Agenda of Ordinary Council - 18 December 2013

MINUTES Ordinary Council Meeting

20/11/2013

PRESENT

Members:

Councillor Peter Besseling (Mayor)

Councillor Rob Turner

Councillor Adam Roberts (Deputy Mayor)

Councillor Lisa Intemann

Councillor Justin Levido

Councillor Geoff Hawkins

Councillor Trevor Sargeant

Councillor Michael Cusato

Councillor Sharon Griffiths

Other Attendees:

General Manager (Tony Hayward)

Director of Infrastructure & Asset Management (Jeffery Sharp)

Director of Commercial Services & Industry Engagement (Craig Swift-McNair)

Director of Development & Environment (Matt Rogers)

Director of Community & Organisational Development (Lesley Atkinson)

Group Manager Governance & Executive Services (Stewart Todd)

Communications Co-ordinator (Lyndal Harper)

Governance Support Officer (Bronwyn Lyon)

The meeting opened at 5.31pm.

01 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

The Mayor opened the Meeting with an Acknowledgement of Country and welcomed all in attendance in the Chamber.

02 LOCAL GOVERNMENT PRAYER

Pastor Rob Hefren from the Port City Church delivered the Local Government Prayer.

03 APOLOGIES

Nil.

04 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES

resolved: Levido/Sargeant

That the Minutes of the Ordinary Council Meeting held on 16 October 2013 be confirmed.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

05 DISCLOSURES OF INTEREST

Councillor Roberts declared a Pecuniary Interest in Item 06.01 - 2013 Carols by Candlelight Event Funding, the reason being that Councillor Roberts’ business “Yankee Deli” is a stall holder at the event should it go ahead. Councillor Roberts also declared a Non-Pecuniary, Significant Interest in this item the reason being that Councillor Roberts has a direct relative on the Grace Church Executive Committee.

Councillor Roberts declared a Non-Pecuniary, Significant Interest in Item 11.09 - DA2013 - 0349 - Alterations and Additions to 3 Storey Dwelling-House Including Clause 4.6 Variation to Clause 4.3 (Height of Buildings) Port Macquarie-Hastings Local Environmental Plan 2011 - Lot 3 DP 236279, 105 Matthew Flinders Drive, Port Macquarie (PIN 13336), the reason being that Councillor Roberts has a close family friend who is a direct neighbour of this development site and may be affected by the outcome of any resolution on this item.

Councillor Intemann declared a Non-Pecuniary, Insignificant Interest in Item 11.08 - DA 2013 - 0286 - Earthworks Associated With Recreation Area Lot 16 DP 1122022, 79 Ocean Drive, Port Macquarie (PIN 55276), the reason being that a political supporter of Councillor Intemann is addressing this item on an issue of which she is not aware of the details or nature. Councillor Intemann does not perceive an appreciable gain or loss.

Councillor Sargeant declared a Non-Pecuniary, Insignificant Interest in Item 11.05 - Exhibition of Koala Habitat and Vegetation Mapping, the reason being that Councillor Sargeant receives a salary from an agency involved in the management of forests in New South Wales.

Councillor Levido declared a Non-Pecuniary, Insignificant Interest in Item 10.02 - Question on Notice - Council Owned Land in William Street, Port Macquarie (PIN 34119), the reason being that Councillor Levido is a partner of Port Macquarie Law Firm, Donovan Oates Hannaford Lawyers which operates its business from premises at 111 William Street, Port Macquarie.

Councillor Levido declared a Non-Pecuniary, Significant Interest in Item 11.09 - DA2013 - 0349 - Alterations and Additions to 3 Storey Dwelling-House Including Clause 4.6 Variation to Clause 4.3 (Height of Buildings) Port Macquarie-Hastings Local Environmental Plan 2011 - Lot 3 DP 236279, 105 Matthew Flinders Drive, Port Macquarie (PIN 13336), the reason being that Councillor Levido is a partner of Port Macquarie Law Firm, Donovan Oates Hannaford Lawyers, currently acting for a landowner whose property adjoins the subject property and how has caused an objection to be lodged with respect to the proposed development.

Councillor Levido declared a Non-Pecuniary, Significant Interest in Item 11.11 - T-13-25 Kew Waste Management Facility Design and Documentation (PIN 50972-57445), the reason being that Councillor Levido is a partner of Port Macquarie Law Firm, Donovan Oates Hannaford Lawyers, currently acting (and myself personally) for an entity (and its principals personally) being one of the unsuccessful tenderers with respect to the subject tender.

Councillor Levido declared a Non-Pecuniary, Significant Interest in Item 12.03 - Rationalisation of Land Boundaries - Lake Road, Gordon and Munster Streets, Port Macquarie, the reason being that Councillor Levido is a partner of Port Macquarie Law Firm, Donovan Oates Hannaford Lawyers, currently acting (and myself personally) for the lessee of the property the subject of this report.

Councillor Levido declared a Pecuniary Interest in Item 12.04 - Status of Port Macquarie-Hastings Bus Route Alterations and Associated Bus Stops, the reason being that Councillor Levido is a partner of Port Macquarie Law Firm, Donovan Oates Hannaford Lawyers, which operates its business from premises at 111 William Street, Port Macquarie.

Councillor Levido declared a Non-Pecuniary, Significant Interest in Item 12.06 - Thrumster Neighbourhood DCP Provisions: Partridge Creek and West Lindfield - Public Exhibition Report, the reason being that Councillor Levido is a partner of Port Macquarie Law Firm, Donovan Oates Hannaford Lawyers, currently acting (and myself personally) for a landowner within the West Lindfield Neighbourhood the subject of this report.

Councillor Levido declared a Non-Pecuniary, Significant Interest in Item 12.07 - Proposed Variation to draft LEP Height of Building Map - Warlters Street, Settlement City Precinct, the reason being that Councillor Levido is a partner of Port Macquarie Law Firm, Donovan Oates Hannaford Lawyers, acting for three parties who have interests in the Settlement City Precinct.

Councillor Turner declared a Non-Pecuniary, Significant Interest in Item 12.07 - Proposed Variation to draft LEP Height of Building Map - Warlters Street, Settlement City Precinct, the reason being that Councillor Turner is a director and shareholder of Hort Property Pty Ltd which owns a property at 36 Horton Street which is adjacent to one of Council’s current designated bus stops in the Port Macquarie CBD.

06.01 2013 Carols by Candlelight Event Funding

Councillor Roberts declared a Pecuniary and a Non-Pecuniary, Significant Interest in this matter and left the room and was out of sight during the Council's consideration, the time being 05.42pm.

RESOLVED: Besseling

That Council:

1. Provide $4,800 from the Community Grants Program to the Grace Church to assist in their running the 2013 Christmas Carols by Candlelight.

2. Provide $4,500 from the Community Grants Program to the Port Macquarie City Church to assist in the running of their 2013 Christmas luncheon.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

Councillor Roberts returned to the meeting, the time being 05:42pm.

06.02 Mayoral Discretionary Fund Allocations

RESOLVED: Besseling

That the Mayoral Discretionary Fund allocations for the period 5 October to 7 November 2013 be noted.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

06.03 Australian Roads Research Board Group Inc (ARRB) Roads Review Report

RESOLVED: Besseling/

1. That the Report from ARRB into Council's road construction and maintenance operations be noted.

2. That the review findings "that Council’s operation has a number of key strengths which bode well for the future, with highly experienced technical staff, effective teams and in-depth knowledge of Council’s network" be noted.

3. That the General Manager provide a response at the March 2014 Council Meeting, to the recommendations contained in the report giving reference to the cost implications of their implementation or otherwise.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

Suspension of Standing Orders

RESOLVED: Besseling/Intemann

That Standing Orders be suspended to allow 08.01 to be brought forward and considered next.

08.01 Confidential Correspondence to Ordinary Council Meeting

Resolved: Intemann/Roberts

That Council determine that the attachments to Item numbers 09.01, 10.02, 11.11 and 12.05 and be considered as confidential, in accordance with Section 11(3) of the Local Government Act.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

07 PUBLIC FORUM

The Mayor advised of applications to address Council in the Public Forum from:

1. Ms Elizabeth Davidson regarding development applications.

2. Mr William Turner regarding the Glasshouse and its friends.

3. Ms Jenny Daniel regarding snake problem on rainbow beach reserve.

RESOLVED: Intemann/Hawkins

That the above requests to speak in the Public Forum be acceded to.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

07.01 DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

Ms Elizabeth Davidson addressed Council in regard to development applications and answered questions from Councillors.

07.02 The Glasshouse and its Friends

Mr William Turner addressed Council in regard to the Glasshouse and its friends.

07.03 Snake Problem on Rainbow Beach Reserve

Ms Jenny Daniel addressed Council in regard to a snake problem on Rainbow Beach Reserve.

REQUESTS TO SPEAK ON AN AGENDA ITEM

The Mayor advised of requests to speak on an agenda item, as follows:

Item 10.03 - Mr Tony Thorne in support of the recommendation.

Item 11.04 - Mr Gregory Smith in opposition to the recommendation.

Item 11.04 - Mr Malcolm McDonald in opposition to the recommendation.

Item 11.05 - Mr Jason Berrigan in support of the recommendation.

Item 11.05 - Mr Tony Thorne in opposition to the recommendation.

Item 11.05 - Mr Bob Sharpham in support of the recommendation.

Item 11.08 - Mr Jamie Harrison in opposition to the recommendation.

Item 11.09 - Mr Tony Thorne in support of the recommendation.

Item 11.09 - Mr R Snow in support of the recommendation.

Item 12.01 - Mr Jack Pike in opposition to the recommendation.

Item 12.07 - Mr Tony Thorne in support of the recommendation.

Item 12.08 - Mr Tony Thorne in support of the recommendation.

RESOLVED: Turner/Roberts

That the requests to speak on an agenda item be acceded to.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

Suspension of Standing Orders

RESOLVED: Cusato/Hawkins

That Standing Orders be suspended to allow Items 10.03, 11.04, 11.05, 11.08, 11.09, 12.01, 12.07 and 12.08 to be brought forward and considered next.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

10.03 Economic Development Strategy

Mr Tony Thorne, representing the Hastings Construction Industry Association as part of the Economic Development Steering Group, addressed Council in support of the recommendation and answered questions from Councillors.

Resolved: Turner/Cusato

That Council:

1. Note the submissions and feedback received during the exhibition of the draft Economic Development Strategy.

2. Adopt the Port Macquarie-Hastings Economic Development Strategy 2013 - 2016.

3. Request that the General Manager table a report at the February 2014 meeting of Council detailing how actions in outcome 1 of the Economic Development Strategy, being a whole-of-organisation approach to economic development, will be implemented.

4. Request that the General Manager report to Council on a six monthly basis on progress against the actions in the Economic Development Strategy commencing in June 2014.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

11.04 Recommended Item from Hastings LGA Coast & Estuaries Sub-Committee - Lake Cathie Coastal Zone Management Plan

Mr Gregory Smith, representing the Lake Cathie Residents Group, addressed Council in opposition to the recommendation and answered questions from Councillors.

Mr Malcolm McDonald, representing the Lake Cathie Coastal Residents Group, addressed Council in opposition to the recommendation.

Resolved: Turner/Cusato

1. That Council adopt the Lake Cathie Coastal Zone Management Plan (2013).

2. That Council seek funding for the total cost of a revetment wall construction from both the NSW and Commonwealth Governments.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

11.05 ExhibItion of Koala Habitat and Vegetation Mapping

Councillor Sargeant declared a Non-Pecuniary, Insignificant Interest in this matter and remained in the room during the Council's consideration.

Mr Jason Berrigan, representing Darkheart Eco-Consultancy, addressed Council in support of the recommendation and answered questions from Councillors.

Mr Tony Thorne, representing King and Campbell Pty Ltd, addressed Council in opposition to the recommendation and answered questions from Councillors.

Mr Bob Sharpham, representing the Koala Hospital, addressed Council in support of the recommendation.

Resolved: Levido/Roberts

That Council:

1. Note the Biolink Koala Habitat & Vegetation Mapping datasets;

2. Produce, from the Biolink datasets, a series of Vegetation Maps and Koala Habitat Maps for the Port Macquarie-Hastings LGA that can be made publicly available;

3. Implement (and report as to) a process of ongoing review and revision of the Biolink datasets to address issues & areas of concern and to amend the Vegetation Mapping and Koala Habitat Mapping where required; and

4. Review the resultant data, as part of any future policy development processes, to ensure the information is “fit for purpose” but on the basis that no policy shall be adopted and implemented without the further approval of Council.

