Ordinary Meeting Minutes

Held on Wednesday 8 May 2024

at Council Chambers, Biamanga Room Bega Valley Commemorative Civic Centre Bega commencing at 2:00pm

Present Cr Russell Fitzpatrick, Mayor Cr Cathy Griff, Deputy Mayor - Apology Cr Tony Allen Cr Mitchell Nadin Cr Helen O’Neil Cr David Porter Cr Joy Robin - Apology Cr Liz Seckold Cr Karen Wright

In Attendance Chief Executive Officer, Mr Anthony McMahon Director, Assets and Operations, Mr Ian Macfarlane Director,  Community, Environment and Planning, Mrs Emily Harrison Director, Business and Governance, Mrs Iliada Bolton Manager Communications and Engagement, Ms Kellie Dodge Executive Officer (Minute Secretary), Mrs Jackie Grant

Statement of Commencement of Live Streaming

The Mayor made an announcement about live streaming requirements:

Council meetings are recorded and live streamed to the Internet for public viewing. 

The recording will be archived and made available on Council’s website www.begavalley.nsw.gov.au.

Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians of Bega Valley Shire

The Mayor commenced by acknowledging, On behalf of Bega Valley Shire Council, I would like to acknowledge and pay our respects to the traditional custodians of the lands, waterways and airspace on which we are gathering.

Statement of Ethical Obligations

The Mayor and Councillors are reminded that they remain bound by the Oath/Affirmation of Office made at the start of the council term to undertake their civic duties in the best interests of the people of Bega Valley Shire and to faithfully and impartially carry out the functions, powers, authorities and discretions vested in them under the Local Government Act or any other Act, to the best of their skill and judgement.

The Mayor and Councillors are also reminded of the requirement for disclosure of conflicts of interest in relation to items listed for consideration on the Agenda or which are considered at this meeting in accordance with the Code of Conduct and Code of Meeting Practice.

1.	Apologies
	That the apologies of Crs Cathy Griff and Joy Robin be noted.

2.	Confirmation of Minutes
82/24	RESOLVED on the motion of Crs Wright and Porter That the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on 17 April 2024 as circulated, be taken as read and confirmed. In favour:              Crs Fitzpatrick, Nadin, Seckold, Allen, Porter, O'Neil and Wright Against:                  Nil Absent:                    Crs Griff and Robin

3.         Declarations

There were no declarations of interest.

4.         Public Forum

There was no public forum.

5.                Petitions

There were no petitions.

6.         Mayoral Minutes

 There was no Mayoral minutes.

7.         Urgent Business

There was no urgent business.

8.         Staff Reports – Community, Environment and Planning

There were no Community, Environment and Planning staff reports.

9.         Staff Reports – Assets and Operations

There were no Assets and Operations staff reports.

10.       Staff Reports – Business and Governance

10.1	Quarterly Budget Review Statement (QBRS) March 2024 Q3
83/24	RESOLVED on the motion of Crs Allen and Nadin 1.    That Council receive and note the March 2024 Quarterly Budget Review Statement. 2.    That the budget recommendations detailed in the attachment to this report be adopted. In favour:              Crs Fitzpatrick, Nadin, Seckold, Allen, Porter, O'Neil and Wright Against:                  Nil Absent:                    Crs Griff and Robin

10.2

Exhibition of the Integrated Planning and Reporting documents - Financial Year 2024-2025

84/24

RESOLVED on the motion of Crs Allen and Nadin  1.   That the draft Delivery Program 2022-25 and Operational Plan 2024-25 including Council’s Budget and Revenue Policy, the draft Fees and Charges 2024-25, the draft Long Term Financial Plan 2024-33 and the draft Strategic Asset Management Plan 2022-25 - June 2024 update be placed on public exhibition for 28 days. 2.    Following public exhibition, a further report be provided to Council for consideration of submissions and adoption of the Delivery Program 2022-25 and Operational Plan 2024-25 including Council’s Budget and Revenue Policy, the Fees and Charges 2024-25, the Long Term Financial Plan 2024-33 and the Strategic Asset Management Plan 2022-25 - June 2024 update at the Council meeting on 26 June 2024. 3.    That Council prepares a proposal for the New South Wales Government seeking reform of         the pensioner rebate, which applies to about 20 percent of Bega Valley’s residential         assessments, so as to increase the rebate and for the NSW Government to fully fund the         relief, noting that the rebate will cost Bega Valley Shire more than $636,000 next financial         year. In favour:              Crs Fitzpatrick, Nadin, Seckold, Allen, Porter, O'Neil and Wright Against:                  Nil Absent:                    Crs Griff and Robin

11.       Councillor Reports

There were no councillor reports.

12.       Rescission/Alteration Motions

There were no rescission/alteration motions.

13.       Notices of Motion

There were no notices of motion.

14.       Questions with Notice

There were no questions with notice.

15.       Questions without Notice

15.1	Cr Nadin - Update on Boydtown Estate Subdivision?
	Cr Nadin asked for an update on Boydtown Estate subdivision. Chief Executive Officer, Mr Anthony McMahon took the question on notice.

15.2

Cr O'Neil - Update on the number of development applications in the recent last quarter

Cr O’Neil asked for an update on the number of development applications (DA’s) lodged and determined in the recent last quarter including processing times, noting the NSW portal tracker is saying Bega Valley is taking a gross number of 165 days Director Community, Environment and Planning, Mrs Emily Harrison advised a report on DA’s will be presented to the 22 May Council meeting. Mrs Harrison provided the following information prior to the 22 May meeting. We are tracking our DA statistics quarterly so for this calendar year January – March our average net DA processing time is 86.15 days, compared to the 2023 net average of 117.77 days. That is a significant improvement and its due to a lot of effort on behalf of staff right across the organisation, it is still too early to know if that is sustainable as it is dependent on the number of DA’s that come in and the complexity of them. That is net average assessing processing times; the difference between net and gross processing times which are reported on too, gross processing time includes “stop clock”. ‘Stop clock’ time is when Council requests additional information from the applicant, so if they haven’t addressed an element adequately we have to go back for further information and cannot progress the DA assessment until that information is received. In terms of DA numbers in the 2023 financial year we determined 414 DA’s across the whole calendar year, in the first 3 months of this year we have determined 70. The numbers we do get out each quarter do depend on the complexity of the DA’s we are looking at so if we are looking at larger developments they take a lot  longer than houses or sheds.

16.       Confidential Business

There was no confidential business.

17.       Noting of Resolutions from Closed Session

There was no noting of resolutions from closed session.

18.       Declassification of reports considered previously in closed session

There were no declassification of reports considered previously in closed session.

Closure

There being no further business, the Chairperson closed the meeting at 3:08pm.

Confirmed   Russell Fitzpatrick
(digitally signed)

Chairperson of the meeting of the Bega Valley Shire Council held on Wednesday, 8 May 2024.