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00:00:00 Speaker 1: As the CEO, this is our first meeting in this term of council for a general committee meeting, so we need to elect a chair for this meeting, but before we start, I'll act as the chair until we go into that formal proceeding. So I'd like to start by acknowledging that we are meeting on the traditional lands of the Kabi Kabi people today, and pay my respects to elders past, present, and emerging. Item one is attendances and apologies. I think we've got all councillors present around the table, including Councillor Lorentson, who's back from her injury, or still injured, but back on deck. Good to see you. So the first point then is to appoint a chair for this group. This meeting. So I'd like to call for nominations, if I could.
00:01:00 Mayor Wilkie: I move that Councillor Stockwell be appointed chair. Speaker 1: Can I have a seconder? Tom? Any discussion? Councillor Lorentson: I'll speak to it. I'm happy to support the recommendation, given that it's what we have historically done, elected the deputy to be... Chair for, um, of the general committee, and given that, um, I support historical precedents, I'm happy to support that. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah, and I'll support that, um, I'm sorry, I'll, any other councillors wish to speak? Oh, in closing, I'd say, yes, support, um, Councillor Stockwell is the most experienced councillor around the table, apart from myself, and you need that in chairing the general committee, which is where all the robust debate usually happens. Speaker 1: Okay, I need to ask you, councillor, if you'd like to accept the noise before we go forward.
00:02:00 Okay, I'll put it to the, put it to the floor. All in favour? That's unanimous. Thank you. Do you want to have the chair of this committee, Councillor Stockwell? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So, welcome all to the first general committee of this term in council. Um, for the new councillors, this committee is a little bit more formal than the previous two, and a little less formal than the general meeting, so, uh, we tend to let the, the staff, um, outline their report, and then we have the ability for councillors to ask questions, forms of clarification, um, and then once we do move the motion to the second, then we go into formal debate. The only difference is you don't need to stand up in this committee. Um, today we have a number of items, um, uh, that, uh, are in confidential session, and for those of them, um, in, in the gallery, uh, when we get to, uh, item number seven, uh, we do need to clear the gallery. So, first up, do I have someone who will, um, move the confirmation of the general committee meeting?
00:03:00 Happy to confirm. Thank you. On 12 February. That's moved by Councillor Lorentson. Do we have a seconder? Councillor, Councillor Wegener. Does anyone wish to discuss? No. No. All those in favour? That's unanimous. Uh, we have no presentations, no deputations. Um, there was no items referred from the committee, so we move straight into, uh, section six, which is report general committee. And, uh, the first item there is the operational plan 2023, 2024, third quarter report. And we have Deborah O'Leary here to give us an outline. Speaker 2: Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, um, Chair. So, this report, um, outlines the progress towards, um, the, um, the, um, the, um, the completion of initiatives and it's the Q3 report, Q3 report. So the CEO under the local government regulation is required to report quarterly on progress to council and, um, it's a statutory requirement, so hence the report.
00:04:00 So, um, the operational plan details 149 initiatives, um, aligned to the five themes of the corporate plan. Um, of these initiatives, 11 are complete, 107 are on track and 21 are experiencing a minor disruption. And 10 are experiencing a major disruption. Um, the details of the, um, the reasons why they're experiencing minor and major disruptions are outlined in the attachment one. Um, and that provides an overview, um, for each theme. Um, we've taken an approach where we report by exception. So we focused on those initiatives that are experiencing minor and major disruptions as opposed to commenting on every single initiative. We do, however, do that. And in the mid-year report, which we did, um, um, in February of this year, and we will be doing it again for the end of the financial year report in, in detail. But, um, for this report, um, those things that are progressing normally have been identified
00:05:00 as on track and you haven't got details, reasons for, for that. One thing I'd like to highlight is that to, just to assist councillors where we've previously reported on an item, I did put a note in their comments, um, against the initiative to say as previously reported. So I hope I didn't confuse anybody that, that was simply just so that you knew that we have previously discussed that item. It may have been completed earlier in the year, just, just for clarity. So I did include that and we did include where an item had changed. So it might've been in progress, it might've been on track and then has moved into a minor disruption. We have given a reason for that and made a note of that. So you'll see that as we go through. So, um, so I'd probably like to just draw your attention to attachment one. So that is, um, the report that shows the overall progress by theme. And there's some comments there about some highlights for each theme. The directors have made those highlights just to bring those to your attention, um, for
00:06:00 the quarter. And then we also go by in detail. Providing the information on the, how the initiatives are trafficking and also some reasoning why. So they're in those graphs in attachment one. So I'm happy to keep, continue unless you have any questions, um, at the table. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Do you have any questions? Councillor Lorentson: Just in terms of the report, um, Deb. Yes. You mentioned, um, some of the challenges. Mm. Um, in particular, just difficulty in recruiting the qualified staff. Um, can you give us a little bit of detail and more importantly, um, how does this challenge impact, uh, the organization's approach to outsourcing and consultancy? Speaker 2: Um, I'll, I'll deal with the first part of the questions, um, because it may be that the CEO and I like to talk to, to, to it as well.
00:07:00 Um, but, um, it's, it is a challenge. Yeah. It is a challenge for local government. When you look at our staff turnover rates, um, local government and the government sector is higher than say the private sector. So we've got a fairly high turnover rate. So we do lose staff, especially staff who are moving on to say within the construction sector where there's, there are job opportunities. So we do lose staff. So it is, um, you know, it is sometimes challenging to, to, to keep staff, um, especially when you're looking at remuneration and opportunities that have been offered in the private sector. So that, that is always a challenge for us. And it has traditionally been, and it's one of the KPIs that we report when you look, when you look at turnover like that. So that addresses the, I think that response to that issue of turnover, um, there are shortages in different occupations and that, that is a, is, that means it's a challenge as well because we're competing with the private sector. So your engineering and your technical type areas, especially in our infrastructure area
00:08:00 as well. And that's been evident in the capital program, um, where we've seen the impact and some delays in some of our projects. So can I go back to the other parts of your question? Could you just refer back if you wouldn't mind? Councillor Lorentson: How does it, how does the, these challenges in staff recruitment, how do they impact the organisation's approach to outsourcing and consultancy? And I think more where I'm sort of heading with that question, Deb, is, um, the risk of outsourcing and consultancy, risk as in, um, data security risk, loss of control and how we manage those risks. Speaker 2: Yeah. Did you want to talk to this, Larry? Or would you like, look, what I, what I could, could say that where we have got shortages, we have to have to engage consultants, but we would also engage consultants in, in areas where we may not have the expertise, but I'd probably then hand over to the CEO to further discuss that. Speaker 1: So I guess there's, there's different terms as well.
00:09:00 So consultancy for us is, is where we need specific expertise or skills that we don't have, or it's not, it's not efficient for us to have them on full time because they're only needed in specific areas or specific times. So we use consultants for that. If it's where we've, where we've got a need for specific or staff people, then it's, it's either we recruit. If we can't recruit, we, we do contract. That works. So it's more contract as opposed to consulting. So it's backfilling contracts. So it's sort of a, it's a, it's a nuance of terms, but that's how we, how we do it. So we don't, we don't readily just grab consultants to fill gaps. Consultants generally are for, if we've got specific needs and we don't have the, the skills and expertise to, to, to cover or we need, we recognise we need that, that information and knowledge. In terms of outsourcing, that's certainly something that, that is a bit of a cycle for local governments where everything comes in, we bring everything back in, then, then the next model is we take everything and put it back out again and outsource.
