Councillors endorse engagement program – Golden Plains Shire council meeting briefs

ALL Golden Plains Shire councillors endorsed the 2025 to 2026 Councillor Engagement Program at this week’s ordinary meeting.

Councillor listening posts will be held at the Bannockburn Twilight Market and the Teesdale Twilight Market and Carols in December, the Shelford Duck Race in February, the Inverleigh Food Swap sometime in the first quarter of 2026, and regularly at the Smythesdale Country Market and Bannockburn Farmers Market.

Other opportunities will be identified in the central part of the Shire such as at Rokewood, Dereel and Napoleons.

Online engagement and information forums will be held regarding the draft budget and councillors are invited to attend events such as community planning sessions, youth-led initiatives and community forums.

“It’s not intended to provide an exhaustive list of everything we are planning to get out to,” Cr Emma Robbins said.

“I really encourage community groups if they are organising an event that they would like councillors to attend, that they send us an invitation.”

Cr Helena Kirby voted in favour of the motion but said she would like to see more specific commitments, particularly in the centre of the municipality.

“We should be a little bit more organised of what we’ve got within the community,” she said.

“In the past we’ve recognised that we were going to go to certain townships on a certain day.”

 

Animal Management Plan adopted

The Domestic Animal Management Plan for 2026 to 2029 has been adopted.

The municipality is required to develop and review the plan every four years as per the Domestic Animals Act 1994.

Four submissions were received following the public exhibition of the draft plan and feedback was incorporated where possible.

Changes included increased communication of legal requirements relating to pet owners collecting excrement from their pets, increased promotion about responsible pet ownership and the consideration of alternative options to promote responsible ownership.

The motion passed with an amendment, introduced by Cr Gavin Gamble, which called for a report to be brought to councillors about how to improve cat reclaim rates.

“This is an issue of great concern to me and people that are really concerned about our wildlife and the environment,” he said.

“One of the biggest threats to biodiversity is roaming cats.”

 

Performance Reporting Framework noted

Councillors noted the Local Government Performance Reporting Framework from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025.

The mandatory system of performance reporting provides an overview of the municipality’s performance with 41 service performance measures, 11 financial performance measures, and seven sustainable capacity indicators.

The report listed satisfaction with sealed local roads as 34, with the expected range listed as 50 to 100 and the previous year’s result as 27.

There was a decrease in sealed local roads maintained to condition from 98.86 per cent last year to 97.76 per cent, which is still within the expected range of 80 per cent to 100 per cent.

“The satisfaction on the roads side of things is pretty disappointing considering the independent assessors have said that our roads are much better than what perception in the community is,” Cr Gamble said.

“I think it’s more a perception issue then a reality issue there.”

 

Planning scheme amendment passed

An amendment to the Golden Plains Shire Planning Scheme will be prepared and exhibited to support the recommended actions of the municipality’s gambling harm minimisation policy.

The amendment seeks to minimise gambling related harms and ensure gaming machines are located in suitable locations to discourage convenience gambling.