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Draft Economic Development Strategy on public exhibition
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A draft Economic Development Strategy will be placed on public exhibition until 2 April.
This strategy has been developed in conjunction with the MidCoast Economic Development Strategy Reference Group. The group provided leadership, strategic advice and feedback to Council and the business community on the development of an Economic Development Strategy for the MidCoast.
The draft strategy is based on the objectives of attract and grow. Ten strategic actions have been identified under these objectives which centre around workers and professions, investment, businesses, residents, visitors and events.
There is an emphasis on opportunities to be derived from greater collaboration between the business community and Council and the need for strong regional leadership to support key strategic projects to meet the identified vision.
An overarching set of high-level measures are proposed and there are detailed measures against the strategic actions.
The implementation plan provides a guide for the joint delivery of projects, and the actions in the strategy are likely to depend heavily on other sources of funding.
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Bight Cemetery repair program update
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A report was presented on the restoration works underway at The Bight Cemetery Wingham. Since October 2021, Council has been working with the lawful interment right holders and registered parties/impacted families to undertake repairs on damaged monuments.
Council has also been working with the Board of Cemeteries and Crematoria NSW since this time to allow multiple interment right holders at the cemetery.
Currently 52 of the 68 damaged monuments have been repaired, stonemasons have been engaged to repair the remaining 16 monuments.
Council staff will continue to work with families to finalise the repairs.
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Investigating barriers to housing
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Council has engaged Locale Consulting to investigate and report on the barriers to achieving good quality development outcomes by examining what improvements can be made to the new MidCoast planning controls, alongside process improvements in relation to how development applications are assessed.
The work has been funded by the NSW Government Regional Housing Strategic Planning Fund.
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Forster Civic Precinct project construction update
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Councillors were advised the project is currently progressing and is on track for building occupation in August. The interior design is complete and fit out of the furniture, fittings and equipment is expected to start in July 2023.
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Contract awarded for Business Transformation Program delivery partner
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KPMG has been appointed as the delivery partner for the Business Transformation Program.
The program aims to improve our customer experience and operational excellence while increasing staff productivity and engagement. The program will also deliver enhanced reporting and analytics for improved critical decision making.
The program is a five-year commitment and will include remediation of the current TechnologyOne implementation and the implementation of initiatives identified in the ICT strategy.
Quarterly reports on the progress and expenditure of the project will be provided to the elected Council.
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Six monthly report on the DPOP implementation
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A report on the progress made against this year’s Delivery Program and Operational Plan was noted by Councillors.
The report sets out the achievements made against the commitments in the Operational Plan 2022-23.
It shows what has been achieved, on track, or delayed or deferred, and can be found in the attachments here.
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Waste contract tenderer
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JR and EG Richards were approved as the preferred tenderer for Council’s waste services collection and processing contract and the General Manager was authorised to negotiate contract terms on behalf of Council.
The on-call bulky waste option was identified as the preferred method of collection of bulky waste.
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Capital works projects
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A report on the major capital works underway in the transport, water and wastewater area provided updates on a number of the major projects underway, including:
- Northern Gateway – Negotiations with the existing contractor to undertake further works, including a second roundabout into the future industrial area are complete. We are seeking access to land owned by TfNSW to continue with the works. This has extended the timeframe for completion of the project to October/November 2023.
- Muldoon Street, Taree – completed in December 2022
- Likely Street, Forster – final sealing works are complete.
- Waitui Road, Hannam Vale – reconstruction of approximately three kilometres of road, final sealing was undertaken in mid-February.
- The Branch Lane – work is underway on a 1.3-kilometre extension of the sealed road to be completed in March 2023.
- Work is underway on seven sections of The Bucketts Way, and two sections of the Lakes Way.
- Wingham Road – work underway on several sections of Wingham Road, work at the intersection with Youngs Road has started with work on the roundabouts at intersections with Hargreaves and Potoroo Drive expected to be complete by May 2023.
- Work is underway on a large number of projects to upgrade water and wastewater infrastructure across the local government area
- Cedar Party Creek Bridge – we have engaged Focus Bridge Engineering to complete the design for the new bridge with construction and expected to start in September 2023.
- Sewer and water mains renewal projects are also underway at a number of sites in Harrington, Smiths Lake, Hallidays Point, Hawks Nest, Forster, Manning Point, Taree South, Tuncurry, Stroud, Old Bar, Pacific Palms and more.
For more details on the full list of capital works underway, see report 15.1 on agenda for the 22 February.
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Community spaces projects
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A report on the 42 projects currently underway by the Community Spaces team was noted.
These projects range across aquatic facilities, boardwalks, platforms, pathways, cultural facilities, halls, playgrounds, parks, reserves, showgrounds, sporting facilities, and community led projects we are supervising.
A total of eight projects have been completed since the last report including:
- Playground upgrade at King George Park, Gloucester
- MEC new studio, building and car park upgrades
- Tea Gardens Pool all abilities access to site
- Amenities at Tuncurry John Wright Park
- Forster Boronia Park Sporing Complex
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Development activity and assessment performance
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We have determined a total of 379 DAs and modifications and issued 53 complying development and construction certificates during the October-December 2022 period.
Our average processing time was 79 days, which is slightly less than the average processing times for the regional city councils we are grouped with, which sat at 93 days.
In the same period 42 fast track DAs were determined with an average time of 14 days.
The applications approved value over $130 million worth of construction in the MidCoast.
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