00:10:00 I think more so from a project management, because they're very difficult to, to source project managers at the moment, because there is so much work out there in the, in the commercial world, then, you know, people can make more money and, and do other things with, with it. So it's more, more attractive for staff to be able, in the broader world. So it's, it's difficult for us. So in that case, we are looking at some of our projects going forward in particular, where we will use more outsourcing model, but that doesn't mean we just holus bolus hand it out. It's, it's really a contract that we hand out as a, as an outsource and then we manage the contract as opposed to doing, we manage the contract, which is a different thing again, different model. But it's a, it's a model that, again, in the cycle, that's a, that's a, a well accepted model. And it is certainly what we are doing with our, our disaster management work. So $140 million that we've got in works happening at the moment without, it's, it's, it's a majority
00:11:00 outsourced and we manage the contract from within and it works really, really well. From a cyber security and everything else, I mean, that's just something that we do as a, as a matter of course. We, we protect ourselves and it is a contract. So there's, there's a whole lot of confidentiality that goes with contracts. There's a whole lot of that, that, that type of back end work that we're comfortable with. We're covering ourselves in that regard. We only go with reputed contractors and reputed work people and that's, you know, it's always a challenge, but we do everything we can to make sure that, that we check those, those groups before we, before we do allocate them and sign up on contracts and get them to do the work. So it's, it's really important for the job. And I think from an efficiency point of view, it's difficult at this, this day and age to try to keep everything in. We do need to outsource. We do need to utilise the skills that are out there. It comes at a cost, but it also comes at an efficiency. So it's a matter of balance. Councillor Lorentson: And is some of the cost also organisational culture, out of workplace culture?
00:12:00 There's going to be some impact in terms of... Speaker 1: I mean, if we overload everybody, then the culture suffers because everybody is so, so spent that they can't, can't deliver anyway. So it becomes a negative effect on the, on the culture. Whereas if we outsource it and get the, you know, get other people to do it and then, and you balance then the work, the work across our, our, our resources, then it's a much, a much better model as well. So it's, it's a balance. And we're, and I think we're, you know, there's times where we overload, no question about that, but that's, we're, we're getting better and more efficient at, at outsourcing where we need to. Thank you very much. Thanks, Sarah. Speaker 2: Okay. So I'll just work through the, the following documents. So then when you look at attachment two, which I was referring to where the detail is, which outlines every initiative.
00:13:00 So this is all of the 149 initiatives and the current status of those initiatives. So you can see that in the number of completed, we went up by one, and that was in our workplace health and safety system management plan. We actually completed that initiative. So that's all the completed initiatives increased by one. The, those initiatives on track remain constant at 107. The minor disruption, we, an additional two projects, did, did, you know, did, you know, did decrease in the minor disruption, but, and in the, in the major disruption, we had an increase by one. So you're looking at the 11, previously it was 10 in the complete, on the on track, it was 107 constant in the minor disruption, but previously it was 23, now we only have 21. And in the major disruption previously, we had nine and now we've got 10. So just marginal movement in that, you'll see the movement in the next quarter report when we're reporting against the end of the financial year.
00:14:00 That's where you see a significant difference in these figures. Speaker 1: I'll just make a point there, but this is the third quarter as well, so it's not many of the years. No, it's only three months. So you don't expect to see them all complete. No. And when we say they're on track, it's also in relation to the timelines, the timeframe. Because some of these projects, not all of them are due to finish on June 2. They're multi-year contracts and multi-year projects. So we cater for that. So if it's on track for the time that we are catering for that project, then it's still September-y. Speaker 2: And there has been some impact. The period of the election and just leading up to the election, there were some items that were sort of put on hold until the new council took office. So there are a few initiatives that have been affected by that as well, which wouldn't normally be the case. So just bringing your attention to that. Councillor Finzel: Okay. Speaker 2: So then going on to attachment three. And I identified in the report that we... Sorry, Deb, before you go, I may ask a question.
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00:15:00 Mayor Wilkie: Sure. One of the major disruptive projects was the SEMP, Shoreline Erosion Management Plan. We've got a new contract. The halls contracting have been engaged and work is well underway and the work's progressing well. We've got it as a major disruption, is it, because of the false start of the previous contract? Yeah. And the time factor. Even though we're underway again now. Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. And the time factor. And the time factor. Yeah. Because it was to the 30th of March, 1st of March. So at that time when the comments were made, that was the start of this year. Mayor Wilkie: Understood. Thank you. Yeah. Speaker 2: Okay. So then just to talk about the key performance measures. So there are a number of measures that we have reported over the years and they cut across our people, our customers and our various systems and processes. We are currently reviewing our performance measures. There are a number of measures that are in the corporate plan, which we're refining. And we've done work recently to review all of our service profiles and focus on looking at the efficiency and effectiveness measures for the different services of Council.
00:16:00 And those service profiles will come before Council along with the budget, because that's normally when we report them. So we've kind of got two extremes, we've got the corporate plan measures, which we're refining, and then we've got the service measures. And then the next focus is really clearly looking at the operational ones, so making sure that we've got alignment of the measures. There is an initiative in this operational plan, which is actually the development of the performance measurement framework, which is in progress. And that also includes looking at all of our performance measures. It's quite a lengthy process to do this. And we're also looking at the development and implementation of a new system, corporate reporting system. Again, that's taking time to develop. So it is work in progress. But I did want to say. I wanted to just bring to your attention, we added four additional measures, and they provide a further breakdown in the development approval in the plumbing area for Council's
00:17:00 information because the Director felt that it would be informative for Council to see the current month's figures in the numbers of applications, but also the ones that are meeting statutory timelines. So there are four new ones in there, and they've got a little label new on them just to bring them to your attention. And they just support the existing measures. And they, which are actually show performance over a number of years. So it just provides a little bit more detail. But going forward, we will be reviewing these, these measures. Councillor Lorentson: Can I ask a question? Sure. In relation to the review, dear? Yeah. Will the review be developed by Council? Or will the LGAQ, or the Office of the Local Government, do they have any input on the framework or review of our framework? Yes. Speaker 2: We are actually developing the frameworks ourselves and aligning it to our planning hierarchy. For example, corporate plan, operational plan, branch plans, as well.
00:18:00 We do, we're taking on board, the State Government is very interested in helping to promote Councils to be sustainable going forward, and have introduced some sustainability type measures. They're mainly in the financial type area. And we have incorporated, we are, we are incorporating those. They're really relevant. They're relevant at the service level. So in the review of our service profiles and we're looking at efficiency and effectiveness measures, that's where we've really taken that on board. But of course these, this framework and the measures will come back before Council for approval and endorsement. But we are looking at what the State is doing and what they are implementing so that we make sure that we have got alignment and we will be sustainable going forward. So, yeah. Speaker 4: Any other questions? Mayor Wilkie: Only on the KPIs. They're excellent graphics. Thank you. Why was there such a spike in requests in general? Speaker 2: Is that a traditional trend? Oh, I'm sorry.
00:19:00 I probably don't have enough detail to be able to answer that question. I'd have to take that on notice. Are you talking about the customer service requests? The number of requests received by month. By month. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Well, the rate's due. Speaker 2: I was just thinking about that. I was just thinking, yeah. Rates, rates, rates, rates, and were there any other... Speaker 3: And the finest year you possibly went and we had a lot of rates. Speaker 2: Yeah. And we might have already... Were there dog registration? Were there some other registrations possibly? Speaker 6: I noticed there was a... Just looking at the data, there are higher than average number of waste management inquiries. And also just other general inquiries were up for the month. Speaker 2: You do tend to get that at the beginning of the year, coming out of Christmas and school holidays, and then everything's very topical. So, yeah, it gets raised in the numbers of contacts. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. Okay. And then there's a synergy of building information requests completed within the statutory time frame.
