On the latest summer update from the Local Government News Roundup:
The final monitor’s report for South Gippsland Shire Council;
A rural mayor ordered to apologise after “highly personal” comments;
Disappointment at the withdrawal of over $100M in local roads funding;
The VLGA says cancelling councils is “not a thing to wish for”;
plus countback results, a mosquito warning and more.
The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government.
Listen to this episode here, and find the link for your podcast player here for any of the 191 episodes to date.
Transcript (with story links):
Episode 191 LG News Roundup, 24 January 2023
Hi, this is Chris Eddy, with some of the latest stories making news on the Local Government News Roundup – brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government.
Councillors – the annual VLGA FastTrack Councillor Leadership Development is coming up on Friday 31st March, with the theme “Leading in Times of Chaos’ Check out the VLGA website for registration and more details.
The final report from the municipal monitor to Sth Gippsland Shire a council has been released, and the council has received a highly positive report card.
Prue Digby was appointed in November 2021 to support the transition back to elected councillors, encourage good governance and help prevent a recurrence of the behaviours that led to the dismissal of the council in June 2019.
Ms Digby found there had been a genuine and strong investment in councillor, ceo and staff relationships, and significant effort towards rebuilding community trust in the council.
She said the council has demonstrated capability and determination to perform its role effectively, and made no recommendations to the minister about future governance of the shire.
Read the monitor’s final report here.
The Mayor of Glenelg Shire has been ordered to apologise for comments made on social media, after an arbiter found it constituted misconduct.
A complaint lodged by Cr Gilbert Wilson last year, when Cr Scott Martin was deputy mayor, claimed he had been treated without “dignity, fairness or objectivity”.
Arbiter Louise Hill said a statement about a councillor attending council meetings in a bathrobe was highly personal, and found there had been a breach of the prescribed standards of conduct.
She has ordered Cr Martin to make a written apology on the Facebook page where the original post occurred, and to provide a personal written apology to Cr Wilson.
Cr Martin told the ABC that he stood by his comments, but would comply with the arbiter’s directions.
The arbiter’s determination and statement of reasons is set to be received by the council at its meeting tonight, 24th January.
Cardinia Shire Mayor Tammy Radford has expressed disappointment in a federal government decision to withdraw more than $100M in local roads funding.
The Council has received official confirmation that $109M in committed funding for the Sealing the Hills roads program has been discontinued and withdrawn.
Mayor Radford says design, environmental investigations and community consultation had already commenced, but delivery of numerous roads packages will now not be possible.
She said, “We are understandably devastated on behalf of our communities that we are now unable to deliver all road upgrades originally included in the program.”
The latest countback results are in.
Thomas O’Reilly has been elected to Brimbank City Council in a countback procedure held on Monday morning.
The extraordinary vacancy was created by the resignation of Trung Luu who was elected to the Victorian Parliament late last year.
Melissa Cadwell has won a computer countback conducted this morning to fill a vacancy on Greater Geelong City Council.
The vacancy arose due to the resignation of Sarah Mansfield, who was elected to the Victorian Parliament late last year.
Justine Farrugia has won a computer countback conducted this morning to fill a vacancy on Melton City Council.
The vacancy arose due to the resignation of Moira Deeming, who was elected to the Victorian Parliament late last year.
The Victorian Local Governance Association says recent calls in the media to cancel local councils is not a thing to wish for.
The VLGA says the survey referenced in a recent Herald Sun article was based on a mere .00027% of the eligible Victorian voting population, and cannot be considered evidence to support the newspaper’s summations.
The association is calling for more accurate and transparent reporting from the media to inform an accurate public understanding of the role and responsibilities of councils – along with respect, recognition and adequate distribution of funding from other levels of government.
Hobart City Council has this week voted to no longer citizenship ceremonies on 26th January, starting from next year.
The Hobart Mercury reports ($) that the decision was contested, with six members voting for, four opposed and one abstention.
Campaspe Shire Council has welcomed a positive outcome on an advocacy priority of more than a decade, with the announcement of federal government funding for urgent upgrade works at the Echuca aerodrome.
$2.35M will be added to $2.45M from the council to ensure the aerodrome meets industry standards, and provides for the continuation of vital medical access to cross-border communities.
Read the council’s news release here.
Murray River Council is urging its local community to take protective measures after Murray Valley encephalitis was detected in routine mosquito trapping.
The council’s arbovirus surveillance program tests mosquito populations in the region for a range of diseases, especially since recent flooding has led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
A Queensland council is offering fully serviced plots of land at auction with a reserve price of $9.
Flinders Shire Council is hoping the initiative will help increase the local population, which currently counts at 1,521 people.
MSN.com reports that the deal also includes housing grants of $5,000 to eligible applicants.
48 blocks will be auctioned next month.
Cameron Woods has been appointed CEO at WA’s Town of Bassendean.
Mr Woods’ local government experience includes working in economic development, place making and event delivery. He has been CEO at the Shires of Exmouth and Plantagenet.
A South Australian council is again calling in the state government to shift the timing of local government elections.
The City of Norwood Payneham and St Peters is looking for sector support for a push to move the elections so they are not held in the same year as a state government election.
Mayor Robert Bria believes the government should look to the Victorian model of having state and local elections two years apart.
Before I leave you, a quick reminder from the VLGA about the Women in Leadership: understanding their political trajectories research project. All Victorian councillors have been sent a survey from ARC Linkage Grant Update to help with the next stage – please check your inbox for that – you still have time to contribute.
Those are the latest news briefs from the Local Government News Roundup.
Our regular episode schedule will resume later this month.
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The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government
Until next time, thanks for listening.