Glenorchy City Council held its sixth meeting for 2023 on Monday 26 June. At the meeting 8 Elected Members were present.
Highlights from the meeting are as follows:
Council’s 2023/2024 Annual Plan and Budget
In one of the most important meetings of the Council year, Elected Members received reports on both the 2023/2024 Annual Plan and Budget estimates for the coming financial year.
The reports outlined Council’s current and projected financial position and the annual actions of the first Annual Plan developed under Council’s new Strategic Plan, adopted earlier in 2023.
As the Glenorchy community continues to grow, there are more houses being built, and more families are choosing to live and work here. From 2016 to 2021, Glenorchy’s population grew by more than six per cent. In the past financial year alone, the council took on responsibility for more than $16 million worth of infrastructure linked to subdivision developments, on top of the $1 billion worth of existing community assets Council has the responsibility to maintain.
Council services are fundamental to supporting this growth. Council is improving the road network, building better stormwater services to protect homes and businesses in flood-prone areas, as well as investing in community infrastructure such as play spaces and recreational facilities.
Council has also prioritised the need to ensure its books are balanced at the end of this Council term and it has a strong financial position with zero deficit. That position will set Glenorchy on a path to open up more strategic investment opportunities that will benefit the entire community.
Council understands the pressure households are under and wants to support households with the very best services council can provide. Council wants to balance the demand for services with sustainable rates.
Key features of the Annual Plan for 2023/2024 are:
Improving our parks and playspaces
- Completing a new regional playspace at Giblins Reserve, a new district playspace at Benjafield Park and progressing the upgrade of 10 local playspaces
- Working with TasWater as the lead partner to implement stage one of the Tolosa Park Masterplan to develop it into a major regional recreational destination
- Delivering sport and recreation projects at KGV Football Park and North Chigwell Junior Soccer Hub
A clean and safe city
- Improving the cleanliness of our CBDs by increasing the frequency of cleansing activities including graffiti removal litter pickup, street sweeping and footpath cleaning
- Working in collaboration with government agencies and community organisations to deliver diversional programs that aim to improve youth and community safety, resilience and engagement
Addressing social issues
- Keeping the community up to date with regular and appropriate communication about Council projects, decisions and operations through social media, website and conventional media
- Actively contributing to housing supply in the municipality through implementation of the actions identified in Council’s Statement of Commitment on Housing, with a focus on disposing of land surplus to community needs and appropriately rezoning land for residential purposes
- Implementing the Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan to strengthen relationships with, respect for and opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Strengthening our local economy
- Facilitating the operation of the Glenorchy Jobs Hub to connect local people with local jobs and assist local industry and business to meet current and future workforce needs
- Identifying and progressing amendments required to Glenorchy’s planning scheme to facilitate growth, including structure plans for future residential land
- Progressing Glenorchy’s economic development through infrastructure support, job creation, city marketing and a proactive regulatory approach
Investing in our infrastructure
- Managing and maintaining a road network that meets the transport needs of the community by resurfacing up to 12km of roads and replacing 9km of footpaths
- Maintaining and upgrading stormwater infrastructure with a priority on reducing flood risk, including projects at Chandos Drive, Dooleys Ave and Humphrey’s Rivulet
- Implementing waste minimisation processes with the aim of exceeding environmental standards and extending the life of the landfill
- Exploring options for waste management beyond the landfill’s life
- Upgrading Council’s core software technology through the effective delivery of Project Hudson to enhance customer and user experience and productivity.
In relation to the budget estimates, Council considered an increase to households for an average residential property of a total bill impact at an extra $133.00 per year ($2.56 per week) or 7.48%.
2023/2024 Capital Works Program
Council also received a report outlining the proposed 2023/24 capital works program. At $32.7 million, this is Council’s largest ever capital program, boosted by several large government grant funded projects.
The development and delivery of the capital works program considers community requirements and levels of service being annually presented for approval. Highlights of this year’s program are:
- Transport – $10.8 million (Resurface 12km of roads and replace 9km of footpaths, reconstruct Ashbourne Grove and Renfrew Circle)
- Stormwater – $1.7 million (Chandos Drive Stormwater Extension and Upgrade, Humphreys Rivulet Retaining Wall – Murrayfield Court, New Town Rivulet Outlet Remediation)
- Property and Environment – $2.3 million (New public toilet at Windermere Bay, upgraded track at Berriedale Bay, replacement of various picnic shelters, seating, tables and BBQs)
- Major Projects – $16.8 million (Giblin’s Reserve Playspace, Soccer Facilities at KGV and Chigwell, Playspace renewals – 10 smaller playgrounds).