00:20:00 It says a downturn in application numbers has contributed to reduced processing time frame. So maybe I'm mis... I'm not reading the graph. I'm not reading the graph correctly, but if the green elements were higher, that means the more would be processed within the correct time frame. Is that correct? Speaker 2: I'd have to refer to Richard to these... Mayor Wilkie: You're saying a downturn in application numbers has contributed to reduced processing time frames. You'd think the opposite would be the case. Yes. Like a fewer... Yeah. Fewer applications... Should lead to... Would lead to increase... Speaker 6: Improvements in time frames there. I mean, the only comment I would make would be to other work-related tasks that may have been taking up that extra capacity. But, yeah, generally, we would think that if you've got more capacity here, base application and then time frame should be increasing. Yeah. I'll follow that up with officers. Yeah. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. That particular...
00:21:00 And then the other new... The new... One of the new graphics about MCU development applications decided within the statutory time frame. Unless I'm misreading the colours, MCUs are the dark blue. Councillor Lorentson: Yep. Mayor Wilkie: Correct. Yep. I see. In almost all cases, MCU applications are decided within statutory time frames. In February and March, they were, but in January, they weren't. Yes, correct. Okay. Speaker 6: So there were a few that didn't... Mayor Wilkie: Was it staff on leave, for example? Yeah. Speaker 6: So, potentially, and in some cases, where the applicant doesn't agree to extend the time frame, we also... We were about to lead into caretake at that stage as well. So, there's possibly another... Oh, yes. And sometimes when the consultants don't extend the application, it falls into, I guess, post-decision-making period. We can still make the decision. Where it's an impact-assessable application, it can be a deemed refusal. Yes.
00:22:00 So, if there's a general in-applicant who won't seek to pose that, they will just let that ride through until it's decided. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. And there's a very interesting graphic about percentage of payments made electronically. It's almost 100%. We heard the other day, 3% of all payments are still cash. And even though it's an extremely high number of electronic payments, there's no suggestion this Council's ever going to move away from cash, accepting cash as an option. Speaker 2: That's not our position. No. Mayor Wilkie: Not that I'm aware of. It's really interesting. About 97% are made electronically. Yes. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So, I'll follow one of the questions in regard to the new graph. The number of built-in applications decided since that new time frame is consistently concurrency agency. And I presume that's the State Government getting back to us. It's behind mine. But then, the other interesting one was... Yes.
00:23:00 There's been some minor changes at about 21% or below. Is that because they're seen as a lower priority or there can be more complications or because the time frame's very narrow for it? Speaker 6: In relation to the concurrency agency referrals, they're actually usually the referrals from the building certified to Council. So, Council has limited time, 10 business days to make a decision on those. Often, we've found that they can be extremely complex variations to the planning scheme. So, that takes a lot longer for us to deliberate with the applicant back and forth with exchanges. But because we're bound to have 10 days to decide that, that means that it's very difficult to provide a particular decision within that period of time. Often, as is the case too, they're auditing those very early. So, without the building approval application process being lodged as well. So, we're having a discussion internally around some of those should be potentially approved. We've actually revisited to be early pre-request response because the building application
00:24:00 actually hasn't been lodged and we're assessing as part of that. So, we're actually having a look at that as part of an internal discussion with our planning assessment team at the moment. And the minor change ones? Yeah, minor changes. So, there's 20 business days associated with minor changes. Again, we're finding a lot of situations where there is quite a bit to them and requiring a lot of assessment from referrals as well. Some, in some cases, external consultants assisting us on those reviews. So, that's taking more than 20 business days to make a decision on those particular applications, hence why the numbers are lower than desired. In terms of working on those, particularly around the concurrence agencies, the minor change is to seek further information and more time for those decisions to be made. Councillor Finzel: Thank you. So, will that benefit us with the new corporate reporting system giving us more detail?
00:25:00 Will that drill down on more of this information when we get the reports? It'll... Speaker 2: Ultimately, it will give you more information, but it will take time to build the system. But it will be picking up... It'll look very much like a traffic signal, if you like, in how we work and highlight those areas that are sort of... Yeah. ...abnormalities or different...or spikes, so to speak. But the data will be entered, for example, by the relevant area, and then we'll be able to report differently. So, it'll improve our reporting format, but, like, there's still quite a bit of work to be done on data and connectedness within the...and across different modules, so it will take some time to do that. Ultimately, definitely, but it will take some time to build to do that. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Any further questions? Would someone like to move to the recommendation? Mayor Wilkie: I move. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I move to Councillor Wilkie. I move to Councillor Lorentson.
00:26:00 Would you like to... Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Look, I'd like to thank the staff. The quarterly report, the operational report, gives a good indication of how the organisation is moving and how hard it's working. And, as you've said, there are many, many challenges with staff, staffing and recruiting. We've had weather delays with a lot of programs as well. And any interested residents in rate pay want to know how their rate pay dollars are being spent. Direct them towards the quarterly report and the annual report. There are so many initiatives underway. It's good to see most of them are on track. And you've clearly articulated the reasons why there's major disruptions. It's really...it makes it really understood why there are disruptions. And a lot of those...solutions to those things are really important. And I think there's a lot of work to be done to make sure that those things are going to be addressed in the coming months. So please pass on our thanks again to the staff for how hard working they actually are. It's greatly appreciated. Councillor Finzel: Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
00:27:00 Councillor Wegener: Just a comment. It appears to me, you know, we have a lot of things on the table here, really a lot of programs and a very small handful of directors. So the directors wear a hat, the sub-directors, and we know that lots of hats are being worn by one person. And I think that when you look at some of these areas here, you know, there's so many things that are happening. For example, facilitate youth engagement is...needs to be, you know, is on the...is in the yellow. Nuisance design principles, revenue diversification, reconciliation action plan. Those are things that we aspire to do. We want to get to them. But in my opinion, where the lack of or trouble filling all these positions, actually that's a symptom of us wanting to get to these projects, but they're just filtered down at the bottom because the director has so many hats on. They're just like, right, okay, I can't take that hat and pass it down to somebody because there's nobody...there's no head down there to put it on.
00:28:00 Is that accurate, Larry? Kind of an accurate kind of mental image of how council works? Speaker 1: Oh, absolutely. And I think that's the piece we need to continue to bring back to the table. And this shows it is the complexity and the breadth of activities that we undertake as a local government. It's broader than any other business that you can find, I think. And that's symptomatic of it. And absolutely, it then becomes a priority of where do we spend our time, because we've all got limited time. And we have to then try to just keep things moving along. It's almost, in some respects, it's like trying to push a log up a beach. Push a little bit of money and just keep it moving. And that's sometimes what we need to do in order to do it, because we don't have the luxury of a massive staff base, regardless. We're just not in that position from the financial position and your resources. You're right. It is a very complex business, and we are managing a whole lot of things worldwide.
