On your midweek Roundup for 16th August 2023,
More detail emerges of government plans for planning reforms;
Knox to scale back kindergarten provision, while another council considers its position;
A council’s massive legal bills revealed in a fight to stop a proposed quarry project;
The council meeting suspended after the mayor collapses;
A local health service gets the thumbs down from council;
A mayor’s move to remove a deputy mayor;
The councillor who says she won’t stand for re-election due to insults and intimidation;
UK charities cry foul as council-hired debt collectors report massive profits.
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Transcript (with story links where available):
Hi, this is Chris Eddy, coming to you from the land of the Wadawurrung People with the latest from the Local Government News Roundup.
On the podcast today:
More detail emerges of government plans for planning reforms;
Knox to scale back kindergarten provision, while another council considers its position;
A council’s massive legal bills revealed in a fight to stop a proposed quarry project;
The council meeting suspended after the mayor collapses;
A local health service gets the thumbs down from council;
A mayor’s move to remove a deputy mayor;
The councillor who says she won’t stand for re-election due to insults and intimidation;
UK charities cry foul as council-hired debt collectors report massive profits
Just some of the many local government stories getting our attention today… let’s round ‘em up!
Thanks for joining me for today’s podcast – brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association – the national broadcaster on all things local government;
And by Snap Send Solve, about to head out on a NSW tour culminating at the LG professionals customer experience conference on the 24th and 25th August.
Let’s get into the Victorian Roundup.
The Victorian government’s planned new housing and planning policy is believed to include protections for developers from local objections if their proposals meet affordable housing targets.
The Age quotes a government source who says the new provisions are designed to stop VCAT having to make tough planning decisions because councils won’t.
The push to remove some local decision making powers from councils has gained impetus from the release of IBAC’s Operation Sandon report, which makes recommendations for a new independent planning panel model similar to that in NSW.
That model and its implications will be explored in a live VLGA Connect webinar this Friday at 12.30.
Knox City Council will stop running standalone kindergarten services, and will make its buildings available to other sessional kindergarten providers from 2025.
Mayor Cr Marcia Timmers-Leitch said there are kindergarten providers operating locally who are better equipped to grow and adapt their services.
The council will work with the Department of Education on an expression of interest process to seek alternative providers.
The Age this morning says the decision leaves “1100 children in limbo,” and Mayor Timmers-Leitch says she recognises it is an emotive issue for many.
Mayor Timmers-Leitch said Knox was one of the few councils in Melbourne that directly provides kindergarten at a large scale, and that ongoing changes in the sector affected it more than other councils.
Pending state government changes include making kindergarten free, increasing hours, and offering a second year of kindergarten before school.
Mornington Peninsula Shire is another council feeling pressure from state reforms, and needs more than $53M to carry out required facility upgrades which it says it cannot fund alone.
The council says it is working with the state government to identify available solutions and options.
Knox City Council; Mornington Peninsula Shire Council; The Age
A local newspaper has revealed the extent of Mitchell Shire Council’s spend on legal fees for its fight against a proposed quarry near Wallan.
The North Central Review says documents obtained under FOI by quarry operator Conundrum Holdings show legal bills of $1.3M between 2016 and 2022, with the bulk of those costs incurred last year.
Council CEO Brett Luxford said the cost of the ‘No Quarry’ campaign is directly related to the importance of the issue to the community.
The Council has supported the ‘community-led campaign’ due to concerns about road congestion and excessive noise.
Conundrum Holdings is calling for a quick and clear decision after years of inaction and delay.
The owner of the land on which the quarry is proposed also owns the North Central Review.
Northern Grampians Shire Council has passed a motion of no confidence in healthcare provider Grampians Health.
The motion was put forward by Cr Rob Haswell, citing a lack of improvement in health services since the amalgamation of Stawell Regional Health and Grampians Health in 2021.
The council expressed gratitude to the staff and front-line workers of Grampians Health but emphasised the need for better healthcare services and is seeking a meeting with the Health Minister and the Premier.
There have been numerous complaints from residents about the services provided by Grampians Health.
They were promised improved and more efficient services after the amalgamation but have instead experienced a haphazard arrangement of visiting locum doctors.
Northern Grampians Shire Council
Residents of Benalla Rural City are being reminded about the importance of safely disposing of hazardous waste following a recent incident where a recycling truck caught fire.
