councilors Council offices Glen Eira
residents and community members viewing
our meeting this evening I would like to
welcome you to the 1st of May 2024
ordinary meeting of council there are a
few items I would like to mention before
we begin this evening this is a reminder
to councelors council officers and
members of the public that all mobile
phones are to be switched off or placed
on silent for the duration of the
meeting
our meetings are being live streamed to
the community if a technical problem is
encountered during the meeting which
prevents Council from live streaming the
meeting will be adjourned for 10 minutes
if the meeting cannot be resed within
30 minutes the meeting will be adjourned
to be reconvened on Tuesday the 7th of
May 2024 at 7:30 p.m. council is not
responsible for any data usage charges
or technical issues that me of the
public may experience in accessing
council's live stream or recordings of
meetings a copy of each of the live
stream meeting is placed on council's
website the day after the
meeting thank you councilors we will now
commence with the items on the
agenda item one is the acknowledgement
of traditional
owners Glen Eira City Council respectfully
Acknowledges that the Boonerwrung people
of the Kulin nation are the Traditional
Owners of the land now known as Glen Eira we
pay our respects to their Elders past,
present and emerging and Acknowledge and
uphold their continuing relationship to
and responsibility for this land
item two is apologies CEO do we have any
apologies this evening thank you mayor
we have two apologies we have an apology
from councelor Pennicuik and we also have an
apology from councelor Parasol I will
now put forward a motion that these
apologies be received and noted
councelor MaGee and councelor Zmood I
will I will now put that to the
vote carried
unanimously we will now move on to item
three which is a reminder to declare
conflicts of interest councilors there
is a requirement for disclosure of
conflicts of interest to items listed
for consideration on the agenda or any
item that is considered at this meeting
in accordance with Section 130 in
Brackets 2 of The Local Government Act
2020 and Rule 60 in Brackets 3 of the
Glen Eira City Council governance
rules does any councilor wish to declare
conflict of
interest no conflicts of interest
tonight I will now move a procedural
motion to suspend standing orders I
would like to move a motion that
standing orders be suspended to allow
the mayor to make a statement regarding
Domestic Violence Remembrance Day
councelor Zmood councelor ?
can we put that to the vote that's
carried
unanimously I will now make a statement
to mark this important day as we meet
tonight Glen Eira Town Hall is lit up in
purple and many of us in the chamber are
wearing purple ribbons this is to mark
Domestic Violence Remembrance Day today
communities across Australia are coming
together to remember those we have lost
to Domestic and Family Violence Domestic
and Family Violence does not
discriminate it impacts everyone no
matter their age background and socio
economic status one in five women
have experienced violence from a partner
a woman is killed every two weeks in
Australia by their partner this simply
must stop tonight we reaffirm that
Domestic and Family Violence has no
place in Glen Euia at the weekend we saw
more than a thousand Victorians march
against gender based violence it is an
important reminder that we all have a
role to play in stopping the scourge of
Domestic and Family Violence we must
ensure that there are supports in place
to prevent Domestic and Family Violence
and respond when it occurs we must give
survivors of Domestic and Family
Violence a voice and raise awareness of
the services that are available to them
we must all speak up and speak out
against gender-based violence and demand
a culture of respect we must ensure that
Australian and Victorian governments
provide the legislative system systemic
and financial backing to address its
root causes as a council we will
continue to do everything we can to
raise awareness partner with other
levels of government and support the
critical work of our community groups in
addressing this issue and importantly we
will remember those we have lost to
these sickening crimes in a few moments
I will ask everyone to observe a minute
silence however before I do so I would
welcome further Reflections from
counselors councelor Zmood
thank you Madame mayor I think we've
all really been aware over the last
few years and the number of reviews that
have been done into Domestic and Family
Violence how significant this is for
our community and how horrific each
circstance is and certainly in the
last few weeks it's become you know very
clear of mind and been in the press a
lot as well because it's not just
about people being killed but about the
injuries the hospitalizations and the
trauma that
impacts the extended families and
friends as well it's it's really a blush
on our community and something living
in The Lucky Country of Australia that
that shouldn't be here at all and I
just want to recognize that particularly
in this first four months of this year
we've had this massive increase in
numbers despite the trend over the last
50 years of it been declining the uptick
has been frightening and as the
mother of three daughters and women are
predominantly I think it's about 75% of
the cases it's it's the woman who is
harmed there are men who are also
harmed in Family Violence but
it is frightening it is frightening
and we know from all the reviews we
actually know what to do and I think
what we're looking forward to and
starting to see government committing to
actually implementing many of those
things and I really hope for all our
sakes and for that there is proper
support provided and protections
provided to those people who are at risk
now so that it doesn't end up being
injury and death but also let change the
conversation and the culture so that we
don't have to see this happening to
people we know to family members or in
the wider Community thank you thank you
councelor Zmood councelor Magee
Madame Mayor thank you Madame Mayor at
the moment what we're hearing
is the statistics that we're getting at
the moment about so many women being
murdered last year was just over one was
about one a week now it's about one
every four days so so it has it rightly
so has it highlighted the issue but we
can talk about education we can talk
about starting in schools we can talk
about respect I was taught respect by my
mother I don't know anyone that in my
cohort that has ever been influenced or
been in that position where the
perpetrator of domestic violence but
Madam Mayor we're hearing and I'm hearing week
alone right through to the Prime
Minister we need to do more the Premier
this is not acceptable but nothing's
happening if our Prime Minister isn't
prepared to do something and our Premier
is prepared to say we need to do more
what is local government got to
do well you can go three four or five
times and breach bail breaching bail is
not a criminal
offense breaching ba should be a
criminal offense and should come with a
mandatory term of
incarceration I don't know anyone that's
ever been on bail so and I don't think
many people would know anyone who's ever
been on bail but if you get caught you
get charged I think it's right that you
can get that bail until your case is
heard because you are innocent until
proven guilty but if you breach that
bail I can't see why that's not contempt
of court I can't see why that is not an
absolute
under the under the summary offenses
act an
offense now if we talk here about men
who have killed partners those very men
at some point have said to their partner
I love you
and then later killed
them these are all things happen over
years but the problem is and we hear it
time and time again the offender was out
on bail the offender was out on bail
more than
once at what point do we actually say
you've breached your bail we don't trust
you now everyone that goes gets
incarcerated is absolutely entitled to
be
rehabilitated but Madame Mayor our
community is entitled to be safe our
current laws in relation to intervention
orders and bail are far too bloody weak
and while our Premier and Prime
Ministers are happy to say something
should be done that Bloody will not
doing
anything does anyone else wish to
speak councelor Karslak
thank you Madame mayor I just
wanted to say that
despite the fact that there's been a
a tragic increase in recent weeks in
domestic
homicide there has been an amazing
tide of investigation and change and
resources thrown at Family Violence
and there has been a monumental change
over the last 30 years in both the
recognition and the what means of
addressing and preventing Family
Violence we know what the drivers are
for Family Violence and they are the
gender inequality in our community I
don't think I think what's happening at
the moment is people are grappling with
understanding why there's been this
significant uptick and I know that most
of these issues seem to be outside of
local government's remit but local
government has led significant programs
in Family Violence prevention and I
think that there's also opportunity to
consider how some of the current housing
crisis and economic circstances in the
community are making it more difficult
for women to actually leave violent
situations so thank you very much for
your address Mayor Cade and it's
valuable to reflect on those issues
thank you councilor Esakoff
yes thank you Madame mayor oh
that's loud tonight I echo some of
the comments already made it is a
dreadful time we're going through and I
think exacerbated by many things
including stress financial stress
that everyone is feeling at the
moment and probably many other
reasons too but we have a community
Safety Committee that runs through
Council that I sit on and have done for
a number of years and the police are
part of that committee and when we chat
informally outside of the
meeting about how they're going busy
busy busy busy their biggest call out is
domestic violence and that is the Glen
Ira Community now you don't expect that
in this local community but it is out
there and it happens and it's tragic and
yes there is a lot that needs to be done
but by government yes but by police as
well and powers to the police there
such a large range of things that need
to all happen at the same time it's not
one thing it's a whole range but it does
need to be addressed thank you thank you
Council Esakoff Council Li Zhang thanks
Madame mayor I'd like to echo all the
comments Madame mayor and all the
other consulat have already made it's
everyone's responsibility every
government every organization every
business corporates a responsibility to
enhance safety and empower women from
all different cultural backgrounds
across Nation so as councelor Magee ? said we
need to do more everyone needs to do
more thank you thank you councelor ?
