good evening ladies and gentlemen that
are joining us in the gallery this
evening and to those that are joining us
online welcome to our council meeting
for Wednesday the 25th of October of
2023 councilors would you please be
upstanding for the opening
declaration we the councilors of the
City of Ballarat declare that we will
carry out our duties and in the best
interest of the community through
collective leadership maintain the
highest standards of good governance
councilors I'd like to first acknowledge
the traditional custodians of the land
on which we meet the Wada Wurrung people and
recognize their continuing connection to
the land and waterways we pay our
respects to the elders past present and
emerging and extend this to all ABallaratiginal
and Torres Strait Islander people that
are either with us in the gallery this
evening or are joining us online thank
you counselors please be
seated ladies and gentlemen this meeting
is being broadcast on the internet and the
recording of the meeting will be
published on council's website I'll
declare the meeting opened at
6:30
p.m. councilors our first agenda item is
apologies for absence councelor Maloney
is on a leave of absence moved counselor
Harris seconded councelor Hargreaves put the
motion all those in favor against the
motion is carried council is there any
disclosure of interest from anybody if
there are none item four matters arising
from the minutes
counselors if there are none item five
confirmation of minutes from the
previous meeting move councelor Harris
seconded counselor Coates any discussion
councilors if not I'll put the motion
all those in favor against the motion is
carried councilors item six is public
question time which has commenced at
6:32 p.m. we have a number of questions
which have been submitted um which will
be read out from people that are not
attending and then an opportunity for
those that have submitted in person to
come forward the first public question
is from Jackie Whitwell who is not
attending so that will be read out by Mr
Montgomery thank you and through Mr Mayor
the question is as follows given the
result of the voice referendum what will
council be doing differently to ensure
our first Nations communities are
supported heard and genuinely included in
decisions that impact them thank you Mr
Whitwell for your question I'll ask
director Wilson to please give a
response through Mr Mayor and and also
thank as well for the question Council
has a strong relationship with our ?
engagement Action Group and continues to
respectfully meet and support actions
that build relationship with First
Nations people and traditional owner
groups uh some examples include the
annual events in reconciliation
week and the ? day
dawn ceremony uh further to that
initiatives around streets and place
naming public art commissions uh
inclusive criteria in council's
procurement policy and currently a
co-designed approach to the biodiversity
strategy that is uh in under community
consultation at this time uh council is
also working on a new reconciliation
action plan which is in its final stages
of development and will soon be brought
before council for consideration thank
you Mr Mayor thank you director Wilson
the second question is from Michael
Phillips who is not attending was
originally attending but is not
attending so that question will now be
read out by Mr Montgomery thank you and
through Mr Mayor the question is as
follows how can the municipality better
support the city's football netball
umpires group to be more
inclusive thank you Mr Phillips for that
question uh I do know of this particular
issue I have spoken um with Mr Phillips
personally I believe the outstanding
issue is a matter that should be taken
up directly with the Ballarat Football
Umpires Association and or with the
Ballarat Football League and following that
if there's still no resolution to
potentially Advocate to the AFL for
further but the issue of who umpires
the Ballarat football is not a local government
issue so thank you uh Mr Phillips for
your question the next question is from
Mr Adam James who I believe is attending
with us this evening is Mr James
here if not we will read the question on
behalf of Mr
James thank you and through you Mr Mayor
the question is as follows by 2036 it is
estimated that approximately 34,000
Ballarat residents being one in four will
be aged over 60 issues for people as
they age may include increasing
financial and physical vulnerability and
increasing insecurity around health and
housing given that we are currently
experiencing a housing crisis with no
real end in sight I would be keen to
understand council's plans around this
including community service provisions
while keeping in mind this is not solely
a council responsibility thank you Mr
James for the question I'll ask director
Wilson to respond thank you and through
you Mr Mayor and and thank you uh Mr James
for the question Council has recently
established a new aging well Department
that aims to provide a range of
community and social supports for
residents aged 55 and over and whilst
this new service is in the early stages
of establishing itself we are encouraged
by the level of initial engagement with
Community um to to date through
initiative such as senior's week uh in
addition council is advocating and more
specifically I guess to the part of the
question that relates to housing uh
council is advocating strongly to both
state and federal governments for
increases in social and affordable
housing supply in Ballarat and council is
also currently seeking Community or has
sought I should say community and
housing sector input into the the
draft housing strategy which aims to
provide context for increases in housing
Supply and diversity of housing form
across Ballarat thank you Mr Mayor thank you
director Wilson for that
response the next question is from Mr
Drew banck who I believe is attending is
Mr Banik
here if not the question will be read on
Mr Banik's behalf Mr
Montgomery thank you and uh through you
Mr Mayor the question is as follows what
gave Des Hudson the authority to assume
the role of Mayor without returning to an
election after Ben Taylor stepped down
thank you Mr banik for for your question
and I'll ask the CEO to respond to that
question yeah look thank you Mr banic
for that question and it's a good
question because it gives us some
insights into the process around uh
electing a mayor so the Local Government
Act 2020 and our governance rules
provide the the guidance around how
Mayors are elected Council first uh
determines whether it'll be a one-year
or a or a two-year period generally
Council has um determined a one-year
period after councelor Taylor finished
his miral ship uh there was an election
in
2020 after that election and councilors
were sworn in um there was a statutary
meeting for Council to determine who
would be the uh mayor council Maloney
was then the mayor in 2020 and
20121 and then councelor Hudson became
the mayor in
2022 and statutory meeting will be held
on the 13th of November to determine the
the mayor for the next term of council
thank
you thank you Mr Co councelor Johnson
thank you Mr Mayor I was curious as to
what um was the intent of of this
question and uh in conversations with Mr
Montgomery we thought that perhaps the
person who asked the question was um of
the belief that in Ballarat we have a a
directly elected mayor which isn't the
case so I thought I would clarify that
as well absolutely good question
councelor Johnson to ask and Mr
Montgomery can you
clarify the space in relation to city of
Melbourne with popular elected as
opposed to all other lgas that have El
by councils that's exactly the
answer thank you um mayor Hudson um
that's exactly the answer um 78 out of
the 79 councils are directly elected by
The Counselor group uh with only one
Council uh being directly elected by the
voting population being the city of
Melbourne thank you very much for for
that and giving the
clarification the next question is from
Mr sha M who is joining us this evening
Mr M if you could come forward
and please tell us your name and the
suburb where you reside and then ask
your question uh sha M Ballarat north um Mr
Montgomery might need to assist me with
my question but um if I recall rightly
it was to ask um the amount of
infringement notices fines or notices to
comply that have been issued in relation
to the Ballarathroom Clause of the community
local law thank you Mr M and I'll ask
director Robertson to potentially
respond to that question I will through
you Mr Marin thank you for the question
Mr M as at today there have been no in
infringements under that particular
Clause within our local um Community
local law 2017
and second question Mr M and the second
question was to ask whether the
council's view is um that that Clause of
the local law is compliant with the
local law requirements under the ACT um
and in particular whether it's compliant
with the charter of Human Rights and
responsibilities thank you Mr Malai and
again director Robertson if you could
respond through you Mr May and thank you
for that question um I will read it out
just for some clarity the city of Ballarat
Community local law precedes the
introduction of The Local Government Act
2020 at the time the community local law
was developed it was developed in
accordance with the Local Government Act
1989 when the city of Ballarat Community
local law is next reviewed and developed
which is not until 2027 it will be in
accordance with the current legislation
or reviewed in accordance with the
current legislation and will therefore
ensure consistency and um meet
legislative requirements I will add if
we were to act on any Clause um at the
moment in our local law we do review it
to ensure that it is compliant
anyway thank you Mr M for coming in and
asking those questions the next question
is from Miss Terry Price Smith who I
believe is attending Miss Smith if you
could please come forward tell us your
name and subur where you reside and then
ask your question
please good evening my name is Terry
Price Smith I'm from Ross Creek thank
you west of bad um thank you for this
opportunity uh further to my last
question in May's meeting where I asked
about um 20 minute cities or 15minute
neighBallarathoods um councelor Robertson uh
replied via email thank you very much
and talked about um uh the uh uh the
today tomorrow together plan which is uh
wonderful and uh I just want to uh uh uh
Express that you know while we commend
the planning um I just want want the
Assurance again that we will not have
any restrictions imposed on our
movements we won't have any of our
movements Limited in uh the uh push for
uh smart cities or 15minute
neighBallarathoods and also just to confirm
that um uh just to ask the question are
there going to be now 30 minute
neighBallarathoods which is something that
we've heard yes thank you Miss Smith for
coming in and asking the question I will
get director Robertson to reply moment
but there is certainly no intention to
restrict anyone's freedom of movement
whether that's in and around Ballarat or
even beyond for that matter people are
very free to be able to travel at their
will to their points of destination so
there is no intention from any strategic
document in our plans or anything else
that would restrict and limit the
movement of people uh against their will
thank you director Robertson if you wish
to to you Mr May and thank you for the
question so in response uh Mr me's
affirmed it but the short answer is yes
there is you're you're correct there's
no intention of um limiting movement um
and I think the second question was
asked as part of that which was to
elaBallaratate on the 10 uh sorry the 15 20
and 30 minute so for us the the intent
of the Ballarat strategy reflects the concept
of the 10-minute city um from a planning
point of view it reflects Community
aspirations to maintain existing levels
of access to destinations and services
even as the city grows um the it
supports the ability for all residents
of Ballarat to be able to do more of their
day-to-day like shopping accessing
services and businesses in their local
neighBallarathoods and it also promotes the
Improvement of walking and cycling
connections within local neighBallarathoods
so residents find it easier to move
around and reduce the need to use the
car for short Journeys essentially which
is um the concept it also aspires to
have a n uh to have non peak times make
it possible to reach most areas of the
center of town within a 10-minute drive
and that includes schools and things
like that and the challenge over the
next 25 years is to maintain
accessibility as the population grows
and congestion increases which even um
results in a need for upgrades of
existing in infrastructure so the
10minute city concept is really about
seeking um um support for complete
livable neighBallarathoods with a compact
City based around um great built form
local neighBallarathoods and great land uses
and precincts supporting jobs and
productivity and efficiency and high
quality local connections but doesn't
Endeavor to prohibit anybody from you
know freedom of movement at all so with
with the prediction of I think 160,000
people in Ballarat by 2040 the same plan
still applied
yes thank you thank you Miss Smith for
taking the time and coming in and asking
your question thank you thank you
director Robertson um that is all of the
um submitted questions that were online
is there any other questions from the
gallery that anyone
has if not thank you very much that will
bring question time to a close and we
will move into the officer
reports item seven is the chief
executive officer report which extends
the lengthy role and meetings and
commitments the co has done is there a
council wishing to move the Coo's
report move councelor Eddie seconded
councelor coats Council Eddie as the
mve uh thanks Mr Mayor and and really
just again I think the the bread of the
report does show the amount of work that
gets done you know month on month uh
quarter on quarter year on year within
our community and I'd like to thank the
the CEO for the detail he provides not
only in this report but in weekly
updates on you know what what his role
encompasses I think it's really helpful
for the council group to have that
knowledge so um congratulations on the
work you're doing and keep it going
thank you thank you Council Eddie
Council codes second uh nothing
additional to add Mr Mayor thank you any
Council wishing to speak for the motion
against the motion I'll put the motion
all those in favor against the motion is
carried
council's item 8 is the annual report
and I'll move that from the chair and
