Budget move aims to guard against inflation – City of Ballarat council meeting briefs

MONEY left over in the City of Ballarat’s 2021/22 budget is set to be carried over and used as a safeguard against the impact of inflation.

The move was passed by councillors during their regular meeting on Wednesday last week after municipal officers anticipated a potential impact of between $20 to $30 million over the next four years due to raising inflation.

The officers predicted a consumer price index, or CPI, rate of five per cent over the next year, and mayor Cr Daniel Moloney said there might need to be sacrifices in the budget to accommodate.

“We are about to walk into almost a perfect storm of significant budget pressures at a point where there’s significant limits on our ability to raise income,” he said.

“We need to ensure we’re clear on the pacing of projects given we’ve had a quite ambitious council plan.

“It may be that some items will need to be pushed out to manage our budget.”

More than $14 million leftover from the 2021/22 budget will be allocated towards the reserve and existing projects.

Remaining funds are set to be used to repay debt once the provision is no longer required.

 

Her Maj works a go

The more-than $11 million tender for stage three upgrades to Her Majesty’s Theatre has been awarded to developer Nicholson Construction.

The 18-month project is expected to cost nearly $15 million with the aim of overhauling the venue’s safety and accessibility.

Nicholson Construction worked on previous stages of the project, and Cr Ben Taylor said it’s good to see development moving forward.

“This is a great project we’re getting on and delivering. I know the works done in the past [for Her Majesty’s] is specialised,” he said.

“It does require a bit more work and it’s great to see our local company Nicholson’s put their hand up and say ‘hey, we’re up for the challenge’.”

“It’s stuff that needs to be done for Her Majesty’s so that it’s there for the long term. It’s good for accessibility, safety, compliance and functionality.”

 

Tree planting tender awarded

The tender for the planting of street trees as part of the Urban Forest Action Plan was awarded to ELZUK Enterprises.

The $2 million, three-year contract is part of the municipality’s aim to extend Ballarat’s tree canopy to 40 per cent by 2040.

ELZUK is expected to plant more than 1000 trees per year, and Cr Belinda Coates said its part of one of the municipality’s “significant climate action projects.”

“It’s a good long-term project and was voted right back to the Ballarat Strategy in around 2015/16 as the Urban Forest Strategy was prioritised,” she said.

“There are around 120,000 trees across the municipality. They outnumber our people so let’s keep it that way. If we keep going on that target, they will stay ahead of us.”

Five submissions were received as part of the tender process.

 

Feedback on feedback

Councillors reflected on the municipality’s level of community engagement for while discussing the results of the 2021/22 annual community satisfaction survey.

With a performance score of 54 out of 100, Cr Peter Eddy said it’s important to reflect on the context of the results.

“As a new council it’s probably [about] the first four months of our term,” he said.

“Having seen what… the ratepayers [said] in the survey [it’s important] we do take seriously the areas we can improve in.”

Road management, waste and community consultation were among the listed areas in the survey for council to improve on.

The municipality undertook 33 engagement initiatives during the July 2021 to June 2022 period and Cr Amy Johnson said more outreach work could be done.

“It would be great if once every three months we could [organise] a stop in Wendouree, Delacombe and the various other community hubs out there,” she said.

“[It would be like] pop-up community consultations that we’ve done in the pastime and invite councillors so that people that don’t go to customer service will still have an opportunity to give feedback.”

 

Road renamed

Two previously unnamed roads have now been given titles after unanimous support from council.

The entrance road from Gillies Street to the Prince Wales Reserve will now be called Kunuwarra Drive.

The other road, located from Coghills Creek Road towards Fentons Road, is now known Nyaninyuk Road.

Both roads share Indigenous titles with Kunuwarra meaning ‘black swan’ and Nyaninyuk translating to ‘the mountains back of the neck.’

Cr Coates said the road names are a positive recognition for the Indigenous community and in-line with the municipality’s reconciliation action plan.

“There’s been a long-standing action in there to look for more opportunities for Aboriginal naming of streets and places,” she said.

“It’s really good to see more of these coming to the fore.”

 

Cloth nappy rebate continues

Council has voted to extend a cloth nappy rebate trial to June next year following its implementation in March.

An additional $30,000 will be allocated to the extension from the 2021/22 positive variance, with the initial trial receiving more than 500 applicants with more than $23,000 rebated.

“It’s an absolutely brilliant start,” Cr Johnson said. “I can’t wait to see this rebate scheme increase and grow in momentum.”