at all.
CR PATTISON: I'll get you to finish up, thank you very much.
Would any other Councillors like to speak to the motion?
CR SCHONFELDER: Mayor, if I may, I did have a question that I wanted to ask
and that was in relation to page 118, "funding to support streetscape design
and improvement works to enhance central Moriac",
I just wanted to clarify that Hendy Main Road south
of Moriac and Cape Otway Road in the centre
of Moriac and to the Princes Highway is actually a Department
of Transport road, so we have a role to lobby agency
- CR PATTISON: Can you just clarify your question specifically?
CR SCHONFELDER: I just want the CEO to confirm that they're actually
not Council roads.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
I put that question to our CEO.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: So Cape Otway Road is in fact a Department of Transport road.
One of the things that's important to understand, though,
within township boundaries we have a responsibility around a lot of the work
within the township boundaries, even in terms of things like streetscapes
and things we would have
- we have a role in that space, Adrian.
CR SCHONFELDER: Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Allen, do you have any closing remarks?
CR ALLEN: Thank you, Mayor.
I suppose I didn't express myself perhaps clearly enough.
I know a lot of people in Lorne would be horrified
by the fact that there are second dwellings going to be allowed and it
is an intervention in the market and it will interfere
with neighbourhood character.
All those things I agree with.
But if it's going to happen, then let us have some input,
some say in the issuing of permits.
Now, there will be a whole lot of things, like bushfire overlays, that will affect
whether a second dwelling can be placed there, but let us at least have an input
into the issuing of permits so that we can
tweak it for longer-term accommodation.
So we essentially need it.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Allen.
We'll now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour.
And all those opposed.
And the motion is carried 7-2.
We now move on to Government Funding Opportunities.
The purpose of this report is to seek Council's endorsement
to submit three funding applications to current grant rounds available
through State and Federal Governments and ratify three funding
applications already submitted.
We have a recommendation before us.
Does anyone wish to move a motion?
CR HODGE: I'm happy to move.
CR PATTISON: Councillor Hodge
- as per the recommendation?
CR HODGE: Yes, thank you, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: And a seconder?
Councillor Bodsworth.
Would you like to speak, Councillor Hodge?
CR HODGE: Yes, just quickly on it.
With the recommendation, there's at least six different places we can ask
for grant money, one from the Regional
Community Sports Infrastructure, there's another one
from the Regional Precincts and Partners Program.
I think the officers have done a great job to identify all the grants and
to actually have criteria to go into them.
The first one is really important to me.
We've already received 700,000 from the Australian Government towards
the Spring Creek Reserve female friendly change.
A couple of years ago that was done up before the women's football started.
Women's cricket has just gone gangbusters down this way.
So it will be really interesting to see if we get that money and
to get those rooms up to a standard where it can take both
genders in equity.
You'll see another one, the Torquay CBD and Baines Crescent precincts, that's
from the Regional Precincts Partnerships.
We've got one from Enabling Tourism Fund and I'm sure Councillor Bodsworth would
love to talk on this one, the mountain bike and tourism
around that area because we know how many cyclists we do have down here and
to have a destination Anglesea would be terrific.
And I'm sure the Winchelsea Bowls Club, if we can ratify that submission
and get some lighting for the bowls club, that would then have such a much
better life, especially in good weather, being able to do night bowling and
with barefoot bowling and I'm sure with Winchelsea growing, this club
will only go further and further ahead.
And we see also the pedestrian crossing is needed
and also the Play Well Participation Grant
So all of them are very important.
There is some money that we have to put forward, but there
is some money where we don't.
So I think thanks to the officers we'll put all those in
and hopefully we'll get success in many of them and hopefully move forward
on four or five of those recommendations.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Great.
Thank you, Councillor Hodge.
And Councillor Bodsworth, would you like to speak?
CR BODSWORTH: Thanks, Mayor.
I won't speak to all of these items, but as far as the whole program
is concerned, I think it's really important
to the municipal community that we are putting
- throwing our head in the ring where opportunities arise
and that we're putting top-quality information forward
for funders' consideration and as per the previous item too
on advocacy priorities.
So talking about point number 2, which is the Regional Precincts
and Partnerships Program for Torquay CBD and Baines Crescent precincts,
two things that I want to highlight that I'm happy with that
is the precinct planning approach.
I think precinct planning, which is a fairly large-scale, holistic kind
of planning perspective on important community precincts,
is a great way to go.
I note with both of these precincts that there's
great potential for public-private partnerships
and that the advocacy priorities document that we talked
about in the last item also talks about combining private
and public investment.
So with regard to that particular one, that's a really important component
of that work.
As Councillor Hodge said, the Anglesea Mountain Bike Trail Network
is dear to my heart.
I've been involved in advocacy for that for almost 20 years now,
which makes me wonder how good of an advocate I am
because I'm still trying to get funding.