I'll speak to it if I get a second to
that one second counselor coats so thank
you councilors and on behalf of the
entire counselor group I'm very pleased
to stand and present the city of Ballarat's
2022 23 annual
report investing in the city of Ballarat's
future has been a central theme
throughout 2022
2023 from Her Majesty's theater of
refurbishment to the Ballarat Airport runway
extension our $144 million Citywide
transformational Capital Works program
is delivering major projects that will
leave a legacy for generations to come
as councilors we recognize the
increasing cost of living pressures
affecting residents businesses and
Community groups across the board the
city of Ballarat we have not been immune to
these same pressures either as such
throughout 2022 2023 we've worked hard
to ensure that every dollar we receive
from rate payers is used
responsibly to this end not only have we
taken steps to compact the timelines of
major projects and to minimize cost
escalation due to increasing
construction costs but we've also made a
concerted effort not to take on any
major new projects our Focus has been
and I hope will continue to be for the
foreseeable future to deliver on the
project projects that are currently
before us we have spent significant
amount of time throughout 2022 23
participating in community engagement
sessions many of those were in relation
to the curbside waste transition that is
before us this evening also
opportunities to engage with our
community on the draft housing strategy
and current budget discussions which are
happening much earlier than in previous
years and it was great to see so many
belat residents that have had their say
on some of the Ops being considered for
future household waste over 7,000 people
participated in two rounds of community
consultation the most consultation I've
seen of any report in 22 years here in
this
place just a couple of snapshots from
our um from the the plan that will be
put out and distributed to the community
I think are great to be able to share
when we look at just the position of the
city of Ballarat
we are home to
117,649
3 we experienced a 12% population growth
from 2016 to 2021 we continue to grow at
a significant rate our forecast
population for 2036 is around 143,000
people we have 11.3% of our population
that are Ballaratn overseas and choose to
call Ballaratat home 1.8% of our population
identify as ABallaratiginal or T State
Islander first nation's people there are
9,730 businesses in Ballarat as of
2022 there are around
57,000 jobs that are available for
people in Ballarat and our gross Regional
product is around $8.3 billion of
economic
activity some further fast or fun facts
depend which way you want to look at it
we're home to about 8,011 children that
register in our Maternal Child Services
Program our customer service handle
80,000 calls which they attend to
annually our Ballarat libraries had
485,000 loans of various
items over
66,000 people attended the Ballarat Aquatic
and Lifestyle Center we have 1200 km of
sealed roads that were
maintained 45,000 digital requests
including the new introduction of snaps
solve we accepted over a th000 animals
at the Ballarat animal shelter and we are
delivering around 144 million dollars of
capital projects to deliver a b better
Ballarat for everyone we planted just
short of 2,000
trees there were over 113,000 visitors
to the art gallery of Ballarat
we collected
6,425 tons of recycl recyclables across
the city and we responded to
7,921 responses to curbside transition
Community
engagement in terms of valuing our
community I just wanted to talk very
briefly about our community impact
grants with over
$277,000 invested in key Grassroots
Community Support programs 75
applications received 47 were successful
there were 47 new groups that were
identified unfortunately 28 applications
were unsuccessful that needed further
work and encouraged to resubmit in
further
rounds our strategic Partnerships we
invested over
$834,000 into 15 Community projects and
strategic Partnerships to again build
health and prosperity across our
community I'm very proud of the
achievements that this Council continues
to have in year three of its Council
term I think we have an enormous
capacity to continue to deliver into the
final year of this Council term thank
you councilors councilor coats is the
second thanks Mr Mayor that was uh very
comprehensive there's um really not a
great deal to add to that except just to
to summarize the the purpose of the
annual report as being a requirement a
governance requirement and requirement
under the under the act so it's a
regulatory requirement um welcome to the
Future Shapers participants in in the uh
in the gallery tonight too um so also
just to summarize the annual reports not
not generally a document that um that
many in the community will will actually
read but you might be interested to have
a look so it as as the mayor mentioned
it covers off on the financial
performance performance of the
organization but also the the general
performance statement so it helps us as
counselors um check and measure that
against the council plan to check that
things are being delivered that we've
committed to um and it also gives the
community an opportunity to to check
that and hold us accountable so it is
all about transparency and
accountability and and a way of tracking
and and measuring our project so the
mayor highlighted a couple of really
significant projects the extensive
Community consultation the capital works
that happens as well as um as well as
the the community impact grants and the
and the the um the uh strategic
Partnerships as well so there there's so
much there's so much in there there's
also um reference to the uh commitment
to uh a um uh Community a customer
service Charter that's on the agenda
tonight as well um and also commitment
to gender Equity plan that's that's
mentioned as part of the summary too so
um I'll leave it at that but encourage
maybe people who are interested to have
a have a quick look at the annual report
and um and you know you will get an
overview of the sorts of things that are
covered in our council plan that we're
keeping an eye on as counselors and
hopefully the community are as well to
keep us accountable thank you counselor
codes is there other Council wishing to
speak for the report councelor Harris um
thank you Mr me um uh uh and thank you
for your pricey too and counselor coats
um it is a good document it it is does
describe who we are what we are and um
I'd encourage um uh our community as a
whole to have a look at it I think it is
our best description document um I just
pick out one thing and as as you saying
just in population growth you know it's
it's pretty stunning really over 10% you
know in those relatively you know few
years and only just before Co when it's
all said and done um uh one of the
things I I think about and perhaps it is
in a health setting but in many other uh
settings as well I'm sure is that we do
have to remind um state and federal
government that we are a growing uh
Community um we probably outstrip
Melbourne percentage wise as a whole
when it's all said and done not the
growth areas as such but as a whole um
and we've got legitimate rights to to
remind um uh those level of governments
that we are growing and the demands um
need to be met not only by Council but
also by those other levels of government
so I'd encourage people to have a look
at it and as I said encourage other
levels of government to understand where
we are thank you councelor Parris
councelor McIntosh speaking for the
motion absolutely for the motion Mr
Mayor um and just to similar to council
Harris I'll pick out a couple of items
that I think are really worth noting and
and that is Her Majesty's theater and
also the airport um as many people would
know these projects have spanned over a
number of council terms not just maral
terms each year but over a number of
council terms and I know you're very uh
aware and familiar with those terms and
so many other of the councilors around
the table um to be able to do that
successfully to be able to execute
projects across many different Council
terms and still deliver consistently as
we have set in our council plan
delivering on the uh requirements of
community and also delivering to pitch
to the future goals of our municipality
a really big things to do uh those
projects uh deliver to parts of our
community in many different ways whether
it tourism economic development but also
about health and wellness and also to
the broader communities the regional
opportunities making sure that our
regions connect with ports and air and
Rail and so on um so they're big
projects equally the reason that I pick
those two out is that we've got the
likes of Her Majesty's theater
delivering to a totally different part
of our community which has sometimes
been overlooked uh or in many people's
minds been overlooked and I think when
people See Her Majesty's theater doors
open they will understand why we're so
proud of this annual report and our
ability to ensure that Evan our CEO and
his team of Staff have been able to keep
that ball rolling it's needed a number
of different budget bids it's NE it's
it's been targeted at different versions
of government liberal laBallarat green
independent so on to achieve the
successes that it has and and it's
equally been targeted with different
councilors around the table as well and
still um with our council plan and the
vision of the council laws and the
delivery from the CEO we've been able to
keep that project on target it's been
disappointing for many in our community
to see the doors closed but it's also
been exceptionally exciting given the
previous few Decades of attempts to fund
those two particular projects the
significant successes that we will
continue seeing as those works are
rounded off I think will be
exceptionally exciting and we're
absolutely on the cusp of seeing the big
trenches of work delivered in those two
examples thank you councelor mtos any
other councilors wishing to speak for
the report councelor Johnson thank you
Mr Mayor I had a question for the CEO in
relation
to uh one of the target areas which is
to ensure the organization operates
cohesively through joint goals and
accountabilities for senior staff um are
you happy to talk to the
program uh in regard to improving
overall culture within the
organization thank you Mr
Co through you Mr Mayor and and thank
you Council Johnson for that uh question
and it is it is a really important
question so um in order to deliver all
of those
uh actions that the both that the mayor
has spoken about uh councelor coats has
spoken about and councelor Macintosh has
spoken about we need we need a high
functioning organization in order in
order to do that and we're we're at
about
799 uh effective full-time equivalence
as a as an organization broke up broken
up into a range of Divisions um you know
$2.5 billion worth of assets 100
different Services uh we have a range of
staff from maternal and child health
nurses to Engineers to accountants uh to
spot and wreck professionals to planning
professionals uh you know libraries you
you name it that creates an incredibly
diverse organization and and in order to
have that organization working uh you
know well well together we developed the
way forward program The Way Forward
program had 16 key actions you know we
want to create an
organization um that is an employer of
choice an organization where where staff
come we invest into into staff and they
deliver incredible uh services and
places for our for our community the the
16-point action plan uh Around The Way
Forward which is predominantly completed
now uh had a range of actions in it but
even a a Workforce for plan and Council
Harris talks about the the growth of the
city so the city's growing at about
2.1% at the moment Which is higher than
um jalong and is higher than and Bendigo
and Council Harris is is quite right we
we are experiencing that growth um
developing long-term Workforce plans is
really important for us to understand
what Workforce do we need in Into the
Future as that as the city uh continues
to to grow um we need to make sure that
we have an organiz ization that is safe
for our staff to to work in and we have
uh you know a whole range of
occupational health and safety uh
systems and processes that allow our
staff to uh go home the way they they
come to work to to make it a safe place
to work so as we continue to implement
those those actions of that 16o plan
which includes things like communication
strategies how how do we communicate to
an organization you know the vast bulk
of the organization doesn't sit in in
the offices here the vast bulk of the
organization is actually out delivering
services to the community on a
day-to-day basis so communication might
sound really simple but when you've got
a whole range of staff that you might
not see from week to week that are out
delivering how do we communicate with
them how do we make sure that they feel
part of the team and that we're keeping
them up to date with what's happening
what's happening in in in the future so
our our way forward program was was
really important and we're about to
embark on our values program uh in the
next 12 months which is about developing
key values for the organization and
those values will be developed by the
organization and fed up um what sort of
organization does our staff want to be a
part of going going forward thank you
thank you Mr Co Council
Johnson thank you Mr Mayor and thank you
to the CEO for providing some more
detail in relation to that program uh
and from a councelor perspective I can
attest that the CEO certainly uh talks
the talk and and walks the walk as far
as setting uh the tone for the culture
um as far as uh the the types of uh
behavior that we expect from our staff
um and it's wonderful to hear about the
values program that that not only will
be topped down um as far as our uh
leadership team setting an example of
appropriate behaviors um but also what
the staff see that as being as well from
the bottom
up with such a large number of services
and staff there has been a history
within city of Ballarat of operating within
silos and um I'm hopeful that through
the the program that you're talking
about that there might be uh a more
Cooperative way of working between
services and business units rather than
in those silos and we've certainly seen
an improvement in that in recent years
Mr Mayor I also had one other question
in relation to maternal and child health
uh which director Wilson may be able to
Enlighten us on just relates to the
targeted increase in the number of
