MONEY left over in the City of Ballarat\u2019s 2021\/22 budget is set to be carried over and used as a safeguard against the impact of inflation.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are about to walk into almost a perfect storm of significant budget pressures at a point where there\u2019s significant limits on our ability to raise income,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to ensure we\u2019re clear on the pacing of projects given we\u2019ve had a quite ambitious council plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may be that some items will need to be pushed out to manage our budget.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than $14 million leftover from the 2021\/22 budget will be allocated towards the reserve and existing projects.<\/p>\n
Remaining funds are set to be used to repay debt once the provision is no longer required.<\/p>\n
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Her Maj works a go<\/strong><\/p>\n The more-than $11 million tender for stage three upgrades to Her Majesty\u2019s Theatre has been awarded to developer Nicholson Construction.<\/p>\n The 18-month project is expected to cost nearly $15 million with the aim of overhauling the venue\u2019s safety and accessibility.<\/p>\n Nicholson Construction worked on previous stages of the project, and Cr Ben Taylor said it\u2019s good to see development moving forward.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a great project we\u2019re getting on and delivering. I know the works done in the past [for Her Majesty\u2019s] is specialised,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt does require a bit more work and it\u2019s great to see our local company Nicholson\u2019s put their hand up and say \u2018hey, we\u2019re up for the challenge\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s stuff that needs to be done for Her Majesty\u2019s so that it\u2019s there for the long term. It\u2019s good for accessibility, safety, compliance and functionality.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tree planting tender awarded<\/strong><\/p>\n The tender for the planting of street trees as part of the Urban Forest Action Plan was awarded to ELZUK Enterprises.<\/p>\n The $2 million, three-year contract is part of the municipality\u2019s aim to extend Ballarat\u2019s tree canopy to 40 per cent by 2040.<\/p>\n ELZUK is expected to plant more than 1000 trees per year, and Cr Belinda Coates said its part of one of the municipality\u2019s \u201csignificant climate action projects.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are around 120,000 trees across the municipality. They outnumber our people so let\u2019s keep it that way. If we keep going on that target, they will stay ahead of us.\u201d<\/p>\n Five submissions were received as part of the tender process.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Feedback on feedback<\/strong><\/p>\n Councillors reflected on the municipality\u2019s level of community engagement for while discussing the results of the 2021\/22 annual community satisfaction survey.<\/p>\n With a performance score of 54 out of 100, Cr Peter Eddy said it\u2019s important to reflect on the context of the results.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a new council it\u2019s probably [about] the first four months of our term,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving seen what\u2026 the ratepayers [said] in the survey [it\u2019s important] we do take seriously the areas we can improve in.\u201d<\/p>\n Road management, waste and community consultation were among the listed areas in the survey for council to improve on.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be great if once every three months we could [organise] a stop in Wendouree, Delacombe and the various other community hubs out there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201c[It would be like] pop-up community consultations that we\u2019ve done in the pastime and invite councillors so that people that don\u2019t go to customer service will still have an opportunity to give feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n