Published on 02 May 2024
Elected representatives of the community, Councillors, come together to represent the views of the community and make strategic decisions on behalf of the community.
They are responsible for ensuring the Council operates in accordance with legislation, is financially responsible and delivering to the needs of the community within the means of the budget.
They meet regularly to make determinations on matters that impact on you and your community.
Following each meeting we provide a snapshot of the decisions that are made and the information that is tabled.
For a full outline of the meeting and the discussion points, please refer to the agenda and business papers, or listen to a recording of the meeting – that can be found with the agendas and minutes.
SpeakersOne speaker addressed Councillors in support of the Swimming Pools review.
MidCoast Council focusses on financial sustainability
Councillors adopted a financial sustainability action plan which sets a path towards future sustainability following an independent review undertaken by the AEC Group last year.
The review pointed out there is no immediate (short-term) financial issues as Council’s cash position is sound. The issue is with longer term sustainability and the ability to keep up with the required maintenance on the $5 billion worth of assets.
The action plan which is Council’s response to the review aims at being financially sustainable by having sufficient funds to meet our obligations, being able to maintain our infrastructure over the long term for future generations and having sufficient cash reserves to deal with unexpected events.
The five-part action plan includes continuing to ensure we use our limited funds efficiently; ensuring our operations are lean and efficient and deliver value for money to the community; managing our assets across their life cycle; reviewing revenue sources to align with expenses and service levels; and generating sufficient unrestricted cash.
View the Financial Sustainability Action Plan 2024 – 2027 and the full AEC Financial Sustainability Review.
Road Strategy
The MidCoast Road Strategy was presented to Council this week detailing the condition of Council’s road network as well as the challenges and opportunities for improving it.
Council has a road network extending 3,600 km with roughly equal parts sealed and unsealed. The community has identified the need to improve the roads and Council has prioritised road maintenance by investing around a quarter of its annual budget as well as seeking State and Federal funding.
The strategy shows that more than a quarter of the sealed road network has significant cracking. Timely maintenance is fundamental to ensure a road can achieve its useful life.
Extreme weather, including heavy rain and flash flooding has also put pressure on the network. Inflation and the related increases are among other challenges Council faces.
A key part of the solution is fully funding the resealing cycle annually. The estimated shortfall is $26 million, with a further $8.5 million for additional maintenance. Without this investment, our road network will deteriorate a further 25% over the next ten years.
The MidCoast Road Strategy identifies a range of actions that are required to ensure the road network doesn’t deteriorate further as well as actions required to improve the network. The extent to which these can be applied will depend on funding.
View the MidCoast Road Strategy.
Solar panels for aquatic centres
About $250,000 worth of electricity will be saved per year thanks to solar panels being installed at both the Great Lakes Aquatic Centre in Forster and the Manning Aquatic and Leisure Centre in Taree.
The centre’s are two of the largest general fund energy users and with large daytime energy use and available roof space it makes solar a viable option. The use of solar for the centres is also identified in Council’s Climate Change Strategy.
The $700,000 cost of the project will be covered through developer contributions however an application has been submitted under the Community Energy Upgrade Grant Program for half of the total project cost.
Management of Forster and Taree aquatic centres
The contract for the management of the two complexes will be offered to Belgravia Leisure.
The organisation is a world class aquatics provider, managing more than 160 swimming pools across Australia and New Zealand.
The contract will be for three years with the option for two one year extensions.
Swimming pools review update
Following an extensive community consultation period Councillors have reached a direction on the management and operation of swimming pools across the MidCoast region.
There will be no change to pool operating hours and pools at Bulahdelah, Krambach, Nabiac and Stroud will remain unsupervised, with access controlled through an electronic entry system.
The cost of seasonal membership for these pools for 2024-2025 will be $50 per adult (16+), $40 concession and under 16s free, however they must be accompanied by an adult.
Pool season will open and close in conjunction with the start and end of eastern daylight saving time.
Tenders will open for small operators and community groups interested in operating Wingham and Tea Gardens pools over the coming week. There will be no additional changes to the operation of Gloucester Swimming Pool.
Delivery Program and Operational Plan on public exhibition
The revised Draft Delivery Program (2022-26) and Operational Plan (2024-25) will be placed on public exhibition from next Monday, 6 May.
The budget and fees and charges also form part of the suite of documents that will go on public exhibition.
These documents show how we are responding to seven key areas of community importance: climate change, customer service, development assessment, economic development, financial sustainability, cultural planning, and local and regional roads.
In 2024-25, we will be investing a quarter of our budget, over $35 million, on large road and bridge projects as well as $17 million on maintenance.
The 2024-25 draft operational plan includes service statements for each delivery area outlining staff numbers, costs and deliverables.
For full details of all reports please see the meeting agenda.