5. That the General Manager report to the March 2014 Meeting of Council addressing concerns raised about methodologies used in determining vegetation communities (including Endangered Ecological Communities (EEC)) and koala activity for the purposes of the Biolink Koala Habitat & Vegetation Mapping datasets.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

11.08 DA 2013 - 0286 - Earthworks Associated With Recreation Area Lot 16 DP 1122022, 79 Ocean Drive, Port Macquarie (PIN 55276)

Councillor Intemann declared a Non-Pecuniary, Insignificant Interest in this matter and remained in the room during the Council's consideration.

Mr Jamie Harrison addressed Council in opposition to the recommendation and answered questions from Councillors.

Resolved: Cusato/Hawkins

That DA 2013/286 regarding earthworks associated with a recreation area at Lot 16, DP 1122022, No. 79 Ocean Drive, Port Macquarie, be determined by granting consent subject to the recommended conditions.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

11.09 DA2013 - 0349 - Alterations and Additions to 3 Storey Dwelling-House Including Clause 4.6 Variation to Clause 4.3 (Height of Buildings) Port Macquarie-Hastings Local Environmental Plan 2011 - Lot 3 DP 236279, 105 Matthew Flinders Drive, Port Macquarie (PIN 13336)

Councillor Roberts declared a Non-Pecuniary, Significant Interest in this matter and left the room and was out of sight during the Council's consideration, the time being 07.25pm.

Councillor Levido declared a Non-Pecuniary, Significant Interest in this matter and left the room and was out of sight during the Council's consideration, the time being 07.25pm.

Mr Tony Thorne, representing Mr and Mrs B Kemmett, no questions.

Mr Rob Snow, representing Mr and Mrs B Kemmett, no questions.

Resolved: Intemann/Turner

That DA 2013 - 0349 for alterations and additions to a 3 storey dwelling-house, including clause 4.6 variation to clause 4.3 (height of buildings) of the Port Macquarie-Hastings Local Environmental Plan 2011, at Lot 3, DP 236279, No. 105 Matthew Flinders Drive, Port Macquarie, be determined by granting consent subject to the recommended conditions.

carried: 7/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

Councillor Levido returned to the meeting, the time being 07:28pm.

Councillor Roberts returned to the meeting, the time being 07:28pm.

12.01 Wauchope Skate Park

Mr Jack Pike addressed Council in opposition to the recommendation and answered questions from Councillors.

Resolved: Intemann/Levido

That Council adopt Landrigan Park as the location for a new skate park at Wauchope and that concept plans for this facility be developed by 30 June 2014.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

12.07 Proposed Variation to draft LEP Height of Building Map - Warlters Street, Settlement City Precinct

Councillor Levido declared a Non-Pecuniary, Significant Interest in this matter and left the room and was out of sight during the Council's consideration, the time being 07:38pm.

Mr Tony Thorne, representing King and Campbell Pty Ltd, addressed Council in support of the recommendation.

Resolved: Sargeant/Hawkins

That Council:

1. Endorse the amendment to the exhibited draft Height of Building Map applying to Lot 2 DP1163062 (Kmart site), Lot 1 DP1163062 (St Josephs Primary School) and Lot 3 DP263340 (Council-owned land), as shown in this report, to retain a maximum 11.5m building height for the Warlters Street edge and take into account future road widening.

2. Advise the owners of Lots 1 and 2 DP1163062 of the outcome of this report.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

Councillor Levido returned to the meeting, the time being 07:39pm.

12.08 Growth Constraints - Oxley Highway/Wrights Road Intersection, Port Macquarie [SF13/1207]

Mr Tony Thorne, representing King and Campbell Pty Ltd and on behalf of Port Macquarie Investment Pty Ltd, addressed Council in support of the recommendation and answered questions from Councillors.

Resolved: Turner/Levido

That Council:

1. Make representations through Leslie Williams, State Member for Port Macquarie, to the Hon. Duncan Gay, NSW Minister for Roads and Ports, requesting that the NSW State Government upgrade the Wrights Road/Oxley Highway intersection as an urgent priority.

2. That a post-exhibition report on the bulky goods planning proposal for no. 18 John Oxley Drive be brought before Council for the December 2013 Council Meeting.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

08.02 Status of Outstanding Reports to Council - November 2013

Resolved: Roberts/Hawkins

1. That the information in the November 2013 Status of Outstanding Reports to Council be noted.

2. That in the event of a listed report being re-scheduled to be provided at a later than the previously advertised date, the reasons why shall be included within this report.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

08.03 Code of Conduct Complaint Statistics

Resolved: Intemann/Griffiths

That Council:

1. Note the Code of Conduct Complaint Statistics (zero complaints) for the period 1 September 2012 to 31 August 2013.

2. Forward the Code of Conduct Complaint Statistics to the Division of Local Government.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

08.04 Payment of Expenses and Provision of Facilities to Councillors Policy

Resolved: Intemann/Cusato

That Council:

1. Adopt the Payment of Expenses and Provision of Facilities to Councillors Policy, as attached.

2. Pursuant to section 253 of the Local Government Act 1993, forward to the Division of Local Government:

a) A copy of the adopted Payment of Expenses and Provision of Facilities to Councillors Policy.

b) A copy of this report.

c) A copy of the notice of public exhibition and submission.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

08.05 Disclosure of Interest Return

Resolved: Intemann/Levido

Motion: Intemann/Levido

That the Disclosure of Interest returns for the Group Manager Transport and Stormwater Network, Development Engineer and the Group Manager Assets and Systems be noted.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

08.06 Report on Attendance at the 2013 AAPA International Flexible Pavements Conference

Resolved: Turner/Intemann

That Council note the conference report provided by Councillor Intemann on her attendance at the 2013 Australian Asphalt Pavement Association International Flexible Pavements Conference.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

08.07 Annual Financial Statements for the year ended 30 June 2013

Resolved: Hawkins/Intemann

That Council adopts the Annual Financial Statements for the year ended 30 June 2013, as submitted, together with the Auditor’s Report.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

08.08 Monthly Review of Financial Position - October 2013

Resolved: Intemann/Hawkins

That Council adopt the adjustments included in the “Financial Implications” section of the Monthly Review of Financial Position report for October 2013.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

08.09 Investments - October 2013

Resolved: Hawkins/Roberts

1. That Council receive and note the Investment Report for the month of October 2013.

2. That the budget projections be reviewed quarterly as new information comes to hand so that the actuals vs projections can be more realistically reported to Council.

3. That with effect from the December 2013 Council meeting, the monthly investment summary report is re-formatted replacing the current alphabetically driven term deposit list with a list driven by the term deposit maturity date from earliest maturity date to latest maturity date.

carried: 9/0

For: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

08.10 Phasing of Operational Budgets

Councillor Cusato left the meeting, the time being 08:06pm.

Resolved: Hawkins/Griffiths

That Council:

1. Request that the General Manager implement phased monthly operational budgets from the 2014-2015 financial year.

2. Request that the General Manager implement phased monthly budgets for capital works budgets from the 2015-2016 financial year.

3. Defer until December, 2013 the request made at the October Council Meeting for the General Manager to prepare a report for the November 2013 Council Meeting as to the advantages and/or disadvantages of establishing an appropriate accounting methodology which effectively places all "significant" budgetary gains into a special purpose "transition or holding account" before putting forward recommendations to Council as to how budget gains should be best utilised and how this would impact practically on Council's operations as a service provider.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

08.11 Development Activity & Assessment System Performance

Resolved: Sargeant/Griffiths

1. That Council note the Development Activity & Assessment System Performance Report for the first quarter of 2013-2014.

2. That the Director of Development and Environment investigate whether or not it is possible to include an additional column in the table that shows construction certificates commenced.

3. That Council formally note the increase in building activity as reflected in complying development and construction certificates as this is a particularly positive news story.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

08.12 2012 - 2013 Annual Report

Resolved: Intemann/Sargeant

That Council:

1. Adopt the 2012 - 2013 Annual Report, comprising Parts 1, 2 and 3.

2. Submit the adopted 2012 - 2013 Annual Report to the Minister for Local Government by the 30 November 2013.

3. Publish the adopted 2012 - 2013 Annual Report on Council's website and make copies of the report available at all Council Offices and Libraries.

4. Note the Community Report Card 2012 - 2013.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

08.13 Heritage & Cultural Sub-Committee

Resolved: Sargeant/Griffiths

1. That Council endorse the development of an overarching committee as described in the report.

2. That Council undertake further consultation with all members of the two committees (Arts & Cultural Development Committee and the Museums & Heritage Sub-Committee) and provide the wider community the opportunity to also comment on the proposed overarching committee.

3. That a further report be put to Council outlining the feedback and a proposed Charter in February 2014.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

08.14 Transfer Balance of Funds - Port Macquarie-Handa Sister City Sub-Committee

Resolved: Besseling/Intemann

That Council approve an amount of $5,300 from the Port Macquarie-Handa Sister City Sub-Committee 2013/2014 Budget be transferred into a Port Macquarie-Handa Sister City Reserve.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

08.15 Section 355 Community Halls Management Committees Membership 2013

Resolved: Turner/Levido

1. That Council endorse the membership of Bonny Hills Community Hall Management Committee as elected at their 2013 Annual Review Meeting, comprising:

· Ms Francis Hoad - President

· Ms Ann Drury - Treasurer/Booking Officer

· Ms Lorraine Winner - Minutes Secretary

· Ms Carmel Power - Correspondence Secretary

· Mr Bill Howell - Maintenance Officer

· Mr Roger Barlow - Committee Member

· Ms Pam Barlow - Committee Member

2. That Council endorse the membership of CC “Mac” Adams Music Centre Management Committee as elected at their 2013 Annual Review Meeting, comprising:

· Ms Leanne Howlett - President

· Ms Jan Hunter - Vice President

· Mr Glen Stanley - Treasurer

· Mr Greg Cook - Secretary/Booking Officer

· Mr Brian Corrigan - Committee Member

· Ms Betty Hobby - Committee Member

· Mr Dale Bleasdale - Committee Member

· Mr Maurie Griffin - Committee Member

3. That Council endorse the membership of Lorne Recreation Centre Management Committee as elected at their 2013 Annual Review Meeting, comprising:

· Mr Brian Alley - President

· Ms Janet Lewin - Vice President

· Ms Nicola Nosworthy - Secretary

· Ms Stephanie Williams - Treasurer

· Ms Jenny Higgins - Committee Member

· Mr Phil Higgins - Committee Member

· Mrs Helen Anderson - Committee Member

· Mr Alan Anderson - Committee Member

· Ms Gerda Butlin - Committee Member

4. That Council endorse the membership of Pappinbarra Recreation Reserve Management Committee as elected at their 2013 Annual Review Meeting, comprising:

· Ms Sue Frost - President

· Ms Kelly Benson - Secretary

· Ms Emma Frost - Treasurer

· Ms Brenda Patrick - Committee Member

· Mr Steve Ostler - Committee Member

· Mr Rob Frost - Committee Member

5. That Council endorse the membership of Pembrooke Community Hall Management Committee as elected at their 2013 Annual Review Meeting, comprising:

· Mr Kirk Byrnes - President

· Ms Jeanette Rainbow - Secretary

· Ms Margaret Davies - Treasurer

· Mr Des Freeman - Committee Member

· Mrs Shirley Freeman - Committee Member

· Ms Clair Cutler - Committee Member

· Ms Jean Moore - Committee Member

6. That Council endorse the membership of Port Macquarie Historic Court House Management Committee as elected at their 2013 Annual Review Meeting, comprising:

· Mr Roger Heath - President

· Mr Barry Dowse - Vice President

· Ms Lyn Stevenson - Secretary

· Mrs Veronica Heath - Treasurer

· Mrs Brenda Pebedy - Maintenance Officer

· Mrs Audrey Dowse - Booking Officer

· Mr Ramsey Collins - Committee Member

· Mr John Scholz - Committee Member

· Ms Carole Neil - Committee Member

· Mr David Baird - Committee Member

· Mr Ross Pebedy - Committee Member

· Mr Glen Dick - Committee Member

· Mr David Martin - Committee Member

7. That Council endorse the membership of Port Macquarie Seniors Centre Management Committee as elected at their 2013 Annual Review Meeting, comprising:

· Mr Allen Ross - President/Booking Officer

· Mrs Lyn Manley - Treasurer

· Ms Trish Davis - Secretary

· Mrs Di Last - Committee Member

· Mr Don Newson - Committee Member

· Mr Norm Bodenham - Committee Member

· Ms Kathy O’Neale - Committee Member

8. That Council endorse the membership of Wauchope Community (Arts) Hall Management Committee as elected at their 2013 Annual Review Meeting, comprising:

· Ms Krissa Wilkinson - President

· Ms Julie Muller - Vice President/Maintenance Officer

· Ms Deborah Murrell - Treasurer

· Ms Lyndall Goetz - Secretary

· Ms Lis Tuck - Hall Coordinator

· Mr Peter Bower - Assistant Hall Coordinator

· Ms Susan Ashton - Committee Member

· Ms Mei Ling Yuen - Committee Member

· Ms Amy Hubers - Committee Member

9. That Council endorse the membership of Wauchope Rotary Youth Hall Management Committee as elected at their 2013 Annual Review Meeting, comprising:

· Mr Paul Froome - President

· Mr Kevin Whitbread - Secretary

· Mrs Marie Winter - Treasurer/Booking Officer

· Ms Helen Clunus - Committee Member

· Ms Annie Peel - Committee Member

· Mr Stuart Weir - Committee Member

· Ms Narelle Stokes - Committee Member

· Mr Andy Neal - Committee Member

10. That Council thank in writing, the outgoing committee members.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

09.01 Annual Reporting of Contracts for Senior Staff

Resolved: Intemann/Griffiths

That Council note the contractual conditions for the following Senior roles in the Organisation:

General Manager
Director Infrastructure and Asset Management
Director Community and Organisational Development
Director Commercial Services and Industry Engagement
Director Development and Environmental

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

09.02 Notice of Motion - Ban Consumption of Alcohol - Town Beach Skate Park (PIN 263)

Resolved: Turner/Sargeant

That Council erect notices, pursuant to section 632 of the Local Government Act 1993, to ban the consumption of alcohol at the Town Beach Skate Park at any time.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

09.03 Notice of Motion - Illegal Camping

Resolved: Turner/Sargeant

That Council:

1. Prioritise compliance action during the 2013-2014 summer in relation to illegal camping and overnight stays in public car parks and reserves.

2. Request the General Manager provide a report to the December 2013 Council Meeting on the implications of erecting notices, pursuant to S.632 of the Local Government Act 1993, to prohibit camping and overnight stays in public car parks and reserves.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

09.04 Bicentenary Planning Reference Group Membership

Resolved: Intemann/Levido

That Council:

1. Endorse the establishment of a Bicentenary Planning Reference Group.

2. Accept all of the Expressions of Interest received for the Bicentenary Planning Reference Group.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

09.05 Recommendations from the Mayor's Sporting Fund Sub-Committee Meeting held on Thursday 16 October 2013

Resolved: Besseling/Turner

That Council, pursuant to provisions of Section 356 of the Local Government Act 1993, grant financial assistance from the Mayor’s Sporting Fund to:

1. Mr Patrick Hamilton in the amount of $250.00 (ex GST) to assist with the expenses he would have incurred travelling to and competing at the 2013 National Youth Championships (soccer) held in Coffs Harbour from 30 September to 4 October 2013 inclusive.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

10.01 Notice of Motion - Tastings on Hastings 2013

Resolved: Sargeant/Turner

That Council:

1. Formally congratulate contractors, staff and volunteers on the success of the 2013 Tastings on Hastings.

2. Request the General Manager report to the February 2014 Council Meeting on the total cost of running the event and the source and application of those funds provided by Council.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

10.02 Question on Notice - Council Owned Land in William Street, Port Macquarie (PIN 34119)

Councillor Levido declared a Non-Pecuniary, Insignificant Interest in this matter and remained in the room during the Council's consideration

RESOLVED: Roberts/Hawkins

That Council:

1. Undertake an Expression of Interest process for Council’s land located at 99 William Street, Port Macquarie with a report being presented to Council of the outcome.

2. Remove the Special Condition requiring a purchaser of Council’s land located at 99 William Street, Port Macquarie to provide 180 on site public car parking spaces when the site is developed.

3. If it proceeds to sell the land located at 99 William Street, upon settlement, reimburse funds initially borrowed from the Section 94 fund when the site was purchased and place the remaining funds into Council's Property Reserve until a viable alternative project is identified for investment.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

11.01 Notice of Motion - Walking Track - Jonathon Dixon Reserve to Middle Rock Road, Lake Cathie (PIN 43834)

Resolved: Sargeant/Griffiths

That Council request that the General Manager report to the December 2013 Council Meeting on the implications of extending the existing walking track from Jonathon Dixon Reserve to Middle Rock Road.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

11.02 Notice of Motion - Wall Reserve, North Haven (PIN 15194)

MOTION: Sargeant/Griffiths

That Council investigate the options for facilitating the formation of a self-help entity, such as a LandCare Group, aimed at maintaining the current untended section of Wall Reserve, North Haven in accordance with Council’s standards and that a report be provided for consideration by Council at the February 2014 Council Meeting.

lost: 2/6

For: Griffiths and Sargeant

Against: Besseling, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts and Turner

11.03 Recommended Item from Hastings LGA Floodplain Management Sub-Committee - Camden Haven River and Lake System Flood Study

Resolved: Griffiths/Sargeant

That Council

1. Adopt the Camden Haven River and Lakes System Flood Study (2013).

2. Request the General Manager present a report to the February 2014 Council Meeting on the status of the Camden Haven Floodplain Management Plan (2004) and the mitigations proposals therein.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

11.06 Question on Notice - Kew Waste Transfer Station (PIN 50972, 57445)

Resolved: Griffiths/Intemann

That the report be noted.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

11.07 New Planning Bill

Resolved: Intemann/Turner

That Council:

1. Proceed with the Draft Major Roads and Open Space Contributions Plans.

2. Make representations to the Minister for Planning & Infrastructure requesting the retention of Council's ability to negotiate planning agreements on appropriate infrastructure to cater for the growth in the local government area and the inclusion of local infrastructure contributions outlined in this report as local infrastructure works.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

11.10 DA2013 - 0481 Alterations and Additions to Two Storey Dwelling House and Construction of a Detached Shed Including Clause 4.6 Variation to Clause 4.3 (Height of Buildings) Port Macquarie Hastings Local Environmental Plan 2011 - Lot 5 DP 22158, 23 Orr Street, Port Macquarie (PIN 15827)

Resolved: Intemann/Turner

That DA 2013 - 481 for a alterations and additions to a two storey dwelling house and construction of a detached shed, including clause 4.6 variation to clause 4.3 (height of buildings) of the Port Macquarie-Hastings Local Environmental Plan 2011 at Lot 5, DP 22158, No. 23 Orr Street, Port Macquarie, be determined by granting consent subject to the recommended conditions.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

11.11 T-13-25 Kew Waste Management Facility Design and Documentation (PIN 50972-57445)

Councillor Levido declared a Non-Pecuniary, Significant Interest in this matter and left the room and was out of sight during the Council's consideration, the time being 09:15pm.

Resolved: Intemann/Turner

That Council:

1. Accept the lump sum tender of $235,173.00 (excl. GST) received from Hyder Consulting Pty Ltd for Design and Documentation of Kew Waste Management Facility.

2. Affix the seal of Council to the necessary documents.

carried: 7/1

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts and Turner

Against: Sargeant

Councillor Levido returned to the meeting, the time being 09:17pm.

12.02 Local Infrastructure Renewal Scheme Round 3 Applications

Resolved: Intemann/Hawkins

That Council:

1. Submit an application under Round 3 of the Local Infrastructure Renewal Scheme for construction of Hastings River Drive from Gordon Street to Aston Street at an estimated cost of $5,600,000.

2. Write to the Minister for Local Government, following the outcome of our application in Round 3, encouraging a review of the LIRS program to give councils with a significant infrastructure backlog greater opportunity to access the program.

A. 3. Approach NSW Treasury Corporation (TCorp) to provide detailed information on the methodology used to determine the capacity for Council to be able to service loans associated with the Local Infrastructure Renewal Scheme.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

12.03 Rationalisation of Land Boundaries - Lake Road, Gordon and Munster Streets, Port Macquarie

Councillor Levido declared a Non-Pecuniary, Significant Interest in this matter and left the room and was out of sight during the Council's consideration, the time being 09:22pm.

Resolved: Intemann/Roberts

That Council:

1. Advise Crown Lands that it supports the rationalisation of the boundaries of Gordon Street and Lake Road and Crown Reserve 95757.

2. In its capacity as Trust Manager of the Gordon Street Public Recreation Reserve (R87715) Trust, advise Crown Lands that it supports the rationalisation of the boundaries affecting the Reserve and supports the holding over of leases until the boundary rationalisation has been completed.

3. Agrees to closing of part Lake Road as hatched on “Diagram “A” Plan of Part Lake Road to be Closed” as attached to this report.

4. Advise Crown Lands it supports the exchange of part Reserve 87715 for part Lake Road on the basis that the exchange be at nil monetary compensation.

5. Affix the Common Seal to:

a) Plan of road closure and first title creation

b) Plan of subdivision of road widening/consolidation

6. Pursuant to Section 377 of the Local Government Act 1993, delegate to the General Manager authority to sign the Land and Property Information Transfer forms.

carried: 7/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

12.04 Status of Port Macquarie-Hastings Bus Route Alterations and Associated Bus Stops

Councillor Levido declared a Pecuniary Interest in this matter and remained out of the room and was out of sight during the Council's consideration.

Councillor Turner declared a Non-Pecuniary, Significant Interest in this matter and left the room and was out of sight during the Council's consideration, the time being 09:23pm.

Resolved: Besseling/Roberts

That Council:

1. Receive and note the Status of Port Macquarie-Hastings Bus Route Alterations and Associated Bus Stops report.

2. Consider all recently created bus zones as permanent traffic management facilities on the understanding operation of these facilities will continue to be monitored by Council’s traffic management staff in consultation with Busways.

3. Continue to support the installation of approximately 140 new bus stops on the new bus routes.

4. Support the provision of bus services along High Street, Wauchope that service bus stops at both the Hospital and the Library, by writing to both Busways and the Director General, Transport for NSW.

carried: 6/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Roberts and Sargeant

Against: Nil

Councillor Turner returned to the meeting, the time being 09:27pm.

Councillor Levido returned to the meeting, the time being 09:27pm.

12.05 Tender T-13-33 Supply & Install Traffic Signals Hastings River Drive at Boundary Street intersection, Port Macquarie

Resolved: Sargeant/Hawkins

That Council:

1. Accept the tender of $ 147,590.00 (excluding GST) from Curran and Curran P/L for the supply and installation of traffic signals on Hastings River Drive at the Boundary Street intersection, Port Macquarie.

2. Affix the seal of Council to the necessary documents.

carried: 8/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

12.06 Thrumster Neighbourhood DCP Provisions: Partridge Creek and West Lindfield - Public Exhibition Report

Councillor Levido declared a Non-Pecuniary, Significant Interest in this matter and left the room and was out of sight during the Council's consideration, the time being 09:28pm.

Resolved: Sargeant/Turner

That Council:

1. Adopt the draft planning provisions for Partridge Creek Residential, Partridge Creek Industrial and West Lindfield neighbourhoods of the Thrumster Urban Release Area as an amendment to the Port Macquarie-Hastings Development Control Plan 2011.

2. Forward a copy of the approved plans to the Director General of the Department of Planning and Infrastructure and publish a public notice of this decision within 28 days.

3. Prepare a planning proposal with a view to carrying out consequential rezoning generally as described in this report, pursuant to section 55 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, for the amendment of the provisions of the Port Macquarie-Hastings Local Environmental Plan 2011.

4. Forward the planning proposal to the Department of Planning and Infrastructure for a Gateway Determination not later than 30 June 2014, and exhibit the proposal in accordance with that determination, pursuant to sections 56-58 of the Act.

carried: 7/0

For: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

Against: Nil

Councillor Levido returned to the meeting, the time being 09:28pm.