But I do note that in about 2008 it was estimated that
about $10 million per year in direct visitor spending would be
unlocked with the formalisation and promotion
of the Anglesea Mountain Bike Trail Network, so even my maths lets me work
out that that's a lot of money, $10 million times 15 years, and not
to mention the environmental impacts that would have been averted
if proper planning and management of mountain biking had occurred
at that time and of course the health and wellbeing positive impacts from it
as well.
So I'm very supportive of this.
In terms of safe cycling connections, I just want to give a shoutout
and a recommendation to Councillors to check
out a YouTube channel called Bike Route Buddy where a Geelong person
is posting critiques of Geelong bike routes
which I think are extremely
- although they're Geelong based, extremely informative
about a cyclist's perspective on road safety and bikeway safety.
So Bike Route Buddy, check that out.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Bodsworth.
Councillor Wellington, would you like to speak to the motion?
CR WELLINGTON: Sorry, I didn't actually mean to have my hand up,
I don't think, but I'd like to just say that the Winchelsea Bowls Club
I think they've worked really, really hard to get their project up on the agenda
and I'm really pleased to see it there and hopefully we'll get some funding
for that.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Barker?
CR BARKER: Thanks, Mayor.
Those of you following Council meetings closely will know my position on grants.
They take money from people in a wide area and redirect that money to pet projects
of elected representatives and public servants.
This reduces the connection to the funding source
and the value that money has to the one spending it.
This recommendation represents taking around 35 cents
from every Victorian taxpayer and around 10 cents
from every Australian taxpayer.
If you endorse this source of funding for projects in the Surf Coast,
please support the motion.
I won't be.
CR PATTISON: Councillor Hodge, any closing remarks?
CR HODGE: Oh, no, just following on from Councillor Barker,
if you voted against this, you're voting against a lot
of good things that could happen in the community.
So I would put forward for the other Councillors
to accept these recommendations because I think the officers have done
a lot of work on it and as I said, if we can get two, three, four or five
of them up, it will be an absolute boon for our community that love their sport
and their safe cycling.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
We'll now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour.
All those opposed.
And the motion is carried 8-1.
We now move on to 4.7, Draft Circular Economy Action Plan.
The purpose of this report is to seek Council endorsement
of the Draft Circular Economy Action Plan 24-27 for public exhibition.
We have a recommendation before us.
Does anyone wish to move a motion?
Councillor Allen
- as per the recommendation?
CR ALLEN: Thanks, Mayor, as per the recommendation.
CR PATTISON: And seconded by Councillor Gazzard.
Would you like to speak, Councillor Allen?
CR ALLEN: Thank you.
Councillors, if I may be indulged for a brief moment to return
to the economics classroom, where we learnt that resources are finite
and they're allocated in our system by market forces, where in the 70s
and 80s the mantra was growth through planned obsolescence.
In recent times the nature of growth has been questioned and
to a lesser extent so is planned obsolescence.
We still crave next generation of products
- for example, the newest mobile phone, products with the latest chip.
We want something a little newer and a little better.
But starting to emerge in the 1970s was the idea that extending the product life
of goods was a commonsense point at which to start a gradual transition towards
a sustainable economy.
The practice emerged, surprisingly, in parts
of the Chinese economy in the 1990s and, of course, in Europe in the last decade,
where the circular economy gained much traction.
The Draft Circular Economy Action Plan that tonight we are endorsing
for an eight-week public consultation period gives
a clear direction as to how in the shire we can avoid waste
and increase resource recovery, particularly in the areas
of waste management services and resource reuse.
The plan identifies 5 priorities and 25 actions.
However, one aim of the consultation period will be to look
for ideas from the community for actions not identified in the plan.
One of the important incentives behind the development
of our first strategic circular economy plan, given that we are restrained
in our ability to increase revenue, is in the area
of reducing our cost pressures.
We currently spend $11 million on waste management services.
Priority 1 focuses on avoiding waste and ensuring that the waste goes
to the correct place.
There are eight actions listed that, if followed,
will reduce our cost pressures.
Priority 2 in the plan, maximising reuse.
At the Positive Ageing Advisory Committee last Friday we were privileged
to receive a very powerful presentation from Terri Powell, from Share Aid Geelong.
Terri is a specialist palliative care nurse operating in the Barwon region.
Terri, through Share Aid, accepts equipment such
as mobility aids and purpose-built beds that are no longer required
and gives them to families who need assistance
and who cannot, for a variety of reasons, access the equipment.
Terri is attempting to meet an urgent need that would remain partially unmet if not
for Share Aid.
Terri's biggest problem is storage.
She needs a double garage somewhere.
There is no lack of surplus equipment and no lack of demand and, sadly,
there is also no lack of bureaucracy, which she can minimise
by using the compassionate communities model for her services.
This is a classic example how to recover and reuse a resource
to meet an urgent need.