The fire was caused by the incorrect disposal of a vaping device containing a lithium battery.
Mayor Bernie Hearne has urged residents to be cautious about what they put in their kerbside waste and recycling bins, as e-waste and batteries can be hazardous and cause damage if not handled correctly.
Since July 1, 2019, the Victorian Government has banned e-waste from all landfills, but residents can recycle e-waste items at the Benalla Landfill and Resource Recovery Centre.
Strathbogie Shire Council will push for a reinvestment of commonwealth games funds into road and bridge projects in rural and regional shires.
Mayor Laura Binks said she understands and supports the value of sporting facilities, but that communities need safe roads to get them there.
She said the council was advocating directly and via the MAV, and that $2B in savings from the Commonwealth Games could make a huge difference to the road network right across Victoria.
Now in today’s Victorian Briefs:
Strathbogie Shire Council’s second municipal monitor has completed his term this week. The Euroa Gazette reports that Peter Stephenson was believed to have filed his report with the Minister for Local Government yesterday.
The state government has announced 11 councils to receive the first round of funding to plan road safety improvements on council-managed roads under its $210M Safe Local Roads and Streets Program.
The councils are Brimbank, Monash, Casey, Yarra and Melton in metro Melbourne, along with regional councils Moira, Baw Baw, Central Goldfields, Greater Bendigo, Murrindindi and Surf Coast.
Central Goldfields Shire Council has announced the completion of the final stage of the Carisbrook Levee Project, designed in response to floods in 2010 and 2011.
Project savings have been allocated to drainage improvements in Carisbrook, with the first project already underway.
Central Goldfields Shire Council
The local government areas leading the acceleration in electric vehicle sales have been revealed.
Boroondara is leading the way based on figures for the three months to June, followed by Monash, with the third highest number in Wyndham.
The lowest take-up was in Swan Hill and West Wimmera.
The City of Ballarat is on the hunt for the artist to produce a bust of Scott Morrison, the next addition to its famed Prime Ministers Avenue in the Ballarat Botanic Gardens.
A local resident has made a substantial donation to help produce the next four busts in the series.
The most recent sculpture of Malcolm Turnbull was unveiled in November last year.
Analysis of data from Public Libraries Victoria, published by the ABC, has drawn a correlation between a person’s postcode and their ability to access a library.
The analysis shows that local government areas in Melbourne’s growth corridors have the lowest access to public libraries. The smallest numbers of libraries per 100,000 people are in Melton, Wyndham, Casey, Cardinia and Whittlesea.
Inner metropolitan council areas, with smaller and older populations, enjoy better library access.
The figures have highlighted the funding challenges for building new library infrastructure, with growth councils looking to the Growing Suburbs Fund for assistance.
However, the state government has reduced that fund from $50M to $10M this year, and says it wasn’t designed to fund library infrastructure.
National Roundup
Now for some of the stories making local government news from around Australia this week.
ALGA has appointed Amy Crawford as its new chief executive officer.
Ms Crawford has over twenty years experience working in the Federal Public Service, and was most recently a senior advisor to the Federal Local Government Minister, Kristy McBain.
She will commence with ALGA later this month.
The vacancy arose earlier this year when Matt Pinnegar resigned after two years in the position.
Australian Local Government Association
NSW:
The Mayor of Port Macquarie-Hastings Council has put forward a motion for this week’s council meeting that would effectively remove Cr Rachel Sheppard from the deputy mayor position.
Mayor Peta Pinson will move to expire the deputy mayor’s term on the 17th August, and keep the position vacant for the remainder of the council term.
The Port Macquarie News speculates that Mayor Pinson has made the move now because a recent councillor resignation has given her the balance of power, and if needed, she can use a casting vote.
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council Agenda; Port Macquarie News
Clarence Valley Council and the United Services Union are at odds, with the council accusing the union of a campaign of misinformation and scaremongering.
The Daily Telegraph reports that the dispute is over a proposal to use inmates from the Clarence Correctional Centre for work in parks and reserves.
The council says no details of the proposal to provide work experience to inmates have been finalised.
It says key outdoor staff have been asked for feedback; and there is no intention to replace council staff.
The union has criticised the council for a lack of communication and started a campaign of flyers and placards in the Grafton community, to which it says the response has been shock and outrage.
A meeting of Orange City Council was suspended this week after the mayor fainted during proceedings.