children participating in our maternal
and child health program and I note that
that's actually gone down and I
understand that certainly um there's
commentary in there about over a 5year
period it's remained fairly steady with
you know minor decreases or increases my
question is as to whether we're aware of
any particular circumstances that may
have impacted that that slight decrease
uh and whether there's anything that we
as an organization um are doing uh or
plan to do in addition to what we
already do in order to encourage
participation in that really important
program thank you councelor Johnson
director
Wilson through Mr Mayor and thank you
councilor Johnson for that question as
you correctly know participation level
levels in program like maternal and
child health do EB and flow to a small
degree from year to year and and as
council is aware um the maternal and
child child health program has different
key ages and stages visits across the
first three and a half years of a
child's life with the vast majority of
those uh key ages and stages visits
being in the first year so what we do
see is a higher level of Engagement
across uh the baby stage and then of
course um as parents uh themselves deem
the need to vary I guess a lower level
of Engagement in the um the the two and
a half three three year um or really
from one and a half year through through
to the three and a half year old stage
of life um so we do have a number of
initiatives we we reach out to our
databases uh on a regular basis we
remind um parents and and Care is that
the option of attending visits is there
um to to make appointments and see their
respective maternal and child health
nurses and then of course we have a
multitude of other um Support Services
through the enhanced uh nursing program
and sleep and settling and other similar
initiatives where families who might
need additional supports outside of the
key ages and stages have access to those
things so we feel that the service um is
is quite well-rounded in that sense and
certainly happy to work with Community
to to address any needs that we may uh
be able to do so in increasing
participation where it may be needing to
increase thank you director Wilson
Council Johnson thank you Mr Mayor and
uh thank you to director Wilson for that
response it's obviously a wonderful
program uh the more resourcing the
better as far as maternal and Child
Health Services go um and pleasing to
hear about um the enhanced program as
well Mr Mayor I just wanted to um
highlight a couple of things one uh
which I thought was really impressive
relating to the
organizations um tons of carbon dioxide
equivalent uh which in 2022 was
35.5 tons and uh over the last Financial
year has decreased um to 26 .4 so by
around 9 tons of carbon dioxide
equivalent I think that's pretty good
isn't it I think we're doing very well
um and good to see an overall decrease
in uh that for the community as well uh
and that was uh all I wanted to say
other than thank you to the many staff I
think Mr CEO just referenced 799
full-time equivalent but we have
1,145 staff um that make up those those
full-time equivalent positions so thank
you for the work that they do to deliver
the outcomes that are contained within
this report thank you councelor Johnson
the council wishing to speak for the
motion against the motion not I'll put
the motion all those in
favor councelors the item is
carried councelors just as we move into
item 8.2 the curb side waste and
councelor coats picked up before that we
do have the committee for Ballarat future
Shapers that are with Us in the um in
the gallery this evening as the third
part of their experience with government
and tears of government having
previously been to State Parliament
Federal Parliament and then I spent some
time with the future Shapers today and
encourage them this was where it really
matters this is where people are front
and center and we talk about issues and
I know they're here and really Keen to
see what we do in terms of the curbs
sideway we spoke at length about that
particular issue in the briefing um with
them so welcome to the future Shapers
and congratulations on your leadership
projects that I heard today really well
done councils we have one public
representation in relation to the
curbside waste from uh El's
wus um forgive me for my pronunciation
that may or may not be correct but that
person is not attending but will be read
out by Mr
Montgomery thank you and through you Mr
Mayor the representation is as follows
dear councilors I'm sorry I cannot be
attend the meeting tonight having read
through the proposed new schedule for
rubbish collections I can but wonder how
it might um how it might meet the needs
of our diverse population I filled in
the council survey on this on this topic
some while ago and I see no reflection
of some of the issues are raised in The
Proposal we are now to consider as a
single person household and one who
considers the state of our planet I
reduce reuse recycle and I compost
absolutely everything I can this this
has resulted in my garbage bin and
recycle bin going out not more than
every 6 to 8 weeks I would love to see
smaller bins provided to those who
request them with a commensurate
reduction in fees charged for Waste
Disposal this would be but one way to
encourage people to consider the amount
of waste they generate and surely this
would fit in with council's State aim of
zero recoverable waste going to landfill
by
2040 similarly all my glass jars of any
shape of size are reused for Jam making
the only glass I need to dispose of is a
little blocks of currently
non-recyclable bottles again every 6 to
8 weeks can I be assured that a I can
adop opt in opt out of having an
additional bin for glass and not be
charged for this additional bin either
that the current system of returning
bottles to a range of Skips around the
area or at least at the council's waste
disposal facility will remain available
I would be more than happy to do a
regular drop off there from
conversations I've had with many people
on this topic over the last several
months I can assure you that I'm not by
far the only single person household who
feels this way on the flip side I
entirely understand the needs of younger
families in particular the disposal of
nappies and Sanitary products
particularly in the warmer months on a
fortnightly basis is just too gross and
unhygienic to contemplate if regular
rubbish collections were to be held
fortnightly I anticipate that much of
this waste would end up in the organic
waste bin thereby contaminating the
contents rendering the whole project of
collecting compost compostible material
futile I understand the issue is complex
but until and unless we cater for the
varying needs of the community the
proposed Solutions are unlikely to be
successful in achieving their stated
aims look forward to your response thank
you very much Mr for that um
submission C uh councelor Harris I was
just pertaining to that um yes
submission Mr may I was just wondering
if there's a comment from the director
about optin and opt out services and
whether any other LG have tried that in
other jurisdictions thank you Council
Harris director
weal thank you Mr Mar thank you
councilor Harris for the question so the
serice standards that all councils are
expected to uh abide by are still
currently in draft um by the state
government and will come under the
circular economy act and
regulations uh so they haven't been
finalized we're expecting that those
services standards will be finalized
next year we do at this stage understand
that there might be a potential for an
opt out of Fogo but not for
glass thank you director wetheral
councilor there there other questions
for the director before we move into
deBallarate councelor Taylor thanks Mr Mayor
um just kind of spark my interest then
the government's kind of uh really gone
to councils to come up with their plan
and their Transitions and dealing with
the for for bin system even though we're
looking at container deposit which will
be implemented in November next month
anyway which is not far away is is there
a thought that as part of these the
state government's plan that they'll
actually legislate what council will
have to do when it comes to weekly and
fortnightly I I don't think that
question's been asked through our
process is that something where we make
decisions tonight but actually the
government could say well actually we're
in control the whole state needs to go
this way thank you Council tler director
weather
you Mr Marin thank you for the question
councelor Taylor I don't think it's a
matter of how the frequency it's a
matter of what service exists so what we
understand that at the moment uh through
the draft service standards that a glass
curbside and uh Fogo curbside service
will be required um and this will be
consistent across the state um it may
differ in some of the rural councils we
understand but these are the intricacies
that we're waiting um to hear about the
frequency of which is up to each Council
to
decide thank you director WEA questions
councelor hres thank you Mr Mayor I just
am curious about the recommendation is
to endorse a plan which would see the
household waste collection reduced from
uh weekly to fortnightly with the
stipulation on there that households
will have the option to add an
additional bin um for an annual fee of
$120 and that that would be done on a
caseby casee basis and you'd need to
meet one of the following criteria which
would be to have children in nappies
have a household of six or more
occupants or have or and or have medical
reasons I'm just wondering would there
be any onus on um people to actually
prove that they have a medical condition
or prove that they have six in the house
or those sorts of things thank you
Council hardrow director weather there
Mr Mayor and thank thank you for the
question we anticipate that we will be
um trying to encourage people to try the
the fortn nightly waste system however
understand that the needs of the
community are diverse um so an audit is
is the way that we are looking to to go
and to work with the with the individual
households and understand what their
challenges are so as well as providing
an education service understanding how
they're using the bin um and then uh if
if we can um align them to some of those
criteria then then they will certainly
be welcome to uh get another bit
director whether a follow-up question
councelor HR yeah sorry thank you for
for that answer I appreciate it I'm just
wondering so if I say I have a medical
condition and I need a bin um wouldn't
it be breaching some kind of privacy to
push on you know proving that or thank
you Council HR Director weather I guess
in terms of a medical K condition that
produces a lot of waste um is what we
would be most Keen to understand it
wouldn't necessarily U be needing to
know or see doctor certificates or the
like it's really if there's a a
condition that does generate different
waste and I'm not sure exactly what that
might be I'm not a not a doctor um but
yeah we can work on th those on an
individual basis as required so
certainly not seeking to delve into
people's privacy um but we recognize
there are um different
situations councelor Eddie
um just to go back a step to the
um uh to the glass collection U we're
saying that you know we expect it'll be
a government requirement that we have
that available curbside I didn't quite
understand whether yes we might be
required to have it as a curbside option
but does that still give people the
opportunity to opt out if they choose to
good CC director WEA you Mr Mayor from
what we understand there's no op down of
a curb Side Glass collection but that
will be confirmed through the final
draft of the service
standards thank you director weel other
questions
councilors councilor Harris um just one
for the director as well I with this um
deBallarate that which will have um I was
just wondering in terms of the
information off it we've got um the
survey um material which was available
to the public but uh did we just in
terms of I I guess
folk looking at at what we're doing uh
did we um have somewhere where the
public could see the relative costs of
different um
possibilities thank you coun har
director
wetheral Mr Marin thank you for the
question yes absolutely we certainly
recognized that we needed an expert
consultant to help us um look at the
different scenarios within the options
um so we did engage a consultant who
have uh worked with a number of councils
to help them determine um the waste
usage and and potential for future waste
usage based on different service levels
so we've modeled a number of um against
our Baseline service at the moment of of
um weekly waste and fortnightly green
waste for those who have that service
and our pass on glass and we modeled a
number of scenarios depending on the
frequency um in the collection um uh of
of waste and and Fogo and class and to
come up with um and based on a number of
assumptions that that obviously has to
be included um to then come up with a
range of costs um that would help that
helped inform our response I'm sorry
just was that available for folk to look
at the general public look at the the
cost differences that it was summarized
because it is quite complex but yes we
certainly have summarized it in our
information that was on our is on our
website um and it does yeah I just
wasn't aware
yeah one other one was just um just in
terms of handling um the household
Organics um uh and this is difficult
because I mean we haven't done ative
plan but um do we have um uh a plan to
uh be able to manage that at this
stage thank you councelor Harris
director wetheral sorry I missed the
first part of of the question I Su just
with the the um Fogo Fogo um do we just
in terms of its management uh do we have
a plan yet to to be able to handle
that the Mr Mayor yes so we certainly
have um and that's what some of our uh
cost estimates are based on so we so we
have our green waste um provider um we
have a a an option with a processor that
we're looking at um to take the food
waste as well um we are waiting for some
uh EPA licensing issues with that
processor um before we can formalize
anything and and their costs and um and
what their requirements might be so
we've certainly got um that ongoing
we've also as you may be aware put out a
request for proposal um which closes
actually this week um around an organic
stream which we've engaged with um six
other councils and Central Highlands
water to aggregate waste
um including municipal waste recycling
and organic waste to see from a broader
strategic perspective what we might be