councelor Athanasopoulos
thank you mayor and I too echo the
comments that have been
made possibly unlike most people in
this room I have had a a family
situation where Family Violence has been
an issue but unlike most
situations it was it was me that
failed to take the necessary steps
to help
and the only reason I say this in this
chamber ultimately is because we need to
also acknowledge that whilst we try our
best sometimes you can let yourself
down and to take some personal
responsibility on your own behavior on
the behaviors of those that are around
you even if they're super close is
critical if we're going to tackle this
as well as supporting our police force
and our court system
so it's it's not one there's no
Silver Bullet here it really isn't and I
think it is important that we all
reflect and take some responsibility as
I often beat myself up about it but
also do and support every step
necessary and every person in power both
in power and opposition to make sure
that we get the right fixes in place
thank you thank you counselors we will
now observe a minute
silence for
I would now like to move a motion that
standing orders be resumed may I have a
seconder for this motion council is
Zmood all those in favor that's carried
unanimously I will now move a procedural
motion to bring item 10.5 which is
written public questions on tonight's
agenda forward to be heard at this stage
of the meeting meeting do I have a
second a council
mode I will now put that to the vote all
those in favor that's carried
unanimously before we begin tonight's
public participation and written public
questions I want to acknowledge those in
the gallery and the questions we've
received ahead of today's meeting about
the level crossing removal projects
proposed cycling Corridor I want to
thank all of the all of those who have
asked questions on this very important
issue we have received 15 public
questions in addition to more than 100
questions through the consultation
process ahead of tonight's meeting and
we received more than 700 submissions to
our community consultation which closed
earlier today what we're hearing from
your questions is that residents are
concerned with local imunity and
vegetation traffic impacts the impact on
draining Ag and the safety of
pedestrians these are all important
questions and we will ensure we've
answered all of them as well as
answering your written public questions
tonight we will also answer all of the
more than 100 questions on our have your
safe Community engagement website we
appreciate your
patience as we continue to work through
all these questions as you know while
this is not council's project we will
continue to convey your concerns to the
alexar p and as the consultation period
closed today Council will consider the
community's feedback and make a decision
on which of the lxrp options it will
support we will also consider the expert
advice of council officers on the most
feasible option from both an engineering
perspective and a planning perspective
and we will decide which option Council
will support at our next meeting on the
21st of May it is then up to the lxr p
as to how they will
proceed before we commence I would like
to advise that as per our governance
rules there's 15 minutes allocated to
the reading of written public questions
to council these will be responded to in
the order in which they are received all
questions read and answered will be
published in this evening's council
meeting minut CEO are now hand over to
you to commence the reading of the
written public
questions thank you mayor as you said
we've got 15 questions to work our way
through this evening and our first is
from Trevor Pitkin of coldfield East
Trevor's question is regarding the
Strategic cycling Corridor proposals for
the Nim road to Norman B Road link
released April 18th 2024 option six
stands out as a solution with minimal
impacts for the corfield East Community
as a whole if selected by the lxrp will
Council work collaboratively with
interested community members to upgrade
the low to medi value tree array on
Queens Avenue rating given by Council
arborist by planting an understory for
much improved visual amenity and Mr
mcdonal will respond and thank you
Trevor and through the mayor so final
designs will include planting and
revation and Council look forward to
working with the lxrp and the community
to finalize these designs and what they
might look
like andex question is from Richard Nash
of corfield East and it also relates to
the proposed cycle path referring to
the recently released lxrp Bikeway
options for Derby cresant how are
pedestrians particularly the young
elderly and INF firm expected to safely
emerge from The Moody Street underpass
and cross Derby Cresent to the footpath
on the residential side of the street Mr
McDonna thank you Richard and look
access to the pass is required to
comply with the disability
Discrimination Act and Technical
assessments will be undertaken by
Council and the L xrp during the detail
design once the cycling Corridor
solution has been chosen a final design
would also consider the necessary
signage and also line marking to support
pedestrian
movements Mr Nash has a second question
and it's referring to the recently
released lxrp Bikeway options for Derby
cresant option four takes away the
option for the residents of Derby
cresant to the south of mury Street to
utilize the safety of the norm Street SL
Queens Avenue traffic lights when either
leaving or entering our street can you
please advise what traffic control
measures will be implemented at that
intersection to ensure safety and exit
to Derby cresant will it be traffic
lights at a roundabout or similar Mr
McDonna thank you Richard for your
second question the final traffic
control measures will be assessed and
proposed during the detail design phase
these will need to be assessed by
lxrp and Council and meet all road
safety
standards our next question is from Ray
ears of colfield East Ray's question
is not only will all four Derby cresant
options add to the further ruining of
its amenity they could also be
considered to be narrowly focused in
regards to the longer term planning for
the precinct that is shouldn't Council
be considering the longer term amenity
and planning requirements that a
strategic cycling path along Queens
Avenue will bring as it may also provide
for future pedestrian and cycling
linkages to a remastered corfield race
course Precinct Mr mcdonal thank you
Ray the council doesn't have a formal
position on the latest option but we
support exploring new opportunities for
cycling Corridor we've assessed the lxrp
options from a a technical and
Engineering perspective and and we have
determined they're all viable however
the current Community engagement process
will allow Council to formally consider
the views regarding impact and amenity
it's important that the entire Community
has the opportunity to express its
preferences on all the options the lxrp
has currently put out for
consideration Mr ears has a second
question if any of the various options
for Darby are implemented will we be
asked to accept a one-way Street
arrangement with its inconveniences be
asked to accept loss of street parking
be forced to have adjustments made to
driveways due to severe reversing
restrictions and be asked to accept more
loss of vegetation all of which will
change the character of our street
forever for what reasons does council
think Derby residents should accept
these in favor of a bike path where
visiting cyclists will be able to enjoy
bidirectional at our expense and without
any inconvenience or hindrance Mr
mcdonal thanks for your second question
look as I mentioned in in your
previous question Council has not
adopted a formal position and as the
mayor mentioned earlier Council will
make a decision on which option to
support having taken into consideration
all the information and Views gathered
through the community engagement process
this along with the professional advice
of officers on the strength and
weaknesses of each option will inform
the council
decision cherl SS Al of corfield East
also has a couple of questions her
first is a Copenhagen style on-road bike
path on Queens Avenue I.E option six
will not interfere whatsoever with the
ability of residents to exit from their
driveways as it's a wide road with ample
space for this arrangement with no Road
or traffic change impact the Queens
Avenue Racecourse side trees will remain
therefore how does council think at
Copenhagen style path on the narrow
Derby cresant will be a better option
given it will impact residents revers
from their driveways make the street one
way with significant Road SLT trffic
change flows and maintain the localized
feel and character Mr
McDon thank you Cheryl and look again
Council hasn't reached a formal position
it will be through the the feedback that
we receive through the communication
process and also the the advice that
officers provide Council which will
be used to inform the final
position cherl has a second question
which is that given than any one of the
four Derby options now presented by the
lxrp and the fact that there's a very
narrow crushed rock ra Railway Verge and
freeway crash guard barrier at the
southern end of Derby cresant what
alterations and Landscaping
opportunities will Council be
undertaking to help restore the once
lovely visual amenity and neighborhood
character feel that we once helped
create and
enjoy Mr McDonna thank you Cheryl for
your second question also so as I
mentioned earlier the final design will
include planting and revegetation and
Council along with the lxrp will work
with the community on what that design
would look
like and next question is from rosemary
Sparrow of corfield East parking
utilization on Queens Avenue corfield
East on their website Streets Alive
glena undertook a comprehensive study of
the 61 parking spots on Queens Avenue
and found them to be unused 62% of the
time this is likely due to the vast
majority of properties on Queens Avenue
having a driveway and ample off street
parking given a proposed speed reduction
to 50 km an hour along Queens Avenue
unhindered driveway access with no
traffic flow compromises and the
retention of all trees why wouldn't
Council favor the Queens Avenue
Copenhagen OnStar onroad bike path which
is option six as this option would
achieve the council's desire to find a
balanced solution with the least impact
to the community Mr McDon
thanks Rosemary and look as the mayor
has mentioned on the habus page this is
an lxrp project Council obviously does
have an interest in it and there are
many many competing issues to be
considered when determining the most
viable option one of which is parking
and as I mentioned earlier Council has
not formed a final position and it will
be through the engagement process as
well as advice from officers that we
will form our final decision
Rosemary's got a second question which
is that the Derby cresant drainage
issues and proposed bike path options
the traffic calming proposals for all
four of the Derby Cresent bike path
options involve placing speed hps as
well as raised Road platforms at several
Street intersections given that these
type of traffic calming treatments often
pose storm water runoff issues and that
Derby Cresent already suffers from
inadequate drainage for surface runoff
and storm water in general how will
council's Engineers adequately assess
the suitability of these proposed
treatments Mr
mcdonal thank you Rosemary for your
second question it is understood that
each of the options presented has been
assessed from a technical engineering
perspective to determine viability the
Lo but the location of the new strategic
cying connection will be ultimately
decided by the level crossing removal
project under the authority of the
minister for transport
infrastructure however any potential
impact on drainage will need to be
assessed further by Council officers
during the detail design once the
cycl and connection option has been
determined at a slight change of pace
our next question is from Paul boy of
Bentley can you please give an update
on the planning approvals at the former
Bentley Club demolition Works have
commenced with trees being pulled down
and a new fence and sight Hut SL sales
office has been installed and Miss
zus will give an
update thank you through the May the
former Bentley Club located at 32 to 46
Huntley Road Bentley has a planning
permit that planning permit allows a
construction of 35 twostory dwellings it
also allows the construction of a 554
squ met public park that will be
given to council as part of the public
open space
contribution the retention of two
heritage features is also included
one being a fountain that will be
relocated to the public park area and
the other being a pment from the
existing building which will also be
relocated into the public park area the
planning permit was issued last year
on the 23rd of November following the
consent of the parties at a VK
compulsory conference in accordance with
the permit the development must start
by the 23rd of November 2026 and be
completed by the 23rd of November
2028 council's urban planning team are
currently assessing all the amended
plans required by the condition one of
the planning permit that includes a
landscape plan construction management
plans Waste Management plan
sustainability management plan tree
protection management plan and a public
Open Space Management plan once Council
has approved all of these plans a and
a building permit is issued by a
private registered bu private private
registered building surveyor development
can then commence the work described
site Preparatory Works that have and
can occur before development can
commence thank you our next question
is from Mrs Su noly of corfield Sue
question is how much public money was
spent in total to paint the Nim Road
facing wall of the mulch storage shed
and missus will respond
again thank you and Through the Mirror
again the Glenn Ira climate emergency
Action Network applied for a community
grant for a climate change themed mural
project and was provided a community
Grant of around
$6,000 it is understood a sign will be
installed to inform the community about
the mural and and that will include who
authorized and paid for the work the
Glen Eira Community climate act emergency
Action Network is an incorporated
network of community members that seeks
to promote Community awareness to
climate change and greenhouse gas
emissions and biodiversity sustainable
living and amelioration of impacts of
climate change from within the city of
Glen Eira and the Border
Community they further seek to
procure funding from appropriate sources
for use in the above
purposes before the beyond the
community Grant this group were was
responsible for the costs associated
with the artwork including the
preparation of the space the
installation costs the art fees and
maintenance of the network and Council
officer time spent to manage the Grant
and Associate agreement including
cleaning the area in preparation for The
Works equates to around five working
days and there were no plants removed or
pruned to accommodate the delivery of
the
mule thank you our next question is from