00:29:00 Speaker 2: And we have an ambitious corporate plan. And this operational plan is essentially the one year component of the five year plan. When we go into our next year, it'll be the second year operational plan for the corporate plan. But the corporate plan is very ambitious in what we said that we would deliver over five years. And a number of the initiatives, you will see that they might be at an initial phase, and then they'll move to a next stage next year. Because it's not always, everything is always completed within the financial year, especially with some of the complexities of some of the projects. They go beyond one year, and they then move over into another stage in the following year, which also then needs further consideration budget-wise. And then you have emerging issues on top of that. So there you go. Councillor Lorentson: So yeah, so just sort of rephrasing, but asking a question. So we have set overly ambitious goals. And we potentially are overstretching our resources.
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00:30:00 So understanding that now, what adjustments are we going to make next quarter to address these issues? Speaker 1: Well, I don't think it's just next quarter. I think it's going forward in total. Say the line. We have set a lot of things in motion. And what we are looking to do, and this is part of our budget deliberations in the next financial year, is to finish the things we've set in motion. And that's what we've started. And that's the risk. And we're all guilty of it, because we're all humans, and we all want to do as much as we can for our community. So we're all prepared to take on more as it comes our way, and see what we can do, and try and help. We need to take a much more considerate view of some of these things and just say, we can't do anymore. We need to finish these off before we move on to the next one. And that's what we are trying to do. And this report shows that we're on track to do that. But everything takes resources.
00:31:00 And like I said at the start, even though they're green, they're not necessarily going to be finished 30 June so we can move on to the next financial year. They're actually multi-year projects that continue. They're all on track, but they're continuing. So they're continuing to suck up resources and finances. But that's the plan, is to deliver what we've got, and then be more considerate about what we can take on going into the future. Because we can't be everything to everybody all the time. But we'd love to. Speaker 2: And an additional item, just further to what the CEO said, is that we have acknowledged that we do need to consider what our finances are and what our people capacity are, and we look. And a workforce plan has been identified as one of the initiatives as well to further look at our staffing resources and ability to deliver. And similarly with our systems and with our finances as well. So that's the capability plan that was actually identified in the corporate plan, but is also included in the operational plan.
00:32:00 Councillor Lorentson: In terms of high risk priorities in council, stormwater and aging infrastructure, where is that identified in the operational plan? Speaker 2: I'll give you an example. A key one would be asset management. So that is actually identified in the operational plan. It's also identified in our strategic risk register. And it's also something that we report regularly to the Audit and Risk Committee on, because there was an internal audit done of our asset management. And there's a number of recommendations that we'll be moving to implement to approve our asset management. And there is also some other work being done, particularly in community services. Where they're looking at maintenance requirements on some of the community buildings going forward. So there is definitely a plan of the TAC in that space. That's in relation to asset management. And that's probably a big part of it, really. So, yeah. Speaker 1: Register.
00:33:00 Register. Yeah. Speaker 2: And which we review, the executive team reviews regularly. And we report to the, as I said, to the Audit and Risk Committee at least twice yearly on that. And we have specific actions that we're putting in place to address those. And the development of the strategic asset management plan will be a key piece of work in that space. Speaker 1: I think there is a, sorry. Go on. There is a piece as well to take the time to celebrate what we've done. And what we're doing. What we've got in our books. And all these things. Because we tend to sort of, as soon as we finish something, we just move on. What's next? And that just gets pushed aside. Or we start it. It's like, great. We've started it. What's next? As opposed to really focusing on all the great things that we are delivering and doing over the course of the four months, two years, three years, four years in terms of the cycle. So I think that's really important that we do that as well. Because it's very easy to forget that we've built these roads. We've built that roundabout. We've done all that great work. It's like, yeah, right. What's next? As opposed to, that's fantastic. And we recognise that there's more projects in train.
00:34:00 Councillor Lorentson: Quick question. And this is maybe in terms of review of our framework or additional KPIs. We look at, like, customer satisfaction. Whether it's customer service. We look at experience surveys. Do we look at, and I'm thinking of roads that we've just completed or whether it's stormwater. Do we ever consider whether a service is fit for purpose? Councillor Finzel: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: Absolutely. Speaker 1: Within the restraints of what we can deliver. Yeah, absolutely. It's always going to be fit for purpose. In my opinion. But we can't always deliver. Some people's fit for purpose is here. Some people's fit for purpose is elsewhere. You know, it's where that line's drawn. But absolutely, that should be our way. Excellent. Thank you. Mayor Wilkie: You're saying all council works according to designated standards. Yeah, absolutely. Speaker 1: Of course. If it's ever been specific to our community as well.
00:35:00 Yeah. Speaker 2: With their expectations. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Anyone else wish to talk to the motion? You should talk. I'll just point to my thinking on this is, when we look at the cause of the delays, there's some that are outside our area of influence. Things like, you know, I think the first three months of this year, in my recollection, have probably got the most wet days that I've known for at least 40 years. Speaker 1: Yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah. And we know the labour market is difficult in that we know that some of these key positions have caused major delays. We've advertised some of them three times. Yeah. And sometimes we get an applicant who accepts it and then doesn't. And then we find out about the housing market. And that's the one I think that, you know, we have to look at systemically. What do we change? And then on today's agenda, we, in the confidential session, two of the three items is about addressing that systemic issue we've got in terms of accommodation for key workers in the Shire. So that will take years to work through the system, but that's the sort of thing I think
00:36:00 we should be looking at. What are the large, big picture constraints on achievement of this organisation and the broader economy? And how do we change that paradigm so that in future, it ceases to be such a large constraint? Councillor Wegener: As a mayor, as maybe part of your new job, you could be in charge of celebrations. Mayor Wilkie: How do you even do it? Speaker 2: It's really positive for culture. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: It is. People and culture. That's the point. I'd just like to acknowledge the staff. And you, Deb, for, you know, you bring so much expertise and years of experience to council. And just acknowledge and thank the staff for all their hard work. I think when you run through the report, it's overwhelming how big a business we are and
00:37:00 what we've actually got on our plate at the moment. So thank you very much. Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you. No, well, thank you for that. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Speaker 2: Okay. Thanks. Thanks, Deb. Mayor Wilkie: Wilkie, would you like to close? Yes, I will. Look, you talked about capability plans are being prepared about, which will give us a good insight into what the organisation is set up to actually deliver when we're overstretching. But any councillors who are concerned about overworking this organisation have got an opportunity in the upcoming budget not to overcommit to initiatives, not to overcommit to capital works, because we do have to sign off on the budget and also the operational plan for the next year. Yeah. So all the initiatives this year, we unanimously approved. And we're going to have an opportunity to really set a regime of tasks that hopefully will be taking into account the things we've heard around the table today by June 1st. Thank you, Tony.
00:38:00 Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. Thank you. Those in favour? That's unanimous. Thank you, Deb. Thank you. And our next item is the financial report for April. And we have to think. Pauline. Pauline, are you going to do the outline? Absolutely I am. Speaker 3: You're good for me to go. Good afternoon councillors, so year to date for April 2024, operating revenues continue to outperform our forecast as well as operating expenditures are running under forecast to the end of April. Operating revenue is $2.1 million above budget and that's been predominantly driven by interest income of $1.5 million and sales of goods and services of $1.4 million from holiday parks, waste disposal fees and sports and cultural facilities. Other revenues are $0.5 million above budget and that relates to plant recharging to capital projects, particularly QRA, as well as some commissions and royalties that we've received.