able to do um in the longer term that
could be a higher value product um with
that organic waste so well we've got a
potential short-term solution in the
long term we really hope to add a lot of
value um in in and save more carbon
emissions create some social outcomes as
well um through citing uh potential
organic facility in in our uh circular
economy Precinct thank you director
WEA question know just roughly so the
costings are about you know whatever it
is
$120 a a t is roughly about right with
our hand and our hearts we can
be look they're they're about right that
we have determined in January this year
certainly understand that um there could
be some Nuance with that um depending on
the contractor we choose
um the timing um and other things that
we might not have foreseen but we're
we're pretty confident and uh it's based
on the Consultants experience as well
thank you thank you director any other
questions from the
counselors if there are none counselors
I'm happy to move the recommendation
from the chair if there's a second I'll
speak to the
recommendation seconded councelor
coats thank you councilors and look
forward to the to the deBallarate on the
issue which is one that I think is a
really interesting one and challenging
one for our community and certainly it's
not one that we are just stepping into
it's one that we're being directed by
state government it's state government
policy which we are looking towards how
that is implemented as we go forward I
also want to highlight that the
significant amount of community
consultation and survey responses that
the team have done over the course of
this particular issue as I said before
when I was talking about the council
plan over 7,000 responses in two rounds
of surveying with Community is the
largest survey response I've seen in 22
years coming into this place so the
responses from the community are
absolutely profound in terms of some
some guidance is it all of the community
no is it a better sample than most other
surveys we've done with Community
absolutely is it over what would be
considered a qualitative survey yes it
does meet those criteria to give us
guidance in terms of adopting some of
those recommendations based on the views
of
council I guess from our own backyard
though last year we sent 24,000 tons of
waste to landfill from around
49,100 homes that we collect from and I
think all of those homes we've probably
in the space that when we go and put
rubbish in our bin we don't necessarily
think about the end game of where that
comes from
put our bin hopefully a truck comes
along picks up the waste we bring our
bin in and then we fill it in
preparation for the next
week our rate payers are currently
subsidizing waste collection to the tune
of
$28,000 per day to dispose of
waste and that facility out at smale is
not an infinite hole in the ground that
will go on
forever what we generally know from an
indication from the EPA is that we would
struggle to be able to get another
landfill within close proximity to our
municipality for future use so in terms
of the Alternatives if we cannot build
capacity into the landfill is
potentially having to engage trucks to
truck our waste to other parts
potentially into Melbourne at a cost
which our rate payers will need to
bear so the more capacity we build into
our landfill and the longer we get to be
able to deal with this issue the more we
save rate payers in the long
term in terms of the community feedback
what we heard from that significant
number of
residents was that
55.5% of residents were generally
supportive of Our intention around Fogo
collection and waste and the change that
we are
considering
39.5% we're passionate believe we need
to do more in terms of environmental
sustainability and 5% had a different
view but 95% of respondents are
passionate and supportive of recycling
and our
environment their priorities that they
gave us for Council 60.9% was to
maximize Recycling and environmental
benefits was their number one priority
in the survey data
18.8% were after the most coste
effective option for collecting
rubbish
17.9% were after the most convenient
option not surprising in terms of people
wanting the convenient ways of dealing
with their
waste what we also learned from our
community in terms of their waste
behaviors at the
moment is that around
133% of our householders generally have
a rubbish bin that is is over full
struggling to keep up are they large
families maybe do they are they
maximizing the opportunities for recycle
don't know but certainly their bins are
over
full 29.8% of bins are full which when
you add that about
42% of the community bins are at
capacity or a bit
more however 27.4% of 3/4 full 19.9% of
half fall and 10% are quarter full or
less so there are some people that are
already demonstrating good habits and
the potential about you can divert waste
from landfill and you can divert waste
out of your red bin if you choose to
some people who are the early adopters
but are certainly able to do
that in terms of the recycling some
people and again it's probably flipped
the other way from those that are the
quarter full for uh General being
20% of our community have an over full
recycle bin which is great people that
are diverting stuff away from their main
bin 41% of people their their recycle
bin is full and 27% theirs is 3/4 full
we're not proposing to change our
collection habits for recycling it's not
part of this particular agenda
item in relation to food Organics and
garden Organics and at the moment we
have an organic collection system
85.7% currently receive our current
Garden
Organics and 77% are likely to use the
Fogo if it's adopted 77% of those 7,000
people that were surveyed are in favor
of yes they would use the Fogo not
necessarily talking about collection
rates uh and times 42% do not currently
recycle their own food organic waste at
home and 19.2%
recycle of food or Organics at their
premises in relation to Glass there was
a really strong turnout in terms of the
participation rate that
83.9% said they would like a purple bin
for glass we know that the container
deposit scheme is about to hit Ballaratad not
yet rolled out to all of the locations
there are some issues around that being
able to be but it'll be important that
we how the community responds to
container deposit and we've got time
before the roll out um of that
particular
service I guess in terms of other things
that we found out from our waste
collection is that
42% of our household waste at the moment
is made up of food and Organics which is
going to landfill which is contributing
to that 24,000 tons of waste that is
going to the the landfill and is filling
up that hole at a rapid
rate so every year an estimated 10,000
tons of food is thrown out which could
be diverted across for composting
outcomes and a better use across our
community the challenge for us and what
the recommendation the officer
recommendation is proposing is about
Behavior change is about reducing the
amount of waste that's going to landfill
is looking at a cost affordable option
for people in relation to their habits
that's there the officer recommendation
that is about flipping some of it on its
head that makes it a real challenge for
this Council to say our our red rubbish
bin General waste that we have been
doing for decades to potentially
encourage people to recycle more to
divert more away from that red bin give
themselves greater capacity and have
that picked up every
Fortnight for the current organic bin
for food scraps meat scraps Bones the
smellies for that to be picked up every
week and for recycle to remain every
Fortnight and for glass to remain or
sorry to be introduced at a time in the
future at a rate of per month is about
the right capacity for people what
they've told
us that is the model that we believe
from a city Ballarat is the most affordable
option for us to consider all of those
things the community asked of
us we're not the early adopter in this
space many other councils have gone
before us some that have grappled with
the notion of the behavior change and
having a system where General waste has
remained the same with foggo on a weekly
has not delivered Behavior change
because people will probably most likely
continue to do the same thing that
they've always done if we want to get
Behavior change it is the difficult
challenge of science we need to make a
change with our regime that we collect
rubbish to build longevity into the
landfill to do it in the most affordable
way we realized there will be exceptions
for some
household when we adopted part of the
survey response or
communication I went to about eight or
nine different groups Probus groups
elderly sits and others that are single
people
households and yes there was some
resistance in terms of what we are
proposing but it was about talking that
this is a benefit for the entire
community that we have a legacy to
Future Generations about how we deal
with waste and when you're able to
explain it that way not about individual
needs and there wouldn't be individual
opt-in opt out that this was about a
system that was the best fit for
everyone I commend the officers for what
the work they have done the community
engagement they have done if this is
adopted Council we have about 12 months
to be able to educate the community
prepare before the license of a Fogo
operation
would be found and delivered and the
roll out of the infrastructure would be
required but I think at this stage there
is enough evidence there is enough
demonstrated Community Support that this
is a worthwhile officer recommendation
for us to implement thank you
councilors councilor coat is the
second thanks Mr Mayor
and uh you've pretty comprehensively
covered that but the recom as you
mentioned the recommendation has landed
after extensive Community consultation
extensive Council law briefings
extensive discussion in
portfolio and is on the back of the
experience that other councils have had
as well so we have the benefit of being
able to to learn from that so um I
acknowledge we've got exe manager Les
Stokes in the audience too in the um in
the chamber whose team have been been
really thorough in briefing us as
counselors um have really provided all
of the the relevant information to us
and it's um it kind of just shows how
passionate people are about waste
doesn't it the fact that 7,000 people
contributed feedback in some way shape
or
form
and um look waste is just one of those
issues that it really pequs everyone's
interest interest it's um there's
there's nothing that um that gets
people's interest going as much as waste
and that's why films like series like
the war on waste was one of the most
popular ABC series ever it's why when
someone's bin doesn't get collected
they're you know straight on the phone
to us it's why when issues like
recycling soft plastic become um are
taken away people are really passionate
about that I was um in the ufs chemist
last night and even the blister packs
people are recycling you know that being
in there was overflowing because people
are desperate to do better on was and
recycling um they want to do the right
thing they want us to improve as a
council they want the whole city to
improve and to do that I think our only
option is this recommend ation we have
in front of us if we don't support this
I feel we will be going backwards and as
you said there's an entire 12 months of
Community Education in the leadup to
that um that is a really great
suggestion I think that you know it
would provide a really good opportunity
to to bring the community along cuz they
want to be brought along they are really
really passionate and I love that quote
when you know better you do better so we
we do actually know better we've got the
evidence and the information in front of
us as you said really
clearly a huge majority of people said
what their order of priorities were and
they included environmental cost and
convenience um on all of those
factors um apart apart from the the
convenience for for you know and that
part was was 50/50 um this is the only
option that Stacks up nothing else
Stacks up so I just I just can't imagine
committing to spending that much more
money on waste as a council and
increasing our carbon emissions at the
same time so not only is waste our our
biggest
environmental issue including the carbon
emissions it's our most costly issue as
well so from a good governance point of
view and looking out and seeing
community members scrutinizing us seeing
people from future Shapers recognizing
that under the Local Government Act we
we're enlisted with the responsibility
to make decisions in the best interest
of the community on social environmental
and economic grounds and on none of
those grounds do the other options Stack
Up so look I would prefer if if this
option is not supported that we we do
not do not go down the path of the other
ones this really is the only one in
terms of of good governance to to
consider um I've got to admit I was
really pleasantly surprised that 95% of
people um put environmental concern as
as their top and number one
consideration in um informing Us in
making this decision what we should be
looking at we should be looking at
getting better better environmental
options reducing um waste that's going
to landfill and improving the
recycling options as well
so this this one in front of us it's the
only logical option um to not follow
through with it just really doesn't
stack up on an economic basis and I
don't know
um whether you mentioned this before Mr
M I don't think you did but um $2.2
million per year additional cost would
be the the cost of um the uh maintaining
a a weekly waste and as well as a weekly
food and Organics um as opposed to uh
800,000 for the option that we have in
front of us so it is by far the most
cost effective and that doesn't take
into account that with that um with that
other option of of weekly waste
collection five additional trucks on the
roads which again would contribute to
the carbon emissions and transport
emissions so I to be honest being so
passionate about waste and recycling
myself I would I would be completely
disheartened if um if if it's not if
it's not supported I would I would
rather us go back to the to the drawing
board because in this in this day and
age to stand here in front of community
members and say that we would we would
support an an option that has worse
economic and
environmental options for this the sake
of a proven method of um Behavior change
and minor inconvenience so most most
people wouldn't know that 43% of their
General waste bin is made up of food
waste um so having a whole year of an
education program to bring people along