Ian Sparrow corfield East why is Council
avoiding answering public questions
submitted to the council meeting the
council's action to at least several of
the questions submitted for public
question time on the issue of a proposed
bike path in corfield East has been to
forward these questions to the community
engagement team given there's continued
concern in the community can Council
explain why it appears to be avoiding
the answering of questions on this
important Community issue at the open
council meeting and Miss Vice will
respond thank you for your question Ann
so council's not avoiding answering
public questions all questions received
have been addressed at this meeting
however they've also been referred to
the community engagement team as they
relate to a high-profile active
Community engagement process it's
important that the information provided
in response is transparently available
to all interested in the project the
questions and their responses will be
published not only in the minutes of
this meeting but also on the more
accessible have your say website thank
you
our next question is from Tamara dilva
of corfield East the impact of
entry/exit on Queens Avenue on the west
side from new glass house pokes has not
been discussed in the survey or within
the community there will be hundreds of
cars coming in and out of the new pokies
with many disgruntled Andor intoxicated
drivers this would increase risk to
cyclists on proposed new bike path and
Council liability given planning
approval of the new glass house venue
will Council include this added risk in
their deliberations of options for the
corfield East cycling Corridor Mr
McDonna thank you tomorrow if your
question if any Queens Avenue
proposal is chosen the proposed driveway
that may interface with the bike path
would need to be designed to ensure it
doesn't impact on the road on safety of
cyclists and the final design would need
to satisfy a road safety order
okay I think my understanding is that 15
minutes of Question Time Is Now up
yes okay thank you we will now commence
public participation and how many
questions have you to CE you thank you
mayor we have four submitters who've
asked to present as part of public
participation the first is Rosemary
Sparrow could I invite Rosemary forward
please thanks Rosemary now you will find
that there y got
thanks may I just remind you that each
submitter is permitted 3 minutes and at
15 seconds prior to the end of the 3
minutes you will receive a warning go
ahead thank you Miss Mar good evening
Madame mayor and counselors my name is
Rosemary Sparrow I'm a resident of Derby
Cresent corfield East I'm going to read
a personal statement from my for my
friend who has lived in Derby presentant
her entire
life hello my name is Gabrielle Parton
Gabrielle is sitting over in the public
for gallery I was born with a physical
disability and I have to use a
wheelchair I want to let you know what
it will mean for people like me should
my street become the designated corfield
East cycling
Corridor firstly I regularly use the
footpath on Derby Cresent to get to the
corfield station and Wes University
corfield I understand from information
provided to Residents that cyclists and
pedestrians would share the P footpath
at the narrow Northern end of Derby
crant at Queens Avenue this is alarming
as this intersection is already very
stressful for me my manual wheelchair is
wide slow and cbersome and I need to
stay in the middle of the foot path I am
really worried that I will be abused by
cyclists or wor still collide with a
cyclist riding at speed and end up being
tipped over in my wheelchair
secondly I am also really worried about
the proposed barriers to stop cyclists
riding through the Moody Street
underpass such barriers will also stop
me from using the underpass consequently
it will stop me from visiting my
favorite Cafe on gra on Grange Avenue
and it will stop me from visiting my
friends who live on the other side of
the Frankston rail line because the
underpass is so steep I need to keep up
moment to reach the street level
without someone helping me it will be
imposs possible for me to Exit the
barriers on a steep slope and because of
my heavy wheelchair it exposes my
helpers to the risk of physical
injuries and lastly I am extremely
concerned about the proposed reduced
parking on Derby Cresent especially on
the resident side I'm worried because
all my support workers and therapists
who come to my home during the day to
help me with personal care and everyday
activities may not be able to find a
parking spot nearby I completely reliant
on their care if they cannot park near
my home their effective time with me
would be could be reduced during the due
to wasting time finding a parking spot
or I would have to increase the
allocated time which would eat into my
ndis funding or even worse they might
stop providing their services to me also
the Maxi cabs I need to use when I go
out will find it difficult to park for
loading and unloading me forcing them to
stop across driveways or to protrude
into the street
causing disruption for other drivers and
increase risks for cyclists and even
worse my friends and visitors to my home
who ease the social who ease the social
isolation I experience will also be
impacted and may not visit me as often I
hope I just have last parag I hope when
you decide about this bike path you will
consider not just me but all the other
local residents with a disability incl
cluding others on Derby present and the
residents of the urella accommodation
facilities in Moody Street and Clifton
Street thank you thank
you thanks
Rosemary our next registered speaker
this evening is Ry s Ry would you like
to come forward
please dear mayor counselors and
officers
I'm here tonight to speak to you
about the Queens Avenue bike path and in
particularly about the compromises
associated with it Alex RP has stated
that retrofitting a bike path will need
to involve some
compromise Council has also stated that
they are looking for a balanced
solution that will have the least impact
on Crawfield East residents so let's let
have a look at
Derby life for residence in Derby has
been compromised for the last two years
loss of our Lush vegetation screen that
we will never get
back loss of visual amenity in
general the neighborhood character
overlay that is designed to protect our
amenity has also been
compromised we attended a feedback
session on the 14th of
March we were 100% United
with our position and we're told that
the non-negotiables of no more tree loss
and street car parking would be put to
Alex
RP so what did we get back from Alex
RP four options that all stated some
loss of trees and and car parking so the
the non-negotiables are now also
compromised So within the four options
we're being asked to compromise first
further with the addition of a oneway
street driving driveway exiting
issues crossover changes speed bps
road closures traffic congestion parking
loss module filters intrusive
lighting and more tree loss to
accommodate changes to curbs and
crossovers we're also being asked to
have our security compromised with a
proposed shared user path along the
railway line from near and rad to
Lord will women and children be happy
with using such a
path so we have a few
complications so let's move now 100 met
to the west to Queens
Avenue maybe the time is right for
others to share in the plot that
corfield East finds themselves in for
the overall benefit of the
community this could be seen as sharing
the
load we suggest that one option in
particular option six may be May best
represent the balance solution council
is searching
for there will be no impact on driveways
only minimal change to the tree tree
amenity no reversing issues no crossover
changes and importantly safety is not
compromis for
cyclists yes there we W compromis the
street parking however
street parking along queens has been de
demonstrated by Streets Alive across a
number of years to be grossly
unused can I extend my time just from
another 15 seconds
please I'm sorry we can't extend it
further thank you thank you
Mr our next speaker is Tom Lawson Tom
did you want to come come
forward good evening Council
I believe we as a
community in corfield East have fallen
for one of the oldest tricks in the
book divide and
conquer queens and Derby have been
pitted
against each other by you guys and
the
alrp this whole sham of a community
engagement has been nothing short of
calculated moronic behavior on the
councils and Alex RP's
behalf why don't we the residents of
corfield East get the opportunity to be
heard like the residents of Incan
Road as stated by Shimon manari the
director of Kimberly Gardens in the
Australian Jewish News newspaper
on the first 1st of December
2022 finally Common Sense prevails the
councilors have come to their
senses the number of bike riders was so
little to sacrifice so many car
spaces he added the local residents of
Incan Road had brought the council to
understand that the community does not
want a bike
path former mayor Jamie holes could see
sense that the bike path as he stated
would unduly inconvenience the residents
of Inman
Road and the increase in cyclers was not
as significant as hoped you guys in the
lxrp are supporting a bike path that
goes
nowhere it goes
nowhere councilor schmood even said and
I quote councilors listened to the
community and the decision is a result
of the democratic process
will knock me over with the
feather why won't the counselors listen
to the residents of corfield East and
not through your week engagement
process what will it take for Council to
stand up to the state government make
some noise about what their residents
are
saying you've given us nothing but false
guidance and hope to the residents of
Queens Avenue and Derby president and I
think you should all be ashamed of
yourselves and with your responses to my
questions can we please not get some
straight B bad answers tonight no just
give us something with a bit of
compassion please thank
you thanks
Tom our last registered speaker this
evening is Laura risk Laura
thank you my understanding of the
priority of a bike path or for a bike
path is ensuring cycl of safety what is
council's priority given Council
objected to the two options put forward
for Queens Road which is stated by alexr
are the safest
options are you looking for safety first
saving trees or saving car spaces I'd
like to point out there are all but two
houses on Queens Avenue that have off
street parking sorry all but two have
off street parking and there are plenty
of houses Apartments streets and so
forth without any street parking or
driveways Council has also advised Derby
cresant residents that they do not
support any further loss of vegetation
any further loss of vegetation or cast
spots on Derby kin is that correct was
it true or were you misleading us once
again we're also advised of additional
options to add trees such as outstands
cluster tree planting near the curb is
that actually actually true and if not
why would we lied to and
misled as you know we've been given
false information from lxrp throughout
this project why would council do the
same are you committed to the
restoration and revation of Derby
cresant are you committed to additional
tree planting
other than up to nine trees that they're
proposing nine trees in 800 M you have
removed they have removed hundreds of
trees at least I'm guessing 200 trees
they promised two for one and now all
they can deliver is up to nine and you
seem to be okay with
that in 800
M
are you committed to no further
loss of trees and at vegetation as you
stated Nile on the 14th of March
24 you've stated nerous times that
you're meeting with Alex r on a weekly
basis and advocating on behalf of
residents could you explain what you
have advocated for and what you have
achieved I would appreciate a response
to the questions rather than the
responses we received to every single
question we put forward last council
meeting last council meeting the
responses were we are meeting with Alex
RP on a weekly basis that was the
response there was no direct response to
the questions it was incredibly vague
I'm asking for a clearer response and if
you cannot answer it I ask the mayor
respond thank
[Music]
you thanks Lord Laura Mr mcdono can
you respond to some of what Laura has
asked this evening I know there was a
lot in that but yeah thanks Laura I I'll
try
I acknowledge some of the the
comments I suppose the process itself
is is difficult for Council because I
think we've said it's not our project we
are working through the project with
the
lxrp we've committed to this engagement
to get the community's feedback on the
the six options now obviously Council
went through a process on the two
options but according to the lxrp
those two options are still viable hence
why the six are put on the current
engagement process so I suppose a lot of
the you know straight bat or
seemingly non- answers was because
Council didn't have a lot of the
information we need to go through this
engagement process we need to go through
a design process to to answer a lot of
those questions in detail and that's
where we're at now so with all that
information the council will be able to
make a informed decision on the
preferred
option and could you also respond to
Laura's question around the vegetation
replacement and the two for one and how
that sort of plays out in terms of the
rail
Corridor yeah thanks and through you
mayor yeah obviously at the March
session council's position was to you
know strongly Advocate and not
lost lose any parking or make sure the
Derby present was Revit and that still
is our our position obviously we're
working through the options with the
lxrp and that will come out in the
final landscape in design along Derby
but linking to that is the two for one
commitment and that that is for every
tree that's removed two will be
replanted it doesn't mean two will be
replanted in exact location but
across glena the community will see two
more trees for every one that's removed
and then what the how that plays out
in a final Landscaping plan for Derby is
yet to be determined I think the nine
trees you mentioned was a a concept
proposed by the lxrp but again as I
mentioned in responses to the earlier
public questions the Heil design for any
option hasn't been concluded nor is the
Landscaping final design thank you
m and Mr McDon would it be fair to say
that there are restrictions on the
number of canopy trees that can be
planted in the
direct vicinity of the rail Corridor
because of some of the restrictions
by Metro of what can be in
that kind of planted so close to the
railway line because of safety yeah
thank you and through the May that
that's correct there is a one for one
rules they call it where obviously
certain canopy trees can't be planted
within a certain distance of the Railway
line that's in case if it does fail it
would impact on the rail Corridor so
there certainly is restrictions of that
what you would see along the other
projects and it's what are some of the
issues with replanting large canopy
trees at this
location thank you Madame mayor thank
you CEO we yes go ahead Council atopis I
just add to some of that firstly I