00:39:00 However, that's been offset by our lower than forecast fees and charges, which is $1.3 million below budget year to date. Our operating expenditure is $1.6 million underspent year to date with $1.5 million of that relating to employee costs. Our materials and services expenditure is slightly under the forecast, which is $5,000, however, there is some offsets between legal services, which are actually over budget at the present time, offset against underspending contract services and consultancy. Tourism and economic development expenditure continues to show that it's tracking against budget year to date and overall council's operating position at the end of April is $3.7 million above budget. Our year to date operating revenue is $3.7 million above budget. Year to date excluding disaster projects, council has expended 53% of its full year capital program, which relates to $24.3 million of our full year $45.9 million capital program, with further nearly $11 million committed.
00:40:00 Year to date, we've spent $28.5 million on QRA funded disaster projects. However, we are obviously running a little behind on our capital projects and some of that is to do with the weather that we've seen in the last three months. Council's cash holding at the end of April was $123.7 million, and some of that is actually relating to the capital program in the fact that it is delayed and we were expecting a lot more of expenditure to come through from the QRA projects than have. We currently have $30 million of those funds invested in term deposits. Overall, council's financial performance continues to be strong and it's forecasted to result in a surplus at the end of the year, pending any accounting adjustments that may come through. Speaker 1: Thank you. Councillor Wegener: Just seeing that this extra boom, $1.5 million from interest rates, so that is just such a bonus, isn't it, for us?
00:41:00 Speaker 3: Yes. Councillor Wegener: It'll probably wind up by the end of this year, do you think? Speaker 3: It will depend on the delivery of the QRA program. That's where a lot of the funding comes from and the timing of delivery of those programs, as well as the delivery of the QRA program. So there's some funds obviously with that, whether it spreads into the next year as well. But we obviously are expecting that interest rates will decline coming into the next year, but we haven't quite seen that just yet. So while we can utilise the funds and maximise the return to our ratepayers, we will continue to do that and look at ways of doing that. Obviously, however, interest is in an ongoing revenue stream and it will come down. So it can't be used to fund ongoing projects and costs. Councillor Wegener: And then the next question. Because there's all that money in the bank account from, say, Black Mountain Road, eventually that's going to be an asset. Do we pay the depreciation on that asset as the council or is that the state?
00:42:00 Speaker 3: No, so part of that will become an asset. Some of it may not become an asset, so there's parts that will be capitalised as an asset and some that may be expended. But that asset becomes ours. So where they're reconstructing the road at Black Mountain, that road is ours and we own that asset and it will depreciate through the account. Councillor Wegener: OK, sorry, last question. Because of that, it's such a huge project and it costs so much money, the depreciation on that would be a lot. But on the other hand, it should last a really, really long time. Speaker 3: Yes and no. However, not all of that particular project will necessarily end up as an asset. So we don't as a council generally value the land under a road and some of that construction is building land under the road. There's obviously pylons and gabions and all those sorts of assets. So it really comes down to the components that are constructed and the elements that meet the criteria for capitalisation as an asset on our finances versus being expended and offset with the revenue that we've received from QRA. So they're the sort of assessments that we do as part of the end of year accounting with the auditors as well.
00:43:00 Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Other questions? Councillor Lorentson: Council elects to apply national competition policy reforms to waste management and holidays park. So from the wording, NCP is not compulsory or is it amongst local governments? I've always understood it should be compulsory but the wording says otherwise. Speaker 5: So the thresholds and the definitions of what constitute commercial activities is embedded in the Local Government Act. But what we need to do as a council each year when you adopt the budget is you do adopt through that process the activities that fall into that threshold. So what we're required to do each year as part of the budget is not just look at holiday parks and waste which are clearly above the threshold. The revenue threshold of being considered commercial.
00:44:00 But have a look at everything we do. So each year we do that assessment and there might be things at some point in the future that might trigger over. We might do a major upgrade of one of our sports or aquatic facilities and its revenue generation grows with that. And so then we would need to do an exercise financially to assess whether we should be then considering the aquatic centre or an upgraded day or any kind of facility like that. Might fall into that competition policy framework and we'd have to make sure that we do that extra due diligence around pricing. And no anti-competitive pricing in our structures with those. That's why we elect to as part of the budget adoption this year. Thanks. Mayor Wilkie: I've got a question. In the rates and levy section you've got $88.9 million or 100% of the budget is being earned. Yep. In the comments, general rate 123.6 above the year-to-date budget. Yep.
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00:45:00 And I understand we are actually, there was some, we received less income to use on ratepayers' behalf because there have been some property re-evaluations. Can you just explain how we reconcile that with the comments I've seen here please? Speaker 3: Some of those relate to some levy funds as well that we have. But there's also, we did do an adjustment at the last budget review to accommodate that reduction. We're part of that reduction. So it's not showing as over or under spent as it possibly would be had we not made that adjustment at the budget review that we adopted in January. Speaker 5: Thank you. That explains that. And through the Chair, we're still continuing to see those revised valuations or the UCVs as we call them of land come through. So our rates revenue is continuing to reduce as properties contest those valuations. So it was just the assessment we took at the time at budget review too as to what that would land at by the end of financial year. Yep. Mayor Wilkie: Traditionally, as Council's trying to bring in a budget, the minimum general rate, the rate rise is no higher than CPI.
00:46:00 And I heard that federal CPI rate, what, 3.5? 3.6%. It's predicted to be 3.5. 3.6. But I understand we're still feeling the impacts of record high CPI. Speaker 3: We are. So, I mean, to talk to CPI. So CPI that's released is based on a set of standard expenditures. So groceries, milk, fuel, those sorts of things. And while that's representative of you and me at home, that's not necessarily representative of the goods and services that Council's procuring. Mayor Wilkie: Not the Local Government Index. Speaker 3: Well, the Local Government Index is, again, another indicator. But obviously, you know, roads, construction, asphalt, those sorts of items generally track a lot higher than the base CPI. We also have employee costs that are tied to a certified agreement. And those have been higher than the 3.6 that we're currently sitting at. So we had 4.2 in December that increased our employee costs. So we tend to, we run higher than necessarily the announced 3.6, the announced CPI by the ADS.
00:47:00 Mm-hmm. But obviously, we've historically adopted a track to try and tie rates to CPI. But that has constrained us in our ability to continue to deliver those services and maintain that level of service. Mm-hmm. Mayor Wilkie: And just a general question here. The rating discount, financial rating discounts received from state governments, was it financially sound with a neutral outlook? Correct. I understand sound is like five on a scale of seven. Can you just talk in broad terms? Those who might be interested in listening or who are in the gallery today, what that means in terms of the way this council is able to deliver services for its residents and rate payers? Sure. Speaker 5: Through the chair, I can speak to that one. If you look at the scale or the first part of the scale, which is sound, we aren't a local government that generates robust or strong or significant operating costs.
00:48:00 We'd like to start the financial year targeting just above a break even. If we've got excess funds, we look at whether we invest it in services or reduce our rate accordingly. So we always target a very lean financial position to start the year. Larger councils and those with a more significant revenue and rating base, such as those in SEQ, might be looking at a larger operating surplus when they adopt their budget. So we are always targeting a very lean financial position. So that's where the sound position comes from. We're one of the 20-odd councils in Queensland that are financially sustainable, so we have a sound position. Our neutral outlook is that, exactly as it says it's neutral, we're not declining, we're not significantly growing in our financial sustainability. It requires ongoing, astute financial decisions, not just today or tomorrow or next month's council meeting, but every council meeting to ensure and every budget deliberation to ensure that your intergenerational financial sustainability remains over the next 10 or 20 years.