and encourage and support
people using the uh using the skills
that we have the the uh green waste
collection Community Education was
incredibly successful um that resulted
in a a really high take up of the
service it's really popular and a really
low contamination rate and people really
love it so it kind it just goes to prove
we we need to give our community the
benefit of the doubt that they can and
would step up with support and
encouragement
and when we know better we should do
better and I think we do know a lot
better in terms of what we can do with
Waste and Recycling and um reducing
waste to landfill reducing our emissions
and doing our bit most people really do
want to do their bit I feel incredibly
strongly about that thank you councelor
coats is there a council wishing to
speak against the motion councelor
Harris um thanks Mr May I'll try and be
brief I think council is are over most
of the the nuts and bolts with this um
look um you if you look at the survey
60% of people want their uh household
rubbish picked up weekly there's no two
ways about that and it's a fairly as you
6 60% of people still want their normal
uh if you take the subsets out of it I
don't think I'm misspeaking um so 60% of
people really do and I feel sorry for a
young family who's got uh uh as many
people do have a full to over full bin
and they're going to be confronted with
the fact that they're going to have to
pay extra to get a bin or have some
medical um reason to have it you part of
what we're here to do is provide basic
services and I think picking up your
rubbish is a b basic service it's not to
say and I think from the survey too uh
that folk that want their basic Services
preserve doesn't mean that they want a
bad environmental outcome uh we've got
to take the Fogo stuff out of our waste
stream and I think we could we could do
that um I would dearly love to be able
to com to have both of those services
and with the um figures provided I can
see that's an expensive option um uh I
would um depending on how we go with
this motion that perhaps the the
favorite option for me would be in that
option one which the L councilors would
have had in terms of the costings at
least which was the fog araby second
week and un normal rubbish picked up uh
weekly I think to do otherwise really is
to look at the those survey results and
just say that we're we're not listening
to our community they they really want
basic Services preserved um I in some
respects might um endorse what councelor
coats was saying in terms of uh when we
bring this forward we want our community
to go forward as one and I think um
ranker about it doesn't help at all but
I don't think this is the right proposal
I'm even to be perfectly Frank not
convinced it's exactly the right time I
don't think we've got the streams sorted
yet and we've got a state government who
continues to dither about what they want
to do as we go forward so now I can't
support it Mr May I'd like to I just
think it's what it's not what our
community are actually asking of us um
and I'd foreshadow if this motion fails
that um we would uh seek to endorse one
where we do start to get Fogo out of the
out of the waste stream which is at a
cost in fact all of these proposals are
a cost uh but we can uh we continue to
have our uh weekly waste um picked up as
usual thank you councilor Harris and
counc Harris is forhad out an alternate
that he would talked if the motion is
defeated is there a councelor wishing to
speak for the
motion councelor
McIntosh through you Mr Mayor um I will
speak for the motion and just to say
that it's no surprise to me that 95% of
the
respondents uh were supportive of
reducing our wastes reusing our Wast and
recycling our wastes and I think we've
got to give our community a great deal
of uh respect and understanding and not
undermine their
intelligence uh yes our community do
expect our Council to provide a basic
service and equally we do need to
educate I remember going to crack out
and looking at their system and being
absolutely impressed to billio with the
way the whole Community from birth to
death were absolutely committed to um
every part of this type of process the
three hours and uh yes it's about
education it's not about stuffing it
down people's throats it's about being
very cautious about stepping gently
forward with our community holding their
hand work walking with them and creating
really beautiful ways forward and and
that is the most impressive example that
that I've seen I think that um 7,000
respondent says a lot people care about
it it's going to be tough as soon as you
change something it is difficult and not
one size fits all so there will be
challenges for us along the way however
I consistently look at our daily
operations not just here at council at
home in businesses down the streets and
I see things that people should be doing
differently I know people care about it
I hear people caring about it but
behaviors have been practiced for such a
long time and we just need to make some
uh little changes that I believe will
make a massive big difference to us in
the big picture um it's not ever easy I
remember when we started talking about
the pass on glass project and and how
tough that was equally I think our
community are itching for us to really
do it and to follow it all the way
through and to make sure that there is a
use for all of these things you know we
there's so much more that we can do
there's so much more that we can be
Innovative with and there's so much more
inclusion with business across our whole
Community not just in our homes as to
how we better do this um I just think
that our community as supportive mostly
there's a little bit more of learning
and I think that we can all work
together to achieve a much much better
outcome thank you coun the
recommendation thank you councilor
McIntosh is your Council wishing to
speak against the motion councelor
Taylor yeah I will now this is such a
fine lineer we can see by the results
that we've got at 45% versus 40% really
that's what it comes down to and uh as
officers they have to make the
recommendation that suits the best view
of what they think is right when
balancing all the opinions um I think
though we've got to be very careful with
our language when we start using good
governance as a comment to as councils
making decisions making good governance
is actually listening to the community
and looking at what we've got and what
we clearly see is 45% of people saying
weekly rubbish Fort nightly Fogo now
that could be from an educated point of
view it could be from a whole range of
different things whether it's naive not
understanding as well but also
researching it but when you look at
actually the data when you go down and I
love the statistics that's been used
tonight uh clearly the loan person
household and the couple with no
children they are strongly in support of
Fogo going weekly and rubbish going
fortnightly but once you start to get
multiple people in the household that
changes dramatically it actually flits
not that
45% in relation to fortnite Fogo it
actually goes a lot higher um when you
start looking at couples with children
you're up around the 55% Mark so people
understand that they have to make big
changes to their household and when you
get actually large amount of household
rubbish that's a big change to the
community that's a big change that we
actually need to uh educate the
community on but tonight we're actually
not actually educating we're actually
using a stick instead we're forcing them
to change we're actually not bringing
them with us to bring that change so we
got to be very careful when using data
and straight away the data is 45%
actually want to look at the Fogo
fortnite
but then when you look at it couples
with children again that's skewed higher
uh one person uh one parent family
that's skewed again around that 45 other
types again up around that 4548 and also
group households are then over 50% so
clearly counselors the survey results
and we talked about them before
5,000
5,744 that were um part of that survey
have said they want to go Fogo
fortnightly and what we can see as well
is when we look at our rubbish uh weekly
rubbish at the moment 3/4 to full to
over full is 70% of the
community now we can take Fogo out of
that we can we can do that but that is a
bid education process that we need to
work through and in doing that it's
going to be a slow burn to see that
change so we can't just use the stick
and say bang we're going to force you to
change we actually got to bring the
community along with us bringing the
community along with us is actually
doing those steps to make change and
make people adopt that change and doing
it actually respectfully and doing it
actually where they actually have an
understanding of why they're doing what
they're doing so I can't agree tonight
with looking at this proposal and I
agree with councelor Harris and would
support that alternative but adding on
that alternative would be a review to be
done after two years of the
implementation and then looking to then
add in that that may be that flip once
we see a change in relation to the
community doing it clearly we can see
that with the results that the community
hasn't bought into this yet they do not
understand what the consequences are and
they do not understand what it means to
them by going to this change and that's
something we really need to be aware of
so that's why I can't support at the
motion tonight thank you councelor Tyler
Council speaking for the
motion Council speaking against the
motion councelor Hargraves thank you Mr
Mayor and um yeah just to add to the
comments already made I think it's not
that people um don't want to do the
right thing it's not that people don't
care about the environment it's none of
those things I think that um the amount
of people in the household makes the
biggest difference of all I'd Echo what
councelor Taylor has just gone through
um and every household is completely
different um and I mean it's it's the
tone I'm getting is that it assumes that
people who are filling their bin aren't
actually trying to do the right thing in
other ways plenty of people are already
already um putting organic waste into
the compost um people also have pets
animals that have waste products that
come with them um I mean I would be more
likely to support this if it weren't for
those conditions that have to be shown
to council to be even allowed the option
of a of another bin I mean that would
leave say a single mom with four kids
that doesn't even fit the bill to have
an extra bin I mean um the model of you
must have two parents and three kids for
kids like where's the line I don't think
it's up to us to be um putting that on
people without giving them you know
another option um I agree the idea of a
review in 12 months is um completely on
point for this um and I would I would
say that the introduction of the Fogo in
the first place is um is giving people
that opportunity to make those changes
and to do it gradually and to do it in a
way that actually works without
stressing them overly and feeling like
they're getting less for you know the
money that they continue to have to pay
um
yeah I'm I'm just I'm not convinced
especially with the the the survey
numbers show us that that I mean if we
ask people um I believe we should be
listening to what they say to us and
also you know this is not in any way to
put down the amazing work done in the in
the campaigns and the communications and
the team in general to put this together
it is just also a really confusing thing
for people to try and visualize what the
difference is between option one two and
three and what that means for your house
I think most people or the people that
that have said they still want their red
bins collected every week it just it's a
probably I don't know it's a bit
overwhelming to think what will happen
if they only take if they're only
putting half as much in and they've got
three kids or whatever um yeah I'm just
not convinced I think the red bin weekly
would be more suitable and the Fogo
every second week and to come back with
a review at a future time would um be
the best move thank you thank you
councelor Hargraves is there councel
willing to speak for the motion
councelor
Eddie uh thanks Mr Mayor I'll speak for
the motion um and look I think like most
of the councils tonight I'm I'm a bit uh
torn by this as we have by a couple of
motions in recent times but um I suppose
the first thing I'd like to say is and I
agree with councel Harris it's just so
frustrating that time and time again
we're asked to be making decisions on
behalf of our community without the full
detail from government you know it's
it's this insistence on us doing things
but not giving us you know we only got
one arm tied behind our back every time
we try and do something so it's a sad
reflection on the government that if
they want us in this space if they don't
get their act together and get on with
the job so that frustrates me but but I
don't think that overrides my belief
that the fact that we do have 12 months
and and I've listened to um councel
Taylor on a number of occasions talking
about the need for education in this
space and I agree with that and I think
that's in a vital thing and I think
rather than dictate to people what we
would want them to do in 12 months time
I'd like to think we're signaling to
people this change and we signal it well
with um with a good education program
you know this will only work if the
officers embrace the education that
comes with it if it's we got the result
tonight and on with the job that will be
a failure so I really encourage people
to take on board that need to make sure
that there's a very positive and um
sustained education program running
through this next 12 months and I think
that in that space it's it's pretty
important that that we actually do look
some of the points um councelor
Hargraves has made are again very
positive yeah I understand the concerns
about big families and US sort of
imposing our will on
people I do think that we really need an
empathetic and uh you know an
understanding approach to how this will
work it's one thing to say or for the
state government to say You must have
four bins yeah if a if a single person
living in a tiny unit with no back yard
hasn't got room for four
bins we've got to look at what we can do
you know and it's not it's not the
response I'd hate to see is it's not our
problem our response is be how can we
help what Solutions can we come up with
and to be a bit more flexible on some of
the areas that Council Harr has
identified it really is a matter if this
is going to work as a positive
