Summary: Council meeting 27 November 2024

Published on 27 November 2024

What happens at a Council meeting?

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.

Items of interest - 27 November 2024 Council meeting

Items of interest	Summary
Sewage reticulation main – Tea Gardens	A new sewage reticulation main will be constructed in Tea Gardens after Councillors approved a development application subject to conditions. The main will be located along the southwest perimeter of the Tea Gardens township extending from Myall Street in the South to Spinifex Avenue in the north. The area includes a mix of urban land, public spaces and wetlands. The majority of the construction work will be carried out within Council’s roads and reserves, however there will be a need to access some private owned land to complete the work.
Housing barriers review implementation plan update	There has been an increased focus on development engineering certification and sign-off to accelerate the assessment process, although this has been difficult given chronic staff shortages in this area and the failure to be able to recruit additional staff. This has resulted in the need to outsource development engineering services to ensure we meet existing workloads and maintain levels of service. There has also been a focus on training staff to assist in identifying necessary, efficient and consistent referrals. Significant work has been done to encourage open communication between staff in the assessment process and applicants to resolve barriers and discuss issues which has seen greater focus on establishing and monitoring internal levels of service with respect to communicating progress on applications.
Power purchase agreement contract	An electricity contract has been executed with Iberdrola Australia for 2025- 2030 and will power street lighting and Council sites. The electricity market in Australia is turbulent with regular price spikes and falls driven by supply and demand imbalances. The move protects Council from any prices rises. Council worked within a group of 13 regional Councils to establish the long-term electricity supply contract and provided improved bargaining power to get the best possible prices.
Water and systems monthly performance report	There are currently no concerns over water availability with the Bootawa Dam stable at 99 percent and higher than average rainfall predicted for December to February. Compliance with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines continues to remain strong with a 99.9 percent score for the month. Council also participated in a PFAS sampling program, testing water from all of the five water supply systems. In all cases tests were below detection limits meaning we meet both current and proposed Australia Drinking Water Guideline requirements. Effluent compliance was also at 100 percent last month and just one sewage overflow detected.
Forster and Tuncurry E-Scooter trial extends	Following the review of the 12-month trial Councillors agreed to extend the trial for another six months until 30 June 2025 or until the regulatory provisions on e-scooters from the NSW Government become known. In September 2023 Councillors endorsed the 12-month trial to be conducted in Forster-Tuncurry. E-scooter hire company, Beam began the trial on Friday 8 December 2023 with 150 scooters. Overall, the usage level has been relatively higher than other trials being conducted. For the 12-month period 63,206 trips were taken and a total distance of 126,675.87 kilometres have been taken on the e-scooters. There have been 52 contacts opposing the trial from 31 individuals.
Council Meeting schedule – 2025	Councillors agreed on the meeting schedule for 2025. The dates are as follows; 5 February 26 February 26 March 30 April 28 May 25 June 23 July 20 August 3 September 24 September 22 October 19 November 10 December All Council meetings are livestreamed from Council’s website.
Proposed acquisition of land for Public Road, 323 Blackhead Road, Hallidays Point	Part of Council’s capital works program includes the construction of a two-metre-wide shared path along Blackhead Road between Tallwoods Village and Diamond Beach Road. To achieve this Councillors endorsed recommendations that included the purchase of land known as 323 Blackhead Road, Hallidays Point.
Sale of properties	Council will sell two residential blocks at 14 Farley Parade, Gloucester and 8 Gloucester Street, Stroud. These properties were identified as being surplus to Council operational requirements. The opportunity to build residential homes on the properties and then sell was investigated but not recommended due to the additional risks associated with the construction in the high-cost and interest environment coupled with a modest margin gain. The sale funds will be placed in the Commercial Property reserve.
Financial statements	The NSW Audit Office addressed Councillors on the audit of Council’s financial reports, which are unqualified meeting all but one ratio, which is a positive improvement on previous years.

Items of interest

Summary

Sewage reticulation main – Tea Gardens

A new sewage reticulation main will be constructed in Tea Gardens after Councillors approved a development application subject to conditions.

The main will be located along the southwest perimeter of the Tea Gardens township extending from Myall Street in the South to Spinifex Avenue in the north. The area includes a mix of urban land, public spaces and wetlands.

The majority of the construction work will be carried out within Council’s roads and reserves, however there will be a need to access some private owned land to complete the work.

Housing barriers review implementation plan update

There has been an increased focus on development engineering certification and sign-off to accelerate the assessment process, although this has been difficult given chronic staff shortages in this area and the failure to be able to recruit additional staff. This has resulted in the need to outsource development engineering services to ensure we meet existing workloads and maintain levels of service. There has also been a focus on training staff to assist in identifying necessary, efficient and consistent referrals.

Significant work has been done to encourage open communication between staff in the assessment process and applicants to resolve barriers and discuss issues which has seen greater focus on establishing and monitoring internal levels of service with respect to communicating progress on applications.

Power purchase agreement contract

An electricity contract has been executed with Iberdrola Australia for 2025- 2030 and will power street lighting and Council sites.

The electricity market in Australia is turbulent with regular price spikes and falls driven by supply and demand imbalances. The move protects Council from any prices rises. Council worked within a group of 13 regional Councils to establish the long-term electricity supply contract and provided improved bargaining power to get the best possible prices.

Water and systems monthly performance report

There are currently no concerns over water availability with the Bootawa Dam stable at 99 percent and higher than average rainfall predicted for December to February.

Compliance with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines continues to remain strong with a 99.9 percent score for the month.

Council also participated in a PFAS sampling program, testing water from all of the five water supply systems. In all cases tests were below detection limits meaning we meet both current and proposed Australia Drinking Water Guideline requirements.

Effluent compliance was also at 100 percent last month and just one sewage overflow detected.

Forster and Tuncurry E-Scooter trial extends

Following the review of the 12-month trial Councillors agreed to extend the trial for another six months until 30 June 2025 or until the regulatory provisions on e-scooters from the NSW Government become known.

In September 2023 Councillors endorsed the 12-month trial to be conducted in Forster-Tuncurry. E-scooter hire company, Beam began the trial on Friday 8 December 2023 with 150 scooters. Overall, the usage level has been relatively higher than other trials being conducted.

For the 12-month period 63,206 trips were taken and a total distance of 126,675.87 kilometres have been taken on the e-scooters.

There have been 52 contacts opposing the trial from 31 individuals.

Council Meeting schedule – 2025

Councillors agreed on the meeting schedule for 2025. The dates are as follows;

5 February
26 February
26 March
30 April
28 May
25 June
23 July
20 August
3 September
24 September
22 October
19 November
10 December

All Council meetings are livestreamed from Council’s website.

Proposed acquisition of land for Public Road, 323 Blackhead Road, Hallidays Point

Part of Council’s capital works program includes the construction of a two-metre-wide shared path along Blackhead Road between Tallwoods Village and Diamond Beach Road. To achieve this Councillors endorsed recommendations that included the purchase of land known as 323 Blackhead Road, Hallidays Point.

Sale of properties

Council will sell two residential blocks at 14 Farley Parade, Gloucester and 8 Gloucester Street, Stroud.

These properties were identified as being surplus to Council operational requirements.

The opportunity to build residential homes on the properties and then sell was investigated but not recommended due to the additional risks associated with the construction in the high-cost and interest environment coupled with a modest margin gain. The sale funds will be placed in the Commercial Property reserve.

Financial statements

The NSW Audit Office addressed Councillors on the audit of Council’s financial reports, which are unqualified meeting all but one ratio, which is a positive improvement on previous years.

For full details of all reports please see the meeting agenda.