Councillors, I support the release of this important plan
for community consultation.
As identified in priority 3, it can be used
to drive innovation and collaboration, particularly business innovation,
and by targeting grants, we can play a role.
I quote from the officers' report in the meeting
papers, "It will see circular economic thinking
and action become embedded across the organisation
to progress towards a low-waste future."
The Draft Circular Action Plan aligns with the Council's Risk Framework.
Through the implementation of the plan, the Council
will embed a stronger circular economy practice,
enabling increased waste avoidance and resource recovery and
will support the Council to meet relevant legislative obligations.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Allen.
Councillor Gazzard, would you like to speak?
CR GAZZARD: Yes, I also support this motion.
I think it's a really excellent document and very comprehensive, so well done
to the officers who have drafted it.
The idea of a circular economy is a departure
from the traditional linear economic model which is a take, make, consume
and throw away pattern and moving towards a global movement
of keeping materials for as long as possible, reducing waste,
maximising resource recovery and regenerating nature through sharing,
reusing, leasing, repairing, refurbishing, recycling for as long as possible
to extend the life cycle of products.
This draft action plan will be endorsed
- well, if we pass it tonight will go on public exhibition for eight weeks and
is a plan for the next three years with five key priority areas
and 25 actions.
It aligns with our Council plan strategy 9 and our Climate Emergency Response Plan
and it can be delivered within existing resources
and external funding.
I think it's important to draw attention not only to the environmental benefits,
but also the economic imperative that we will save money on reducing waste
and resources going into waste management, we will reduce the amount
of raw materials required, slow down the use of natural resources,
reduce landscape and habitat disruption and help limit biodiversity loss.
Reduction in total annual greenhouse gas emissions
will be made from reducing the amount of new materials and this
will also create jobs, save consumers money,
increase competitiveness, stimulate innovation,
boost economic growth and create jobs.
I'll just draw everyone to page 20, which is page 155 of the agenda,
just drawing attention to community circular economy
in action which there are already some really amazing programs in our community,
things like the Repair Cafe, our toy libraries, Feed Me Surf Coast,
Surf Coast Energy Group, as well as cafes like Ocean Grind
and GROW, who are going zero waste and have done for a while now.
So I think there's the incentive in our community and I think it's really
important that we have a plan to inform the next two years.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Would any other Councillors like to speak to the motion?
Councillor Bodsworth?
CR BODSWORTH: Thanks, Mayor.
So as Councillor Gazzard said, there are a lot of community leaders
in this space already and I would also like to shout out to them and thank them
for the work that they've done over quite a few years and things
like op shops, of course, have been around for many decades and are right
at the heart of circular economy.
So there are people in our community who could have written
this plan and I'm really proud of it.
I think it's great that we're putting this out there as a draft for public comment.
As Councillor Gazzard said in relation to the community circular economy
in action, we also have a business circular
economy in action.
We have sporting groups practising circular economy,
so it permeates all sectors of society, and one thing I look forward to is hearing
from people on how they think we can draw
connections between community, business, sporting groups and other spheres to
all sort of pull together in the same direction on circular economy.
There's a couple of specific things that I'd like
to mention about circular economy and one is to draw Councillors' attention,
if they don't know, to a concept called Earth Overshoot Day.
Earth overshoot, as Councillor Allen said, resources are finite
and the Earth's natural systems have a finite ability to provide the resources
that we use and they also have a finite ability
to absorb our waste and Earth Overshoot Day is talking
about the day of the year on which the Earth's natural system's
ability to provide resources and to accommodate waste is overshot.
Now, globally, Earth Overshoot Day in 2024 is calculated to occur on 25 July,
which is suggesting that after 25 July, the ability of the Earth
to absorb that waste and to provide those resources has been
overshot.
In Australia because of our high levels of consumption and waste, it's 23 March.
So in about a month Australia will have overshot the natural system's
capacity to provide resources and absorb waste, underlining the urgency
of this work.
One little factoid that I'd like to throw in is that the average cordless drill
is used for 13 minutes in its lifetime, talking about sharing
and how important sharing is to make the most of resources and
of course to save on household expenses.
One other platform that I'd like to quickly plug is called ASPIRE.
ASPIRE is a business platform which is about exchanging resources so one
business's waste is another business's resources.
ASPIRE so far has 2,800 businesses signed up as members to it.
It's saved them $3.5 million.
It has exchanged over 200,000 kilotonnes of resources and has saved
over 230 kilotonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere.
So those are just a couple of little facts around circular economy
which I'm passionate about.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Bodsworth.
Would any other Councillors like to speak to the motion?
Councillor Barker?
CR BARKER: This just seems excessive to me.
I think the aims could be better managed by simpler policies and pricing
on waste materials.
If you want a behemoth policy, then lend your support
to the recommendation.