contribution to our community and I
think despite all the stats and all
those sort of things I think everyone in
our community does want to be doing
better it's sometimes just the
consequences of you know if they got
four kids or if they've got no space
whatever it is that that makes them B it
a change like this so if we can help if
we can drive that if we can educate if
we can give people enough lead time I
have a strong belief that the community
in Ballarat will do well and be able to take
on the change and for those reasons I
support this with that endorsement that
the officers
the work Starts Now not what we've
already done thank you thank you
councelor Eddie is there Council wishing
to speak against the motion councelor
Johnson thank you Mr
Mayor uh I'm will speak against the
motion Mr Mayor and if the motion fails
I will support um I will certainly speak
in support of councelor Harris's
alternative with the suggestion of
weekly waste and fortnite Le Fogo
I think we have to be really careful
here that we bring the community along
with us rather than be seen to make
change from the top and that the
community then has to play catchup I
certainly acknowledge the work of the
team um that have been undertaking
consultation with the community in
regard to curbside waste collection and
the significant number of people that
they have spoken with however the number
of people that we have engaged with is
still a drop in the ocean compared to
the population within the city of
Ballarat and I know um from experience
uh over the last 11 years on Council
that the people that are most likely to
participate in that communic uh
consultation rather are people that are
already quite
engaged um so perhaps they're already
very good uh at
um avoiding single use items uh using
their recycling bins minimizing their
waste um perhaps they have um options
for their food and Organics within their
households rather than that needing to
go into their waste bin uh and that
certainly won't be the case for all
survey respondents but certainly we do
know that often people that are already
quite engaged um are the ones that are
most likely to participate in
consultation with um conducted by
Council the reason that I raise that is
that there are a lot of people that are
disenfranchised in our community and
there are also a lot of people that are
just not uh engaged and um not aware of
of what's going on within Council and I
think we can clearly say that people
aren't aware um or very few people are
aware of this meeting tonight otherwise
we would have had an enormous number of
submissions our phones would have been
ringing off the hook and there would
have been um a lot of uh messages and
emails about this but I think we we've
had one um verbal submission or written
submission rather here here this
evening as I said Mr may I would prefer
uh weekly waste and fortnightly Fogo the
price difference isn't particularly
significant and in 12 months time would'
like to see Council conduct audits on
the volume of waste within those um
curbside waste bins and at that time it
might be clear that the volume of waste
in curbside waste bins has reduced
enough to change to uh the other way
around with fortn nightly Fogo and week
uh fortnightly waste and weekly
Fogo the other thing that we need to
ensure that we do whether it's this
option uh or indeed um weekly waste and
fortnightly Fogo is that we conduct an
incredibly thorough campaign around
waste um not only what goes in what bin
uh which is similar to what we we've got
with our a toz waste Guide online now
but also what are the other options to
um ensure that uh trying to think of the
word diverted so that to ensure that as
much waste as possible is diverted from
landfill I know that um on our current
website we've got the a toz waste guide
which shows the best waste waste
disposal option depending on what the
type of waste is so there's General
waste recycling green beIN um your
compost bin if you have a um visit
compost if you have a compost resolution
bin um there's also the transfer station
you can donate to Charities or op shops
um drop off at your local supermarket or
other disposal methods so it's great
that we have that guide and I also see
that Bayside Council have got uh an
incredible uh guide on their website
that includes options such as um signing
up to Street Bank which is uh a website
that we could promote as well where you
can give things away to your neighBallarats
share things so similar concept of tool
library and um it also allows you to
share skills so help help other people
out within your neighBallarathood there's
another website that um Bayside promote
called donate direct where you can
donate items online within uh your city
or municipality and Community
organizations can sign up and either
pick those up directly from the donor or
the donor can drop those off I guess the
the point that I'm trying to make here
is that I think we need to uh
communicate much more clearly the
breadth of options that are available as
to how people can get rid of items
rather than um them going into their bin
um where that is appropriate um and some
examples include um uh for things like
blankets you can we could encourage
people to drop them off at the animal
shelter um or donate them to um rescue
organizations or perhaps they can donate
them to op shops if they're in good
condition there's a lot of um options
like that that I I think we should be
promoting and and raising awareness of
and in addition to that I think we need
to consider um how we can uh support um
the development of waste streams for
things like soft Plastics within our
city obviously people used to be able to
drop them off at the supermarket and
that's no longer available I think a lot
of that work needs to be done prior um
to the heavy-handed approach of just
going to that uh weekly
pickup and finally uh Mr Mayor I just
wanted
to reiterate my support for Council
um developing some grants
for uh Community waste diversion
initiatives obviously we've got our
community impact grants City partnership
program tourism event grants creative
inspiration grants where is our uh
Community waste diversion grant funding
stream I think that would be a great way
uh to develop um another another um
initiative that's focused on keeping uh
waste out of landfill and giving it
another life if that is at all possible
uh and just to reiterate I absolutely
think that it's appropriate that we go
to weekly waste and fortnightly Fogo to
begin with and then we can move to
fortnightly waste and weekly Fogo in 12
months depending on the results of a
curbside audit thank you councelor
Johnson that is all councilors have
spoken so I will rise and speak and
bring the deBallarate to its
conclusion um Council great to see such
engagement from all councilors that have
very strong ideas very thoughts um on
the on the agender item which is great
to see uh and people bringing their own
independent views and thoughts to it so
I really do commend you for doing that
um just want to say I I guess to refute
a couple of the aspects to the deBallarate
that I've heard is that I don't see that
this is a stick approach or heavy-handed
to when we are trying to encourage
Behavior change for a better outcome for
our
community it would seem that there are
already significant number of the
community that have been able to
demonstrate at reducing the amount of
waste in their red bin um and using
those models is where others can
actually get some examples of being able
to get that waste
out in terms of behavior change I want
to I guess throw to you the idea of
what's one of the best behavior change
campaigns we've seen over decades and
it's probably been the quit camp
campaign with all the harms around
smoking and the health implications and
step by step with various restrictions
along the way and exclusions along the
way I think the current participation
rate of people who smoke in Victoria is
less than
10% it has been a really great model of
behavior change some would argue that
was also virus stick approach by many
exclusion areas along the way to see
such a reduction
in the in the harms because of that so I
think Behavior change happens in a whole
range of different ways that can get to
a desired
outcome I want to grab a couple of
examples from the future Shapers that
gave me some feedback today when we were
talking about this particular issue to
the uh person that lives in arat that
said don't do an Ararat they do
fortnightly Fogo and said it stinks over
summer that they stay with weekly
regular rubbish and fortnightly Fogo and
said it absolutely reeks and people
generally during summer don't use their
Fogo to the person from golden plain
Shire that have had fortn nightly
General waste for some time that said
people adapt people get on board over
time and people change their behavior
and will adapt and after a period of
time we'll go okay and to the other
person who I think is one of our
residents but said when you do this
regularly report back the successes and
let people know that they're doing well
to be proud of the results that they've
done and the changes that they've made
make that part of your communication to
make sure you continue to bring
residents with us along the journey and
I think all of us are saying that we
have enormous work to do between now and
when a system if it is passed is
implemented and we can do that there are
various Champions out there let's get
into schools let's win over schools let
school kids be the Champions going home
at how we do it but a failure to act I
think is a failure to show leadership
and I think it is about doing that the
work that's gone in otherwise we kick it
down the road and it's going to be for
some other future Council to have to
deal with I think we are a courageous
Council we are a council that's able to
make decisions in the best interest of
the community I'd like to think some of
those concerns that were raised about
individual households that Council
harres was talking about that there is
opportunities to look at different
applications on their Merit without
being absolutely prescriptive if there
is a need absolutely let's make it as
easy as possible in terms of how we
engage so as we meet those needs of the
community council as we've heard enough
of the the deBallarate I think it is time to
vote
councils I'll put the motion all those
in
favor is for councils all those against
is for the chair has a casting vote and
in casting that vote I reached out to
councelor Maloney today
just
sorry
sorry yes but I reached out to council
Maloney to seek his uh intent if he was
here on this particular issue and his
intent would be to support the officer
recommendation so in that regard the
motion is carried on the casting vote of
the chair thank you
councilors council's item 8.3 is the
customer Charter development and
consultation is there a counselor
willing to move the
recommendation Council coats yes I'll
move
it uh councel a
second yes Council ready councilor coach
you have the
floor okay so the recommendation and the
report is really just noting the
development um of the draft customer
Charter has complied with council's
Community engagement policy so there has
been Community engagement and to
therefore endorse the proposed customer
Charter and it's about setting the
values for the organiz ation and setting
setting the values for officers and
staff around interactions with the
community basically that as public
servants people working for local
government are are whether they're at
the the Forefront the calace of customer
service interaction they are always
there acting for the community um so it
really just sets it sets the tone and
the expectation and the values around
the responsibilities um associated with
that so it's it's reasonably
straightforward um we're really just
noting that there's there's been some
Community engagement around that um
councilors have been briefed over a
period of time and I'm um I'm really
happy to see this coming forward because
um it it really raises the bar so part
of the charter is is highlighting the
need for continuous Improvement and
that's what that's what we would like to
see as as councilors and um across the
organization really have pride in the
organization and um pride in the the
sort of service that's provided to the
community whether whether directly um at
the at the cace at the Forefront of
customer interaction or in the
background of of those interactions so
um it is is about receiving the the
questions concerns and information with
good grace and open mind and responding
in a in a timely and respectful manner I
guess in a in a nutshell but I'm really
happy to endorse the proposed customer
Charter and um grateful for the work
that's been done in the background
around developing that thank you Council
coach Council ready uh thanks Mr May and
I think U Council coach has covered off
that very well there's probably two
things that stuck out to me in reviewing
the the documentation one is that uh we
need to continue to communicate via a
wide and diverse range of choices for
people and that we don't force people
into limited options I think we've had a
lot of discussion this year around that
and um the staff are there to serve the
organization and the community and uh we
need to embrace and understand that many
people have many different ways of
wanting to engage thank you thank you
Council ready any other Council speaking
for the motion against the
motion not I'll put the motion all those
in favor against the motion is carried
council's item 8.4 is the
tender 2022
23616 major patching and ashel
resurfacing panel councelor Harris to
move councelor Taylor to
Second Council Harris you have the
floor um thanks Mr Mayor
I'm happy to have the um uh panel um
there and hope they get on with the job
as soon as
possible thank you councelor Harris
councelor
Taylor now the discussion counselors
I'll put the motion all those in favor
against the motion is carried council's
item 8.5 is the Community Asset
committee's annual report is there a
council wishing to move the motion move
councelor Taylor second
counselor Harris counc Ty you have the
floor thanks uh Mr Mayor um this is
something we do every year which is our
assets especially when it comes to those
Community halls and we just ran a
meeting a couple of weeks ago uh in
relation to th that those committees and
the assets that that as a council we
deal with but the big thing is is
actually the community take full um uh
well not full responsibility but they
take on the role of managing that asset
that they have and in looking at um uh
scheduling people to go along to taking