just want to say that I can't speak on
behalf of all the council but I I think
it would be pretty I would be
shocked if anyone did share this that we
really do understand the anxiety that
people go through I'll explain my
situation for being able to say that
I've had two shops with a level crossing
removal being close enough to it that it
impacts I've also lived in a house near
a level crossing removal so I do know
genuinely what it feels like and the
impact that it can have on you and the
dealings that you have to go through
with the
lxrp but in saying that just in
response to the two for one just for
bit of background when this was first
introduced to council and the CEO can
correct me if I'm wrong the two for
one offer on vegetation was originally
anywhere in Victoria or possibly even
just Metro Melbourne and Council then
said no no want a two for one return
they said look it probably won't happen
along the corridor directly but we can
promise you it ended up settling on a 2
for1 within glena so just a little bit
of background on where we started that
and then what we got to and just for
that just so that you have that
information on some of the things that
Council has been doing in the background
when trying to negotiate with these
other projects that come into our area
sorry I just want to
clarify that might be the case but that
wasn't
that I'm sorry there's no opportunity to
ask a question now thank
you we will now move on to item four of
tonight's agenda which is confirmation
of minutes of previous
meetings do I have a
mov councilor M and do I have a
second councelor
klac councelor SM would you like to
speak today look I think the item
speaks for itself the minutes of the
previous meetings are in the agenda
councelor
KLA no thank you mayor does anyone wish
to speak against that motion any other
speakers on that motion would the Mover
like to s
up nothing to add thank you mayor I
would now like to put that to the vote
all those in favor that's carried
unanimously item five is the reception
and reading of petitions and Joint
letters there are no petitions or joint
letters to be made and we'll move on to
item six of the
agenda item six is reports by delegates
appointed by Council to various
organizations are there any councilors
who wish to submit a report to the
meeting councelor
atopis so sorry it's fresh off
because on my way to the meeting
today I did have a metropolitan
transport For meeting so I did
attend that first up I was
got sworn in I suppose or voted in to
be the cycling Ambassador for about 4
months because that's about how much we
have left on Council so that should be
fun whilst I'm on there I we did
have a meeting and I thought it was
really and I will share this with all of
council especially our officers but our
councilors as well there was some a
report for sorry I should say a project
for rmit around transport usage
versus development effectively and if
there's actually been the right type of
Service delivery for where Apartments
have been going and have been delivered
so you can actually you can actually
go on to this site that they've
developed at rmit and actually click on
glena itself it'll show you where the
developments are and have the movements
of people on public transport and so
forth increased they did highlight
that the increased capacity that we've
seen hasn't actually been from increase
services so much as it has been from the
reduction in seats in trains for
example and more standing room and those
sorts of things so it it would be
some data that would be worthwhile us
looking into and diving into so that we
can understand how to best Advocate to
the government on the changes that we
need within our public transport system
so that was all the report I had on
the MTF Metropol transport For thank
you Council atopis anyone else wants
your councelor C just a quick question
to counselor anthon in relation to
that report is it possible to get
that website or whatever you're
included in the minutes for people or is
it not
public I I I don't know yet I'll try
to get as much information from the
Metropol and transport for and then
I'm happy to table something at the next
meeting that can have actually links
for our residents to have a look at
it as well thank you we will now proceed
to item seven which is reports from from
committees and records of assembly
may I have a mover councelor esakov may
I have a
second councilor SM Council esakov yes
thank you Madame mayor I'll speak to
arts and culture and Community grants
which are the Committees that I sit on
arts and culture we held a meeting on
the 12th of March we discussed
council's event planning into the future
we're going to be badging that as
fresh affordable and agile new name
meaning that we will see a new suite of
programming events that will be
affordable to the community and agile in
terms of weather and other influences
that arise from time to time with
regards to our events there this is an
approach that's been shaped by the
Community Vision 2040 the council plan
and the community well-being plan
Russell Fletcher who is our team leader
for arts and culture presented an
exciting range of programs
and that included local and independent
theater Productions workshops for
children and adults play readings
screenings and talks Cabaret style shows
by diverse artists a musical named
swinging Christmas that will be held in
the auditori and a 12 Days of
Christmas program all of which was
positively very positively received by
the committee we also received a smary
of recent events including the
international women's day show called
broad that we held in the theatrette the
opening night for photo 2024 which is
part of the Statewide photoo 2024 photo
photography Festival the under the
stars in Packa Park where over 6,000
people attended was a beautiful weather
night which is much appreciated from
above the storytelling festival at
the libraries during February and March
the Luna New Year 2024 that was held at
the auditori Carol's in the gardens
which unfortunately due to extreme
weather conditions on that day had to be
canceled at the very last minute the
lighting of the minora the devali
Festival of Lights at Buran reserve the
talking shops exhibition in the gallery
and the Sunday sessions in the gallery
the external committee members were
thanked for their contributions given
their term ended on the 7th of June
however it was raised at the meeting by
councilor parasol that it might be
possible to extend their membership in
line with other committees one in
particular that he was on it was then
decided to invite the members to remain
on board until the end of the council
term which is only an extra 3 or 4
months the community grants committee
meeting there were five facility hire
grants approved five youth for
excellence awards granted and they
included gymnastics World Cup in
Portugal a cross country championship in
Aman weightlifting championship in
Zealand music Masters Camp Smit in the
USA and National Triathlon aqu aquab
don't know how to say it aquathlon
it's really tongue twisted that one
championships in wa a really diverse
number of sporting genres there
a small Grant approval was approved
an extension to the acquittals of
earlier grants given to gen to genen the
glena artist Society the Jewish library
of Australia and the glena Adult
Learning Center Harmony Day event which
had to be cancelled in February due to
weather damage and will now be held this
month thank you thank you councilor
esakov that upcoming program sounds
delightful councelor
smoo thank you Madame mayor and I'll
speak to the other two advisory
committees for which we have reports the
Strategic transport advisory committee
and the community engagement advisory
committee both of which I am on
and I'm sure that councilor who
unfortunately can't be here tonight
would have had much to say about
strategic advisory committee and I hope
that I cover it to her satisfaction
the main thing that we actually did for
the Strategic transport advisory
committee is actually have a discussion
about the refresh of the integrated
transport strategy which has come to
its end after four years and is now
being refreshed and I think the
conversation the brainstorm of ideas
about the theme for the integrated
transport strategy it really showed
the the benefits of having an advisory
committee that the diversity of the
committee those who wanted to talk
about pedestrian movement those who
want to talk about cycling those want to
talk about public transport and also
someone who talked about special
Mobility needs in wheelchair that
came out in the conversation and I have
to say I've been to many committed me
now but I came away from that meeting
thinking fantastic I'm so glad that we
have this advisory committee and
these particular members of the
committee so the brainstorm of ideas
after a presentation of the overview of
of the thoughts and the themes was about
the themes and ideas about movement
about place about safety and about
sustainability and that was all very
valuable input which has been
taken to account in the development of
the draft integrated transport
strategy refresh which went out to the
community so in terms of closing the
loop that's something that we like to do
and I'm sure that will be communicated
and then available also for the
committee members to see the next
advisory committee I want to talk about
was the committee engagement advisory
committee and again a as per normal
there will be presentations about
current live Community engagement
activities that are happening and there
was the discussion there about the
community voice refresh which is a panel
that we have which seeks to be
representative so that surveys can be
run and that provides additional
more representative feedback back not
just putting out particular items and
also talking about the urban Forest
tree canopy local law engagement
program really importantly we come
to a point where there was a need to
refresh the community engagement
framework and that was run through a
codesign process addressing things
like what's the vision what are the
three to five principles that Council
should embed what factors should
triggle a council letting engagement
program so some really again really
useful feedback from a diverse range of
people and thank you to all of those
advisor committee members for their
import thank you Council SM anyone wish
to speak against that motion any other
speakers on the motion would the M like
to s
up nothing to add okay I will put that
to the vote then that's all those in
favor that's carried unanimously 7.2 is
cords of assemblies may I have a
mover councelor klac as
printed and councelor esof councelor
klac nothing to it councelor
esakov nothing from me anybody wish
should speak against that motion any
other speakers on the motion councelor K
would you like to s up no I put that
to the vote all those in favor that's
carried
unanimously we'll now move on to item
8 which is Officer reports and item 8.1
is the proposed
20242 budget and I will move that U may
I have a second to councelor SM thank
you we are pleased to present the
proposed
20242 budget the recommendation in this
report is to commence the statutory
process and seek Community feedback on
this proposed budget Council provides a
huge range of services and facilities
for our community all contributing to
ensuring this is a healthy
well-connected and livable place for all
delivering services to support the
health and well-being of our community
is what councils do and it's why we are
here at Clara Council we deliver more
than 120 valued Services which all in
different ways help build a connected
and inclusive community many of these
services aren't as visible as the truck
collecting your rubbish or our roads and
foot paaths but they're there and
arguably just as important because they
contribute to a healthy inclusive and
resilient community at every stage of
life like many councils and businesses
across Victoria and Australia it's
becoming tougher to operate we aren't
immune to the impacts of Rapid inflation
and the rising costs of delivering
projects and services at the same time
our revenue is shrinking in real terms
due to rate capping balancing Community
expectations with the economic
environment presents a real risk to our
long-term Financial sustainability it's
not lost on us or our community that we
are facing these challenges at the same
time our communities feeling the impact
of rising cost and inflation and paying
record ss of stamp Duty and land tax
given the critical role of councils in
fostering Community Health and
well-being we need to talk more about
how crucial are counil are and the role
we can and should play in this budget
Council continues to address these
challenges we focus on using rate paay
Revenue responsibly and generating
additional income where possible so that
we can invest in maintaining and
improving our community services
infrastructure and Facilities our
guiding principles are to ensure access
equity and
sustainability this approach is also
confirmed in our long-term Financial
strategy rate increase have been kept at
2.75% in line with the Victorian
government's fairgo rate system the
government accepted the recommendation
of the ESS essential Services Commission
regarding the cap which is equal to the
forecast conser price index for
2425 over the past 18 months we have
undertaken significant analysis to
understand our long-term Financial
sustainability challenges and the
options to address them the work
highlighted options for increasing
Revenue through borrowings philanthrophy
rates and fees as well as options for
decreasing expenditure in response
Council has recast our 10year Capital
Works program and undertaken efficiency
review of our operating budget this
results in Savings in our 2425 forecast
and in the 2425 budget we also bench
marked user fees against other councils
and undertook a comprehensive Revenue
review with stakeholders to identify
opportunities and prioritize them based
on their feasibility and impact for
short medi and long term we now have a
clearer picture and better understanding
of the financial commitments and
constraints that are impacting Council
over the next 10 years I might just get
an extension may I have a move councilor
SM C may I have a second councelor two
minutes thank you councilor atopos
all those in favor
that's carried unanimously thank you
councilors in comparison to our peers
glena has the lowest rates per
assessment we are cost efficient in the
delivery of services and have
continually used available funds to
invest in facilities services and spaces
for the community rather than delivering
annual surpluses the outcome of
continued investment is that Council
draws on its cash Reserve we have
prepared a draft 2024 budget that
delivers programs in responds to our key
strategies and projects aligned to our
strategic goals Council will invest any
available Surplus in capital works and
debt Redemption so we can continue to
deliver high quality services and
projects while holding our our while our
cash holding remains at low levels we
are also working to ensure that adequate
levels of cash reserves are set aside
for funding council's open space