Mayor Jason Hamling was chairing when he experienced an episode about 15 minutes into the meeting.
The Central Western Daily reports that the meeting was adjourned and will be rescheduled, while CEO David Wadell said the priority is the mayor’s health.
Mayor Hamling has been a local councillor for nearly 20 years, and was elected mayor in 2021.
Central Western Daily, 16-8-23
QLD:
Fraser Coast Regional Council is set to make a request of $10M from the state government for promotion and support for the change of name of Fraser Island to its Indigenous name, K’gari.
The ask is part of the council’s priority advocacy projects plan which is going to its August meeting for endorsement.
The council says promotion, rebranding and other activities to facilitate the name change will be crucial to ensuring that the tourism brand equity in the Fraser Island name is transferred to the traditional name.
It will advocate to the state that it leads and provides support for local organisations to undertake the necessary activities.
The Fraser Coast Chronicle has reported on widespread community debate about whether a name change for the whole Fraser Coast region should now follow, but Mayor George Seymour says that is not something the council is pushing for.
Fraser Coast Regional Council; Fraser Coast Chronicle $
Queensland’s Local Government Change Commission says it has completed the consultation on divisional boundary reviews for the Isaac, Bundaberg, Fraser Coast and Tablelands Regional Council areas.
Approximately 150 submissions were received, which Electoral Commissioner Pat Vidgen said demonstrates strong public interest.
They’ll be reviewed and considered before the commission finalises its reports on the divisional boundary reviews later this year, ahead of local government elections due next year.
Electoral Commission Queensland
SA:
Residents of Coober Pedy District Council have received a shock after receiving a letter advising that monthly skip bin hire fees would increase from $30 to $1000.
But the council says it was a mistake that occurred in a recent review of fees and charges, and the chief executive David Kelly has apologised.
The council, which has debts of around $10M, recently agreed to an increase in rates and water fees, and has reduced its costsby around $1M.
The ABC reports that fees will be further reviewed at an upcoming council meeting.
City of Mt Gambier Mayor Lynette Martin has placed a ban on councillors asking questions of an operational nature at council meetings.
According to the Border Watch, Cr Martin feels she has been too lenient in allowing operational questions, which she says are not permitted under the Council Member Handbook.
She has asked councillors to make sure that their questions relate to functional, strategic or policy issues, and refer any matters of an operational nature to the CEO outside of the meeting process.
Cr Martin has also reminded councillors of her power to disallow questions that she deemed inappropriate, and that she intends to ensure the chamber is strategic and making responsible decisions.
WA:
A Western Australian councillor has shed light on the challenges faced by young and diverse individuals in local government, and why she will not be standing for re-election.
Amy Astill, who was elected to Kalgoorlie Boulder council in 2021 at the age of 19, has published an open letter describing how she was dismissed, laughed at and insulted.
She says she was made to feel stupid for her views, and also received unwanted attention and invitations from some members of the public.
Amy says she wants to see behaviours change so that diverse individuals can be better supported as councillors.
All positions on the council will be spilled for the upcoming elections in October.
Read Cr Astill’s full letter in the Kalgoorlie Miner.
The Town of Cottesloe Council is revisiting its budget after a procedural error in advertising proposed rate changes.
The council had previously adopted a 4% rates increase but had to revoke the budget after it was discovered that a “procedural irregularity” had occurred in the advertising of proposed differential rates for public feedback.
The council is now advertising the differential rates again, and is giving ratepayers until 23rd August to comment.
The budget will be voted on again at a later meeting. The council has also requested a report on the error and suggestions for improving internal processes to prevent similar mistakes in the future.
That report comes from PerthNow, which has also reported on the City of Bayswater’s proposed changes to its planning scheme to restrict businesses selling smoking-related products from opening near schools or homes.
The council wants to redefine vape stores and shisha bars as restricted premises, allowing them to operate only in the Morley activity centre.
Existing businesses will not be affected, and a policy guiding the location and design of such premises will be created if approved.
The proposal has received both support and objections from the public, with concerns raised about the impact on businesses and access to smoking cessation products.
Briefly:
Sydney’s Bayside Council is moving away from parking meters in favour of licence plate recognition technology, for its increased efficiency and coverage, and better staff safety.