bookings to then looking after the basic
General making sure it's neat and tidy
and clean and the garden looks great and
really we owe the community a great big
thank you for the work that they do on
our behalf at those Community halls and
and they do a wonderful job um on on a
day-to-day basis and some of them are
highly active with multiple bookings on
multiple uh like every week and some may
not be but they still do that knowing
they want to do the right thing for
their local community uh from Ascot all
the way down to Warren he and I'm not
going to go through the ones in the
middle um but I think it's a it's a
great report that we have and see that
but also acknowledge the contribution of
of those committees um I've got a second
didn't I I did have a second I do have a
question as well is in the uh in the
back end of the report it does talk
about working closely in relation to
maintenance do we have um uh for the for
I know the one I'm thinking of which is
bunny young Town Hall has had concerns
over the last couple of years that they
kept raising through the committee
process through um what's the process
for those things to be then at least
looked at and responded back from a from
a timely point of view and we just had
the customer service Charter uh they may
then be logging these in a different way
through assets and not through customer
service uh but just back through the
office or through you Mr CEO what's the
uh for them what kind of actions would
happen in then um in relation to their
responsive concerns with maintenance
thank you Council Tyler or is it
director Wilson that's able to respond
in relation to our asset Halls director
Wilson three Mr Mayor thank you for that
question councelor Taylor um re really
important um question in relation to the
upkeep and maintenance of how these
assets within Community are presented
for Community use I'm pleased to inform
Council that uh council's properties and
Facilities department is working very
closely with my own engaged communities
Department Department to look deeply
into how we uh determine what we would
refer to as a cyclical Works program to
deal with the various um standard
elements of these assets so Roofing
guttering painting flooring those types
of things so a full program is in
process of being developed and be rolled
out over the coming years uh the aim
being that uh it deals with major
elements within facilities and enables
these Community Asset Comm committees to
consider ways in which they might
enhance or improve the assets for
Community use um further to that there's
a a new role within the engaged
communities Department as a community
development officer um who will be uh
responsible for uh improving the direct
one-to-one relationship with these asset
committees and other similar Community
groups thank you Mr Mayor thank you
councelor T can resume the floor if you
wish councel
Harris um yes thank you Mr M only just
to endorse what council Taylor says but
they hard of all of you know many
aspects of our community and um the uh I
think over my time you know you do have
some closer associations with some
groups rather than others uh I think I
found um Council officers as being you
know particularly responsive to it but
by the same token it's one one of those
things that you these people need you
know the Rolls-Royce treatment when it's
all said and done they they do a lot for
us and maintain these facilities so um
uh I'm heartened by um the director's
comments yeah in making that solid and
very real and something that can
feedback to council and Community um so
well but um uh yes my Hardy thanks to
everyone that that works you know so
much for these um for these assets and
they they produce wonderful results
sometimes um as you say we probably
don't wish to take much of the credit
for it is the Committees that that work
for it that produce so much but by the
same token um uh we we do need to
acknowledge them and I'm fully
supportive of the motion thank you
councilor Harris any other Council
wishing to speak for the motion against
the motion I'll put the motion all those
in favor against the motion is carried
council's item 8.6 is our creative City
strategy
implementation report a council is
willing to move the the recommendation
Council McIntosh is moving second to
council coats Council
McIntosh
is
abely
reward
to
beers and we
are
FOC
embrace
and thank you councelor McIntosh councel
coats um thanks to councelor McIntosh
for that great summary actually and um
the report
really just spells out those seven goal
areas that have been have been specified
as part of the the strategy and it's
pretty ambitious really so um endorsing
what council McIntosh said that when
we're a creative city that has so many
benefits
so so many aspects of making the city
more vibrant and enjoyable and I think
what the creative strategy has done is
really broadened out our understanding
of what um being a creative actually is
it's not just being a a visual art
artist or a painter it's not just
someone who's associated with an art
gallery it's its film it's graphic
design it's music it's theater it's all
sorts of vibrant Industries around
writing and storytelling and City
presentation and um the these goals
really really pin it down to um
measuring those benefits which have
traditionally been a bit hard to
quantify the value of of being a
creative City so um so it is great to
see the progress that's being made um
just noting that the report also talks
about some of the the challenges that
the industry has faced so so during the
pandemic creatives did really step up to
the to the Forefront and were
often you know coming up with really
creative responses to some of those
lockdown challenges but um what's
happened sort of post pandemic is that
some of those Industries are are really
um struggling Industries and individuals
are struggling to to recover from that
economic impact so um it's good to have
the information in front of us it's good
to be able to celebrate the city as a
creative City and all the diversity and
Vibrance that comes with that so thank
all of the officers for work that goes
on in a in a in a really continuous and
passionate way so um endorse the report
thank you Council coats Council wishing
to speak against the motion for the
motion I'll put the motion all those in
favor against the item is
carried council's 8.7 is the annual
community grants report is there a
councelor wishing to move the the
recommendation move councelor Hargraves
seconded
counselor I'm happy to second that one
bring on the committee with Council
Hargraves Council Hargraves you got the
floor thank you Mr Mayor and this is a
really um brilliant example of our
community and all the things that they
do behind the scenes that maybe don't
always get appreciation um so of from
the report there are a couple of
different ways that we fund um and the
Strategic Partnerships program is there
that's um a really important partnership
that we have with a load of different
businesses through Ballarat that do a lot in
terms of um putting on events putting
bringing people to Ballarat and um you
know making our city as amazing as it is
we also have the community impact grants
um which we sit on together uh Mr Mayor
and that is a really great example I
think of community and people that live
here um really at a Grassroots level
bringing in you know sporting equipment
bringing in events um of cultural um
diversity bringing in you know really
important things that actually affect
people's lives in a really positive way
I would say um the committee itself is
an absolute plethora of experience and
knowledge and they go through all of
those what was their 75 applications
with a fine tooth comb and and really do
assess whether they're um you know at
the level where they pass for funding or
not and unfortunately not all of them
make it but a lot of them do and that's
brilliant to see and then last up we
have the tourism events uh grant program
uh councelor Eddie we're on that one
together along with councelor Maloney
and that is another um really good
program it brings um a lot of different
types of events to Ballaratado as well and
helps them to actually come to fruition
um and yeah I really value being on both
of those committees and think that the
value that we get from all of those
things running and all the volunteers
and all the people who put their time
into making grants applications we
really do see tenfold of that in terms
of benefit for Ballarat our residents our
businesses um and yeah I think it's
awesome thank you councelor Hargraves
you've covered all aspects I don't need
to speak is there a council wishing to
speak for the motion against the motion
I'll put the motion all those in favor
motion is
carried council's item 8.8 is the audit
and risk committee by annual report so
I'm happy to move the recommendation
councelor Tyler second for the councelor
Eddie councelor Tyler thank you Mr Mayor
I'm not on this committee anymore but uh
I thought maybe one of the other
councilors who were might put their hand
up but that's all right I'll I'll take
this one for the team
um AIT RIS they do an amazing job um and
a great credit to them in they they do
put their time they do get rewarded for
it paid for it but they actually do
their work to look at the work that we
do and make making sure we're on track
in relation to our audits our compliance
and our schedules that we need to do on
a on an ongoing basis this is just the
biannual report of that and I we note
that um one of the members Linda good I
got that right I forgotten her last name
has actually step down and the next item
we'll be dealing with I think is the
membership of that uh the the membership
of the ordinant risk but just want to
thank her for her contributions uh to
the committee and I know when she was on
probably going back 3 four years ago now
uh was a great addition and brought
really good insight and great
questioning when it came to those items
that that came through so um yeah really
good the the details there in the report
but uh they do a power of work and I
know even the compliance and
government's team do a lot of work to
prepare for that and making sure we're
on track with the auditor so happy to
move it thank you councelor Taylor
Council ready uh thanks and uh just
following on from councelor Taylor Who's
covered most of that I think it's really
good to know that there is a committee
like this that's got you back and that
is checking and making sure sure that
the work that's being done is being done
to the standard and the regulation
that's required so again thanks to
everyone involved and it's great to have
that come us counselor thank you thank
you councelor Eddie councelors I'll talk
briefly on this one audit audit and risk
the title almost sends a shiver up your
spine of a group that's looking to are
we doing things okay uh are we doing the
wrong thing but I do want to talk about
and Council tell you said before in
terms of the power of work they do but
the environment they create in terms of
when staff are coming to present on
different aspects that are part of that
review process but also to the CEO the
culture across the organization that the
staff members that come and councelor
Johnson I'm sure councelor Harris who
are other members of the committee over
the time that I've been involved have
seen that there is a willingness to come
there is a willingness to engage to not
see that the audit and risk is about
being exposed to a fault it is about
continuous Improvement and that's a
really great great healthy culture to
see of our staff members and it's one
that the chair and the other committee
members have really embraced saying they
have seen it too so to everyone involved
especially our governance team as well
that work closely with the audit and
risk this is a really good space for for
us the fact we are open and honest and
transparent about all of our business
operations and we will always look for
continuous ways to improve any other
Council wishing to speak for the motion
against the motion I'll put the motion
all those in favor against that's
carried
council's item 8.9 is the audit andris
committee independent membership
inclusion of the of a new person is
there a council wishing to move the
recommendation move councelor Harris
seconded councelor McIntosh councelor
Harris uh thank you Mr Mayor um and i'
think for those that made applications
for the new position and and um
acknowledge um the appointment of Tara
herd uh as the potential new member um
and wish her luck in the new position
thank you councelor Harris councelor
McIntosh thank you any other councilor
wishing to speak for the motion against
the motion put the motion all those in
favor against the motion is carried
council's item 8 point 10 is the
instrument of appointment and
authorization ra largely procedural move
councelor Harris seconded councelor
McIntosh any discussion counselors if
not put the motion all those in favor
against the motion is carried
item 811 is the contracts approval
delegated committee minutes to receive
those councelor Taylor moved councelor
Harris second councelor Tayo uh yeah why
not talk about this one this actually a
challenging one we had the first one was
the MAV tender that we dealt with um
which was then around looking at gas and
large Supply and that was a real
challenge because gas is becoming quite
expensive so looking at how we can um do
that better and luckily maav did do that
uh larger tender work and then we um uh
jumped on board as them as being the
agent uh great news Mary Bush we've had
the big investment there so sign off on
um you know $1.5 million of work for uh
the pitch the design and construct and
then also digital advertising through
the team um working on that to to get
you could say the campaigning right from
our digital advertising so power of work
there's a lot of money but again uh
contracts committee uh we have robust
robust discussions when it comes to
different ways of how tenders are put
forward and recommendations so thanks to
the other team members that are part of
that thank you councelor Tyler councelor
Harris comment if not councilors any
discussion put the motion all those in
favor against the motion is
carried council's item 812 is
outstanding Question Time items move r a
second move councelor coats seconded
counselor Harris any discussion
counselors if not put the motion all
those in favor against the motion is
carried councilors there are no notice
of motions item 10 is reports from
committees and councilors councelor
Taylor thank you Mr Mayor um my memory
is failing me as I get older but in
relation to our murf we we've looked at