contract deposits employee entitlements
and deposits relating to residential Age
Care together these approaches ensure
that we are continuing to be a prudent
Financial Manager meeting our
responsibilities to the
community the 2024 25 budget seeks to
respond to the five strategic directions
of our council plan 2021 and 25 the
budget also details the resources
required to fund the large range of
services we provide to the community it
details includes details of capital
expenditure allocations to improve and
renew our physical infrastructure
buildings and operational Assets in
addition it includes details of how we
intend to invest in technology and other
improvements as well that will enable us
to continue to deliver high quality
responsive and accessible services at a
reasonable cost our Focus for the next
year is to continue to follow through on
the commitments made in the council plan
the budget strikes the right balance
between ambition or new initiatives
maintaining Quality Service delivery and
remaining financially sustainable and it
puts us in the best possible position to
keep providing the valued services our
diverse Community value and rely on and
I support this recommendation thank you
councilor Schmo thank you Mayor Kate
I wanted to start by saying that that
in item 8.8 tonight we'll actually be
talking about a submission to the
federal Parliament inquiry into local
sustain government sustainability and
that I think very much relates to the
constraints that are around the budget
that we put together each year and the
long-term Financial commitments that we
can make so in an effort not to repeat
too much of the detail that you have
shared with us Council Kate I do want to
just remind people in more simplistic
terms that to remain sustainable our
revenue must exceed our costs and our
revenue is driven very heavily by rates
and then fees and service charges and
obviously some grants if they're
going towards operating
things costs obviously related to the
service we deliver and and we're
constantly listening to community about
what is important to them it's really
important for Council to actually have a
surplus each year one to to M remain
viable and to be responsible but two to
recognize it that we need that excess
money each year to actually reinvest
and a lot of that reest will be in terms
of encap investment in terms of
the infrastructure that we need
either facilities that Community value
such as open space sporting facilities
or the services that Council need
wants to deliver because we've seen that
the community needs it so that's how the
financial equation Works what I do want
to say is when the recommendation is to
take this draft budget to the community
so it's not the final budget it will be
coming back to counselors and while
we don't hear from thousands of people
in in terms of feedback about the
budget we do really really do want to
hear from people and so last year we
undertook quite a significant piece of
community engagement with I think
probably the largest feedback that we've
had certainly in my term which was
called our prod is our future which ran
from September to December and that
gave really clear feedback from a lot of
people obviously not necessarily
representative but there were some very
clear themes about what was really
important to our community and that
Community engagement has helped
influence the different emphasis in the
current draft budget before us
recognizing the importance of the
community in order of priority from that
one open space two Recreation three
roads foot paths cycling for Waste
which fits in very much to the roads
rubbish and rates waste was
number four five was liaries and six was
climate action so in this report from
the officers I do thank them for
actually showing how we listen to the
feedback and closing that Loop and again
I'd like to thank community members for
taking the time to give us the feedback
and participating in that Community
engagement so I personally have some
areas of the budget as I say it's a
draft that I think personally need to be
tweaked but I'm really really Keen to
hear from the community about your
feedback on the draft as it stands
and then we look forward to this coming
back to counselors and us making a final
decision so that staff are very clear
about where money will be spent over the
coming year thank you
thank you councelor anyone wish to speak
against that motion any other speakers
councelor
esakov yes thanks Madam mayor much of
what I'm going to say has been said so
I'll skim through it as quickly as I can
but as we've discussed the
2.75% rate cap this year and as much
as the community probably appreciates
that there is rate capping it does
make it difficult for councils at the
same time because what we do goes up
differently to CPI which is what the
rate capping is based on that is like
comparing what we do to a basket of
groceries if you
like it's it's pretty much based on
household inflation household
products and categories that households
buy so it's clearly very different to
what council does and there has been
much done over recent years as you have
already said Madame mayor to ensure
that Council remains financially
sustainable and lots of advice has
been received lots of hard decisions
have been made and will continue to be
made no doubt and we have recast the
10year capital Works program accordingly
taken the efficiency review that I think
you mentioned which has resulted in some
savings this has given us a better
understanding of the financial
commitments and constraints that will
impact us over the next 10 years as
usual we have maintained the lowest
rates per assessment in comparison to
our peers that we obviously are a
very cost-efficient Council in the
delivery of services and continue to
prioritize investment in facilities
services and spaces for the community
rather than delivering annual surpluses
waste charges as everyone knows are
based on a cost recovery basis and
are proposed to increase accordingly in
line with those cost
increases 35 million plus is going to
be spent proposed to be spent on
asset renewals upgrades and expansions
in a number of areas such as
Recreation and open space renewal
projects Community safety Community
facilities to name a few personally I'd
like to see more spent on foot paths and
local roads which is quite a high
priority a top one of the top priorities
of the community but we know that
this is only a draft budget so it's not
set in stone just yet so tweaks and
changes can be made and as Council as
mood said the our priorities our
future consultation we received an
amazing response from the community and
I too want to hear from those people on
this budget to see if they believe that
we have addressed this priorities and
the future of this Council and the
direction we're going we often hear
that we should concentrate on roads
rates and rubbish but there are core
Services of council not the least of
which includes recreational facilities
Parks Gardens open space libraries
maternal Health Centers Che is my time
nearly up
would you like an extension coun just
another minute another minute can I have
a move councelor councelor Jang all
those in favor
thank youed unanimously so not the least
of which include recreational
facilities Parks Gardens open space
libraries MCH immun immunizations
Community Support Youth Services senior
support Children's Services aquatic
facilities food safety and of course
supporting our community groups and
organizations who provide another again
a broad range of services to the
community and that's just a few of the
things that we do so managing cost
shifting from other levels of government
is is always a continuing battle as
we're going to hear when we move on to a
later item we've been advocating for
change for years to little Avail
or no avail in the meantime many of the
things we do that have been partly
funded by other levels of government
government are costing us therefore the
rate payers more than they should as
our share increases and theirs doesn't
and I do implore the Community as I
said a moment ago who put into our
Comm our future our priorities our
future to respond to this budget please
respond because your your input is
important we receive very few budget
submissions each year and I'm not
undermining those they are important to
hear from but we do need to hear from a
really broad range of the community
with your time is up counil thank you
any other
speakers councelor
mcge Madam mayor thank you mad May I'll
start by thanking Council officers for
putting this budget together this is a
budget that we have to put out it's not
the budget we want to put out we would
much prefer to be putting out a budget
that actually reflects all the needs of
the residents of Glen Eira provides all
the services to the residents of Glen Eira
and expands the services to the
residents of Glen Eira but unfortunately
we can't do that we have to live within
our means now probably outs over 60% of
Revenue comes from rates but I do know
the state government takes nearly three
more than three times that in land tax
and stamp Duty and then imposes a
rate cap on us of
2.75% which is still below inflation so
what we do with that money is very very
good not only we the as we've heard the
laws per assessment of in
rates from metropolit Melbourne we're
the third lowest rating Council in the
whole of Victoria I think Wellington sh
maybe the the lowest but what we do in
Metropolitan Melbourne the pro the
facilities we provide we currently
building our Cari Memorial Pool a six
green star rated pool one of only a few
a handful in the world we lead the
sector in what we do with the very
limited amount of finances we've got
and I'll speak a lot more about that in
item 8.8 our submission to the federal
parliament's inquiry and to local
government sustainability thank you
Madame mayor thank you councelor McGee
any other
speakers there no other speakers I will
just s up and I would also like to
reiterate that U I encourage the
community to please provide us
feedback it's really important to hear
what you have to say and U your
suggestions I will now put that to the
vote all those in favor and that's
carried
unanimously moving moving on to item 8.2
which is the financial management report
do I have a
move councelor MC do has printed as
printed and do I have a second councilor
schm councilor mcky Madame may as we as
we see time and time again that I
think the words over the years has been
Steady As She Goes it reflects
exactly where we're sitting financially
it talks about open space Revenue it
talks about our expenditure it talks
about where we are at a moment in time
now the report itself is very expl
explains very well where we sit I
have no questions quarms or or
concerns with the report and therefore I
have no problems moving it and I look
for it to be endorsed thank you thank
you councelor MC councelor schore
thank you may Cade and councelor
McGee I just wanted to I guess note a
couple of things that are quite early on
in the report page 2011 but it is worth
reading the detail the forecast
Surplus for this financial year if it
continues on that trend of increasing a
couple $1,000 every every report
we're on track hopefully to bring
have a surplus of 9 million at the end
of the year so that's a really good
outcome given probably this time last
year we were concerned about our forast
liquidity actually going below that
very sensitive zone of 100% and now the
forecast is 117% because of the timing
of some of our draw Downs and the
capital Works has has stayed steady
steady in terms of 73 million as
always I do like to comment on our open
space fund glena has or had the
lowest amount of open space both per
capita and the smallest proportion of
people living within 400 meters of open
space and we know as we have
increasing density happening and people
are losing their private open space how
incredibly important is that we do fill
those open space gaps so that everyone
is living particularly if they're
living in high density or medi density
with very little open space but they are
living near public open space so as has
been mentioned previously by yourself
the open space Reserve as one of
our reserves is not currently held in
separate cash so it's not a separate
bank account but we are ensuring that
it is obviously accounted for very
carefully and the closing balance at
the moment is almost $22 million with
4 million committed so that that will
leave the next well us hopefully to
spend the 4 million before the end of
our term and provide some more open
space in a gap area but also a
reasonable s not as much as as we had
to spend from the reserves but leave
the next term of council to continue on
that process of implementing the Open
Space strategy so I think we're
tracking well as councelor McGee has
said and being responsible and
despite the fact that our the main
source of our income is kept well below
the inflation rate we've managed to
continue delivering services and
continue with our capital investment to
look after our community as best we can
thank you councilor any speakers against
that motion any other
speakers would the M like to s up
Madame be was looking forward to sming
up but Council samud has just done that
for me thank you have will now put that
to the vot all those in
favor that's carried unanimously moving
on to item
8.3 which is 23 La Lauren lauran Street
in Bentley do I have a m Council Jang as
printed no madame mayor would you like
to read any changes that are proposed
I'd like to move on alternative motion
as printed with the following changes
to the permit
conditions under the section headed
Amendment plans number
two I
propose that the six point is changed to
a sectional diagram for the
northern ballast trting of the rooftop
Terrace of darling one that suff
efficiently limits views to the
habitable room windows of number 25
Lauren Street and any further mitigation
measures and also the seventh point is
changed to a sectional diagram for the
northern side of the rooftop Terrace of
dwelling 2 where there is no pter box to
the habitable room windows and SC and
and screwed private open space era of
number 25 L state that sufficiently
limits views and any further mitigation
measures yes do I have a second for that
motion councelor
isov councelor
Jen yeah thanks Madame mayor these
minor amendments are just for accuracy U
but my main point on this item is that
this application which seeks to
develop three triple story dwellings in
the residential girls Zone is
considered appropriate and reasonable
the site is located with the bentle
major activity center only about 200 M
from the shops and 300 M from the train
station in a location like this housing
diversity is expected and encouraged so
that the existing services and
infrastructure could be used more
efficiently and also actually we have
already seen a variety of property Types
on this street including detached and
semi- detached the single story
dwellings double story dwellings and
also a four story apartment building so
I'm comfortable to support a notice of
dision to Grant the planning permit for
the application with the officer's
recommended conditions thank you thank