13 QUESTIONS FOR NEXT MEETING

13.01 BUILDING A NEW LOCAL GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT FRAMEWORK

Question from Councillor Hawkins:

With reference to a circular received today from the NSW Department of Local Government with the title "Building a new local government performance measurement framework", could the General Manager provide a report to the February 2014 Council Meeting responding directly to the two key questions posed by the DLG, viz:

1. What do councils and their community need to know to determine if they are performing well and achieving their goals?

2. How well does your council (PMHC) currently measure performance and how useful is your council's current performance measurement system?

Comments by Councillor (if provided):

Nil.

13.02 PORT MACQUARIE LIBRARY - SOLAR GENERATING POWER INSTALLATION

Question from Councillor Griffiths:

Could the General Manager provide a report to the February 2014 Council Meeting on the effectiveness of the solar power generating installation on the library building in Port Macquarie and specifically advise the:

1. Savings of usage in kilowatts

2. Percentage and dollars saved over the past year

3. Expected life of the installation

4. Break even year calculating to the year before replacement or maintenance would need to occur

5. What is the calculated savings expected before maintenance or replacement is required

Comments by Councillor (if provided):

This report is requested to determine the effectiveness of the installation to achieve returns for ratepayers.

13.03 PUBLIC FORUM 20/11/13 - ITEMS 1 & 2

Question from Councillor Intemann:

Could the written information provided in relation to Items 1 and 2 of the Public Forum be provided in full to Councillors.

Comments by Councillor (if provided):

Nil.

13.04 NEW DEVELOPMENT- ILLAROO ROAD, LAKE CATHIE

Question from Councillor Intemann:

Could a report be provided to the February 2014 Council meeting on the relationship between the hazard identified in the vicinity of Illaroo Road, Lake Cathie and limits to new development, including like for like replacement of existing structures known to be affected by asbestos.

If possible could the report also cover changes to the valuation of affected properties since the development limits were impose.

Comments by Councillor (if provided):

Nil.

CONFIDENTIAL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

RESOLVED: Hawkins/Sargeant

1. That pursuant to Section 10A Subsections 2 & 3 and 10B of the Local Government Act 1993 (as amended), the press and public be excluded from the proceedings of the Council in Confidential Committee of the Whole (Closed Session) on the basis that items to be considered are of a confidential nature.

2. That Council move into Confidential Committee of the Whole (Closed Session) to receive and consider the following items:

Item 14.01 Lehman Brothers Australia Limited (In Liquidation)

This item is considered confidential under Sect 10A(2)(g) of the Local Government Act 1993, as it contains advice concerning litigation, or advice that would otherwise be privileged from production in legal proceedings on the ground of legal professional privilege.

3. That the resolutions made by the Council in Confidential Committee of the Whole (Closed Session) be made public as soon as practicable after the conclusion of the Closed Session and such resolutions be recorded in the Minutes of the Council Meeting.

ADJOURN MEETING

The Ordinary Council Meeting adjourned at 9.38pm.

RESUME MEETING

The Ordinary Council Meeting resumed at 9.41pm.

ADOPTION OF RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE CONFIDENTIAL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

RESOLVED: Turner/Hawkins

That the undermentioned recommendations from Confidential Committee of the Whole (Closed Session) be adopted:

Item 14.01 Lehman Brothers Australia Limited (In Liquidation)

1. Approve the Settlement Agreement in substantially the terms as tabled by the General Manager.

2. Authorise the Mayor and General Manager to execute the Power of Attorney and authorise any Attorney under it to execute the Settlement Agreement on behalf of Council in substantially the terms as tabled.

3. Affix the seal of Council to the necessary documents.

The meeting closed at 9.42pm.

………………………………………..

Peter Besseling

Mayor

Description: Governance Strap.jpg AGENDA Ordinary Council

18/12/2013

Item: 08.07

Subject: Establishment of a Budgetary Gains Holding Account

Presented by: Commercial Services & Industry Engagement, Craig Swift-McNair

Alignment with Delivery Program

1.5.2 Provide and maintain efficient and effective information management systems that are accessible, user friendly and meet community and organisational requirements.

RECOMMENDATION

That Council:

1. Note that monthly reporting processes currently exist and are functioning satisfactorily

2. Review the monthly financial position report and amend to provide greater detail and transparency of required budget adjustments.

3. Note that the establishment of a transition or holding account is subsequently not required.

Executive Summary

At an Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 16 October 2013, Council resolved the following (in part):

RESOLVED: Hawkins/Roberts

That Council:

4. Request the General Manager to prepare a report for the November 2013 Council Meeting as to the advantages and/or disadvantages of establishing an appropriate accounting methodology which effectively places all “significant” budgetary gains into a special purpose “transition or holding account” before putting forward recommendations to Council as to how budget gains should be best utilised and how this would impact practically on Council’s operations as a service provider.

CARRIED: 9/0

FOR: Besseling, Cusato, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

AGAINST: Nil

At the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 20 November 2013, Council subsequently resolved the following (in part):-

RESOLVED: Hawkins/Griffiths

That Council:

3. Defer until December 2013 the request made at the October Council Meeting for the General manager to prepare a report for the November 2013 Council Meeting as to the advantages and/or disadvantages of establishing an appropriate accounting methodology which effectively places all “significant’ budgetary gains into a special purpose “transition or holding account’ before putting forward recommendations to Council as to how budget gains should be best utilised and how this would impact practically on Council’s operations as a service provider.

CARRIED: 8/0

FOR: Besseling, Griffiths, Hawkins, Intemann, Levido, Roberts, Sargeant and Turner

AGAINST: Nil

The purpose of this report is to detail information relating to the advantages and disadvantages of establishing a holding account for budgetary gains as per the above-mentioned Council resolutions.

Discussion

Description of current process

The current strategy across the organisation is to regularly monitor on a monthly basis all areas of operations to highlight any potential vulnerability, focussing on the use of surplus gains to pay down budget deficits throughout the year.

Over the last few years a successful reduction in deficits has been achieved through unbudgeted gains in a number of areas. In many situations (eg. rates revenues and interest income), it has been difficult to predict these gains within the budgeting process. In both areas of rates and interest income, a conservative budgeting strategy needs to be adopted given they are both dependent and critical on economic growth. Additionally, rates revenue is calculated some eight months prior to the commencement of the financial year with any investment strategies governed by strict guidelines aimed at minimising any adverse risks from economic downturns.

Whilst gains may become available throughout the year, there are specific guidelines and regulations which must be followed with respect to the application and movement of funds within the waste, sewer and water funds (and other funding sources such as Section 94 contributions). Whilst it is possible to charge waste, sewer and water a general overhead service charge, all other funds must be ‘ring fenced’ to their fund only, providing no scope to transfer any available surplus funds from those specific funds to the general operational fund.

Currently if there is an overspend of 2% or more on capital projects (over $50,000) Group Managers are required to undertake an over expenditure review, providing to the Executive Group a report detailing the overspend and recommended funding source for this overspend. This funding source is likely to come from a reduction in another project, and where not achievable, an addition to the overall deficit. The decision on how the overspend is funded rests with the Executive Group.

Throughout the year budgets are reviewed monthly with adjustments made for any changes in circumstances that were unknown during the budget development process i.e. additional grant funds or delays in capital works programs. What may appear to be a budget savings in one month is often a deliberate strategy to cut back on planned expenditure or a reassessment of priorities in order to fund unexpected expenditure.

Whilst no ‘holding accounts’ for budget savings as such currently exist (beyond the Working Capital reserve), monthly reports are provided to Council detailing the current financial position, where there have been any adjustments made to the Budgets, and a summary of where any allocations have been made. From a legislative perspective, it is only required to provide Council with a Budget Review on a quarterly basis. The provision of monthly reporting to Council is consistent with an approach to improve transparency and continuity of all operations.

In line with the above-mentioned Council resolution, following is a list of the advantages and disadvantages to placing funds into a special purpose transition holding account/s.

Advantages of a “transition or holding account”:

1. Immediate visibility

If a special purpose transition holding account or accounts, were to be established it would allow for a singular quarantine and immediate quantification of any gains made throughout the year. Whilst gains would be evident through the transition holding account, these movements are reported to Council on a monthly basis as part of the monthly financial adjustments.

Improving the current monthly reporting framework to provide greater detail on budget adjustments will also assist in improving visibility and transparency.

Disadvantages of a “transition or holding account”:

1. Not all gains can be redistributed for alternative uses

Some budgetary gains must remain in the specific area from which they were derived, as required under the Restricted Funds definition of the Local Government Act. These areas include waste, sewer and water, meaning that any budgetary gains in these areas would not be able to be utilised by general fund operations.

Given this, if special holding accounts were to be established there would need to be four accounts established, being:-

- Water Holding Account

- Sewer Holding Account

- Waste Holding Account

- General Holding Account

Within the General Holding Account, there would need to be additional subsections to ring fence areas including S94 contributions and grants. Whilst the existence of multiple funds as described above is not in itself a disadvantage, there are constraints around the use of gains from these funds, as well as greater associated administrative work.

2. Eliminating any contingencies increases risk

Within both the operational and capital works budgets, there needs to be some level of contingency in any budget to accommodate for variances which may occur throughout the year.

From an operational perspective, there are some areas where it is difficult to predict certain outcomes. In the example of Workers Compensation, whilst this can be quantified based on current staffing levels and past performance, there needs to be some contingency to allow for possible accidents.

In regard to interest income from investments, projections are made some 15 months prior to the end of the next budget period, so a conservative approach must be adopted to eliminate or limit any risks which the Council may be exposed to from greater economic impacts i.e. a change in the economy leading to a dramatic change in interest rates. This conservative approach is a direct result of the uncertainty in 2008 and 2009.

From a capital works perspective, whilst more robust reporting mechanism between budgeting and actual performance and delivery of the projects continue to be a focus, there will always be an element of project risk due to external matters beyond Council’s control. This can generally only be mitigated with a level of contingency being included in the budget. Allowing for reasonable contingencies is a risk management strategy to ensure that Council is not exposed unnecessarily to being unable to fund required capital works.

3. Sourcing funds for additional projects and practical implications

From an operational perspective, many unforeseen events occur which are managed on a daily basis. These range from weather events to breakdowns (for example) and in many instances require additional funding to address. From time to time, Council may also resolve to allocate expenditure via Council resolution which is unfunded at the time of resolution.

In these situations staff will, where possible, cut back on planned expenditure, plan to delay other expenditure to the following year, or reassess priorities in order to fund this unplanned expenditure rather than creating or adding to a deficit budget position. Under the current reporting regime, these may appear to be savings or gains. If these funds were moved to a transitionary account, this could either worsen a deficit budget position or result in Council being unable to proceed with the necessary unforeseen events without Council resolving at a future Council meeting that they could proceed. Considering Council only meets monthly, this could impact on the delivery of some services and or capital works projects until such time as approval was obtained by Council for the reallocation of the funds.

4. Quarterly income

Rates are invoiced quarterly, therefore from a cash flow perspective; income is received four times a year, not monthly. Capital projects and general operational programs need continuity throughout the entire year to smooth these income peaks and expenditure demands.

Taking any gains throughout year and isolating them into a separate account can affect the ongoing cash flow of projects. In order to keep continuity of cash flows and considering the receipt of income only on this quarterly basis, it would be necessary to have access to funds monthly. Any mechanism involving a need for Council approval to release these funds will add greater workloads on the organisation and the finance section from a reporting, timing and administration perspective.

5. Unforeseen circumstances and keeping the project costing ‘honest’

Whilst every attempt is made to ensure all elements of a project are finalised promptly, on the rare occasion an invoice from a supplier and / or contractor is received for a project which may have been completed some months earlier. Giving a job some breathing space prior to closing the job number would allow for any rogue invoices to be processed. Taking a gain quickly may only lead to greater administrative work asking for the funds back to pay the invoice. In addition to this, if any gains had already been allocated on another project, there would be no funds available for payment of this invoice. Whilst this is not a systemic issue, it is a possibility and highlights the effect of gains being taken and reallocated elsewhere.

What would be regarded as a ‘significant’ budgetary gain?

If this approach was adopted, consideration would need to be given as to what a “significant budgetary gain” would be defined as. It could be argued that an organisation with yearly expenditure of well over $100 million that a level of, say, $100,000 represents only 0.1%. From an auditing perspective, an acceptable level of materiality is somewhere between 0.5% to 1% of revenue/turnover. A lower threshold would increase administrative workloads and create operational difficulties in terms of continuity.