- Fleet and Plant – $0.9 million (Vehicle replacement looking for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, small equipment, mowers to large machines to deliver day to day service for our community)
- Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) – $0.2 million (hard and software upgrades to enable mobility and business continuity)
Petition regarding Land for Housing 8 – 10 Main Rd Claremont
At its last Council meeting on 26 May 2023 Council received a petition opposing a development application and Planning Scheme amendment request for 8 – 10 Main Road, Claremont.
The petition was addressed to the Glenorchy City Council, Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors.
This report to Council confirmed that the petition has been reviewed, that it contained 264 signatories and complies with the requirements of Section 57 of the Local Government Act 1993.
Council acknowledges there is significant community concern about this matter, as demonstrated by the petition, however the legislated planning process is the appropriate process to determine the matter, through a comprehensive assessment of the merits of the application against the requirements of the planning scheme.
The main petitioner has been notified that the petition has been noted but that it cannot be considered as a formal representation for the proposed planning scheme amendment. Following assessment, planning officers will make recommendations to the Glenorchy Planning Authority for decision. Community members will be kept informed of opportunities to make formal representations as the process progresses.
Council’s Draft Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan
Council has a long and proud history in working with our Aboriginal Community. In 1997, Council committed to reconciliation through its Commitment to Aboriginal Australians statement and has honoured this commitment by working to understand, acknowledge and appreciate Aboriginal history and society in our community since this time.
Over the past 12 months the Mayor and General Manager have led a project team including Aboriginal staff members, Reconciliation Tasmania representatives and senior Council officers to develop the draft Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). Community have been involved in the development via engagement with local Aboriginal community organisations and an online and hard copy community survey.
The Reflect RAP details specific actions for Council to undertake over the coming 12 months. These include actions required by Reconciliation Australia as well as actions developed in response to community and staff feedback.
The objective of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap 2020 (National Agreement) is to enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and governments to work together to overcome the inequality experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and achieve life outcomes equal to all Australians. Council’s draft Reflect RAP contributes to this journey.
The draft Reflect RAP will be published for a further round of consultation to seek feedback from the community before returning to Council in August for adoption.
If you would like to comment on the Reflect RAP please go to letstalk.gcc.tas.gov.au
Community Engagement Framework Review
At the recent 2022 Council elections, community members requested that Council continue to improve options for people to have their say. In line with this request, Council has undertaken a comprehensive review of how it hears from the people, and has updated its Community Engagement Framework to reflect the community’s feedback.
Council resolved to continue to meet face to face with community members via the Community Yarns and Community Pop Up events trialled over the past few years, committing to 4 Yarns and 6 Pop Ups per year.
Council also resolved to continue to use its online engagement tool, Let’s Talk Glenorchy, providing community members with a variety of ways to interact with Elected Members and the Council.
Council resolved to discontinue the Glenorchy Matters Panel as it focuses on the above methods.
Moonah Taste of the World Festival Review
The Moonah Taste of the World Festival grew from a small-scale Moonah car park event into a large scale celebration of Multiculturalism through food, music and dance at Benjafield park over 9 years. Due to the impacts of COVID, the event was last delivered in 2019.
Council has decided to no longer deliver this one-day festival and will instead trial a grant program seeking to fund organisations to deliver events that celebrate Glenorchy’s cultural diversity and strengthen our community connection.
This decision was made in consideration of the increased costs of delivering large scale events and the benefits that can be gained from empowering local organisations to design and deliver events.
Officers will now develop guidelines for these grants, returning to Council for final approval and advertisement of this opportunity later in 2023.
Annual Waste Management Strategy Progress Report
The ten-year strategy sets out three key goals:
- To promote the sustainable management of resources
- To provide convenient and affordable waste services that meet the needs of the community.
- To minimise negative impacts of waste on the natural and built environments.
The annual update report outlined several recent key achievements, including:
- Council’s FOGO service has diverted over 20,000 tonnes of organic waste from landfill since it was implemented in February 2019. Currently 98% of eligible households are involved in this service.
- The FOGO service has resulted in a 54% reduction in Council’s greenhouse gas emissions.
- Construction of a new waste cell at Jackson Street landfill – since opening in October 2022 over 11,500 tonnes of waste have been disposed into the new cell.
- A new long-term agreement has recently been finalised for the ongoing capture of gas from the Jackson Street Landfill which in turn increases power generation and royalty payments to Council.
- Establishment of the Southern Tasmanian Regional Waste Authority (STRWA) as a Joint Authority. The STRWA has been established to coordinate solid waste reduction and disposal at a regional level for a more sustainable future, and to receive and administer projects through funding from the State Waste Levy on behalf of all 12 southern councils. Glenorchy City Council is a member and Mayor Thomas is the Deputy Chief Owners Representative and a member of the STRWA board.
You can view the full agenda and minutes on Council’s website, via this link https://www.gcc.tas.gov.au/council/council-meetings/minutes-and-agendas/