Council revisits contentious calls – Golden Plains Shire council meeting briefs

AFTER much pushback, Golden Plains Shire councillors reflected on their recent decisions, which saw the refusal to grant planning permits to develop two childcare centres at Bannockburn, during their regular meeting on Tuesday.

Councillors knocked back both applications, one for 21 Milton Street and the other for 25 Burns Street, during last month’s meeting despite both adhering to planning scheme requirements.

Cr Owen Sharkey said the original Burns Street motion was poorly handled.

“Despite nearly 18 months of preparation by professional planners and an awareness of this item for about three months as councillors, no councillor had adequately prepared for the grounds of refusal,” he said.

“The applicant has invested significant amounts… and plans to invest millions of dollars into our shire. However, as a council we’ve shown a lack of respect by arriving unprepared.

“I do not personally believe it reflects well on council if the mayor calls an item, remains in the chair, and then uses two votes for a determination against the advice of officers.”

Cr Les Rowe was against both sites and cited a lack of footpath, carparking, and kerb infrastructure.

The motion to rescind for Burns Street was passed with councillors Brett Cunningham, Ian Getsom, and Les Rowe voting against, while the main motion also carried under the same division.

The Milton Street recission was unsuccessful, with the same councillors voting against, Cr Sharkey absent due to conflict of interest, and with the casting vote of the chair.

 

Special rates and charges dropped

Councillors voted not to adopt the proposed Special Rates and Charges Policy in place through the Local Government Act which would see ratepayers footing part of the bill for works that directly impact their area.

Cr Rowe brought forward an alternative motion calling for councillors to drop the policy outright, and said residents are doing things too tough financially.

“This [policy] allows council to charge ratepayers additional charges to complete some infrastructure,” he said.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s very unfair and would be costly to our ratepayers. This is just another way to extract extra moneys from our already-struggling ratepayers.”

The proposal saw 211 submissions, the majority of which were against the policy.

Cr Owen Sharkey was against dropping the matter entirely, and suggested deferring the policy to refine it with better community consultation.

The alternative motion passed with Cr Sharkey voting against.

 

Interim CEO to continue

Golden Plains Shire’s temporary boss, Michael Tudball’s time with the municipality has been lengthened with the interim CEO’s contract set to continue until 1 September.

Initially slated to stay on until 6 August, councillors voted to extend their use of Mr Tudball’s services prior to a confirmed permanent replacement stepping in.

“Our acting CEO…has been doing a great job,” Cr Kirby said. “It’d be silly not to keep him on until the appointment of a new CEO.”

Cr Sharkey spoke against the motion, and said the interim period provided the opportunity for in-house development for the municipality.

“I believe we should have a strategic discussion as a council around using this extension period to empower some of our current and long-standing staff members,” he said.

“We could provide an opportunity for existing staff to step up; a director could take on the CEO role temporarily, and a manager could step up into a director’s role.”

The motion passed, with Cr Sharkey voting against.

 

Bridge support sought

Cr Getsom brought in a motion for council to look at options regarding the replacement of the wooden Golden Lake Road bridge at Piggoreet.

Citing the bridge’s location as part of a vital road for emergency services, as well as part of the Rainbow Bird Trail visitor offering, he said it’s important a better option is in place.

“It’s got to the stage now where the… [bridge’s] timber’s pretty rickety,” he said. “My son works for the local farmer, and cannot get a tractor across the bridge.

“The bridge is over 100 years old. [A new one] needs to be put up. We’ve had several fires last season on the eastern side of the bridge. It puts another 15, 20 minutes on [firefighters’] journey.

“Something should be there.”

Cr Sharkey said he’d prefer to see a more strategic approach towards all bridges rather than focusing in on just one.

“I struggle to put Golden Lake Bridge ahead of several other bridges,” he said. “This road is the lowest category road on the council-endorsed road management plan.

“The cost to have [the bridge] upgraded was $700,000 five years ago. It wouldn’t surprised me if that has doubled.”

The motion was carried with Cr Sharkey voting against.

 

Enviro health service hired

The tender to carry out the region’s environmental health services for the next three years has been awarded to Kernow Environmental Health Services for more than $1.5 million.

The motion passed with Cr Gavin Gamble voting against, who said he preferred the contract be given to a local provider.

“It’s a case of local government outsourcing services… [and] going for savings,” he said.

“I know it’s difficult to get officers in this area. It points also to a failure in state and federal planning to ensure an adequate supply of environmental health officers.”

 

Library changes

Councillors noted an impending Local Government Act mandate which will soon see Geelong Regional Library Corporation moving towards an alternative enterprise business model.

With GRLC providing library services for the shire, Cr Helena Kirby said the change will be an interesting one for the region.

“It could actually increase the amount of payments we pay,” she said.

“We should keep a really good eye on it as to what the costs involved and how it might impact our residents in the future.”

Councillors voted to request a transition report from Geelong Regional Library Corporation.