you councelor Jen councelor
isakov yes thanks Madame mayor is a
high density area of the Bentley
shopping center Precinct it has been
approved by Council and as such we allow
up to four stories of development around
this neighborhood a lot of the new
developments in the neighborhood are
four of four-story heights this one
even though 13.5 M Heights are
allowed it is only applying for 10
.09 m in height site coverage also
instead of the allowable 60% its
site coverage proposed is
47.5% similarly the site permeability
is 47.6 and is only required to be 20%
so it's going over and above in many
areas including some of the most
sensitive setbacks which are towards 21
Moran Street which is three units that
who have their private open space on the
boundary of number
23 and obviously for the reason being
for the maxim amount of Northern Sun
they will lose some sunlight at some
times of the year but the time that we
are required to take those measurements
are the Equinox March and September not
winter sun unfortunately
and through those periods it complies
with very slight difference I think
it was 9:00 a.m. of one of the units
but to address the issue of
overshadowing there the southern
setbacks proposed far exceed the
requirements that are in the planning
scheme the apartment block to the West
on marho Street will lose some of its
morning sunlight hence many OB ctions
from that block that is also a
four-story block that's been built
there but the proposed setbacks there
too have been in excess of what other
what they are required to be what
what will be of concern and
understandably so is the visual bulk but
that that visual bulk will be felt by
the neighboring properties but in a in
an area where there will be intensive
development in a resident Cal growth
Zone which incidentally I'm sure
everyone knows but these sorts of
densities have been pushed Upon Us by
state planning provisions and their
expectations that local government areas
and all of us not just Glen Eiraall of us
have to allow for the growth required
for the population increase over over
the years into the future and you know
as such there's not not really a good
outcome you know in an Ideal World you'd
be starting again and have lots more
separ ation between developments and
between properties which would allow
light and sun to to be at everyone's
benefit not the way it is looking at the
moment would you like an extension all
thank you thank you any other speakers
against that
motion any
speakers on the
motion no I might ask the M whether you
would like to s up nothing to add I
will then put that to the vote all those
in
favor
that's
yeah yeah that's carried
unanimously I will move on to 8.4 272 to
2780 Center Road in Bentley may I have a
mover please councilor McGee M may not
as printed
happy to read my yes go ahead please
I move that
as printed with the numbering for
conditions after number 16 to be
subsequentially numbered until number
26 thank you councelor McGee do I have a
second for that
item come councelor put your hand
up
councelor councelor
thank you Council smoo Madame may
this is a an application for a
alterations and and extensions to a a
property in a commercial one zone it Al
it's also in a design and development
overlay schedule 8 and has a parking
overlay schedule 2 it's in a major
activity center on Center Road it's
amongst many other businesses it's
low in scale low in size and over the
years actually I think there's been
three I can think of three or four other
businesses that have actually occupied
this building the building complies
with the Glen Eira planning scheme it
complies with State planning laws it
has gotten the ticket of approval from
the Department of Transport our parks
and Gardens have no issues with the
Crossovers waste and Disposal waste
department have no issues with waste
it ticks the Box it needs to tick to
go forth and have a permit issued there
are very very little to no grounds for
refusal as part of the assessing
the application the obors raised some
very valid objection points some of
which were not able to be considered as
objections to a planning permit it is
not up to us to determine the
implications of a business in relation
to other businesses it's not up to us to
determine what is the right use for
that property in that it is a commercial
business that is sells a legal
product we advertise where we need to
where we have to legislatively we have
to advertise to adjoining properties and
we do that we can't advertise widely and
broadly throughout the area where I know
we've been it's been criticized that
people didn't know if we were on this
occasion to advertise this application
widely the applicant could easily argue
that why are we treating this
application different to every other
application and then we would be at
default for for doing that so we they're
very strict guidelines that we have to
abide by signs were placed on the
building the we went through the the
planning process officers have presented
a report tonight I seen no issues where
or opportunities that arise to actually
knock this application back like I
say it's a major activity center it's
low in scale low in vole it is on a
major and a a very busy road and that
road over the years will become busier
there is no way we can actually say oh
it should be right Center Road and
Glen Eira will become more congested as we
move forward we know that before Co
we were getting up to 2,000 new
residents into the city of Glen Eira each
and every year and we're starting to
return to that number we're starting
to see developments more in apartment
buildings being built in those activity
centers which is where we want those
sorts of buildings to be built that
Medi density around Railway stations
Madame mayor the the application of
8.4 fits the criteria that it should it
fits the Glenora planning scheme and it
complies with State planning codes
Madame mayor I look forward to the
second adding some of her wisdom thank
you councelor McGee councelor schm I'd
like to reserve my right to respond
thank you anyone wish to speak against
that motion any other speakers on that
motion counc SM would you like to
unreserve your ah yes thank you thank
you m look I just wanted to
acknowledge that that we have 29
objections received as part of the
notification process so while we
would have followed the statute rules
about who to advise in terms of
notifications whether that's letters
and signs clearly a good
cross-section of the community did
find out about the application and
provide their feedback but as councilor
McGee has said so I'll avoid repeating
everything when it comes to what we
can consider we can only consider
matters or objections the details that
relate to planning aspects such as
amenity overshadowing traffic and
those types of things anything that is
related to the actual building so
subsequent building permit or
business types of things are not things
that can be considered as part of this
planning application so I won't add any
more because I think Council McGee
did an excellent job of of outlining
how our hands are tied in the sense
of what the officers have done is is
created a whole range of conditions to
try and make sure that it complies as
much as possible with the way that we
want to see this major activity center
along Center Road developing over
time to become a major well more
major now hub for people's living and
working and shopping and
entertainment and that fits very much
with all of the Strategic urban planning
that we've done in the the Bentley
structure plan as well that is in the
process now but also the housing
strategy that Council developed to to
determine where we should be
providing higher and medi density in
our municipality to make sure that
people have homes which is really
important thank you thank you councilor
schm Council esakov I wonder if I could
ask a question Madame mayor yes go ahead
qu my question relates to the fact
that there is no permit
required here
for let me just get this the right way
around just a
moment there's no permission needed to
use this land as a bottle shop but there
is for the sale of packaged liquor I'm
just wondering what on Earth the
difference is they sound the same to me
and just wondering what the difference
is
there now through the May
the use of the land as a shop is
different from the packaged liquor
requirements in that the considerations
and decision guidelines have focused
predominantly on the con the liquor
aspect under one and under the shop
Provisions under the Zone where it talks
about the table of uses the decision
guidelines are focused around well there
weren't any decision guidelines around
the condition the section one use
uses which this would fall under that
category so those liquor
considerations don't get considered
under the Zone Provisions I hope that
makes sense thank you Miss
Z and does that answer your
question Council ISO I'll get a more
detailed explanation I
think I might ask the over would you
like to s
up M just briefly sming up someone
who is within a couple hundred meters of
a a Dan Murphy store I've always
found for probably more than 10 years
now I've always found Dan Murphy to be a
very good tenant to that that building
they're very considerate to neighbors
I've had dealings with them and in
relation to their trolleys and that
being left on the street they've reacted
very very quickly they're very
they're very concerned about their
image and how that and the amenity to
the area where they're in they want to
be wanted there they want to be a part
of community
and I've found them to be very very
good to deal with over the years thank
you thank you councilor M I will now put
that to the V all those in
favor that is carried
unanimously we'll now move on to item
8.5 which is the amendment c247 Bentley
East Neighborhood Activity Center
planning controls PL panel report
councelor Jang as
printed and may I have a second
councelor esakov councelor Jang thank
you Madame mayor this report is to
seek council's adoption of amendment
c247 following a favorable planning
panel report on council's proposal to
introduce build build form controls in
bentle East into Glen Eira planning scheme
this amendment applies to all land in
the commercial one mixed use and public
use zones within the Bentley East
neighbor Hood Activity Center there are
currently no specific planning
Provisions regulating the form of future
development for the bentle East
Neighborhood Activity Center aside from
the general assessments required by the
Gara planning scheme the absence of such
Provisions creates a challenging
envirment for decision makers when
assessing planning permit applications
resulting development that may not be in
keeping with the fut Future Vision for
the center the introduction of new
planning controls will provide land
owners and also the broader Community
with certainty about the height form and
designs of the new development of the
center continues to grow amendment
c247 was exhibited in September and
October 2023 and attracted five written
submission both in support of in support
of and opposing the amendment in
November 20 23 Council resolved to refer
the amendment to an independent planning
panel and and in March
2024 Council received the report from
the panel in favor of the amendment so
as recommended by the panel I'm happy to
support the amendment be adopted as
exped subject to the removal of text
that duplicates other Provisions in the
planning scheme thank you thank you
councilen
COV thanks Madam mayor the main
change here is The panel's View on
whether building Heights should be
referenced in meters and stories or in
meters only their preference is
meters only as it needs to make it
perfectly clear with no confusion for
example when greater floor to floor
Heights are needed to support commercial
uses officers agree even though
including a reference to stories in
Brackets makes for Less confusion and a
clearer outcome for the community
their preferences meters only because
the greater floor to floor Heights that
are required sometimes Alters that
number of
stories
nevertheless the officers also
note that planning notice 60 height and
setbacks controls in activity centers
prefers building Heights expressed in
meters too rather than stories please
thank you thank you Council esakov does
anyone wish to speak against that motion
any other speakers on the
motion councelor
mcke Madame mayor thank you and as being
a a ward counselor up that way and Liv
there most of my life this is the
fifth the fifth stage in this process
we started off last year where we asked
the the minister to allow us to prepare
the really prepare the amendment we
notified our community we put it out
for you know consultation we referred
it to a planning panel we're now
assessing the planning panel's
assessment and recommendations and if
endorsed tonight it then goes off to the
minister and hopefully the minister will
see what we see and see what the
planning what the the panel report
said and generally we would find that
the minister would most likely approve
and apply the the directions from the
the panel it's it was a very easy
process this particular process for
East Bentley because it made sense and
when talking to residents of East
Bentley when you explain yes there
was a bit of uneasiness about the
heights because in the past we've had
issues where the two buildings on the
the Northeast and Southeast corner of
East Boundary Road and Center Road Ro
were a five and a six-story building and
both went to vcat whereas Council wanted
to keep them councilor wanted those
buildings to be lower and vcat set those
Heights so in fact vcat was actually
pseudo imposing the right height limits
throughout there and now we see through
the report that is pretty consistent for
six story is and it is right it you must
where possible push that envelope to get
the need we have to accommodate housing
we have to accommodate people in
affordable housing now not everyone can
afford a 600 s met block of land in East
Bentley but I know of many not many few
of my close friends who have sold those
600 meter blocks and actually have moved
into the apartments on the corner of
East boundry Road and they're loving it
because they're still in their Community
they're close to an activity center
they're close to open space and they're
close to and they're staying Within
their communities this gives us an
opportunity because it gives us
certainty we know now what what to
expect it was interesting that the
the hotel in the corner the East fley
the boundary Hotel was wasn't
Heritage listed we we thought I thought
it would be but what it allows for
that site is probably an opportunity for
change an opportunity to do something
that is I think needed something that
would benefit the broader community
of penara like I said earlier there was
over 2,000 people moving into our city
before Co and we're getting back to
those numbers and we have to be able to
accommodate that thenir I support the
measure thank you councelor
McGee would you like to s up Council
of any other
speakers thank thank you m look I
just wanted to comment and thank you for
everyone who's spoken before me about
I guess the process the panel report was