I agree there are organic circular economies in existence,
but I don't think we need such an effort to participate
in such so I'll be opposing the motion.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Any closing comments
- oh, Councillor Wellington, you'd like to speak?
CR WELLINGTON: Yes, thank you.
I'm happy to support the motion for it to go out for community feedback.
I probably have a bit of the thinking of Councillor Barker along the lines
of what's our role in this and how achievable is this for us
to do this at a local level again.
From my mind, this probably needs very significant
national levers to really sort of make it so that people don't have
to make a choice, but they do it because it's in their interests to do it.
At the moment I think it's very much people who are committed to this choosing
to use more and to be more careful about what they do, you know, in terms
of waste disposal and recycling and what have you and so there's a lot
of people that are committed to that and doing a good job.
But at the end of the day, we've got a very practical problem coming
up here with the completion of the capacity of the Anglesea landfill.
There's talk about waste to energy.
That's going to be a huge issue for the Surf Coast community
and probably it will impact most of the Winchelsea community when
that debate gets started.
I mean, there's really practical issues about how we're going
to manage this transition.
So I'm just wondering when the transition plan is proposed to be done.
That's a question I might come to in a second.
But the other thing is the targets in this are quite ambitious
and that's good, but are they achievable and are they achievable
within existing resources because I think (inaudible) that
we can do most of this, a lot of this with existing resources.
So it's nice to have a plan with targets and, you know, lots and lots of dot points
about things we're going to do, but is it achievable given what
the community says about that?
Can I just ask a question about the transition plan (inaudible)
expecting to get that?
CR PATTISON: I'll pass that on to our CEO.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: We've got it as a strategic project, so we're hoping
to have it completed
- I'll just check with the GM of Placemaking and Environment,
but I think this calendar year
- OFFICER: This calendar year, yes.
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR:-
- we'll have that plan, Councillor Wellington.
CR WELLINGTON: Thank you.
And that will go out for community consultation presumably?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Well, I'm not sure it will go out for community consultation,
but it will be a report that's likely
- that will be brought to Council.
CR WELLINGTON: Thank you.
CR SCHONFELDER: Mayor, very quickly, I'd just like
to say that the population growing is
- CR PATTISON: Would you like to speak to the motion?
CR SCHONFELDER: Yes, please.
CR PATTISON: You'd like to, okay, thank you.
CR SCHONFELDER: The population projections of growth,
the fact that possibly waste may grow as well
- we hope that it won't, but I believe that it probably will,
so very pertinent issues.
But just to touch on what Councillor Bodsworth said
about I believe the cordless drills and I know
with the rural sector I've heard from primary producers who are sharing
equipment and it appears that people are embracing
the circular economy and more people are sharing equipment
and being more practical.
I know on Facebook, for example, people put advertisements on if
they could borrow something and I think that's really
- the public awareness is something that is catching on.
Thank you, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Any closing remarks, Councillor Allen?
CR ALLEN: Thanks, Mayor.
I agree with Councillor Wellington that in a whole range
of issues you do need national levers, but my point would be that national levers
are more effective if you have grassroots buy-in and so any
national lever in this space is going to be made more
effective by grassroots buy-in and I think we can play a very positive
role in that space.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
We'll now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour.
And opposed.
And the motion is carried 8-1.
We now move on to item 4.8, G21 Regional Football Strategy 23-33.
The purpose of this report is to present the G21 Regional
Football (Soccer) Strategy 23-33 to Council for endorsement.
We have a recommendation before us.
Does anyone wish to move a motion?
Councillor Hodge
- as per the recommendation?
CR HODGE: Yes, thank you, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: And seconded by Councillor Bodsworth.
Would you like to speak, Councillor Hodge?
CR HODGE: Yes, I've got a sneaking suspicion I actually
10 years ago moved the 2012
- 12 years ago.
I won't be around in another 12 years, but in the last 10 years we've seen a
huge increase in players across the region of G21 and many millions of dollars spent
on upgrading infrastructure, so the children and the men
and women that play can ensure to have more participation in a safe
and proper done fields.
In Surf Coast Shire we've seen a huge growth in their main club,
the Surf Coast Football Club just behind us, and the growth
of women's soccer has been continually growing and just days ago they advertised
for Mini Roos, which are the 9
- to 11-year-olds, so their junior input is also increasing.
This document supports the priorities of the Councils that have
built into it fifty-fifty gender equality by 2027.
The document when and if passed by all the G21 councils
will become the guiding strategic document to continue to improve facilities
and participations and use it for State and Federal Governments.
It's got their priorities, the facilitation and participation report,
strategic framework and even the implementation guide
and listing all the opportunities that can come by this.
The strategy provides a roadmap for the development of football
to be responsive, adaptive and sustainable.
So this is five councils have got together in G21 and used this document
to further their causes on getting good infrastructure
and the ability for more people to play soccer.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Bodsworth, would you like to speak?