An alternative solution - considering and improving current practices to increase transparency

It is considered that the existing monthly reporting framework could be strengthened and improved to provide greater detail and explanation of budget adjustments for the purpose of overall increased transparency.

In particular, comments should be expanded to clearly explain the purpose of the required adjustment and the report should summarise the type of budget adjustment and the funding source.

In this way, the reporting framework should provide greater clarity around what budget savings are realised each month as distinct from adjustments which are “restricted” from being allocated to other general fund projects/budgets. The report should also ensure that any significant budgetary adjustments are addressed in greater detail in the report.

Options

Council can resolve to adopt the recommendation as included in this report or not adopt same.

Community Engagement & Internal Consultation

Internal consultation has taken place with the following people:

- General Manager;

- Directors;

- Group Manager Financial Services;

- Manager Corporate & Financial Planning

Planning & Policy Implications

There are no direct planning & policy implications as a result of this report.

Financial & Economic Implications

Moving any gains, significant or not, into a special purpose holding account may hamper the organisations ability to efficiently manage the operational and capital works budgets throughout the year as described in the body of this report.

The current process has operated effectively for a number of years providing the Council with a better outcome than would otherwise have been achieved. It has allowed for all adjustments to occur through a considered and commercial approach as to the best outcome for Council.

There is no disputing the need for improved budgeting and financial accountability across the organisation, hence it is recommended to improve the current monthly reporting framework to provide greater detail and overall transparency of required budget adjustments.

Attachments

Nil

Description: Governance Strap.jpg AGENDA Ordinary Council

18/12/2013

Item: 08.11

Subject: 2013 - 2014 Operational Plan Quarterly Progress Report

Presented by: Community & Organisational Development, Lesley Atkinson

Alignment with Delivery Program

1.4.1 Comply with Local Government legislation, policies and agreed standards and communicate the impacts of this to the community.

RECOMMENDATION

That Council note the attached 2013 - 2014 Operational Plan Performance Report for the July - September quarter.

Executive Summary

Each quarter, a report is presented to Council which outlines progress in implementing the annual Operational Plan. This performance report outlines progress against the performance target for each activity with appropriate commentary on performance or otherwise. At the August 2013 Ordinary Council meeting, Council requested that particular focus be given to commentary on activities that were not on target.

This report provides some performance highlights for the July - September 2013 quarter as well as specific examples of activities that are not meeting targets with appropriate explanation. These are grouped under the four focus areas and the guiding principle of the Towards 2030 Community Strategic Plan. For this quarter 84% of performance measures are classed as being on target.

In future, it is proposed to incorporate information on the budget and major projects in this quarterly performance report. This will enable an overall assessment of the total performance of Councils’ operations in one report.

Discussion

This is the first quarterly performance report of the 2013 - 2014 Operational Plan which supports the delivery of the 2013 - 2017 Delivery Program. It outlines the progress of outputs against actions/activities at the Operational Plan level. Under the Local Government Act (1993) there is a requirement that a separate report be provided to Council on progress in implementing the Delivery Program on a six monthly basis. This will be presented to the Ordinary Council Meeting in March 2014.

This report also outlines major performance highlights for the quarter and specific information on performance measures that are behind schedule or for which data is not available at this time. The detailed commentary against all operational plan items is attached to this report. Feedback provided has suggested that while some members of the community wish to be able to access the detailed information, others would prefer an “overview” style version with the ability to drill down for more detail as required. This report reflects this approach.

This report separates performance measures into two broad categories:

(a) on target, including those items yet to commence but considered to be on track; and

(b) behind schedule, including those items not yet commenced and considered to be at risk or for which data is not available.

This differentiation requires some judgements about how particular items are progressing and a relatively conservative approach has been adopted given this is the first quarter of the 2013 - 2014 Operational Plan.

In the first quarter of the 2013 - 2014 Operational Plan 84% of performance measures are classed as being on target. 16% are classed as being behind schedule. Given this relates to the July - September 2013 quarter, in many cases remediation has already commenced to address those that are behind schedule. As previously requested by Council, additional detail is contained in the body of this report on those items that are classed as being behind schedule.

Focus Area	Total Performance Measures		%		%
Ensuring good governance	65	56	86%	9	14%
Looking after our people	92	87	94%	5	6%
Helping our community prosper	27	17	63%	10	37%
Looking after our environment	35	26	75%	9	25%
Planning and providing our infrastructure	42	32	76%	10	24%
Total	261	218	84%	43	16%

Legend	Indicator
On target
Behind schedule or data not available

Guiding Principle - Ensuring good governance:

Table summarising the total number of performance measures categorised by achievement. July - September 2013

	Total Performance Measures	On Target	%	Not on Target	%
July - Sept 2013	65	56	86	9	14

Highlights for the quarter included:

· Improvements in the efficient processing of Development Applications, Construction Certificates and Complying Development Certificates;

· A large range of engagement activities with the community occurred including North Shore Ferry Service Review, Biodiversity Strategy, Wauchope alternate town centre route;

· Good progress in implementing the business process improvement initiative; and

· Continuing use of a wide variety of communications channels with particular good penetration of social media.

Analysis of the actions that are behind schedule reveals:

Operational Plan Activity 2013 - 2014	Lead Responsibility	Success Measures	Annual Target	YTD Actual July-Sept 13	Comment on Progress
1.2.1.1 Implement the Councillor Training plan	Governance & Executive Services	>75% overall attendance by Councillors to training proposed	75%	0%	Not available. Councillor Professional Development Program in draft form,
1.5.1.1 Customer Service Centre and Call Centre to deliver high quality client interactions by phone and at counter	Community Engagement & Planning	Standard of Service targets are to be measured on a quarterly basis	75%	72%	Not achieved. During the July - September period, staff shortages together with training of new staff have impacted the ability to achieve target. As they build up experience, performance is expected to improve over time.
1.5.1.3 Implement the Customer Experience Charter and customer service policy in responding to customer inquiries by correspondence	Community Engagement & Planning	Correspondence dealt with in 10 working days	100%	0%	Not available. Information on this measure is unable to be obtained at this stage. This is being further assessed.
1.5.1.4 Implement the Customer Experience Charter and customer service policy in responding to customer inquiry phone calls	Community Engagement & Planning	Telephone inquiries responded to within one working day *	100%	0%	Not available. Information on this measure is unable to be obtained at this stage. This is being further assessed.
1.5.2.2 Support the delivery of Council's services through access to technology that supports the efficient and effective execution of business processes and decision making	Information, Communications and Technology	Define service levels for existing services	100%	0%	Behind schedule. Work has commenced and is expected to be completed in November.
		Service levels to be measured on quarterly basis	75%	0%	Not available. The measurement of service levels will only begin after the service levels are agreed.
1.5.2.3 Capture, manage, retain and dispose of corporate information	Information, Communications and Technology	Number of unique files requests	2,000#	306#	Behind schedule, due to the uptake of TRIM, the level of file requests for paper based records is below expectations.
1.5.4.1 Complete review of Local Government Procurement Tender Toolbox and its application at Port Macquarie-Hastings Council	Financial Services	Review of the Local Government Procurement Tender Toolbox review completed	100%	0%	Not achieved. This has been replaced by the adoption of a Procurement Strategy which was adopted in September 2013.
1.5.5.1 Review the Corporate Risk Register on quarterly basis	Governance & Executive Services	Review the risk register on a quarterly basis and report to the Audit Committee	4#	0#	Behind schedule. The Risk Register underwent realignment to the recently adopted organisational structure, due to this a quarterly review has not been completed.

Focus Area - Looking after our people:

Table summarising the total number of performance measures categorised by achievement. July - September 2013

	Total Performance Measures	On Target	%	Not on Target	%
July - Sept 2013	92	87	94	5	6

Highlights for the quarter included:

· Meeting the service standards associated with compliance activities for swimming pool inspections, on site sewerage management and public health inspections;

· Achieving targets of the library circulation (including huge increase in on line downloads at the library), and performing arts and art programs at the Glasshouse;

· Managing and allocating access to the parks, reserves and sporting fields in accordance with service standards;

· Continuing to disseminate community information to over 250 community groups;

· Contribution to a successful NAIDOC week program;

· Strong focus on working with the community on social issues such as health including mental health, homelessness and access issues; and

· Delivery of a successful Handa Sister City program.

Analysis of the actions that are behind schedule reveals:

Operational Plan Activity 2013 - 2014	Lead Responsibility	Success Measures	Annual Target	YTD Actual July-Sept 13	Comment on Progress
2.1.3.1 Monitor and report on community compliance with development approvals and building standards, including fire and swimming pool safety requirements	Compliance	40 fire safety audit inspections conducted	40#	0#	Not available. No reporting measure in place at this time.
2.1.3.6 Deliver water and sewer services to ensure public health and safety	Water & Sewer	Number of environmental issues relating to the operation of the sewer network reported	0#	1#	Not achieved. Environmental incident (sewage overflow from a rising main) occurred on Wednesday 11 September 2013, at the Dunbogan Bridge, Reid St Laurieton (EPA Incident Number C14280-2013) due to a loosened nut & bolt at the pipe connection coupling caused by vibration from traffic on the bridge. All nuts have been removed and replaced with Nylock Nuts and scheduled maintenance is now in place in ensuring all nuts are secure and tight so that this type of incident does not occur again.
2.4.1.3 Implement the agreed and funded actions from the Disability Discrimination Act Action Plan 2008-2018	Community Development	Annual report of achievements for the previous financial year tabled at a Council meeting	100%	0%	Behind schedule. The report was delayed due to annual leave and delays in data collection. Report to go to December Council Meeting.
2.8.1.3 Implement strategies to increase revenue streams	Glasshouse	Revenue from external commercial hire ( 10% increase on 2012-2013 )	10%	6%	Not achieved. On a year to date basis for July - September, an overall increase of 6% was achieved.
2.9.2.2 Undertake a review of the mobile library service for rural schools in February 2014	Community Development	Number of loans issued from the van are within 10% circulation figures of previous year	10%	0%	Not available. The Library van commenced operation in February 2013. Comparable data will be captured and reported from February 2014.

Focus Area - Helping our community prosper:

Table summarising the total number of performance measures categorised by achievement. July - September 2013

	Total Performance Measures	On Target	%	Not on Target	%
July - Sept 2013	27	17	63	10	37

Highlights for the quarter included:

· Development of a draft Economic Development Strategy;

· An increase in revenue for Council businesses; and

· Completion of the project on the Precinct DCP provisions for Wauchope Town Centre.

Analysis of the actions that are behind schedule reveals:

Operational Plan Activity 2013 - 2014	Lead Responsibility	Success Measures	Annual Target	YTD Actual July-Sept 13	Comment on Progress
3.2.3.1 Local Environmental Plan (LEP) and Development Control Plan (DCP) amendments in relation to a business park near Port Macquarie Airport	Strategic Land Use Planning	LEP and DCP amendments in relation to a business park near Port Macquarie Airport completed	100%	4%	Behind Schedule. Preparation of draft Structure Plan on-hold pending finalisation of Airport Masterplan review.
3.2.3.2 LEP and DCP amendments in relation to Birdon Marine Precinct	Strategic Land Use Planning	LEP and DCP amendments in relation to Birdon Marine Precinct completed	100%	43%	Behind Schedule. Awaiting additional information from proponent to prepare Planning Proposal.
3.2.3.3 LEP and DCP amendments in relation to Cassegrain Winery plus associated tourism development	Strategic Land Use Planning	LEP and DCP amendments in relation to Cassegrain Winery plus associated tourism development completed	100%	35%	Behind Schedule. Awaiting landowner input in relation to infrastructure and environmental matters, including proposed planning agreement.
3.2.3.4 Preparation of LEP and DCP provisions for Fernbank Creek Industrial Precinct	Strategic Land Use Planning	Report to Council for adoption	100%	65%	Behind schedule. Awaiting amendments to VPA and signature by proponent prior to progressing Planning Proposal.
3.2.3.5 Preparation of LEP and DCP amendments for core commercial land at Warlters St, Port Macquarie	Strategic Land Use Planning	Report to Council for adoption	100%	80%	Behind schedule. Awaiting additional information from proponent to progress Planning Proposal to finalisation.
3.2.3.6 Preparation of LEP amendment for proposed bulky goods retail site at John Oxley Drive (Wrights Rd), Port Macquarie	Strategic Land Use Planning	Exhibition of draft Plans, review and report to Council for adoption	100%	60%	Behind schedule. Additional traffic modelling completed. Further consultation with RMS required.
3.2.5.1 Develop a Council property portfolio options paper detailing future potential of Council-owned land	Commercial & Business Services	Develop options papers for Council property portfolio's	100%	30%	Behind schedule. Analysis of approximately 70% of the properties has been completed, however further information is required on the remaining 30%. Once this is received an options paper can be finalised.
		Present Council property portfolio options paper to Council	100%	0%	Ongoing. The report to Council is unable to be prepared until issues relating to properties identified so far to be included in the options paper are resolved.
3.2.6.1 DCP amendments to Major Innes Road, Charles Sturt University precinct and the Public Hospital precinct	Strategic Land Use Planning	LEP and DCP amendments in relation to Major Innes Road, Charles Sturt University precinct and the Public Hospital precinct completed	100%	25%	Behind schedule. Requires complex response to draft landfill gas investigation report.
3.5.1.3 Completion of Stage 1 upgrade works at the airport (subject to regulatory approval)	Commercial & Business Services	Airport Stage 1A upgrade works complete	100%	95%	Behind schedule. Works delayed due to a variety of issues, including wet weather.