quite detailed there've been some some
adaptions and and edits made and
the vote tonight is about adopting the
planning scheme and I just wanted to
raise I guess the concerns that I've
raised each time we've talked about some
of our major activity centers that run
east west about the impact that
they have in terms of overshadowing in
terms of that amenity both on the street
itself because of the fact that we can
only use the Equinox controls not the
winter solstice and also the impact
that it will have on properties to the
South and I think that just needs to go
on record we have undertaken advocacy
to the state government about the fact
that the planning controls should
probably be different for north south
roads to East West Roads when it comes
to major activity centers because these
are the areas where as Council McGee
said we will be having the highest
density which means generally the the
tallest buildings so I hold those
concerns none of none of this has
actually addressed those concerns
particularly where it's a join I
guess Heritage properties where people
won't be able to build out so there are
not going to necessarily be nice
transitions where it steps down down
to the one or two levels that are
allowed in the neighborhood residential
Zone I'll consider that being putting
it on record and that I those
concerns are still there I recognize
that with' done and through this
process met the requirements the state
government has about where we put or
provide the opportunity for developers
to put more housing in high
density so that the municipality can
absorb more people thank you thank you
councilor SM any other
speakers Council Jang would you like to
s up thanks councelor es councelor
M and councelor Z for adding a wisdom
to into this I have nothing to add
thanks thank you I'll now put that to
the vote all those in favor that's
carried unanimously 8.6 is Heritage work
program update
2024 can I have a
mover councelor isov as
printed and may I have a
second councelor atopis thank you
counselor isakov yeah thanks m mayor
I suppose you could sort of say this
as a bit of housekeeping it's not
really it's it's an update on our
heritage work that we've been
carrying out over a number of years
there are currently 36 precincts around
glena and 180 individual places that now
have Heritage cover and that includes
3,800 properties in all including the
precincts it's anticipated that
another 11 100 will be included
within the next 12 to 18 months and
as upcoming amendments proceed through
the process that they need to go through
over the past year we've adopted
Heritage reviews for corfield East and
Glen Huntley McKinnon corfield North and
Elston Wick structure plan area and soon
to be reported to council as the
corfield structure plan area and then
soon after that we'll be looking at
corfield South and garden Vale which are
nearing completion and that really
ss it up thank you thank you C
councilor
atopis thank you mayor Cade and
really there's not much more to to add
other than that this Heritage
reviewing needs to continue within
the city of glena and one of the key
reasons I think is when you compare it
to other municipalities
it's great that the work got started
I think it may have actually kicked off
prior to me being elected in
2016 by that Council was continued
in that term is continuing in this term
and probably will continue in terms
following and it's important that we
review all the different areas and go
through I mean dates and times and
significance do change as time
progresses and therefore the disparity
that we may be seeing will be
narrowed so it's great work and I do
support it every time the Team of
ours put something to us for
consideration and support thank you
thank you any speakers against that
motion any other speakers on that
motion would Council isov like to s up
nothing to add thank you I'll now put
that to the vote all those in favor that
is carried unanimously 8.7 is community
grants and we have a move Council Jang
is that as
printed and we have a second councel
councelor Jen thanks Madame mayor
so councelor Esco has already gone
through the key points of this report
when she was speaking to the
committee grounds and Awards
adversary committee meeting on the
26th of March so I'm not going to repeat
that but just want to congratulate
all the organizations and individuals
listed in this report especially sent my
congratulations to the youth accellence
grounds recipients so I encourage
councilors to endorse the
recommendation of the adversary
committee thank you thank you councelor
Jan councelor Schmo nothing to add thank
you any speak against that motion any
other speakers on the motion Council
Jang would you like to s up I'll put
that to the vote all those in favor
that's carried unanimously I would like
to move a procedural motion to extend
the meeting till 11 p.m. do I have a
second
councilor all those in favor that's
carried unanimously I like to see
enthusiastic counselors when it comes to
ending the time of the
meeting we'll now move on to
8.8 and that's the submission to the
federal parliamentary inquiry into local
government sustainability do I have a
mov councilor McGee is that as printed
no madame may not as printed I'd
happy to read the as printed sorry as
the alterate go ahead that Council
one endorses a submission in attachment
one to the house of Representative
standard Committee in response to the
inquiry into local government
sustainability and two sends a copy of
the submission and attachment one to the
Victorian auditor general and all
federal and state members of parliament
with elates in the city of Glenn
Ira do I have a second councilor schm
councelor m madame May thank you Madame
may this submission it's it's it's
welcoming to be able to make this
submission to the federal Parliament and
they are conducting an inquiry into
local government sustainability local
government sustainability is something
that this Council has been advocating
to both federal and state governments
for a number of years now I note in the
report it says that we were we
played a leading role in the addressing
the everchanging obstacles linked to
long-term sustainability I would
actually go one step further say we
actually led the the conversation
we've led the sector throughout the last
few years the articles that we have
written on local government
sustainability of local government have
been published in the UK Canada
and the responses from those those
organizations in those countries are
saying very similar things some of the
things that we have seen coming out of
the UK for instance the UK were in
the same position we were in probably 10
years ago we're now seeing councils in
the UK going bankrupt actually calling
in government saying we can no longer
run our city and that's that's damning
so for the sake of not asking the
questions and not bringing the
conversation to the table the fear is
that England in glara and The Wider
community of Victoria we could be in a
position in 10 years time just be
looking like what's happening in the UK
which is the the model of which we
follow now the the submission the
federal government submission the
wanting submissions are recommendations
from councils to just a couple of them
the to the financial sustainability and
funding of local government the changing
infrastructure and Service delivery
obligations of local government any
structural impediments to security of
local government workers and
infrastructure and service deliveries
tends to attract and reten retention of
skilled Workforce and you know the role
of Australian government in addressing
issues raised in relation to the above
and other relevant issues now some of
those relevant issues could well be that
the council is this the level of
government that is directly closest to
our
communities we are the the the level of
government that collects around 3 and a
half% of all taxes
and that's amazing when you think 3 and
a half% of all the taxes collected in
Australia are collected by local
government yet onethird of our nation's
infrastructure is maintained by local
government so we're we're really
carrying a fair load and we're doing it
with very little ensure we get we get
grants from from government and we can't
survive without those grants but it is
important that politicians actually
understand
what local government does the services
we provide we don't make profits to give
to shareholders every cent in Surplus
goes into Capital
works every dollar we spend we spend can
only spend that dollar once so if it's
to be put an extra $500,000 into
footpath it's taking $500,000 out of
children services or Age Care
Services would you like an extension
councelor M oh extension why they
already okay 10
minutes all right I'll cut it
five
three three three it's going to take you
five minutes can I have a councilor SM
counselor Jang three minutes three
minutes minutes all those in
favor that's carried unanimously so when
we talk about financial sustainability
I believe that many councils will
make a submission to this without fully
understanding and I'm not degrading or
belittling other councils without fully
understanding their their their their
own positions within their financial
sustainability unless a council is
willing and with CEOs who are capable of
making the decision to say to their
counselors and it's a hard decision to
say and it's a hard conversation to have
we're blessed that we have Rebecca
McKenzie here who was brave enough to
say to us and say to this Council let's
have an independent assessment of our
financial sustainability now that's not
an admission that we don't know what's
happening it's actually being forward
and coming forward and saying let's
bring in someone who will look
forensically at our books at our
Direction at our council plan at our
strategic resources plan and where we're
headed you can't have a strategic plan
without a strategic resource plan do
they match now it's easy to say we can
build that because we've got that but to
have those eyes those independent eyes
who don't care whether our finance
department has put the the information
together or not they will assess it on
what they see as their guidelines and
the information came back to us was
quite it was chilling it was
informing but what it has done it has
set us on a journey that we are now very
very clear as to where we're headed how
we're headed and where we're going to
now we've got the opportunity here to
make the submission to the federal
government so the federal government
also understands not just us but many
many other councils and where they sit
within that that framework we can't just
all of a sudden turn around and say we
can't afford that service anymore we
can't afford this service we must
amalgamate that service with that
service or we drop that all together so
it's like looking at your children and
say which one do you love most do we
love providing children services do we
love providing age care
services do we want to maintain our
parks and Gardens it gets to a point
where the dollar has being spent and you
run out of the dollars so each budget we
do we see we do the absolute best we can
with the money we know we're going to
get but the long-term Financial
sustainability which is controlled by
state and federal governments and to
this Council alone it they've cost
shifted to us $19 million each and every
year so that's $19 million the first $19
million we receive in rates is paying
for the the cost shifting from state
and federal government that is 10% 10%
of our rate income so you could actually
argue that rates in glenar are 10%
higher than they should be because of
what's happening with state and federal
governments we are doing our absolute
best but we are hitting our heads
against a brick wall because there's
some in the community listening but
there are many who are not thank you
councelor McGee
councelor thank you Mayor Kate and
thank you Council McGee unfortunately
this time I will repeat some of what you
said because I really want to underline
it and bold it because you've made some
absolutely fantastic points I'm going to
cover two key things how we actually got
this on the agenda and some
acknowledgements for that and then also
some of the specific points in terms of
our advocacy and the submission that
we're putting to the federal Parliament
inquiry so I want to take us back to
the point not quite so 18 months ago
but 2 years ago when we were having a
discussion as councilors and Council
mcge absolutely recogniz this where
we're starting to think about the longer
term and what that would mean and the
sorts of things that council do because
at the end of the day the rates will
keep on coming in but if they don't
keep up with community's expectations
then what we might still be able to
deliver the services we may not be
delivering them to the level that the
community expects or we may need to be
cutting back and likewise if we don't
have surpluses then it becomes very
difficult to maintain to upgrade
and to create new facilities and
infrastructure for our community as well
so one part of that Financial
sustainability is obviously that
relationship between rate capping and
inflation and Rising costs and that's a
very black and white thing so we can
look at last year where the rate cap was
3 and a half% and there was certainly
points last year the CPI was over seven
so we're talking about cost rising at
Double the rate obviously
different costs rise at different rates
and construction might be rising
differently from the price of of some
food in the supermarket but that was
really obvious I want to give credit to
the fact as our Council McGee said that
we actually went and got external
analysis done that was reported back to
us in terms of cost shifting to local
government at the ordinary council
meeting of 13th of December 2022 so this
has been a long conversation for
us internally as a group of counselors
and then taking that out to the public
and I think at this point Council
McGee was mayor at the time and
absolutely grabbed hold of this and ran
this and without that it probably
wouldn't be on the agenda and as he
points out looking at other countries
like the United Kingdom it needs to be
on the agenda because we don't want to
be in the situation 5 or 10 or 15 years
time that we turn around to people and
say we can no longer deliver this
service or we can no longer maintain it
at at the level that you expect we
actually taking that preemptive action
now to look strategically and that's
the work that was done was looking very
strategically at and to make sure
that we have a model now so that we can
actually look at the impacts of the
decisions that we make in a probably
a more detailed way that than could be
done before making it really clear about
how different things impact so full
credit to I think Council McGee who
probably spoke to half the Mayors and
half the councils if not more Pops all
certainly anyone who accepted his phone
call or returned his phone call he
spoke to every media source that he
could spoke to all the MPS at state and
federal level and this is now on the
agenda at the state level we've had
motions put to the MV which is the
state representative body my
