Options open for empty block – Golden Plains Shire council meeting briefs

GOLDEN Plains Shire councillors knocked back a motion brought by Cr Les Rowe during their regular meeting on Tuesday night calling for the municipality not to sell land near Bannockburn’s recreation precinct.

The 3.5-hectare plot was deemed surplus during council’s March 2021 meeting with the aim of rezoning the land and selling for residential development.

Cr Rowe argued the space would be better-suited served for recreational purposes.

“This land still presents, I think, a great opportunity for years to come an area where additional sporting facilities could be built,” he said.

“Given the rate of growth in our Shire and the future demand we constantly learn of, it’s now time we deem this land as necessary for future planning.”

The motion was foreshadowed with question time submissions from five community members.

Director of infrastructure and environment Phil Josipovic said the land was deemed not suited for sporting facilities during the 2021 meeting.

“The work undertaken for the Bannockburn Growth Plan indicated a need for at least two football ovals and netball courts as a result of growth across the Bannockburn area,” he said.

“These could not be accommodated at the recreation precinct.”

Cr Helena Kirby voted against the motion, and said the fate of the land is still to be decided with input from the community.

“We’re not going to make this decision now,” she said. “The Minister [for Planning] is going to go out.

“He’s going to ask the community what they want, if they want to see some housing, little housing or no housing.”

The site has also been noted for its potential in the State Government’s Big Housing Build program.

The motion failed with Crs Ian Getsom and Rowe voting in favour of it.

 

Funding decided

Councillors signed off on projects to be funded through phase four of the Federal Government’s Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program.

More than $1.3 million was allocated to projects including fencing at Linton Recreation Reserve, upgrades to Inverleigh Golf Club septic system and Sebastopol-Smythesdale Road as well as overall drainage improvements.

Cr Gavin Gamble called for an amendment that would have seen $150,000 taken from the drainage allocation, arguing the municipality needed to put more into weather preparedness.

“It’s important also to try and be pre-emptive with these weather events and climate that is changing,” he said.

“We should be allocating resources to issues such as fire readiness with all the extra growth caused by the recent rain events and also related issues such as environmental weeds.

“That relates also to more care of our roads in terms of access to safe exit roads.”

The amendment failed with Cr Clayton Whitfield saying “it illustrates the tough decisions that do go on in the background as to what gets put in and what can’t make the list.”

 

Cash needed for upgrade

With $1.5 million already promised by the State Government for upgrades to the Don Wallace Reserve oval at Teesdale, councillors voted to submit a grant application for further funds.

The submission would grant the municipality up to $250,000 from Sport and Recreation Victoria’s Country Football and Netball Program to help complete the project.

The grant funding is set to be leveraged by a $300,000 contribution from the municipality.

Planned upgrades include new female changerooms and a reduced oval size, with Cr Kirby saying the works will complement Teesdale’s growth.

“They have a population of 3500 people who reside in Teesdale and it’s likely to increase to 5000 by 2040,” she said.

“It’s imperative as a council that we’re on the right foot, we’re looking to the future and we need to get these old buildings upgraded, certain things replaced like new lighting or new roadways.

“This is the type of money we need. We’ve got to have big dollars to make good improvements in our recreation facilities.”

Tree plan open for feedback

The municipality’s draft tree protection and management policy is set to go out for public exhibition.

The policy will be open for community input for four weeks and is set to guide the municipality’s strategy in dealing with trees in the region.

Updates to the current Tree Management Policy such as a more comprehensive framework were recommended following a 2019 audit.

 

Bridge revival

An additional $60,000 is being pulled from the municipality’s budget to fund bridge works for stages four and five of the Meredith-Shelford Road reconstruction project.

The original tender for stage four and five works was approved by council in July, 2022 at a cost of more than $1.5 million, funded from two Federal Government roads and infrastructure grants.

The extra $60,000 is to be taken from the Roads and Recovery program, and will include widening the bridge to match the road width.

 

Personal payments reviewed

Cr Rowe came under scrutiny during council’s expense and attendance report for a late submission of more than $500 in travel claims.

In accordance with policy, reports are to be lodged quarterly with councillors required to submit their personal expenses within 14 days after each period.

With the previous quarter having ended on Saturday, 13 December, Cr Rowe submitted his report at the last minute on Saturday, 14 January.

Cr Owen Sharkey said he was disappointed with the report, saying the listing of Cr Rowe’s claims were “excessive and unnecessary.”

“All the claims have been within policy and submitted on time,” he said.

“The current policy we have allows the claims to be made within the 14 days. In this case, Cr Rowe has made a submission within the 14th day.

“It doesn’t sit well with me that this has come into the public realm like this.”

Cr Kirby supported the motion, saying Cr Rowe should be reimbursed given his service to the community.

Cr Whitfield suggested a future call for review on the expenditure policy regarding submission timeframes, particularly over the Christmas holiday period.

The motion was passed, with Cr Sharkey voting against.

 

More spending for CEO

An additional $50,000 will be delegated to the municipality’s chief executive officer in carrying out municipal operations.

The move was made thanks to an alternate motion brought by Cr Sharkey to increase the CEO’s spending amount from $400,000 to $450,000.

He said the extra funds is a no-brainer.

“Since the last increase in 2019, we’ve witnessed a staggering increase in prices,” he said.

“The proposed increase to the proposed CEO delegation proves necessary to support growth and facilitate more efficient decision making for council into the future.

“[The] increase will still enable us to review reports, award tenders and oversee good governance.”

The delegation was last increased in 2019 from $200,000.

Cr Rowe was against the alternate motion, saying it would erode council’s role in decision-making.

“What’s the purpose of us as councillors if we’re going to give all this delegation away to a CEO?” he said.

“I haven’t got the modelling for $450,000 but if you go to $500,000 it works out that 43 contracts are awarded under CEO delegation and only 19 are awarded by council resolution.”

The motion passed with Crs Rowe and Getsom voting against.