identifying a site and they're looking
to to progress that with our commitment
of funds the the question that I have is
based on our curbside uh item tonight is
actually the commercial and Industrial
Waste that's the other half of what goes
to landfill so I just wanted to whether
there's an opportunity for a briefing
back to council around how we're
progressing which I think we've come a
fair way but then how we're going to
look at not just our curbside but also
that that commercial um the sad thing is
which is which is really disappointing
because it's not a role of council but
but you actually do see trucks out there
picking up recyclable and in the same
truck they pick up rubbish and that's
just disappointing because we know then
that just goes straight to landfill it
actually doesn't go to the different
waist stream so um what's that
involvement for Council or I know
there's been a whole lot of discussions
over many many years around a third
party who would look after that
commercial industrial has there anything
progressed in relation to that across
the city so if a report could come back
would be great just councelor Tyler for
those that are watching online that may
not understand the acronym M MF uh
materials uh facility what's it called
fa recovery facility and then there's a
Smurf a small one um a small material
recovery and blue as well um so yes
thank you uh the other one uh items is
in relation to to fire safety um uh I
was just double cheing I think the last
council meeting the question was asked I
had a resident ring today in relation to
tinworth Avenue and the land opposite
residence there is getting fairly big
it's on tracks that people walk through
but also it's Bush and it's many and
externally outside of council so just
wondering when notices will start to go
out uh and then the process around
enforcement and what what um confidence
Community can have around seeing change
that the people will clean up as it's
been indicated as been a hot and heavy
summer is there maybe question first to
to the officer thank you and is that
with Mr Wilson's reaching for his
microphone looks like willing to take
the question yes thank you through you
Mr May thank you for the question
councelor Taylor um information around
when fire notices will be issued they'll
be um the the date the target date for
notices to issued is the 14th of
November the reason for that is
obviously the local conditions
determining U the best balance of timing
of notices and then responses from uh
property owners in relation to those
notices to to deal with fuel loads
through the best the best part of the
fire um prevention period for those
loads to be low um but if there is a
particular property in question that
you'd like us to uh respond to some res
resident concerns in relation to more
more than happy to take that address and
uh and work through that with officers
as a priority thank you Mr thank you uh
last one um uh as we see our growing
city and our infrastructure in some
areas uh we've had Ballarat moving keeping
Ballarat moving by the state government
and still waiting for those Jolly lights
to be turned on down the bottom of SAS
those LEDs do blind you those temporary
ones uh sorry not that's irrelevant to
what I'm actually asking um they still
get high amount of traffic in certain
areas such as white L Avenue and
Wilshire Lane still very highly and I
think Mr Mayor and Mr CEO travel those
quite regularly um but the PTV user bus
stop there at wat LW Avenue and also
James drive as a stop point and I think
it's to bring their timing right but
what happens as it is a busy street and
very sometimes hard to see it actually
is quite dangerous for people exiting I
don't know whether there's any
communication to go back to t uh PTV
especially around that specific Pacific
intersection the bus Parks pretty well
right on White Law R and blocks that
view for James Avenue and there's been a
few calls around uh that um Visual and
concern about safety uh busers should
come in and pick up but I understand
they do have to align their timetables
if there's no one coming on um but maybe
can we recommend that they look at
alternate sites to park and wait instead
of putting it in a spot where there's an
intersection you think with them going
now into DTC that would be the better
space to
minute yeah maybe but that's all thank
you yep thank you councelor Taylor other
councilors councelor
coats uh yes just a couple of brief
reports from committees so that
Intercultural advisory committee met
yesterday actually and um and I think I
mentioned this last time the committee's
excited about the progress for their
Intercultural Garden project and had
another update on on that this week so
looking forward to see how that
progresses um towards the end of the
year and into the new year um committee
members were also updated on a small
partnership project between Council and
the local Filipino Association so razal
park in in um there are some minor but
important works that are um proposed and
planned there so community members were
really excited and um grateful for the
progress that's happening on that and a
small plug for the devali festival
that's happening at Federation
University this Saturday night as well
it's a really important Intercultural uh
Indian Community event on the on the
calendar um from KAG the K engagement
Action Group just to note that the
committee had uh really interesting
briefing on how the procurement policy
implementation is is developing and they
were they were really pleased to hear
that um and also to give some positive
feedback on the biodiversity strategy um
First Nations Community engagement
that's happening around that it's it's
really raising the bar and I think some
some really terrific works are really
looking forward to how that progresses
as well and um finally you may mention
this as well Mr Mayor congratulate the
partners involved on the on the bunny
trail which you launched yesterday um
it's such a a great example of different
Community groups different levels of
government individuals and Community
organizations working together um to
open that section of tracks and trails
and it was really just so so positive to
have um in kind funding ink kind support
or funding from two levels of govern to
have Parks Victoria there a Community
member who's who's um gifted part of her
land the Community Bank and um the the
mount clear Secondary College that have
done plantings there and then the um
members of the u3a group on their bikes
the um Ballarat Scenic cyclist actually using
the trail as well as um yeah just
ticking all my box all to boxes all
together all at once that event so it
was
fantastic y it's interesting Ral Park
that probably not many people know of
but even the Filipino Ambassador has
written thanking for the support of that
project which is
great other comments from councilors
Council
Johnson thank you Mr Mayor yesterday I
was lucky enough to participate in the
intergenerational Ageless play group at
the Robert Clark Center at the Botanical
Gardens and it was an absolute joy to be
involved with uh it was an event that um
coincided with both children's week and
seniors and the seniors festival and
there were an enormous number um of
people that attended which was a
wonderful surprise would love to see uh
Council running a play group like that
regularly or um at least increasing our
support within the city of Ballarat for play
groups within our community obviously we
have have
a uh staff member who provides um
coordination of those supported play
groups however we don't currently have a
staff member that supports um whose
primary whose primary role it is to
support playgroups in our community and
we know there are lots and lots of
benefits associated with those um and I
just wanted to say that um the
organization of that event was fantastic
Julie from bellat libraries was engaging
and fun um as usual with that the songs
and activities that the songs that she
sang the activities that um she put on
for the young people so well done to
that um Team The Children and Family
Services team did a very good job couple
of reports uh one from the disability
advisory committee uh a couple of
advocacy items the committee was updated
on the new uh Open Space strategy which
is currently being developed and
highlighted highlighted the importance
of considering and designing spaces for
all community members recognizing the
spread of open space options across the
municipality and how universal access
needed to be considered in the selection
of surfaces and materials throughout the
these
areas there was uh commentary from the
committee as well that it's pleasing
that so many um of the staff from
different areas of the organization are
coming to the committee uh whether it's
um to provide feedback back once a
report is developed um or in the very
best case scenario even prior to um the
strategies or pieces of work actually
being developed which was um the case
here with the Open Space
strategy um seeking the community's
feedback at the very start so the
committee is very um grateful for that
the committee also urged Council to
continue to advocate for improvements to
the Ballarat Bus Network particularly with
regard to timetables and routes public
transport has the potential to improve
connections for people with disability
to their family and friends with the
community to Services they need
including Health Services to events and
activities into education and employment
the importance of these connections
cannot be overstated and Mr may I just
wanted to share that the spiled milk
Festival was discussed when um we were
talking about public transport within
city of Ballarat and it's worth noting that
those that rely on taxis uh and Ubers to
get around uh certainly very
inconvenience that day given the
significant number of uh visitors and um
Festival attendees that are using taxis
and Ubers to get to and from the
festival and certainly Council was
encouraged to work collaBallaratatively with
other organizations um to
uh try to ensure that Festival attendees
are getting to the festival um in a way
that doesn't impact um on other Services
as much as possible and there was a a
suggestion for um drop off points um and
buses that then take people from
different drop off points um across the
city to the festival I'll also provide a
brief report in regard to the maav state
Council and one of the matters that I
will highlight relates to a motion that
was moved uh at State Council in
relation to the state government's
funding for the maternal and child
health key ages and stages um or in
relation to maternal and child health
funding for key ages and stages
framework the M calls on the Victorian
government to review the maternal and
child health key ages and stages
framework an Associated historical
funding model in which local and state
government equally fund the service and
seeks immediate action to rectify the
funding shortfall through reviewing the
key ages and stages framework to
ascertain the level of complexity needs
and resources required to effectively
assess the health and well-being of
children and their families within the
current environment where incidents of
Family Violence Child Abuse and Mental
Illness are continuing to rise two
undertaking a sector-wide analysis of
the historical shed funding model in
which local and state governments
required to equally fund the delivery of
this service and three Consulting with
local government to determine the level
of additional funding required to be
invested in local government by the
Victorian government as a result of the
state government's ongoing funding
shortfall uh and there was actually a
motion moved very similar to that um at
the previous uh meeting of um MV uh
which had a couple of additional points
uh which are worth noting one of which
is an increased scope of the increasing
the scope of the current key ages and
stages and working with state government
on Workforce retention and attraction to
address Workforce shortages as well as
um requesting overall improvements to
database
functionality and finally on that Mr
Mayor the rationale that was provided I
thought was worth mentioning which
includes it has been many years since
there was a review of the materal and
child health key ages and stages there
has been an increase in complexity and
needs for families receiving maternal
and child health services including but
not limited to increase an increase in
mental health concerns and family
violence in addition to this the MCH
services are being asked to provide more
and more health promotion activities
without the increase in funding SL time
allotment MCH over the recent years has
not been provided with 50% government
state government
funding uh which the mou defines it
should be with Council continuing to
provide more resources and support for
the increase in needs and complexities
of families for this to be rectified
there is a requirement for consultation
between local government and state
government as to what the actual costs
are and that are incurred in the
delivery of the maternal and Child
Health Service so that is one that I
thought was important to highlight thank
you Mr Mayor I think potential Council
Johnson if we flag that and maybe
director Wilson's able to provide
information back CU our Maternal Child
Health Services are significant to many
members of our community so thanks for
highlighting
that okay Council coats Mr Mayor just
wondering if I could through you ask a
question about the MV um I was just
prompted as to whether our um motion
that city of Ballarat put forward was
actually supported um to councelor
Johnson if there's an update otherwise
Happy to um for it to be taken on notice
councel
Johnson I'll forward the minutes three
okay yep thank you okay other counselors
for any comments I think just on
relation to the MAV is it my belief that
maybe councelor McIntosh received her
15-year continuous service award at the
Gad dinner so congratulations councelor
McIntosh for 15 years of service to the
community in the city of Ballarat well done
thank you pleasure if there are no other
comments from Council laws there are no
items in section 86 there are Mr Mayor I
thought I might also notice that
councelor Taylor and councelor Harris uh
received their 10year Awards a year
late that night same night
congratulations I thought they came last
year congratulations
gentlemen congratulations well done as
well
the items in section 66 are just for
notations or attachments so there is no
other items nil items of urgent business
councils I will declare the meeting
closed at 8:45 p.m. thank you very much
everyone I think it's raining
out