00:49:00 So that's why that long-term view is always important, and knowing what your asset management planning is, for example, so that you know what you're funding for, not just in one year or two years, but in 10 years' time. In ensuring that you're funding that. So that's why the neutral outlook's there, that we're looking at that long-term view, and keeping it well-balanced over that decade. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I've got a couple of questions. It's around fees and charges. So obviously that's the area where there's the most deviation from the budget. And I know in budget review we had a look at development assessment fees and building and plumbing compliance, and they were a similar level below then, and we thought there was going to be a difference. Have we seen that more movement, and it's coming in the last quarter, or is it the mean that we really are seeing a downturn, and the budget forecast was a bit ambitious?
00:50:00 Speaker 3: I was going to say, probably Richard's going to take the last step there. Speaker 6: Yeah, as we mentioned, the last month we are seeing a bit of a softening in the development market, in terms of whilst the numbers aren't decreasing significantly, the scale of the proposals coming in at the moment are not at the higher end, so therefore the scale of the fees are not quite hitting probably the mark we were, and I think that's to do with interest rates as well. I think also a bit of the supplier piece as well, so some projects are holding off. We do have some large development applications that are being processed at the moment, that at the end of each financial year we can reconcile. So basically we have unearned revenue that's held across from a previous financial year. So it's some large fees paid last financial year that have been held over. So we'll notice there'll be several hundred thousand dollars, so that will significantly reduce by the time we get to the end of financial year.
00:51:00 So that gap is probably not quite as large as what it's showing on there, because we've still got to do the reconciliation of unearned revenue by the end of financial year, but we have noticed that we're not getting as many of those big new development applications coming in right at this moment, and obviously that's showing on our bottom line at the moment. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And the other one, like local laws and community facilities. Speaker 3: So in terms, I can comment on some of that. So in terms of the local laws, some of that actually related to the camera car initiative that we're supposed to roll out, so there was an additional revenue stream added obviously as part of that, and that's obviously been delayed, so as a result there's a bit of a compounding factor coming through from that. Community facilities predominantly relates to Noosa seniors, and there has been a change in the manager, and I suppose a change in strategy. They have had an offsetting expenditure as well, so even though their revenue is down, their expenditure is down as well, because that operation generally operates at a neutral position.
00:52:00 And I think that was just some of the initiatives, and maybe he was a little bit optimistic about what could be achieved in the financial year, but there was a change in manager during the year as well. Councillor Wegener: Sure. Sure. Mayor Wilkie: You mentioned, there's a comment in there, I can't find it at the moment, about the impact of the $2 million financial assistance grant. The timing of when the council receives the money can affect the bottom line, can you? Speaker 3: Correct. Mayor Wilkie: Perhaps negatively, can you explain that counter intuitive comment? Yes I can. Speaker 3: So we receive approximately $2 million in a financial assistance grant from the government, and historically they have always prepaid it. In June. And last June they paid 100% of this year's financial assistance grant in June, and under the accounting standards, how that gets treated, it gets recognised in the prior year, so in last year's financial statements. So depending on what happens this year in terms of whether they reduce that prepayment,
00:53:00 so whether that's a 50%, 75%, or 100%, there potentially is that fluctuation in what we've forecast. So we've forecast to receive that 100%. However, we're really dependent on that announcement, which we're waiting to hear, and also about the amount that they allocate to us as well. So our amount was supposed to decrease, but actually slightly increased last year. But until we get that notification, we won't know that. So it would essentially be, if they only paid 50%, then we would have actually half of that financial assistance. Speaker 5: We have $1 million. Correct. From a cash flow perspective, we still end up at the same situation as we roll through next year. That's just a case of when that hits our bank account and gets recognised. Councillor Finzel: Through the Chair, given coming off the back of the bottom line, I'm just interested in moving forward, looking at the long term view around our asset management planning, and
00:54:00 when we're converging. Converse. Converse. Converse. Converting Converting the QRA projects into our assets moving forward, what's a reasonable time we can expect that conversion rate to take, and then the benefits to Speaker 3: Well, it really is dependent on the delivery and completion of the project. So there's sort of a cycle, I suppose, in terms of assets. They get constructed, they get completed. We then rely on the! The componentisation of those assets that go on and then the financial side of allocating the costs to that asset and reviewing what's there and what can be capitalised and what needs to be expensed. There are some projects that we actually like, a lot of the gravel roads works that were completed has been done but we don't have the component parts of those assets to finalise so that probably won't hit this year unless they get it to us very soon. So it'll fall into next year. But what happens with the gravel roads for instance, we would actually write off some of those gravel roads that they've repaired or replaced and then reinstate so there's kind of an in and out.
00:55:00 So some of those renewal type works won't impact our bottom line but any of the new stuff particularly on the landslide like the Gavians and those sorts of things would because they're potentially the new assets and attract appreciation. It probably, I'm guessing here, will be a couple of years before we start to see it. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Make it straight. Speaker 1: Also some of the projects aren't finished until you go through the 12 month period after the project as well in terms of really taking it on and taking it on our books so there's that period and then there's a period of just assessing it and getting it on the books themselves so it takes time. Councillor Wegener: Don't rush it, just keep pushing it out. Speaker 3: I'm not quite that simple, yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I haven't. I'll go to the audit officers and watch after that. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: A quick question Pauline and maybe even just a suggestion. Yep. But I would love to see somewhere in the report like maybe it's too simplistic but how our council's expenditure is distributed across areas in terms of how much do we actually allocate to infrastructure, how much do we allocate to council services and how much do we allocate to administrative costs.
00:56:00 Just to have like a, I don't know, simplistic or an overview and that would also help me and maybe again too simplistic but what I read out of something like that is how we actually prioritise our funding and does that then align to our corporate plan and more importantly our external auditing risk, you know, our high priority issues. Can we do that? Or have I just done exactly the opposite? To a certain point we could probably do some. Sorry. Speaker 3: No that's okay. So to a certain point yes we could do some allocations and I would probably suggest maybe
00:57:00 we would start as a quarterly update like we've done in the past with some of the other requests but I'd kind of need to get some feedback from councillors as to what sort of they would find useful and how sort of what, to what level you want that information and what we can also pull together within the system. Mayor Wilkie: You already do that to an extent with the, when you're in the budget workshops. Correct. You're showing how much we expend on infrastructure and how much we expend on community. Yeah. Speaker 3: So it depends on how much you're wanting to see that. I mean councillor Amelia has just obviously talked about infrastructure and versus our services so whether that's by department or whether that's by some of the like group facilities it's more just getting an understanding of to what level we could need that and how quickly we could turn it around. Right. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: We have someone who wants to move the motion. I'll move the motion. Councillor Wilkie and the seconder. Councillor Wegener. Councillor Wilkie. Mayor Wilkie: Look thank you for the excellent report. Financial reporting is essential to let us all know how the organisation is going.