CR BODSWORTH: Just quickly to say that I'm familiar
with this document from the G21 sport and rec pillar that I attend.
I have no hesitation in urging the Councillors to endorse it.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Any other Councillors like to speak to the motion?
Councillor Barker?
CR BARKER: G21 is losing relevance and I'd rather we left those who love
soccer to fund and plan for its growth.
CR PATTISON: Any closing remarks, Councillor Hodge?
CR HODGE: I don't think G21 is.
I have seen no proof that it's not been up to standard.
But we have, you know, some terrific stats from there,
114% increase in female football, 48% in juniors,
and that's a terrific thing to get kids playing, adults playing
for health, wellbeing and mental health and I think G21 do a great job.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
We'll now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour.
And those opposed.
And the motion is carried 7-1.
We now move on to 4.9, Torquay North Road Project Delivery.
The purpose of this report is to update Council
on multiple planned road construction projects to commence in Torquay
between April and August 2024 and gain approval
to reprogram construction projects on Coombes Road to reduce the impact
on community using local roads.
We have a recommendation before us.
Do we have
- does anyone wish to move a motion?
Councillor Schonfelder
- as per the recommendation?
And seconded by
- no, seconded by Councillor Bodsworth.
Councillor Schonfelder, would you like to speak?
CR SCHONFELDER: Yes, please.
I'd like to highlight that Council notes the upcoming roadworks
within north Torquay outlined in the report
and the fact that defers construction of the Coombes Road
and Messmate Road roundabout until 2024-2025
and brings forward the reconstruction and widening of Coombes Road
from the Surf Coast Highway to Messmate Road to 2023-24
and allocates funding as follows: 1.3 million
from the Torquay Jan Juc Development Contribution Fund Reserve which was
to be budgeted for the 2024-2025 budget and 1.05 million brought
forward from the 2024-2025 Asset Renewal Allocation,
notes that the widening and resurfacing of Coombes Road between Ghazeepore Road
and Messmate Road is planned to be completed in 2025.
From the Council briefing that we had, it was brought to our attention that
because of the intersection on Surf Coast Highway and Coombes Road,
because the road is closed from Coombes Road, it made sense
to bring forward the widening of Coombes Road which was foreshadowed
to occur at the same time because the intersection was closed.
Mayor, I'm so delighted that the intersection
is being upgraded and I know that I am a frequent user of that road
and there have been hairy moments there because of the bend on the road
and increased traffic volumes also, so it makes perfect sense,
and I know that I have visited people along Coombes Road
and I believe in the future possibly we could have a footpath along the road
to make it easier for pedestrians and possibly bike users as well
to increase active transport.
So one step at a time, but I'm pleased that the traffic limits or
speed limits have been reduced along Coombes Road for safety purposes.
So really looking forward to the road being widened and it
is long overdue.
Thank you, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Bodsworth, would you like to speak?
CR BODSWORTH: Just to note that the widening of Coombes Road
will include 1.5 metre wide sealed shoulders, which will make that road
a lot safer for cyclists and it will make it a lot easier for drivers
to safely pass, overtake cyclists on that road.
So I really welcome that.
The current condition of Coombes Road is very dangerous for cycling
and also makes it difficult for drivers to safely overtake cyclists.
So I look forward to that and note that it's knocking
off a priority action from the Surf Coast Safer Cycling Strategy
, so I congratulate officers on getting this work done
and working their way through that strategy's priority actions.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Any other Councillors?
Councillor Barker?
CR BARKER: Thanks, Mayor.
I'd like to foreshadow an alternate motion should
this one fail that deletes point 2 of the recommendation.
I think that leaving in point 2 will result
in overall project costs increasing and increase the inconvenience
to road users.
CR PATTISON: I'll note that, thanks.
Did you want to speak to the motion?
CR BARKER: That's it.
CR PATTISON: Any further Councillors wish to speak?
Do you have any closing remarks, Councillor Schonfelder.
No.
We'll now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour.
All those opposed.
And the motion is carried 7-1.
We now move on to 4.10, Audit and Risk Committee Annual Assessment
Proposed Discontinuance of a Portion of Wadawurrung Way Torquay.
The purpose of this report is to consider initiating consultation
for the proposed discontinuance of a portion of Wadawurrung Way
on plan PS637752, Torquay as set out in the Surf Coast Aquatic
and Health Centre detailed design plans and also
to commence the notification process by declaring Council's intention
to discontinue a portion of the road reserve and
to invite submissions from community members.
We have a recommendation before us.
Do I have a mover of a motion?
Councillor Barker?
CR BARKER: Yes, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: As per the recommendation?
CR BARKER: Yes.
CR PATTISON: And seconded by Councillor Hodge.
Would you like to speak, Councillor Barker?
CR BARKER: Very briefly.