The Bayside Beacon reports the council collected an additional $700,000 in 2021/22 from penalty infringement notices, leading to concerns that not enough is being done to inform the community about the use of the new technology.
Queensland’s Whitsunday Regional Council is dealing with an increase in reports of wild dogs in recent months, with domestic pets and poultry at risk of harassment or worse.
The council estimates between 5,000 and 9,000 wild dogs are roaming the region.
A council spokesperson has told the ABC it is a challenging problem to get on top of, and called on residents to help by keeping dogs inside or in a fenced enclosure at night, and report any sightings or attacks.
Tweed Shire Council has launched a new campaign to tackle a rising number of neighbourhood disputes in its region.
The Let’s Chat campaign encourages residents to get to know those who live next door or nearby, as a way of opening up communication before conflict occurs.
The council says neighbourhood complaints have been steadily rising in recent years, especially in relation to noise.
Next week, leaders from four regional councils in Victoria and New South Wales will participate in a live webinar to share insights into how they attract and engage the right people to help their councils thrive.
The webinar will be moderated by Fabian Dattner of the Dattner Group, who joins me now.
Fabian, lovely to see you.
FD: Lovely to see you, Chris, in a very different guise.
Wonderful to be here.
Indeed.
So tell me about this event next week.
You’re looking at workplace culture but you’re particularly focusing on regional councils.
Why is that?
FD: We think local government is probably the most effective form of serving community there is in Australia and we are big fans of what is done in regional Australia through local government.
Under-recognised, often under-resourced and in some communities, undervalued.
The world has changed and we have been in there supporting councils for a very long time and we felt it was about time that senior leaders in council had the opportunity to hear from each other about some of the challenges and solutions that they’ve been working through.
Because the challenges can be very significant but the solutions are surprisingly consistent and we want leaders in council to hear about those solutions, whether it’s in Broken Hill, it’s in Armadale, it’s in Bendigo or South Gippsland.
You will hear leaders talking practically about the impact of, one, hearing the voices of their own people, two, not trying to do top-down decision-making but rather enable the wisdom of the crowd to emerge, three, educate leaders to lead in the world they now find themselves in.
We see massive change in the paid bureaucracy of council and we see an incredible slowness in affecting change with elected members and so we help councils understand and we will elevate that conversation, what you can actually do, what works, what the challenges are and hear it from the voice of general managers and CEOs.
And then we add in the magic sauce.
It’s all good and well to hear what senior leaders say and you, Chris, and I both know that we can say fabulous things about ourselves but how about we test that through the voice of the people on the receiving end.
So we’ve got genuine field people, operations, people who have had to live through appalling leadership and I mean are traumatised by leadership and have then seen what is possible.
So every leader speaking is tasked with bringing a second and the second will tell the truth about what did this mean to me and they are the voice of the people.
CE: So you mentioned the regional areas in particular are experiencing these significant challenges.
Can you just give us a sense of how that’s manifesting out there?
FD: Yeah, absolutely.
Good people in remote parts of the country trying, number one, to attract talent and it proving to be very hard to get talent that’s commensurate with the task no matter how small the community that those leaders need to lead because most people think the idea of working for a council is beige, old school and they’re unaware that some of the best practices you will run into are happening in regional Australia, regional Victoria.
That’s number one.
Number two, we want to show leaders within councils that the change you want is easier than you think.
It just needs a bit of sort of what I would say is bloody mindedness for a period of time to embed the capacity in an organisation to lead the change because you can’t do this order of change by dictating it.
You have to get buy-in.
So typically, attracting talent, retaining talent, understanding at the executive level what you need to do differently.
You know, there’s that horrible saying, the fish gets into strife from the top and if you don’t manage the behaviour of councillors, if you don’t build the skill of your executive and senior leaders, then you can’t sustain the change.
CE: Is that a nice way of saying it rots from the head? Yes.
FD: Yes.
I’m being as nice as possible, Chris.
Not including you, of course.
CE: Nor you.
FD: No, thank you.
CE: You, of course, don’t just work with local government.
Are you seeing other sectors experiencing the same thing? Is it, as I suspect, a broader issue with our society at the moment?
FD: I do a lot of international work and I see it globally.
However, I say this to council leaders all the time.
You’ve no idea how good you are.
I don’t think many leaders carry the remit you do, have the influence you do, impact the quality of the lives we live in your communities.
