On the latest summer edition of the Roundup,
Melbourne bayside councils briefing on alarming sea level rise research;
Calls for the Lord Mayor to pause the Melbourne Greenline project;
A mayor hits out at fake news reports on Australia Day ceremonies;
Fears for the future of the Gold Coast sporting economy as more fire ant nests are found;
and a historic week in the US with a major city swearing in an all-female council.
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.
Transcript for episode 292:
Many of Greater Melbourne’s idyllic coastal suburbs are facing extreme inundation risks in the coming decades due to sea level rise and other factors, according to new research that has been received by the state government.
The Age says bayside council leaders and other stakeholders have been briefed on the findings this week.
It has revealed details of the research, which lists especially vulnerable areas around the bay. Those areas include Point Lonsdale, Queenscliffe and Portarlington; Werribee and Altona in the southwest metropolitan area; Southbank and Port Melbourne in the city; and Mordialloc, Patterson Lakes and Martha Cove to the south and southeast.
A comprehensive report on the research was published on Thursday by The Age.
The findings have led to calls for the state government to provide guidelines for the assessment of future proposals, rather than leave it to councils to turn the research into planning rules.
MAV President David Clark said the release of the research was welcome, and that a critical next step will be the state government taking the lead on updating planning schemes to reflect the identified hazards.
He said we must ensure the Victorian planning system adequately manages the risks of development in terms of climate impacts, including flooding and inundation.
The CEO of Infrastructure Victoria, Jonathan Spear noted that its 30-year infrastructure strategy found that many of the state’s coastal protection assets are in poor condition or approaching their end of life.
He said Infrastructure Victoria had recommended that the government develop clear guidance on coastal adaptation planning, with thresholds, triggers and planning guidelines to support local area decision-making.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp has been called on to pause the delivery of her flagship Greenline project until after this year’s council elections.
The Herald Sun reports today that business advocacy group VCCI feels there is a risk to ratepayers that a future council could decide to scrap the $316M project.
Its chief executive Paul Guerra says the project should be paused to allow a future Lord Mayor and council to conduct a proper evaluation.
However, a spokeswoman for the Lord Mayor told the Herald Sun that the project would not be paused before the election.
East Gippsland Shire Council has told the state government of its disappointment with a rate cap of 2.75% imposed for the 2024-25 year.
Deputy Mayor Cr Jane Greacen OAM said while the council was being asked to work within a 2.75% increase, it was disappointing to see the state government increase a number of its charges this month by more than 5%.
She said the cap doesn’t recognise the increased cost of maintaining the status quo, let alone delivering new services to meet community expectations.
But she added that the council would of course “cut our cloth to size”.
A council bid to make Latrobe Regional Airport a centre for advanced air mobility will take a step forward this year.
Trials of new technologies will look at the practical applications of drone technology in regional communities – including medical supply deliveries, powerline inspections and logistics.
Latrobe Council is working with a partnership group that includes Swinburne’s Aerostructures Innovation Research Hub, Textron Systems Australia, Federation University and CASA.
Mayor Darren Howe said the testing initiative is part of the council and Swinburne’s shared vision to position and develop Victoria as a national and global leader in advanced air mobility.
Glen Eira Council has welcomed support to revisit design options for a proposed shared user path as part of the Glen Huntly level crossing removal project.
Community concerns and misinformation led to the council publishing an open letter to the Minister for Transport Infrastructure expressing concerns about plans to remove most of the trees along Queens Avenue.
The council had proposed an option that would see most of the trees retained.
As a result of the advocacy, the Minister and LXRP have agreed to revisit the design options, and Deputy Mayor Simone Zmood said she is confident a feasible option can be agreed over the coming weeks.
Jane Karslake has been sworn in as the new Camden Ward councillor for Glen Eira City Council.
The result of a countback was declared on Tuesday, and a swearing-in ceremony was conducted yesterday at the Glen Eira Town Hall.
CEO Rebecca McKenzie congratulated Cr Karslake, and said she was joining the council at an important time as it continued to work in partnership with the community to safeguard its long-term sustainability.
The NSW integrity body ICAC has asked the City of Newcastle for the report from an investigation into its CEO’s alleged involvement in a letter writing scandal.
The Newcastle Herald (January 11, 2024, p.5) reported that the request was revealed through this week’s release by the city of the unredacted outcome letter summarising the findings of the investigation conducted by Pinnacle Integrity.