Focus Area - Looking after our environment:

Table summarising the total number of performance measures categorised by achievement - July - September 2013

	Total Performance Measures	On Target	%	Not on Target	%
July - Sept 2013	35	26	75	9	25

Highlights for the quarter included:

· Good progress in delivery of the feral animal control activities, riparian restoration works, bushland regeneration and weeds management programs;

· Completion of the report on projects undertaken as part of the Midwaste Regional Group of Councils; and

· Development of the tender documents for the new domestic waste collection service.

Analysis of the actions that are behind schedule reveals:

Operational Plan Activity 2013 - 2014	Lead Responsibility	Success Measures	Annual Target	YTD Actual July-Sept 13	Comment on Progress
4.3.1.1 Meet effluent quality requirements of Environmental Protection Licences (EPL)	Water & Sewer	Compliance with Environmental Protection Licences effluent quality conditions	100%	99%	Not achieved. Slight exceedance for the quarter of total phosphorous and ammonia discharge from the Port Macquarie and Wauchope sewage treatment plants respectively.
4.3.2.1 Extend reclaimed water reticulation network	Water & Sewer	500 meters of extended reclaimed water reticulation network	500#	0#	Not commenced. Currently reviewing reclaimed water strategy to determine future direction for the network, including extent, future works and charging philosophy. Target may not be achieved, dependent on outcome of strategy review.
4.3.4.1 Maintain mandatory water conservation practices to achieve consumption below NSW state benchmark levels	Water & Sewer	Achieve below average water consumption in national performance indicators (kilolitres based on per property)	155kl	0kl	Not available. Consumption figures to be obtained to report accurately. Currently considering water restrictions across the local government area.
4.4.1.2 Develop and implement alternative waste treatment systems in consultation with the community	Environmental Services	1. Alternative waste treatment system planned	100%	0%	Ongoing. The findings of an Expression of Interest (EOI) for alternative waste treatments (i.e. treatment of red bin waste) identified that the current technologies were costly and had considerable uncertainties around their success. Accordingly Council now only proceeding with organics processing.
4.4.1.3 Implement Commercial and Industrial Education Strategy to encourage source separation of waste	Environmental Services	Percentage increase of commercial and industrial recycling compared to previous year	1%	0%	Ongoing. Compared to relevant 2012 quarter, recycling is below target. This could be due to seasonal variation. Annual figures will provide the most meaningful comparison.
4.4.1.4 Implement resident education program on waste separation	Environmental Services	Percentage increase of household recycling compared to previous year	1%	0%	Ongoing. This quarter the target has not been reached. There is some seasonal variation with greenwaste weights mainly (slightly lower due to a dry season, though commercial cardboard is also down this quarter).
4.7.1.1 Preparation of strategic policy/Koala Plan of Management (KPoM) for Port Macquarie Hastings LGA	Strategic Land Use Planning	Strategic policy/Koala Plan of Management adopted	100%	0%	Behind schedule. Awaiting outcomes of public exhibition of vegetation and koala habitat mapping.
4.7.1.2 Prepare a draft Biodiversity Strategy to determine environmental priorities for conservation and restoration	Environmental Services	Biodiversity Strategy draft prepared	100%	0%	Behind schedule. Awaiting outcomes of public exhibition of vegetation and koala habitat mapping.
4.7.1.3 Advise and educate residents, industry and community groups on Council’s Tree Management requirements within the Development Control Plan	Recreation & Buildings	Advice on Council’s Tree Management requirements provided in accordance with service standards and industry best practice	100%	78%	Not achieved. Due to a vacancy in the Team, the target could not be achieved.

Focus Area - Planning and providing our infrastructure:

Table summarising the total number of performance measures categorised by achievement - July - September 2013

	Total Performance Measures	On Target	%	Not on Target	%
July - Sept 2013	42	32	76	10	24

Highlights for the quarter included:

· Good progress in the maintenance programs for sealed and unsealed roads, parks, water supply and sewerage assets, roadside vegetation and furnishings;

· Road safety and Street lighting activities are on target; and

· NATA accreditation maintained by the Laboratory. The Laboratory also performed all sampling in accordance with approved budget.

Analysis of the actions that are behind schedule reveals:

Operational Plan Activity 2013 - 2014	Lead Responsibility	Success Measures	Annual Target	YTD Actual July-Sept 13	Comment on Progress
5.1.1.1 Deliver preconstruction activities for road and transport assets in line with the 2014 - 2015 delivery program	Transport Network Management, Infrastructure Projects	Designs completed for road and transport assets approved programs	100%	12%	Behind schedule. Pre construction/planning and design works ongoing. Projects include Comboyne Road Wire Barrier replacement, Lighthouse Road Upgrade Matthew Flinders Drive to Pacific Drive, Hasting River Drive. Various projects including: Newport Island Road roundabout, Park to Aston Street and preliminary planning for the Gordon to Park Street rehabilitation. Kooloonbung Creek Foreshore between Gordon and Buller Street, Loggy Creek Bridge on Pembroke Road and the replacement bridge on the Forbes River Road following the natural disasters in early 2013. Design works completed on Hastings River Drive/Boundary Street signalization.
5.1.1.2 Undertake the construction of road and transport assets in line with the 2013 - 2014 capital works program	Infrastructure Projects	Each project is reported on individually on a quarterly basis in the Capital Works Report	100%	15%	Behind schedule. Pre construction/planning and design works ongoing ahead of construction. Construction works include: Kooloonbung Creek pedestrian bridge and Town Centre Masterplan paver band repairs. Works commenced on the Yarranabee Road footpath replacement and Laurieton cenotaph kerb and guttering works. Some projects remain at risk of not being completed within reporting period including the Stingray Creek Bridge.
5.3.1.1 Deliver preconstruction activities for open space and recreational assets in line with the 2014 - 2015 delivery program	Infrastructure Projects, Recreation & Buildings	Designs completed for open space and recreational assets approved programs	100%	6%	Behind schedule. Limited designs completed for the period.
5.3.1.2 Undertake the construction & upgrade of existing open spaces and recreational facilities in line with the 2013-2014 capital works program	Infrastructure Projects, Recreation & Buildings	Each project is reported on individually on a quarterly basis in the Capital Works report	100%	7%	Behind schedule. Pre construction/planning and design works ongoing ahead of construction. Construction works continued on Innes Peninsula local park and Town beach north footpaths project. Some projects remain at risk of not being completed within reporting period due to design readiness, including North haven Community Hall, Port Macquarie Historic Cemetery, Town Green master plan works, Town Beach public amenities (north).
5.4.1.2 Monitor development activity and the availability of suitable land for major development types	Strategic Land Use Planning	Data provided to DP&I and communicated to Port Macquarie-Hastings community	100%	15%	Behind schedule. Preparing data for submission to Australian Bureau of Statistics in early October.
5.4.1.5 Preparation of LEP and DCP amendments for the South Lindfield urban releases area		Exhibition of draft plans, review and report to Council for adoption	100%	5%	Behind Schedule. Awaiting input from landowner consultant.
5.4.3.1 Undertake staged review of the Port Macquarie Hastings Local Environmental Plan (LEP) 2011	Strategic Land Use Planning	Staged LEP amendment completed	100%	10%	Behind schedule. Report deferred to provide briefing for Council. This has provided an opportunity to add 4 additional items.
5.5.1.2 Undertake the construction of water supply assets in line with the 2013 - 2014 capital works program	Infrastructure Projects, Water & Sewer	Each project is reported on individually on a quarterly basis in the Capital Works report	100%	0%	Behind schedule. Pre construction/planning and design works ongoing ahead of construction. No Construction works commenced in the July to September period. Some projects remain at risk of not being completed within reporting period due to design readiness, Southern Arm trunk Main and the 200mm Dunbogan Tip Road watermain.
5.5.3.2 Undertake the construction of sewerage assets in line with the 2013 - 2014 capital works program	Infrastructure Projects, Water & Sewer	Each project is reported on individually on a quarterly basis in the Capital Works report.	100%	20%	Behind schedule. Pre construction/planning and design works ongoing ahead of construction. Construction works were completed in September on the Kew/Kendall Pump Station access project and continued on the Beechwood Small towns Sewerage Scheme. The Dunbogan Tip road sewer rising main remains at risk of being incomplete at the end of the reporting period due to design and approvals readiness.
5.5.6.1 Deliver preconstruction activities for stormwater assets in line with the 2014 - 2015 delivery program	Transport Network Management, Infrastructure Projects	Designs for preconstruction activities for stormwater assets completed for approved programs	100%	21%	Behind schedule. Pre construction/planning and design works ongoing. Projects include North Shore Drive Drainage improvements.

Options

Council may seek additional information on the performance report.

Community Engagement & Internal Consultation

The following staff have been consulted in the development of this report:

· General Manager

· Directors

· Group Managers

Planning & Policy Implications

The report on progress in achievements against the 2013 - 2107 Delivery Program will be presented to the March 2014 Council meeting.

Financial & Economic Implications

The July - September 2013 Quarterly Budget Review Statement was presented to the October 2013 Council Meeting.

Attachments

1. 2013 - 2017 Delivery Program and 2013 - 2014 Operational Plan Quarterly Report as at 30 September 2013

AGENDA Ordinary Council

Description: Governance Strap.jpg

18/12/2013

Item: 10.01

Subject: Port Macquarie Airport Master Plan 2010 Addendum Report - Consultation Report

Presented by: Commercial Services & Industry Engagement, Craig Swift-McNair

Alignment with Delivery Program

3.5.1 Develop, manage and maintain Port Macquarie Airport as a key component of the regional transport network and continue to grow the airport’s contribution to the regional economy.

RECOMMENDATION

That Council:

1. Note the submissions and feedback received during the exhibition of the draft Port Macquarie Airport Master Plan 2010 Addendum Report;

2. Adopt the Port Macquarie Airport Master Plan 2010 Addendum Report with Option 1 as the preferred short-term / interim development option and Option 2 as the preferred long-term development option, subject to the availability of funding;

3. Continue to liaise with key stakeholders regarding the future development of Port Macquarie Airport as outlined in the Addendum Report; and

4. Proceed with further detailed planning, feasibility and environmental investigations in relation to:

- widening the runway strip and associated obstacle limitation surfaces in accordance with CASA Code 4C aerodrome standards;

- development of the proposed Airport Precinct business park; and

- the provision of flood-free road access via a future North-South (Outer) Link Road.

Executive Summary

This report is submitted to Council for consideration of the Port Macquarie Airport Master Plan 2010 Addendum Report (as attached to this report at Attachment 1). This report provides an overview of the consultation process undertaken and a summary of the submissions and feedback received during the public exhibition of the draft Port Macquarie Airport Master Plan 2010 Addendum Report, which was exhibited in October 2013.

Discussion

The Master Plan 2010 Addendum Report presents options for the future development of Port Macquarie Airport to underpin the region’s economic development and tourism potential. The Addendum Report identifies changes required to the adopted Master Plan and potential future development options, taking into account:

· the Stage 1A airside infrastructure upgrade recently undertaken;

· changes to aerodrome standards proposed by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) since the Master Plan was adopted; and

· other emerging planning considerations proposed by the Australian Government Department of Infrastructure and Transport since the Master Plan was adopted.