00:58:00 As Trent said financial sustainability is nothing to be taken for granted given that we're one of 20 councillors which is a minority that return surpluses. There's 77 councillors in Queensland and it lays at the heart of being able to deliver services and infrastructure and programs for our community without financial, financially sustainable practices none of that can be delivered with the relative ease with which nursing councillors are able to do it despite the challenges of being a relatively small councillor. So thank you for keeping us all on track. It was really good reporting. It's much appreciated. Councillor Lorentson: I'll quickly speak to it. Thank you again. Great report Pauline and Trent. My sort of take home with the report is that and it's not scary but it's a moment of pause where we keep I keep going what's changed over time in terms of our primary source of
00:59:00 income. And we haven't changed. We haven't diversified. It's essentially rates. And my concern is given the high cost of living pressures and our obligation to spend money wisely and also reduce that impact of rate increases on our residents we need to really be thinking heavily how we're going to diversify. In terms of fees, just planning fees, drop in planning fees. We've got to be a little bit more inventive than just raising fees and rates in getting
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01:00:00 more cash. Speaker 5: Through the chair you would have noted that in the operational plan update there is a revenue diversification strategy here. So short of simply saying watch this space through the budget process, our goal this year with your budget for the community's budget for 20 the next financial year is to have a year for 24-25 is more of a long term strategy. It's not just looking at one year's worth of revenue generation. It's how do we deliver the ambitious corporate plan without it being burdened purely on the general rate. So that is that is key for the financial conversation over the next six months. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: It's quite an interesting set of figures this time because the fees and charges from the traditional services of council is significantly down 1.2 million below budget from now this year. Yet our sales of goods and services are considerably up. So we can see that while the low domestic market, things like the holiday park revenue
01:01:00 up by $660,000 which shows that there's the other source of revenue we can get is by our holiday parks. And obviously there's opportunities. We've got another site that's already got a planning approval. We've got some of the parks that couldn't have been done before. We've got some of the parks that could be upgraded with cabinets. So to me, historically, when we see these downturns in construction and planning, we see a downturn in the local economy. But we've seen diversification through things like the digital hub evening out the process. But from a rate payer perspective, we aren't going to have a population lead economic growth. So we need to get that long term strategy in place to ensure that as our population ages and our workforce increasingly comes from further appeal that we need to have these alternative sources of revenue. I think $660,000 would be a bet. Mayor Wilkie: One cent. One cent. One cent. So just a follow up question on that. What's actually being done at the holiday parks to make them generate such, being so
01:02:00 successful in generating extra revenue? Speaker 5: Primarily, we've got to look at what's actually being done at the holiday parks to make them generate such, being so successful in generating extra revenue? Primarily, over the last couple of years, it's been a range of things. One is occupancy rates are up. Two, it's also efficient and effective management and maintenance structures so that it's not just about the revenue side, it's also the cost side and how you manage both sides of the P&L, if you like. So it's been a combined exercise there in terms of how we've structured tapping into the market and making sure occupancy rates are high, but also making sure that our cost base is efficient and effective and it's a good customer experience. Mayor Wilkie: And just to clarify, that extra $600,000, as Councillor Stockwell mentioned, $600,000 raised from other sources is equivalent to a one per cent rate rise. We don't have to impose on residents through the budget to get the equivalent?
01:03:00 Speaker 3: The equivalent would be, I'd also like to flag that the $600,000 raised from other sources that come with that $600,000. So we do pay commissions and other costs that relate to that. So the net probably isn't that $600,000. But yes, in theory, the $600,000 is equivalent to that one cent. Sorry. I just wanted to flag it. So yeah. Councillor Wegener: Okay. Anyone else wish to talk? Just a comment. I think you guys, what Frank just was talking about takes it to another level where we, our population is much older, 12 years older than the average. Our average income is substantially lower than the average. And somehow we still are doing very well in our sustainability index. And we have these bonuses like the $1.5 million, which is two rate points, through the interest rates. And the holiday park's doing well. But in some ways, I see ourselves really sailing a tight line, and so I'd just like to thank you guys.
01:04:00 I appreciate that. I think it's harder than it sounds. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yes. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. It doesn't take much to deviate. Do you go to bed at night, Pauline, and see numbers in your head all night? I'm sure he does. I know. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Councillor Wilkie. Mayor Wilkie: And just to follow up, I'm sure I won't be speaking out of turn and saying it all. I'm sure councillors will be working very hard to bring forward a budget that respects the constraints that you've raised. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Very good. Speaker 2: Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. All those in favour? That's unanimous. Thank you. We now move on to item 6-3, which is planning applications decided by delegated authority for January, February, March and April 2024. Before we start that, I have an undeclaration to do.
01:05:00 So, councillors, I'll start before I get to the final word. In the last term, I declared a conflict of interest in relation to Libby Freedy and also to her relationship with Alton Property Group. I wish to advise that this... Thank you. Thank you. I think I lost myself again. Group relating to events in the lead up to the 2020 election. As this was prior to the relevant term, and as I have advised, Libby Freedy no longer has an interest in the company. It is not my intent to continue to make this declaration. Councillors, you'll be aware that the department suggested that the... That was a wise thing to do. If you were going to cease to declare, is to make a public announcement about the reasons why you would not declare the...
01:06:00 Do we have any other declarations or advices? Councillor Finzel: Yes. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Councillor Finzel? Councillor Finzel: Yes, I have. I don't have one. That's new to my attention that Lynne MacCree has left the Alton Property Group, but based on advice around... Relative term coming forward, I'd like to inform the meeting that I have a declarable conflict of interest in this matter in relation to applications MCU 210228.01 and OPW21-0364.014 combined with MCU21-0228.01 by Alton Property Group, which are item 722 in its delegated authority report. Thank you. Leigh McCready, who was associated with the applicant, to the best of my knowledge, was involved in the volunteer capacity for my 2020 election campaign with Future Noosa,
01:07:00 which is no longer an entity. As a result of my conflict of interest, I will now leave the meeting room while the matter is considered. Question through the Chair. Councillor Lorentson: Given that this is a noting report and not a decision-making report, is it necessary for Councillor Finzel to leave the room? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: It's still up to her. It is only a declarable rather than a prescribed conflict of interest, so up to Councillor Finzel to make her decision. If you can ask the meeting to stay if she wishes. Councillor Finzel: Given we're waiting for information regarding the relevant term, I will choose to leave the meeting room until we've had further workshops. Thank you.
01:08:00 Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: I also would like to declare, I, Councillor Lorentson, inform the meeting that I have a declarable conflict of interest in relation to this matter. To the application, can I change that to a prescribed conflict of interest in relation to the application QPW21-0353.02 by MC Bain, which is item 13 in the delegated authority report. Due to my personal relationship with the applicant, Mark Bain and the Bain family, who are family friends, we have attended social events together and our children have attended school together. I will leave the meeting as I had previously. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So if I just before you do, you change to prescribed, there's nothing in the declaration
01:09:00 that suggests it is prescribed? A close associate? Councillor Lorentson: No, actually it's not. It's a described conflict and I choose to leave it declarable. Declareable. Excuse me. Speaker 6: Yeah. And I choose to leave it. Mayor Wilkie: Just a question to the Chair and the CEO. Is it, given that this report is for noting, isn't this sort of declaration unnecessary, given that the decision's already been made and are we being overly cautious and are we doing exactly what we hope we wouldn't need to do with our declarations? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I'll answer it from my perspective first. Yes. It's my understanding that the Standing Orders only relate to procedural motions.
01:10:00 Just because it's for noting isn't a procedural motion. There's a set number of procedural motions in the Standing Orders which you don't have to be careful of. But noting the report isn't one of those. Mayor Wilkie: So you do need to? It might be. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Yeah, it's one of those. Mayor Wilkie: Okay. Yeah. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And I think whether we're making a decision relating to that, that's our idea. All right. Mayor Wilkie: Is there more information needed perhaps? Speaker 1: Yeah. Can we? I think we will get some more information. But both of those have been treated in the past as well. So I think it's just from a sense of caution here. Mayor Wilkie: Sure. And the presentation from the Department was referred to. Is that the presentation by the Office of the Independent Assessor? Or is there a different departmental presentation on the line? Speaker 1: It's a big question. I know we've got it coming. But I couldn't find it. The Office of the Independent Assessor.