already how many minutes three minutes I
may I have a move councelor Jen coun
McGee all those in
favor that's carried unanimously doe
time for fast when you're having fun
so and also to the National
Conference for local governments as well
so really raising and putting it under
the spotlight being a leader there
Glennon saying we all need to be
discussing it because as Kath MC said we
only get you know less than 4% of the
total tax take and yet there is so much
that is on the shoulders of local
Council deliver we are the level of
government closest to the community
and there is a lot that the community
expects us to do and quite justifiably
so along with all of the analysis and
actually quantifying the impacts
particularly of cost shifting what
we're doing here is actually calling on
the Australian government to do four
things to Advocate to the state
governments to actually have appropriate
rate cap indexation which is not in
every state and territory but it
certainly applies in Victoria that they
need to in include in their modeling
in the decision-making process both the
Conser Price Index but also Council
input costs which don't reflect
household inflation rate which is
what the CPI is based on we we're
calling on them to undertake
comprehensive assessment of the short
medi and long-term Financial
standability of the local government
sector and to also shine that
light on the impact of cost shifting
we're asking them to provide adequate
funding mechanisms to ensure that local
governments can deliver vital Services
effectively so it's not just about our
physical infrastructure but about the
surfaces the glue that we are holding
the community together out and social
cohesion community health and well-being
and all of those things and also
lastly to establish clear performance
metrics and transparency in the funding
aimed at addressing important things
which are crisis across Australia like
housing crisis and really important
things like storm water management
issues and yes they are different
storm water management in
metropolitan area than they are in
rural's areas but they are still very
important to our communities so I
commend the officers for the writing
of this report and continuing that
conversation and thank you again Council
McGee for his passion continuing to
really emphasize the importance of that
so thank you to Sophie Patterson
advocacy lead on this and to Kelly V the
director of customer and
corporate
Affairs thank you Council Miss SM anyone
speak against this motion any other
speakers on the motion councelor
kle look I just wanted to make a few
quick points and I really really hope
I don't repeat anything anybody else has
said I'd first of all like to express
my gratitude to the officers that put
prepared this submission I was
pleased to see the inquiry announced as
it represents an important opportunity
for councils across Australia to
Advocate regarding the erosion of our
funding base and this is not a
short-term problem this has been a
problem that's been going on for many
years and some councils find themselves
in a more difficult position because of
some of their fiscal approaches in
earlier times and I'm particularly aware
that despite the fact that we have a
very tight budget and we don't have the
money we want to spend on the services
and opportunities there are out there
for our community there are many
councils in Australia that are doing it
a lot harder as well I'm thinking of
councils who have had to deal with flood
emergencies and
fires essentially I'm I'm hoping that
we're drawing the community's attention
to this issue local government is as
we always say the government closest to
the people but is also very much taken
for granted and many of the services
that Council provide are there every
morning every day and they're not
necessarily the full Financial
implications of them and the importance
of ma maintaining Financial viability of
local government is not always close to
mind for people so I mean yeah if
a local government's Financial VI
viability is undermined we're unable to
effectively respond to the challenges of
climate change increasing housing the
the challenges of Modern urban planning
social cohesion maintaining our
biodiversity and canopy all of those
issues that we bring to this chamber and
talk about with such passion on a
regular basis so I yeah look I think
it's imperative that our community for
our community safety and well-being that
we have the capacity to respond and I
really encourage our community to
take an interest in this
inquiry thank you coun like any other
speakers on the motion councelor
eanop thank you m and I do also want
to share my congratulations in
terms of what we've put together here
the leading role that we have taken when
it comes to identifying these issues and
and our participation ultimately in
what the federal government has
undertaken with that said I still
have always had have raised issues
with one component
of one everything that we've said and
two even with what we're going to submit
today and I'll just use one of the
responses it's the easiest one it's the
first one to go to it's rate it's on
rate
capping and I don't disagree with
anything of that's been actually written
in the reports actually very accurate
and very good and well prepared
statement in there but if we just look
back prior to 2015 when R capping came
into position Council has its own
decisions to make when it came to what
position it needed to be in charging
rates it was set in that position prior
to
that and thereafter there was no wiggle
room for anyone to make any other
decision other than what the essential
Services Commission gave us to do when
it comes to
rates we time and time again prior to
that date and even after that day pride
prided ourselves of being in the second
lowest or lowest raing
Council and it was often said that
the operating Surplus that we were
aiming for was going to go back into
Community spending which I don't
disagree with but you can't say all of
that without acknowledging that those
decisions had an impact and I I'll use
this analogy I have a mate that has beef
with me he comes up to me and says I've
got this
beef if they can't acknowledge to me
what they're bringing to the table when
they've got that beef with me it'll be
very difficult for me to acknowledge
their beef and actually address the
issue that they have
and that's what's missing is that
acknowledgement to say yeah you know
what we could have actually done a few
things earlier we did it this came in
this has caught us and these are the
issues that we have it's missing in it
it's been missing all the way through
the process and I've consistently raised
it and I've consistently used examples
of just near nearing councils that have
$80 to100 million to spend on their
citizens just purely from Modest
reasonable rate Rises through that same
period so I'm not going to not support
this tonight although I'm speaking like
I'm not going to support it I just want
to highlight that point because I think
that if you go into a stash with
somebody or if you go into which I don't
want to really have but if you really
want to go into a I'm happy for it would
you like an extension
Council minutes counil counil all those
in
favor carried unanimously if you want to
go into a resolute conflict resolution
situation the best thing to do is
actually put your hand up and admit some
of those things and then definitely go
and drill down into this solution stage
when you just go straight to solution in
my view and in my experience I might add
it is quite difficult okay and when
you're not the worst case scenario which
most likely thear isn't then it is not
necessarily taken with its full weight
in Grain so I just
urge that when we do these types of
communications and I'm telling you now
that me personally when I'm speaking to
people I do raise these these issues but
when we do as an
organization I think that we should put
that in there not to rubbish people I'm
part of councils and budget processes
where I haven't put my hand up to
actually say we need to address these
issues this is not about blaming people
this is just about acknowledging so that
when the people that pick up this report
and want to take the actions to solve it
can see that there's been some
acknowledgement there and that was that
won't change a single thing it will help
us in that in that resolution
process thank you councilor atopis any
other speakers no other speakers I might
just add a few points to that there
been some really valid points raised
around the table tonight I would also
like to acknowledge the work that
councilor McGee has done in in this
area and I also would like to
acknowledge the work that has been done
by our officers in putting this
submission together so I do look
forward to a favorable outcome for all
councils with this Federal
parliamentary inquiry councilor McGee
would you like to s up Madame mayor I
will Madame mayor along with the
submission to the the federal
Parliament inquiry into loal government
sustainability
last year the CEO and myself met with
the auditor Victorian auditor general
and after conversations with the
Victorian auditor general and and
hearing his concerns about local
government the auditor general has
now initiated a an audit into the
financial management of local
governments so there's two inquiries
into local government financial
sustainability which will be tabled this
year along with that we met with
members of the Upper House of Victorian
Parliament and with help of councilor
Pennicuik who I'm disappointed is not here
tonight because I know she would speak
patiently on this and she's put a lot of
input into this report we were able
to get the upper housee inquiry to
approve an an inquiry into Local
Government funding and services now
there's three inquiries that will be
tabled this year looking directly at
local government our financial
finances of local government the
services we provide it'll look at
value for money it'll look at if what
we are saying is true or if what we are
saying is false there will be three
separate inquiries and that's why I move
that our submission to the federal
government be given to the MPS and given
to the auditor general because we will
also make submissions to those other two
inquiries Madame mayor there has never
been a time in Victoria where we have
been in a position as we we are at the
moment where we're getting traction
we're getting media we're getting people
to understand and I've been a part of
probably it's probably my 16th budget
tonight that I've actually been a part
of in the early days air rates were at
6% in some cases 4% and 5% but they were
assessed on what services our community
needed and how much money we needed to
provide those Services now only in
Victoria and New South Wales is there
rate capping rate capping and let me be
very clear rate capping is an ugly rule
it is ill informed it was purely a vote
getting Thing by government and you know
I I always condemn the MAV for
complaining about it after it came in
when they did Bloody little to actually
stop it and speak up beforehand but
rate capping is not a good thing for
communities because you're not R capping
councils councils are not affected by
ring
communities are because what you're
saying to the community is we're not
going to let your Council have the
amount of money they need to provide you
with the services that you have
identified are important to you I I
support the motion thank you councelor
MC I'll now put that to the vot all
those in
favor that's carried
unanimously moving on to 8.9 which is
the appointment of counselor signatories
may I have a move on councelor SM and
councelor
isov is that as printed councelor SM as
printed do may speak to your motion
thank you m mayor I'm regretting putting
my hand up too fast I always enjoy
listening to councelor esof over
things look this is basically
housekeeping each year Council issues
two a financial statement which
contains two statements the financial
statements and the performance statement
and each of those statements need to be
certified by two counselors the CEO
and the CFO
just to confirm that the
statements are fair correct and not
misleading so the CEO and CFO come
as a matter of course we need now need
to appoint two signatures and two
alternative signatures in case those two
not available the two would be the
mayor yourself cancer MC and myself as
deputy mayor to sign the financial
statements and if for some reason we are
not able to it would appoint councelor
Su Pennicuik and councelor Z parasol as the
alternative signatories I think we
should all be confident to do that
because we have both internal Auditors
and external Auditors so when it
comes to having confidence about the
forward statements we make in terms of
budgets and about past performance
it's all reviewed and scrutinized quite
carefully thank you thank you councilor
smth councelor isov
why are you making me
laugh councilor's M said exactly what
I was going to say but in about double
the time thank
you any any speakers against that
motion any other speakers on that motion
would councelor SM like to s up
nothing to add thank you I'll put that
to the vote all those in favor that's
carried
unanimously so we're moving on to item
nine which is urgent business there's no
urgent business tonight item 10 is
ordinary business or requests for
reports from a member of council staff
and I don't believe there are any
requests 10.2 is rights of reply are
there any rights of reply I don't
believe there are any rights of reply
10.3 notices of motion I don't believe
that we have any notices of motion 10.4
is counselor questions I don't believe
there are any counselor questions that
BR me 10.5 WR public questions to
council which we have already heard this
evening and then item 11 is confidential
items so councelors as we have
confidential items to discuss this
evening I will seek a m of the following
motion that in accordance with sections
66 in Brackets 1 and 66 in Brackets 2 in
Brackets the letter A of the Local
Government Act 2020 the meeting be
closed to members of the public for the
consideration of the following
confidential item 11.1 Commonwealth Age
Care reforms update this agenda item is
confidential information for the
purposes of section three in Brackets
one of the Local Government Act 2020
because it is Council business
information being information that would
Prejudice the council's position in
commercial negotiations if prematurely
released and private commercial
information being information provided
by a business one relates to trade
secrets or two if release would
unreasonably expose the business
Commercial or financial undertaking to
disadvantage Commonwealth Age Care
reforms update which contains
commercially sensitive information may I
have a mve please councelor McGee do I
have a
second councel esof I will now put that
to the board all those in
favor that's carried
unanimously Council will now move to a
Clos session to consider the
confidential items once these items are
deliberated on the meeting will be
closed and not reopened to the public I
will now ask that people in the gallery
please leave and then the live stream is
stopped thank you