I don't support the pool, but will begrudgingly support this
recommendation as the financial deadweight of the pool is going ahead.
CR PATTISON: Okay, thank you.
And Councillor Hodge, would you like to speak?
CR HODGE: I'd just like to say, yes, it's a process that we've got to go
through and you see the road as is on page 234 and then 235 the changes
to accommodate where the aquatic centre is hopefully going to be.
It's approximately 2,500 square metres, so looking forward to putting it out there
and hearing if there's any submissions, I doubt if there will be,
but to where the actual footprint will be for the aquatic centre.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
No further Councillors wish to speak?
Closing remarks, Councillor Barker?
No.
We'll now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour.
And the motion is carried unanimously.
4.11, Quarterly Budget Report
- December 2023.
The purpose of this report is to receive and note the Quarterly Budget Report
- December 23.
This includes a Comprehensive Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Statement
of Cash Flows, Statement of Changes in Equity and Statement of Capital Works.
We have a recommendation before us.
Councillor Allen, would you like to move it as per the recommendation?
CR ALLEN: Thank you, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: And do we have a seconder?
Councillor Schonfelder.
Would you like to speak, Councillor Allen?
CR ALLEN: Thank you.
The Quarterly Budget Report ending December 2023 shows that there
is no requirement for a revised budget and that we are in a sound financial
position.
As at 31 December, we have a year to date actual surplus of $2.9 million,
which is favourable compared to the adopted budget due
principally to higher one-off capital grants, namely, the Black Spot
and Local Roads and Infrastructure Program and higher income resulting
from higher interest rates.
However, there must be a cautionary note, particularly
to myself when I enthusiastically received this report at a recent briefing.
Increased costs due to inflation are already factored
into the budget and will continue to cause concern for the remainder
of the financial year and we can also expect some lag
in increased costs that are slower to filter into the budget due
to our procurement policy and our tendering processes.
Also caution as we need to factor in higher depreciation allowances due
to the increased valuation of assets, which also impacts
upon our future asset renewal commitments.
The increased CPI will also require some rescoping exercises
where projects are coming in over budget or in the case where line
budgets are fixed, our officers will need to make adjustments to the level
of services.
These factors will require Councillors to look
at projected figures when committing to future expenditure
and budget adjustments.
The end of the financial year will reveal how we are tracking
with these challenges.
I encourage interested residents to read the report,
particularly the notes that explain the variances that have occurred both
favourably and unfavourably to the adopted budget.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Allen.
And Councillor Schonfelder, would you like to speak?
CR SCHONFELDER: No, thank you.
CR PATTISON: Do any other Councillors wish to speak?
Any closing remarks, Councillor Allen?
No.
We'll now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour.
And the motion is carried unanimously.
We now move on to item 4.12, Appointment of the CEO Employment Matters
Committee Independent Chair, and we have a declaration of conflict?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: I'd like to declare an interest on this item.
CR PATTISON: Great.
We'll just wait for our CEO to leave the room.
Thank you.
So the purpose of this report is for Council to consider the appointment
of the Chief Executive Officer Employment Matters Committee Independent
Chair for a two-year term.
We have a recommendation before us.
Does anyone wish to move a motion?
Councillor Stapleton
- as per the recommendation?
CR STAPLETON: Yes.
CR PATTISON: And seconded by Councillor Barker.
Would you like to speak, Councillor Stapleton?
CR STAPLETON: Yes, just quickly.
I'm very happy to endorse this recommendation
for the reappointment of Anne-Marie Leslie as the Independent Chair
of our CEO Employment Committee for another two years.
In my experience, Anne-Marie has been a valuable contributor as Chair
of this committee, providing sound independent advice
and assisting our advisory committee to fulfil its responsibilities relating
to CEO employment matters.
This is a really important role given that the committee is made up of
all nine Councillors to have an experienced
and independent Chair to provide advice around employment contracts,
performance reviews and remuneration.
Anne-Marie has indicated her willingness to continue chairing the committee,
which is not only important for continuity,
but I think gives the Council confidence in dealing with all matters relating
to the CEO's employment.
She's very well qualified and I encourage my fellow Councillors
to also support this motion so we can confirm Anne-Marie's
appointment for another two-year term.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Stapleton.
Councillor Barker, would you like to
- CR BARKER: I largely echo
Councillor Stapleton's comments.
CR STAPLETON: Wow.
CR PATTISON: That's great, thank you.
Would any other Councillors
- Councillor Allen.
CR ALLEN: Thanks, Mayor.
Look, I do have some reservations about the reappointment of this position,
not specific to Ms Leslie, I might add, as I believe that it is possible
to become too comfortable in dealing with these important matters,
the CEO being such an important position in our organisation.