01:11:00 I think it's over there. I think it's coming there. Mayor Wilkie: Yeah. Okay. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: We have Patrick joining us. Speaker 4: Thank you. Thank you, Councillors. What you have before you is a report detailing the applications that have been decided by delegated authority for the period of January to April of this year. This is a bit different to the reports that would normally come before Council because it has four months worth of information in it. Normally it's just one month of reporting that is provided to Council. And obviously that was due to the caretaker period where we're playing catch up in terms of the reports. So the format of the report for the Councillors that are new, you'll see that there's a table at the beginning of each month that details the types of applications that have been decided and the number of applications that were either approved or refused. And then there's also a line item regarding the number of applications that were determined by Council as well.
01:12:00 So the purpose of the report is to provide clarity on the number of applications that are decided. Historically, in sort of the public eye, were those applications that came before Council. And this was to give the fuller picture to show the full range of decisions that would be made at officer level under delegation. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Do we have any questions? Councillor Wegener, do you have a short term wording? Councillor Wegener: No. We'll get there. The first, number five on the first one, so just on that basically the first page, building works accessible against the planning scheme. Code. And so that's on 50 Noosa Parade? Yes. And it just kind of strikes me if it's all these things, if it says against code, dwelling house, site cover, height, setback, and cut and fill. Was that against the code or was that just, how am I reading that? Speaker 4: So this was an application for a new dwelling and those were the elements of the code which
01:13:00 it was seeking variation. So whilst you're seeing a number of aspects that they're seeking variation on. There's a big variation sometimes and generally they're very minor variations that are sought. Councillor Wegener: Is it a very small, small variation? Generally, yes. There's a big variation that would come before us probably? Speaker 4: For a house, generally not. Houses are, due to timeframes, are generally decided on a delegation, we have delegation to decide those. So yeah. Councillor Wegener: And then the certifier, was it a private certifier that, that, that suggested that the house couldn't just kind of be a little bit bigger than? Speaker 4: This was an application that was lodged by planning consultants for a house that doesn't necessarily need to come from a certifier. This is not a concurrence agency request. This is a development approval issued by council for the dwelling. And in this instance, I must say that whilst there's a number of elements that were proposed
01:14:00 to be varied, there was a lot of negotiation between the parties. To reduce the extent of variation that was initially proposed to, to come up with something that we were satisfied with. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: So if I can clarify, is this where they, the building as designed doesn't make the acceptable solution so they have to approve it to the means of performance outcome? Speaker 4: That's correct. Councillor Wegener: Anybody else? Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Any other questions? Councillor Wegener: Okay. You go through these and you kind of, do you just want to ask questions and see where it, where, where things are going, if you could mentally process that trend of, of some sort or? Um, on 38 Eumundi Noosa Road, um, there's a smart hub on Gateway, oh no, on Gateway Drive. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Would you have the number? Councillor Wegener: Yeah, I know. Second to number one.
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01:15:00 So it is, um, yeah, yeah, February. Was it, is it going backwards or? Forward. Speaker 4: Uh, the first report is for January, the second report's February, so it could go. Yeah, so February number one. Sorry, you'd like some information? Councillor Wegener: Well, just, I'm, I'm just fascinated that there's a, um, uh, smart hub that I didn't Speaker 4: know about. Well, this is what the developer is terming, terming their development. Councillor Wegener: It's a smart hub. So it's just a name, smart hub. It's not, it's not like the digital hub. Speaker 4: No, that's correct. It's just a private development and that's the, the name that they've given to it. Councillor Wegener: And then last one is the Wedding Chapel in the Botanic Gardens. Which number is that? Ah, it was at the very end. It's the last one, number five.
01:16:00 Without page numbers, it gets. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: In this month or what? In this month. Speaker 4: I can't remember the, the very specific details of the application, but, uh, from memory it was quite, uh, minor structures that were being developed. Just minor structures there. And who wrote the application? Was that council? Yes, it would have been council. It was the applicant. Yeah, it was. Okay. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. There's no more questions. Would someone like to move? I think it would be a good motion for one of the new councillors to get the name in the minutes. Yeah. Thanks. Councillor Jess is moving. And Councillor Wilson. Second. Would you like to talk to the motion? Mayor Wilkie: No. Speaker 2: No, thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: It's all very straightforward. Speaker 2: Thank you. Councillor Wilson: I just want to say thank you for maintaining all the work during that caretaker
01:17:00 mode. I know there's obviously been a lot of work happening in that few months before we were aware of what actually goes on in council, so thank you. Speaker 4: Thank you. Councillor Wilson: Okay. Mayor Wilkie: Just a comment. Um, yeah, a lot of people question why we bring a report about, uh, decisions made under delegated authority, planning decisions. Um, it's to let the community know that there are, as Councillor Nicola alluded to, there are a lot of decisions, planning applications being approved, um, that go below the radar. The ones that come to this chamber here and are often reported on are the ones that are high profile or con- they contain conflicts with the planning scheme. But about, traditionally it's been about 96% of all planning applications are approved by a new councillor. So there's a councillor that says yes more often than no. That's correct. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Very good. Um, I think that we should close. Councillor Finzel: No, thank you. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. I'll put the motion all in favour. That's unanimous. Thank you. Councillor Wegener: Thank you Patrick.
01:18:00 Deputy Mayor Stockwell: And Lawrence is back in the room. Our next session, the next item will be in confidential session. So if, um, we will be moving a motion soon. And that will be the end of the public session. We will reconvene after we've gone into confidential session, uh, to make any, um, resolution that comes out. Mayor Wilkie: The motion is that the meeting be closed to the public pursuant to section 254J3G of the Local Government Regulation 2012 for the purpose of discussing
01:19:00 confidential not for public release endorsement of proposed amendments to the Noosaville plan for the purpose of public notification and community consultation. Another item not for the disposal of land for community housing. Another item for provision of street sweeping services. Street sweeping services. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay, do we have a seconder? I'll speak to the motion. Mayor Wilkie: Look, the reason why we're doing this for the planning scheme amendments, they contain potential rezoning of land and the idea is that until they go into community consultation it's none of us can have access to the information in case there's some preemptive buying, people can profit from changes to zonings. The next one is a commercial and confidence arrangement with a community housing provider and also the awarding of a contract. Which is also commercial and confidence. But we will discuss the nuts and bolts of that
01:20:00 in closed session. But when we come back out in the public session, the decisions made will be on the public record. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. I don't think we have anyone else that has anything to talk. That is in favor of the motion. Mayor Wilkie: Thank you. Thank you.
01:22:00 Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Okay. Welcome back. We're back into open session. And there is a recommendation in front of us in regard to disposable land for community housing. And I would like to thank you all Councillor Wilson: I just think it's really exciting. So early in our first term as this new council to have such a project on the table. And on a topic that I'm really passionate about, I just want to thank the staff for all the work that's gone in the last few years to actually get us to this place. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: Thank you. Very good. And I'll put the motion to the vote. Those in favour? It'd be noted
01:23:00 that during the confidential session, the councillor will be left the meeting, so that makes the motion unanimous. That being the last item to deal with today, I'll declare the meeting closed at 3.59.