In preparing the Addendum Report, consideration has been given to the requirements for:

· future airline (RPT) operations;

· future general aviation (GA) activities;

· commercial property development opportunities; and

· flood-free road access.

At the Ordinary Council meeting held on 18 September 2013, Council resolved to “place the Port Macquarie Airport Master Plan 2010 draft Addendum Report on public exhibition for a period of 28 days in order to engage with and seek feedback from the community and key stakeholders on the future development of the Airport” (see Council Report attached to this report at Attachment 2).

Accordingly the draft Addendum Report was placed on public exhibition from Friday 4October 2013 to Friday 1November 2013. The exhibition of the Report was published in local newspapers on the following dates:

· Port Macquarie News 4 and 18 October 2013

· Camden Haven Courier 9 and 23 October 2013

· Hastings Gazette 10 and 24 October 2013

The draft Report was made available for download from Council’s website, and copies were also available at Council’s offices at Port Macquarie, Wauchope and Laurieton.

Council delivered 2,000 letters to local residents and business operators (including on-Airport businesses) in the vicinity of the Airport advising of the public exhibition period and inviting comment. The letters were distributed to areas north of the Airport including Hastings River Drive - Hibbard Drive areas, to the east including the Binnacle - Sherwood Road areas, to the south including John Oxley Drive - Lindfield Park - Thrumster areas, and to the west along Fernbank Creek Road.

Council also sent copies of the draft Addendum Report to key stakeholders inviting comment, including:

· Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA);

· Airservices Australia;

· Bureau of Meteorology;

· Airlines - QantasLink, Virgin Australia, Jetstar, and Tigerair;

· Chambers of Commerce - Port Macquarie, Wauchope, and Camden Haven;

· Greater Port Macquarie Tourism Association;

· Federal Member for Lyne, David Gillespie MP; and

· State Member for Port Macquarie, Leslie Williams MP;

Council notified key emergency service organisations including the Royal Flying Doctor Service / NSW Air Ambulance, CareFlight and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service. A presentation on the Addendum Report was also provided to emergency services representatives at the Port Macquarie - Hastings Local Emergency Management Committee meeting in November.

At the close of the exhibition period, four (4) submissions had been received by Council. A further submission was received after the closing date. The five submissions are summarised below (and attached to this report at Attachment 3). Acknowledgments have been received from Airservices Australia and the Bureau of Meteorology, and Council will continue to liaise with these and other key stakeholders regarding the future development of Port Macquarie Airport as outlined in the Addendum Report.

The following extract from the Addendum Report is provided, describing the key features of the two development options:

Option 1

· the Stage 1A airside upgrade of runway 03/21 to Code 4C standard, 1,800 metres long x 45 metres wide, including closure of Tuffins Lane - initial operations of Code 4C aircraft in accordance with CASA exemption with respect to the existing Code 3C 150 metre wide runway strip and approach surface;

· future widening of the existing Code 3C 150 metre wide runway strip and approach surface to 300 metres in accordance with the full Code 4C aerodrome standard - subject to detailed environmental investigation and planning approval;

· staged construction of a new Code C taxiway (Taxiway Foxtrot) parallel to and 168 metres to the east of runway 03/21 - subject to detailed environmental investigation and planning approval; timing / staging also subject to demand (runway occupancy and circuit / airspace capacity) and the availability of funding;

· reserving of a 52 metre wide Code C taxiway strip at Taxiway Charlie to allow for future upgrading of the taxiway to Code C standard should this be required to support further aviation related development in the future;

· future expansion of the existing RPT apron to the east to comply with the full Code 4C aerodrome standards, with four (4) free moving parking positions for up to Code 4C aircraft;

· either, staged development / redevelopment of the existing terminal building generally to the east of the existing building and / or clear of the transitional surface associated with the 300 metre runway strip, or provision of a new terminal building to the east of the expanded RPT apron, in accordance with the full Code 4C aerodrome standard;

· expansion of the existing car parking facilities to meet demand - noting the potential impact on the existing GA1 apron and hangar area;

· possible future relocation of the general aviation facilities to an area south of Taxiway Charlie to support aviation related business activities;

· possible future relocation of aircraft refuelling facilities to an area south of Taxiway Charlie subject to further consultation;

· relocation of the existing non-directional beacon (NDB) to an area west of runway 03/21, to make way for future aviation related development - subject to consultation with Airservices;

· relocation of the existing Bureau of Meteorology weather station (AWIS) to an area west of runway 03/21, to make way for future aviation related development including the future parallel taxiway - subject to consultation with the Bureau of Meteorology;

· possible future provision of Aerodrome Rescue and Fire-Fighting Services (ARFFS), and Air Traffic Control (ATC) facilities subject to growth in air services / passenger numbers;

· identification of land not required for future aviation uses, to be made available for commercial property development as part of the proposed Airport Precinct business park;

· identification of land zoned R1 General Residential adjacent to “The Binnacle” residential area for possible future Airport related accommodation / hotel development; and

· principal road access subject to further planning for an Outer Link Road (North - South link) linking the Oxley Highway and Hastings River Drive.

Option 1 has the potential to support incremental staged development of the existing infrastructure to meet demand in air services commensurate with the availability of funding, and as such is considered suitable for development in the short to medium term.

Option 2

· provision of a new RPT apron south of Taxiway Charlie in accordance with the full Code 4C aerodrome standards, with four (4) free moving parking positions for up to Code 4C aircraft;

· provision of a new terminal building south of Taxiway Charlie in accordance with the full Code 4C aerodrome standard;

· provision of new car parking facilities south of Taxiway Charlie;

· relocation of existing helicopter landing and parking area, and general aviation aircraft parking areas subject to further detailed planning;

· possible future general aviation facilities in an area south of Taxiway Charlie to support aviation related business activities;

· possible future relocation of aircraft refuelling facilities to an area south of Taxiway Charlie subject to further consultation;

· relocation of the existing non-directional beacon (NDB) to an area west of runway 03/21, to make way for future aviation related development - subject to consultation with Airservices;

· possible future provision of Aerodrome Rescue and Fire-Fighting Services (ARFFS), and Air Traffic Control (ATC) facilities subject to growth in air services / passenger numbers;

· identification of land not required for future aviation uses, to be made available for commercial property development as part of the proposed Airport Precinct business park;

· identification of land zoned R1 General Residential adjacent to “The Binnacle” residential area for possible future Airport related accommodation / hotel development; and

· principal road access subject to further planning for an Outer Link Road (North - South link) linking the Oxley Highway and Hastings River Drive.

Whilst Option 2 offers some operational benefits through the reduced impact on existing airport infrastructure / facilities and locating the RPT apron / terminal building in a more “ideal” location from a master planning perspective, this development option is likely to require a significant one-off capital investment to provide the new infrastructure required (incl. RPT apron, terminal building, car parking, access roads, services etc). As such Option 2 is considered a potential long-term development scenario subject to the availability of funding.

Options

Council may adopt the recommendations as proposed or amend as required.

The Airport Project Advisory Group (APAG) has endorsed the recommendations as proposed.

Community Engagement & Internal Consultation

As mentioned above, at the time of preparing this report for Council, five (5) formal written submissions had been received.

Submission

Issue

Matthew Connors

Dated 10 October 2013

The submission:

- questions the forecast passenger growth and the need for A320 aircraft services;

- proposes that instead of upgrading the Airport for Code 4C aircraft, Council should focus on supporting flight training activities by:

1. building a taxiway adjacent to the current runway;

2. more hangars;

3. make sure airside hangars are only used for airside essential services and hangarage of aircraft;

4. increase hangar space for more flight training and aircraft repair; and

5. increase car parking and remove car parking from hangars.

Response/

Comment:

The Master Plan Addendum Report makes provision for:

- a future parallel taxiway;

- general aviation related business activities (including flight training) in partnership with Taree and Kempsey Airports; and

- further development / expansion of car parking areas.

The timing of this development will be subject to demand and the availability of funding.

Donald West

Dated 20 October 2013

The submission raises possible concerns regarding:

- times of operations (ie flight schedule);

- flight patterns over our town;

- noise disturbances to residents and livestock; and

- pollution of aviation fuel discharge.

Response/

Comment:

The Master Plan 2010 provided detailed information regarding current and projected future aircraft noise exposure and flight tracks in the vicinity of the Airport for interpretation by the community and for use by Council for future land use planning and development control purposes. This information has been assessed by Airservices Australia and endorsed for technical accuracy. This information remains current and is not affected by the Addendum Report.

Minedor Development Managers

Dated 29 October 2013

The submission highlights the importance of the Airport to the local economy, and suggests that Council should prioritise the Airport as the No. 1 issue for Council. Specific comments include:

- passenger forecasts appears reasonable, but the Master Plan should not preclude further growth;

- compliance with the Code 4C aerodrome standards should be sacrosanct, and further development should ensure compliance without the need for CASA exemption;

- Option 1 is supported as long as it does not constrain future development beyond Code 4C, noting the greater one-off investment required for Option 2;

- while recognising the importance of the proposed Business Park to Council, the Business Park should be a secondary priority to the airside issues; and

- Council should immediately resolve a new road connection to the Airport from John Oxley Drive, and that road should present well and reflect the town and its growing stature.

Response/

Comment:

Compliance with the Code 4C aerodrome standards (without CASA exemption) is a clear priority of the Addendum Report. While Option 1 is considered suitable as a short to medium term development scenario, Option 2 offers greater flexibility in the long term so as not to constrain further opportunities for growth beyond that currently forecast. The Addendum Report recognises the need for further planning to be undertaken by Council in relation to the route of the proposed North-South (Outer) Link Road.

Hastings District Flying Club

Dated 30 October 2013

The submission favours Option 2 for the future development of the Airport, citing:

- less constraints from existing infrastructure;

- improved operational considerations; and

- less impact on existing GA facilities, and greater opportunity for expansion in GA capabilities including freight.

In relation to Option 1, the submission suggests that ad hoc development will not provide the community with what it really wants for our Airport long term.

The submissions also raises concerns regarding the potential relocation of existing GA facilities such as the GA1 area.

Response/

Comment:

Council notes the concerns raised regarding the potential relocation of the GA1 area. Council also acknowledges the comments made regarding Options 1 and 2, and notes that short and long term development proposals will be subject to demand and the availability of funding at the time of development.

Civil Aviation Safety Authority

Dated 18 November 2013

The submission:

- reminds Council, as the aerodrome operator, of its obligation to ensure that all facilities are designed and maintained in accordance with the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (CASR) Part 139;

- suggests that any future plan should allow for a future expansion of the passenger terminal and apron area, and clearly address existing and proposed landside access routes to the aerodrome; and

- suggests that a future Code C taxiway parallel to, and to the east of runway 03/21, should be fully extended to the runway 21 (northern) end to reduce the aircraft occupancy time on the runway.

Response/

Comment:

The Addendum Report addresses these issues.

Planning & Policy Implications

The Master Plan 2010 Addendum Report presents options for the future development of Port Macquarie Airport to underpin the region’s economic development and tourism potential. The Addendum Report should be read in conjunction with the Master Plan 2010 - together the documents provide the framework and strategic direction to guide the future operation and development of the Airport.

Financial & Economic Implications

The Airport is established as a separate commercial business unit of Council, funded solely by airport operations on a ‘user pays’ basis - as such the Airport does not receive funding via Council’s general fund (rates) to subsidise the cost of its operations or major capital improvement / upgrade projects.

The Addendum Report highlights that significant works will be required to upgrade the Airport to ultimately comply with the full Code 4C aerodrome standards. Much of this work will be subject to detailed environmental investigation and planning approval.

Funding for major capital projects at the Airport will continue to be sourced from a combination of:

· the Airport Reserve;

· aeronautical revenue (received from ongoing airport operations);

· non-aeronautical revenue (received from commercial property development and airport concessions / leases); and

· external financing (such as loan borrowings).

It should be noted that following completion of the recent Stage 1A airside infrastructure upgrade, the Airport’s borrowing capacity and ability to fund further improvements will be constrained in the short to medium term.

While this Report recommends Option 2 as the preferred long-term development option, it is considered likely that in the absence of securing new grant funding for the Airport, any development in the short-term to support the introduction of new air services and/or further growth in passenger numbers, will need to be based on “do-minimum” improvements to the existing terminal building and car parking facilities.

The Airport plays a key role in underpinning the region’s economic development and tourism potential, and as such it is critical that the Airport is positioned to handle long-term forecast growth in air services and passenger numbers to realise the associated economic benefits.