However, because there has been an important change in the organisational
support to this committee and the fact that this committee
will operate over two Councils, this Council and the next Council, I
- and plus I'm confident
- I have confidence in my fellow Councillors
to ask the tough questions, therefore I will support the motion,
but I do have that slight reservation about being very complacent in this space.
Thank you.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Would any other Councillors like to speak?
Councillor Wellington?
CR WELLINGTON: Thank you.
Yes, I support Councillor Allen's comments on that and I think at the end
of this term
- I think it is a good idea to have a two-year
appointment spanning the next Council, but at the end of this term Ms Leslie
will have been in this role for I think seven years
and I would say that that is definitely a time when we should be
looking to
- well, the Council should be looking for some renewal.
It's a very good principle for CEOs, for chairs, for directors,
for Councillors even that you don't stay too long.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Wellington.
Any closing remarks, Councillor Stapleton?
CR STAPLETON: No, that's all, thank you.
CR PATTISON: We'll now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour.
And the motion is carried unanimously.
Oh, thanks, Rose, if you could
- Councillor Hodge
- get our CEO back, that would be wonderful.
Now we move on to 4.14, Award of Contract T24-013, Supply and Haulage
of Bulk Bins.
SPEAKER: You've skipped one.
CR PATTISON: Have I?
Oh, no, I couldn't possibly do that and it's probably a really important one
too, I imagine.
It is, a very important one.
Sorry, my pages stuck together.
4.13, Proposed Update to s5 Instrument of Delegation
- Council to CEO.
The purpose of this report is to present an updated s5 Instrument
of Delegation (Council to Chief to Chief Executive Officer)
to Council for consideration, which proposes increasing the financial
delegation amount to $1 million for budgeted expenditure and $800,000
for non-budgeted expenditure.
We have a recommendation before us.
Does anyone wish to move a motion?
Councillor Schonfelder
- as per the recommendation?
And a seconder, please?
Councillor Bodsworth.
Would you like to speak, Councillor Schonfelder?
CR SCHONFELDER: Briefly, thank you, Mayor.
This is very straightforward and I know tonight it's been mentioned
particularly by Councillor Allen about inflation and inflation
is something that has occurred during and post the COVID pandemic.
Therefore, I'm referring to the $1 million figure when it comes
to a delegation amount.
I should also highlight the fact that other Councils that are smaller than our
Council, they have that amount as well for the CEO to execute with her role.
Thank you, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: Thank you, Councillor Schonfelder.
Councillor Bodsworth, any comments?
CR BODSWORTH: Thanks, Mayor.
I think the rationale is all there in the report.
I just note that it's not just a matter of amounts that point 12 notes that prior
to the award of a contract consideration is given to commend the interest.
Obviously contracts do come to Council that are
below that threshold amount, whichever threshold amount we're talking
about.
The rationale is there to me for this increase in the threshold,
so yes, I'm happy with the recommendation.
CR PATTISON: Any other
- Councillor Barker?
CR BARKER: Thanks, Mayor.
I can appreciate that inflationary factors have driven the need
for this recommendation.
The rationale is sound, but given the current economic conditions
that are likely to worsen, I will not be supporting any extra
financial leeway to the CEO.
CR PATTISON: Do any other Councillors wish to speak?
Councillor Schonfelder, any closing remarks?
CR SCHONFELDER: No, thank you.
CR PATTISON: No.
We now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour.
And opposed?
And the motion is carried 7-1.
We now move on to 4.14, Award of Contract T24-013 Supply and Haulage
of Bulk Bins.
The purpose of this report is to seek approval
for the award of contract T24-013 Supply and Haulage of Bulk Bins
to facilitate the ongoing operation of Council-managed
waste transfer stations and waste drop-off facilities.
Governance, can we have that recommendation put up?
OFFICER: If you just give us a couple of seconds.
CR PATTISON: Okay, no worries.
OFFICER: Sorry, I just have to reboot.
It's going to take a second.
CR PATTISON: That's alright.
I think everyone appreciates a little breather.
CR ALLEN: Can we skip to 4.15?
CR PATTISON: Well, Councillor Allen moves a motion that
we bring forward item 4.15.
Okay, we'll do that.
All in favour of
- oh, no, seconded by Councillor Barker.
All in favour.
And the motion is carried unanimously.
So we'll now address item 4.15.
4.15, Councillor Expenses and Attendance at Meetings
- 1 October to 31 December 2023 Quarter.
The purpose of this report is to present a report
of Councillor allowances, expenses and attendance at meetings
for the December 23 quarter.
We have a recommendation before us.
Does anyone wish to move a motion?
Councillor Stapleton
- as per the recommendation?
CR STAPLETON: Yes.
CR PATTISON: And seconded by Councillor Bodsworth.
Would you like to speak, Councillor Stapleton?
CR STAPLETON: No, thank you.
CR PATTISON: Councillor Bodsworth?
CR BODSWORTH: No thanks, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: Would any Councillors like to speak?
