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Plans to guide services in the coming year endorsed
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Council’s Community Strategic Plan, Delivery Program, Operational Plan (including budget) and Resourcing strategies were adopted at the meeting after a review of community feedback and a number of changes and corrections.
The Delivery Program includes five areas of particular focus for Council over the coming four years. They are:
- Climate change
- Customer service
- Economic development
- Development assessment
- Local and regional roads
The associated budget includes an additional $7.5 million worth of funding for local roads. This will be applied to heavy patching on the roads that have been most impacted by wet weather over the past 12 months.
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Making of ordinary rates and annual charges
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Each year Council is required to ‘make the ordinary rates’ for the coming financial year and officially adopt the rates and charges set out in the delivery program and operational plan.
This also endorsed a 2.25% rate rise for the 2022-23 year, following IPART’s approval of the additional special variation.
It also includes the continued harmonisation of rates which will occur until the 2024-25 financial year.
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Planning proposal to rezone North Diamond Beach deferred
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Councillors resolved to defer a request to instigate a planning proposal process for North Diamond Beach for a period of 60 days to allow for further consultation with the community, including a community meeting.
The planning proposal was to rezone a 25-hectare precinct north of the Diamond Beach village from tourist to a mixture of general residential and medium density residential.
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Waste Management Strategy on public exhibition
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An updated Waste Management Strategy will be placed on public exhibition for community comment. The updated Waste Management Strategy 2030 ensures our waste services align with proposed legislative and regulatory changes within the NSW Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041.
Last year the NSW Government released the new 2041 strategy which set ambitious targets for reductions in organic waste sent to landfill and also highlights key policy changes to phase out problematic plastics.
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Use of public wharves
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Council resolved not to permit the use of recreational boating infrastructure for business or commercial purposes on four public wharves in the Forster-Tuncurry area to ensure we are operating the wharves in accordance with the conditions set out by Crown Lands Licences.
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Storm and flood damage update
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Since the March 2021 flood Council has undertaken emergency works to make safe a number of community spaces such as boat ramps, recreation areas at Gloucester, Taree Riverside Reserve, Chrissy Gollan Park and Wingham Riverside Reserve.
A total of $1.7 million has been spent on these temporary repairs. A funding program has now been released under which we can claim this amount.
A further funding program has just been announced by the State that will assist with funding for the permanent repairs of this infrastructure. Council has applied for $7.4 million under this program, however it is not expected that full repairs will be completed until mid 2024, this is partly due to the heavy demand for expert trades that specialise in aquatic infrastructure.
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Provision of visitor services in the Manning
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A trial of providing visitor services in the Manning through a range of activities such as provision of information in Council facilities including Taree Airport, Manning Regional Art Gallery, Manning Entertainment Centre and MidCoast Council Libraries along with a business partnership program, will be undertaken following the closure of the Taree Visitor Information Centre.
A detailed review of the approach, with recommendations for improvement, will be provided to Council in February. This report will include a proposal for the visitor information space at the Taree Service Centre.
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Community events program
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A number of community events will be funded under the NSW Government’s Reconnecting Regional NSW Community Events program. This program aims to promote the social and economic recovery of regional communities.
A total of 15 eligible local event organisers will be funded under the program.
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Local heritage fund 2022-23
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More than $120,000 worth of work on heritage properties is expected to be undertaken as a result of grant allocations totalling $27,500. This funding is provided to landowners of heritage properties to maintain the heritage value of their homes. The fund is jointly supported by Council and Heritage NSW. Generally grants are provided to property owners are up to $2000, with the applicant providing at least half of the total cost of the project. Applicants need to demonstrate how their project retains or improves the heritage of the property to be eligible for funding.
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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:
- Lakes Way/Blackhead Road roundabout – work is continuing with the construction of roundabout and turning lanes, project due to be finished September 2022
- Farquhar Street, Wingham – reconstruction of pavement from Primrose Street to Maitland Lane completed
- Muldoon Street, Taree – work due to start in July
- Cowper Street, Taree – Drainage and pavement works are continuing with traffic now open in one direction to maintain access to schools. Expected to be completed by August.
- Waitui Road, Hannam Vale – reconstruction of approximately three kilometres of road, to be completed by November 2022.
- Work is underway on four sections of The Bucketts Way, and three sections of the Lakes Way.
- Wingham Road – work underway on several sections of Wingham Road, including the intersection with Youngs Road, scheduled for completion in November 2022. Preliminary work on three roundabouts at intersections with Hargreaves and Cedar Party Road is underway, with construction expected to be complete by May 2023.
- Work is due to be completed on bridges at Caparra, Booral and Curricabbark Road over the coming months.
- Work is underway on a large number of projects to upgrade water and wastewater infrastructure across the local government area
- 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.
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Improving water condition for Gloucester customers
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A lime and carbon dioxide dosing system will be implemented as part of the treatment process for Gloucester water to address copper pipe corrosion in the Gloucester township.
The $1.75 million project will address complaints from water customers in Gloucester and Barrington about the corrosion of their copper water pipes. It had been suggested to homeowners the water may be a reason for the corrosion.
While an independent study indicated there were no health concerns in terms of water quality and that the corrosiveness of the water in Gloucester is either neutral or mild, it did suggested adopting alternate chemical dosing options could improve the potential corrosiveness of the water.
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| Attendance at Local Government NSW Annual Conference |
The Mayor and Councillors Fowler, K Smith, P Sandilands, Howard, Epov, Tickle, D Smith, Miller and Bell will attend the Local Government NSW Annual Conference to be held in the Hunter Valley.
The Mayor and Councillors Tickle, Epov and D Smith will also be attending the conference as voting delegates.
The conference is an annual policy-making event for councils, bringing Councillors together to share ideas and debate issues that shape the way we are governed.
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