While ICAC would not confirm to the Herald whether it was investigating the matter, it’s understood Mr Bath has been told that he was not the subject of a current investigation; and that it is standard practice for oversight bodies to request copies of external reports.
The Mayor of Eurobodalla Council, Mathew Hatcher, has hit out at ‘fake news’ reports about the council’s Australia Day citizenship ceremony.
He says it is not true that the usual ceremony has been cancelled.
The ceremony has been moved to Australia Day eve for practical, not political, reasons, and Mayor Hatcher said he was disappointed his shire had been listed by “click-bait news outlets” trying to polarise feelings around Australia Day.
Canada Bay Council says it will take a go-slow approach to its FOGO rollout after neighbouring councils experienced issues with their plans.
The Daily Telegraph reported this week that after ‘bin anarchy’ in Inner West last year, and a trial of 1750 households in Canada Bay, the council will conduct more research and slowly integrate the program over several years.
All NSW councils are required to implement the recycling initiative by 2030.
Central Darling Shire Council will ask the state government for assistance with the costs of holding elections later this year.
The council has been under administration since 2013, and the Minister for Local Government has indicated there is potential for it to return to elected members this year.
But the council says it will be difficult to find the money to fund the election and the reestablishment of a team of councillors.
It has received estimates of $30K for the election, and over $400K for the first year of supporting elected members.
There are fears for the sports economy of the Gold Coast after the first cancellation of a local sporting fixture due to the spread of fire ants.
A planned two-day cricket fixture at Helensvale had to be abandoned this week due to the discovery of a fire ant nest, and the Gold Coast Bulletin (11th January 2024, p.5) reports that it is making political leaders nervous about what might follow.
Local councillor Hermann Vorster said it was a chilling sign of things to come and is worried about the expensive clean-up costs and the social costs associated with any future cancellations – especially if they affect NRL or AFL fixtures, or the 2032 Olympic Games.
Waste levies for Queensland’s Scenic Rim and Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire councils have been waived by the state government to support those communities as they recover from recent weather events.
Earlier this month, exemptions were provided to Gold Coast and Logan councils for the same reason, while exemptions were given to seven other councils in the state last month.
Scenic Rim Regional Council has launched a new pilot project to boost container recycling.
Mayor Greg Christenson said the new project is to address the challenge of a lack of drink container bins in public places and to help reduce the millions of recyclable containers going to waste across the state each year.
Livingstone Shire has welcomed the completion of a new four megalitre concrete reservoir which it says has secured water supply reliability for the southern end of the Capricorn Coast for years to come.
The $2.86M project received $2M support from the state and federal governments and is now operational.
Concerns about the number of staff still working from home in the city of Edinburgh have been exacerbated by the release of information showing spending of more than 300,000 pounds per year on hiring offices while the council headquarters is largely unoccupied.
The Edinburgh Evening News reported that a freedom of information request revealed that 1.3M pounds has been spent on leasing office space since 2019, while 80 per cent of desks at the main office building were unused this time last year.
Long-term lease agreements are said to be the main reason for the situation.
As government cuts cause ongoing budget concerns, some councillors are calling to have workers back in the office and for the council to get out of unnecessary leases.
In related news, Edinburgh Council’s chief executive of nearly a decade has announced that he will soon retire.
Andrew Kerr has had a 42 year career in local government, including 19 years at the chief executive level of various local authorities.
Mr Kerr turns 65 in March, and will leave his post on the 14th June.
In London, a local mayor has resigned his position to stand for Parliament at an upcoming by-election.
Damien Egan announced his resignation as Mayor of Lewisham Council just days after the resignation of the current MP for Kingswood, revealing that he had been selected to contest the by-election.
A by-election will be required to elect a new Mayor on a date yet to be announced.
In Essex, a council is under fire for payments to a man described as an ‘online prankster’ to share messages online during the pandemic.
Newly released documents show Essex Country Council paid almost half a million pounds to the comedian for community engagement.
Yahoo News UK reported that the spending has been revealed in the same week the council announced a 4.99% raise in council tax to protect and develop essential services.
And it’s been a historic week in St. Paul, Minnesota in the US where an all-female council with a majority of women of colour has been sworn in – believed to be a first for a US city of its size.
The inauguration ceremony for the seven women, who are all under 40 years of age, was held on Tuesday.
Newsweek and many other media outlets have covered the story, including a range of positive, and predictably perhaps, some negative reactions from across the political spectrum.