No.
We'll now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour.
And the motion is carried unanimously.
Can we bring forward another item, please, Councillor Allen?
CR ALLEN: Yes, move 4.16.
CR PATTISON: And seconded by Councillor Barker.
All in favour.
That's passed unanimously.
We now move on to 4.16, Project Budget Adjustments
and Cash Reserve Transfers
- February 2024.
The purpose of this report is to present proposed
project budget adjustments and cash reserve transfers
to Council for approval.
We have a recommendation before us.
Do we have a mover of a motion?
Councillor Stapleton
- is that as per the recommendation?
CR STAPLETON: It is, thanks, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: Seconded by Councillor Schonfelder.
Would you like to speak, Councillor Stapleton?
CR STAPLETON: No, thank you, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: Would you like to speak, Councillor Schonfelder?
CR SCHONFELDER: No, thank you.
CR PATTISON: Would any Councillors like to speak to this motion?
Councillor Barker?
CR BARKER: I won't be supporting the motion given the project is looking
at this consultant for the green star assessment
for the pool.
CR PATTISON: I assume there's no closing remarks, so we'll now put the motion
to the vote.
All those in favour.
All those opposed.
Just to clarify, Councillor Wellington, was that in favour or opposed
because it kind of came up at the
- there was a slight delay?
CR WELLINGTON: That was in favour.
CR PATTISON: In favour, thank you.
And opposed?
And the motion is carried 7-1.
We now move back to the item 4.14, which Governance
will now put the recommendation on the screen for us.
So the reason we needed to put it on the screen is so that we can do this.
In our public briefing, it's redacted who the supplier
of the service is going to be and that's now on the screen
for the community to see and Councillors have received
a confidential copy of this, so we're already aware of this, but this
is the motion that we're moving.
Do I have a mover of a motion?
Councillor Bodsworth
- as per the recommendation on the screen?
CR BODSWORTH: Yes, thanks, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: And do I have a seconder?
Councillor Schonfelder.
Would you like to speak to the motion, Councillor Bodsworth?
CR BODSWORTH: Briefly, thanks, Mayor.
The required information is in the report.
I just note that we had a good range of tenderers,
that the tenderers included one new company which
is the one that's been recommended in the report.
The contract term has been set in recognition
of the Anglesea landfill closure timeframe , which is sensible,
and noting that it's a schedule of rates contract.
I note that in terms of our discussion about circular economy,
the recommended tenderer has an MOU with Deakin University
to pursue circular economy opportunities and there's information in the report
further to that and also that the contract rates represent
a 14% saving on 2022-23 costs.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Councillor Schonfelder, would you like to speak?
CR SCHONFELDER: No, thank you.
CR PATTISON: Would any other Councillors like to speak?
Councillor Barker?
CR BARKER: Just a quick question.
The recommendation represents a cost of over $1,200 per bin disposal.
What was the benchmarking price for comparable shires?
MS ROBYN SEYMOUR: Councillor Barker, we don't have benchmarking
for comparable shires, but we had four tenderers and so
we have comparable prices from other tenderers and this contract
is significantly cheaper than the other three tenderers.
CR PATTISON: Thank you.
Did you want to speak to the motion, Councillor Barker?
CR BARKER: Not particularly.
It's better than before, but still quite expensive.
CR PATTISON: Any closing remarks, Councillor Bodsworth?
CR BODSWORTH: No, thanks, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: We'll now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour.
And all those opposed?
The motion is carried 7-1.
We now move on to the last item for our public meeting, which
is the Conflict of Interest Records, item 4.17.
The purpose of this report is to present conflict
of interest records received since the previous Council meeting.
We have a recommendation before us.
Do we have a mover of a motion?
Councillor Schonfelder.
Is that as per the recommendation?
CR SCHONFELDER: Yes, Mayor.
CR PATTISON: And seconded by Councillor Barker.
Would you like to speak to that, Councillor Schonfelder?
CR SCHONFELDER: I reserve my right, thank you.
CR PATTISON: Councillor Barker, would you like to speak to it?
CR BARKER: No, thank you.
CR PATTISON: Would any Councillors like to speak to this motion?
Any closing remarks?
CR SCHONFELDER: No, thank you.
CR PATTISON: We'll now put the motion to the vote.
All those in favour.
And the motion is carried unanimously.
That now brings
- there is no urgent business.
We do have a closed section, so we will ask the members of the gallery,
many of which are still here
- not many, but thank you so much for your staying along,
we appreciate your attendance
- to leave.
Thank you very much.
CR SCHONFELDER: Move into confidential?
CR PATTISON: Yes.
So Councillors, we have a confidential item to consider,
so yes, we will now move into confidential
- moved by Councillor Schonfelder, seconded by Councillor Allen.
All those in favour.
And the motion is carried unanimously.
So good night, community.
Thank you very much.