Published on 20 March 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.
70 lot subdivision Boomerang Drive, Blueys Beach
A development application for a 70-lot subdivision off Croll Street and Boomerang Drive Blueys Beach which consists of 64 residential lots, one commercial lot, one conservation lot, three drainage/reserve lots and a public car park was approved subject to conditions.
More than 400 submissions have been received from the community, largely objecting to the proposal, during the three times the proposal has been notified to the community.
In making the decision Councillors acknowledged the submissions and concerns of the community however stressed that the application met the requirements and had been modified several times to address previous concerns.
Draft MidCoast Koala Conservation Strategy
A draft Koala Conservation Strategy will be placed on public exhibition to gain community feedback and help guide conservation of the species in the MidCoast.
Koalas in NSW are facing an uncertain future. It has been reported that without action koalas in NSW could be extinct by 2050.
Extensive consultation has informed the development of the strategy and was undertaken with a range of stakeholders, including landholders and the local community in accordance with a project specific engagement strategy that was adopted by Council in November 2023.
The intent of the initial consultation phase was to develop the koala habitat mapping and seek local knowledge on koalas and to help formulate management actions to address the identified key threats to koalas across the MidCoast.
The report was adopted by Councillors and will now be put on public exhibition for 25 days.
MidCoast Destination Management Plan 2030
An updated Destination Management Plan and implementation plan was adopted. This document sets the direction for and prioritises sustainable growth of the visitor economy to 2030 and beyond. It presents objectives, measures and actions focused on three themes:
The region’s first Destination Management Plan was developed and endorsed in 2017.
Since then, there has been a focus on the development and implementation of the Destination Barrington Coast brand and associated marketing campaigns to drive visitation to the region.
The latest Destination Management Plan has a larger focus on industry and experience development.
Draft MidCoast Local Environmental Plan – consultation strategy
Councillors adopted the consultation approach to be undertaken for the draft MidCoast Local Environmental Plan.
The community consultation will involve; informing the whole community of the consultation and how they can be involved, face-to-face consultation in 13 locations through drop-in sessions where the community can come along and ask questions, phone call bookings to address initial high volumes of phone enquiries, presentations to any interest groups (service providers, Chambers of Commerce, development industry, recreation groups).
Youth strategic plan
Councillors adopted the report which outlines the strategy for the community consultation on the new Youth Strategic Plan 2024.
A four-year plan was developed after consultation with service providers, young people and parents and adopted by Council in 2019.
It is proposed that the life of the new YSP be extended from four years to 10 years, as it takes time to effect change.
As with other strategies developed by the Community Development team, consultation with include benchmarking, so that we can effectively monitor progress over the life of the plan.
Gloucester community garden
The Gloucester Community Garden will continue to operate following the conclusion of a 2-year trial period.
Councillors adopted the recommendation for the garden to continue. It currently has 10 wicking beds which are mature and producing regular harvest. There is also a composting system and storage shed with an attached potting shed to support the garden operations.
The 2024 New Year’s Eve firework display in Taree will be handed over to a community group after an expressions of interest process was undertaken earlier this year.
Due to a lack of quality applicants to run the Forster display, it was resolved that Council will run the event in Forster-Tuncurry for 2024. Council will engage Ka-Boom Fireworks to deliver the display.
Opportunities will be explored to seek sponsorship to offset the cost to Council for the Tuncurry fireworks and an EOI will be advertised to that community offering the opportunity to take over the 2025 event.
A draft Commemorative Plaques in Public Places Policy will be placed on public exhibition for community comment.
The draft policy acknowledges the importance of plaques and memorials for remembering, celebrating and recognising the contributions of people, history, culture, events and organisations in our region.
It also acknowledges that a balance is needed so that our natural areas are maintained with minimal man-made visual clutter so that we don’t adversely affect the enjoyment of our parks and reserves.
The new draft policy aims to provide a consistent approach to the implementation of new and the management of existing plaques and memorials in public spaces.
A new use of Public Open Space by Commercial Fitness Trainers Policy has been adopted to manage the balance between commercial entities and individuals have commenced providing “for profit” fitness training in our parks and reserves and the use of these spaces by our community.
As we manage more than 800 parks and reserves, on both crown land and community land, we need to manage any profit making from these spaces and to ensure that the community is not negatively impacted by the activity.
The policy is focused on the commercial aspects of fitness training and is not applicable to individuals or groups undertaking fitness training for non-commercial purposes. This approach ensures that sporting groups conducting fitness training and groups such as Parkrun are not included in the policy.
During the public exhibition period we received 10 formal submissions from the community in relation to the policy. The majority of the submissions supported the policy.
Councillors accepted the report to include a new meeting to allow the Draft Delivery Plan and Operational Plan to be presented to Council on 1 May 2024 before being placed on public exhibition for community comment.
For full details of all reports please see the meeting agenda.