You are some of the most unthanked, under-recognised people I meet and I would love and we do a lot of work to change that.
It’s about time that we understood how important councils are to the way we live.
Much more so, I think, than state government personally.
We have too many layers but it’s not local government I would ever get rid of.
I don’t want anyone listening to underestimate the power of learning leader to leader.
This process will be highly interactive.
The audience will have abundant opportunity to ask questions and there will be a lot of expertise in the process to support even the most challenging dilemmas people are facing including just aggressive, dysfunctional, dismissible worthy councillors.
We want to make sure it’s a safe and respectful environment in which the reality of leading in that environment is discussed and shared.
CE: That’s Fabian Dattner, CEO of the Dattner Group, who’ll be moderating the live webinar. It’s on
on Tuesday 22nd August from 12 noon – it’s a free event, and the registration link is in the show notes.
Now for today’s International Spotlight:
UK:
Figures showing an increase in turnover for debt collectors hired by UK Councils have prompted a chorus of criticism.
Bailiffs have reported record profits, which the companies attribute to a temporary pause in enforcement activity during the pandemic.
Activists and charities are calling for an end to the outsourcing of public sector debt collection to private firms, according to a report from The Guardian.
They say bailiffs are profiting from the financial difficulties of households, and pushing people further into debt during a cost of living crisis.
Household debt in the UK has surpassed £2T, and council tax arrears have reached a historic high of £5.5B.
The departure of a Council chief executive and several other senior staff members has been described as a ‘mass exodus’ by the Labour opposition group of councillors.
But they in turn have been accused of politicising the situation, with the Council’s conservative leader Rob Waltham saying it is just normal staff turnover.
The BBC has reported on how North Lincolnshire Council has lost its CEO, CFO and chief legal officer, and at least five other senior officers in recent months.
The opposition says the departures are a result of a culture of micromanagement by councillors.
Mr Waltham rejected those claims, and said the officers had either retired or moving to higher paid positions at larger local authorities.
The Deputy Mayor of Pendle Council is facing a standards hearing over alleged conduct towards a council employee at a Ramadan event in April 2022.
It is alleged that Cr Mohammad Aslam said he wanted to ‘destroy’ the employee and made a telephone call suggesting a group of men come out to ‘sort’ things and ‘send a message’.
The Lancashire Telegraph reports that the Council and Lancashire Police have been involved in different parts of the complaints, according to a council standards report.
Cr Aslam has previously apologised in a police inquiry and the council is now considering the matters under its own code of conduct.
The councillor is separately facing questions over an election polling station row, about which the borough council’s chief executive received a complaint last year.
A Standards hearing is scheduled for 21st August.
Canada:
The Saskatoon city auditor will conduct an assessment of the ratio of full-time employees to supervisors in the city ahead of budget deliberations.
CTV News reports that the audit was requested by one of the city’s councillors, in response to calls from business leaders for the city to examine its staffing costs.
The audit request was unanimously supported by other committee members as the council faces a $51 million budget shortfall projected for next year.
The audit is intended to assess staffing costs, particularly at the management level, and determine the overall cost of supervisors per full-time position over the next five years.
The independent office of the city auditor, will deliver findings from the audit before the council’s budget deliberations in November.
US:
A recent survey conducted in the e-bike industry revealed that 60% of cyclists would consider relocating to a city that offered them an incentive to purchase an electric bicycle.
Streetsblog USA has reported on the study, which suggests that policymakers should view taxpayer-supported rebates as a potential economic development tool and a strategy to reduce emissions, congestion, and traffic accidents.
The survey also found that 70% of respondents supported a federal credit that would assist in purchasing e-bikes, for reasons including the environmental benefits, reduction in congestion, and increased mobility options.
Portland State University has developed a tracker of North American incentive programs, aimed at people who are interested in moving to a community that supports e-bike adoption.
That’s the latest from the Roundup for 16th August 2023.
Brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, with support from Snap Send Solve.
You can find links to the stories referenced in this episode and a full transcript at www.lgnewsroundup.com.
While you’re there, check out the latest breaking news updates and learn how you can support the Roundup by becoming a subscriber through a small monthly contribution, which you can cancel at any time.
The Local Government News Roundup is recorded in the city of Greater Geelong, Victoria, on the land of the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation.
More of the latest local government news coming your way next week. Until then, thanks for listening, and bye for now.