As set out in the Addendum Report, further growth in air services including the potential introduction of up to Code 4C medium jet aircraft such as the Boeing B737-800 and Airbus A320 series aircraft would result in:

· an additional $86.1 million in gross output per annum*;

· an additional $38.2 million in value added or GRP per annum*;

· an additional $21.8 million in wages and salaries paid per annum*; and

· an additional 408 jobs created per annum*.

* based on 400,000 passenger movements per annum (currently 230,000 passengers pa).

Attachments

1. Port Macquarie Airport Master Plan 2010 Addendum Report

2. Council Report dated 18 September 2013

3. Submissions received during the public exhibition period

AGENDA Ordinary Council

Description: Governance Strap.jpg

18/12/2013

Item: 10.03

Subject: 18 John Oxley Drive, Port Macquarie - Business Rezoning (PP2011-7.2)(PIN 48392)

Presented by: Development & Environment, Matt Rogers

Alignment with Delivery Program

3.2.3 Facilitate growth in retail and commercial business through the provision of appropriately zoned land that meets the needs of sustainable business.

RECOMMENDATION

That Council:

1. Defer a decision on whether to proceed with the planning proposal (LEP amendments, DCP amendments and planning agreement) for 18 John Oxley Drive, Port Macquarie, pending the resolution of traffic matters as described in this report.

2. Consider the outcomes of the further investigations and consultations in a further report in early 2014.

Executive Summary

This report provides a summary of the outcomes of community consultation and investigations in relation to a planning proposal to rezone land on the corner of the Oxley Highway and John Oxley Drive, adjacent to the intersection with Wrights Road.

The planning proposal is based on John Oxley Drive Structure Plan, which was adopted by Council in July 2012. At that time, Council also resolved in relation to 18 John Oxley Drive:

· to prepare a Planning Proposal to rezone the land,

· to prepare supporting DCP amendments, and

· to establish a statutory mechanism to protect the amenity of the residents of the adjoining Sienna Grange Retirement Village.

The planning proposal includes draft local environmental plan (LEP) and development control plan (DCP) provisions and includes a concept design by the proponent for a bulky goods centre, including a Woolworths Masters store. It was publicly exhibited between 19 April and 17 May 2013 along with an offer from the proponent to enter into a planning agreement. (Refer Attachment 1)

Six public submissions were received, as detailed in this report. Council has also received an objection from the NSW Roads & Maritime Services related to the potential impact of the proposal on the operation of the Wrights Road intersection. The submissions are attached and are summarised in the body of this report.

Council has been working with the RMS during 2013 to resolve the traffic issues associated with this proposal and with the Wrights Road intersection generally. This issue was considered by Council at its meeting on 20 November 2013 (refer Attachment 2), when it was resolved that Council:

2. That a post-exhibition report on the bulky goods planning proposal for No. 18 John Oxley Drive be brought before Council for the December 2013 Council Meeting.

This report is presented in response to part 2 of the above resolution. It summarises the three key issues in relation to the planning proposal:

1. Traffic impacts,

2. Impacts on Sienna Grange Residents, and

3. Economic impacts

The proponent has offered to enter into a planning agreement in relation to the resolution of traffic impacts. In addition to a $500,000 contribution to intersection improvements, the proponent has offered to guarantee that there would be no commencement of use until “Council is satisfied that suitable arrangements are in place for the future upgrade of the Oxley Highway/Wrights Road/John Oxley Drive intersection”.

This has inherent risk for the proponent and for Council that a satisfactory solution will not be found to upgrade the Wrights Road intersection and that arrangements for development will have substantially progressed. The Wrights Road / Oxley Highway / John Oxley Drive roundabout will not function satisfactorily for local traffic in peak traffic flows within 10 years, based on modelling undertaken for Council and the RMS.

The proposed staging of development and site access has implications for pedestrian access across although it appears that all other potential impacts on adjoining residents are able to be satisfactorily ameliorated with appropriate LEP and DCP provisions and in the assessment of subsequent development applications.

The proposed rezoning is consistent with the retail policy established in the Port Macquarie-Hastings Urban Growth Management Strategy 2011. The subject site generally meets the locational criteria for bulky goods retail and is within the investigation area nominated for investigation for bulky goods retail in the Strategy.

Council’s economic consultants Hill PDA advise that Council should not delay the rezoning of the John Oxley Drive site to permit the Masters store on the grounds of economic impact.

The site itself has a total area of approximately 4.8ha and the concept development for the site represents full development of the site, allowing for parking and access requirements. The proposal, if supported by Council, will accommodate the total projected increase in demand in bulky goods retail to 2031.

In conclusion, it is recommended that Council defer a decision on whether to proceed pending a response from the Local Member/RMS in relation to traffic matters.

Discussion

The subject land, 18 John Oxley Drive, Port Macquarie, is located immediately to the south of the Oxley Highway / John Oxley Drive / Wrights Road roundabout, on the site of the former Port Gateway Residential Park. The exhibited planning proposal also encompasses adjoining roadway to the northeast and east, which is included in the proposed LEP mapping changes for consistency. The extent of land affected is shown below.

Council’s Urban Growth Management Strategy 2011-2031 identifies a key Economic Development and Employment Strategy as to “identify opportunities for bulky goods style retailing in accessible locations in or near commercial centres and restrict this form of retailing in industrial zones”. An associated short-term implementation action was to “Consider potential for bulky goods development at Lindfield Park Rd and between the old and new Oxley Highway alignments.”

Also, with completion of the Oxley Highway realignment between Wrights Road and the Pacific Highway, it was appropriate to consider the future redevelopment of the land between the old and new highway alignments east of Phillip Charley Drive. For a range of historical reasons there is a mix of urban type land uses within this precinct, notwithstanding the current rural zone (i.e. RU1 Primary Production).

A Structure Plan for the John Oxley Drive Precinct was adopted by Council in July 2012. The Structure Plan proposes a mix of residential and business uses between the current and former alignments of the Oxley Highway in the long term. Implementation of the Structure Plan will involve further work, particularly in relation to:

· preparation of appropriate stormwater management strategies for the fragmented land ownerships, and

· refinement of the road upgrade design, the associated extent of land acquisition and planning safe property accesses, and

· for some of the proposed residential land, co-ordination of consolidation of land as part of redevelopment.

A rezoning proposal for the subject land had been lodged with Council, but had been deferred while the Structure Plan was being finalised. When the Structure Plan was adopted, Council also resolved to commence the process to amend the planning controls for this site, with appropriate safeguards to adjoining residents.

1. Summary of proposed changes

Attachment 1 is a copy of the Exhibition document, excluding some lengthy appendices. Refer to that for full details of the proposed changes.

LEP 2011 Changes

Current

Proposed

Land Zoning Map

Zone Codes

B2 Local Centre

B5 Business Development

R1 General Residential

R2 Low Density Residential

RE1 Public Recreation

RU1 Primary Production

SP2 Infrastructure (Health Services facility)

Lot Size Map

Minimum Lot Size

G 450 sq m

Q 700 sq m

W1 3,000 sq m

Y3 1.5 hectares

AB2 40 hectares

Blank no minimum

Height of Buildings Map

Maximum building height

I 8.5 m

L 11.5 m

N2 14.5 m

Blank no maximum

Refer to LEP Text for definition of Building height.

DCP 2011 provisions

Current provisions

There are current provisions relating to commercial development adjoining residential land use, with the objective of maintaining residential amenity.

Separate to the DCP are:

· NSW Industrial Noise Policy, (EPA 2000).

· Noise Guide for Local Government (DECCW 2010)

· Infrastructure SEPP - consultation with Roads & Maritime Services

· Section 79C of the Act - Matters for consideration

Proposed provisions

The proposed additional site-specific objectives are:

1. To ensure that the amenity of neighbouring residents is not adversely affected by noise emanating from the subject property.

2. To avoid the potential for significant overshadowing of habitable rooms and key open space areas for adjoining residential properties.

3. To ensure the visual impact of the development enhances:

§ the entrance to Port Macquarie along the Oxley Highway,

§ the sub-arterial road function of John Oxley Drive, and

§ the amenity of adjoining residents.

There are supporting Development Provisions that provide a standard for compliance with these objectives.

Offer to enter into a Planning Agreement

The Council resolution of July 2012 included:

“In relation to the proposals in the Structure Plan relating to No 18 John Oxley Drive: ….

c) Establish with the proponent a statutory mechanism to ensure that any future development of No.18 John Oxley Drive is designed in accordance with the future development control provisions in b) above, relating to the amenity of residents of No 28 John Oxley Drive, prior to the exhibition of the Planning Proposal and Development Control Plan.”

Based on that, and issues relating to potential road impacts, an offer was made on behalf of the proponent to enter into a Planning Agreement relating to these issues. Details of the exhibited offer are in Appendix E of Attachment 1.

It was expected that the details of the Planning Agreement would be refined following completion of the further traffic studies.

This is discussed further under Traffic Impacts and Impacts on Sienna Grange.

Note that while Council exhibited an offer from the proponent to enter into a Planning Agreement, this does not constitute a legal agreement until an agreement is formally exhibited and signed by both parties.

The matters raised in the public exhibition are reviewed in the submissions table under Community Engagement & Internal Consultation at the end of this report.

There are three major issues which are summarised below:

Issue 1: Traffic impacts

The key issues relating to traffic impacts were canvassed in a report to Council’s Ordinary Meeting on 20 November 2013. The report, titled Growth Constraints - Oxley Highway/Wrights Road Intersection, Port Macquarie is included as Attachment 2 to this report. That report includes the following key points in relation to the Oxley Highway / Wrights Road / John Oxley Drive intersection:

1. The intersection has been designed and constructed by the State Government as the primary point of access for the Lake Innes release area to the Oxley Highway and the rest of Port Macquarie. No alternative exists for local traffic using the intersection.

2. In consultation with the RMS during the past 6 months, Council has conducted modelling to determine the life of the existing roundabout under a number of development scenarios.

3. The traffic modelling for the intersection included background residential growth including proposed future development in the Lake Innes and Thrumster areas. Note: Background growth is the growth predicted at the time the Wrights Road intersection was designed and constructed. This includes forecast residential growth in the Lake Innes and Thrumster areas and some expansion of the Base Hospital.

4. The modelling shows that the intersection will begin to fail in approximately 10 years, with background growth alone.

5. With the addition of recently approved development, including the expansion of the Port Macquarie Base Hospital, University of NSW development, medical centres on Highfields Circuit, the subject bulky goods proposal and the proposed university campus for Charles Sturt University, the life of the intersection is approximately 5 years.

6. The current expansion of the Port Macquarie Base Hospital, which was approved by the State Government, has made no contribution to a future intersection upgrade.

7. The modelling shows unacceptable delays with the addition of traffic associated with the subject bulky goods proposal and the proposed university campus for Charles Sturt University, in addition to forecast background growth.

8. The use of metering signals on the Wrights Road intersection to regulate the flow of highway traffic onto the intersection has been found to be problematic in that it would result in unacceptable queue lengths for traffic on the Oxley Highway.

9. Other intersection upgrade options such as full signalisation and/or grade separation will involve substantial capital investment (e.g. in excess of $10 million for grade separation), which cannot be funded by Council from existing Development Contributions Plans or from the current proponents.

10. Council’s options to secure developer contributions funding for State infrastructure are limited by State legislation and a State Infrastructure Levy has not been applied to the Lake Innes area. It is therefore not feasible to prepare an equitable contributions scheme for upgrade of the Oxley Highway / Wrights Road / John Oxley Drive intersection, without substantial contributions from the State Government:

11. The additional developments (i.e. The bulky goods proposal and Charles Sturt University campus) merely bring forward the need for a substantial upgrade of the intersection and the need for allocation of State Government funding.

The most recent submission from the Roads and Maritime Services is relation to the bulky goods proposal is a letter dated 15 October 2013 (Attachment 3), which states in part (emphasis added):

“The most recent modelling has clearly indicated that proposed developments in the JOD precinct will significantly affect the operation of the Oxley Highway/Wrights Road roundabout and result in significant delay for the travelling public. This delay has a substantial cost to the community including lost time and environmental damage from fuel emissions. The modelling supports previous assessments that, without the JOD developments, the roundabout would continue to operate within acceptable ranges of delay and service well into the future.

Roads and Maritime also appreciates Council's willingness to consult and involve Roads and Maritime in the process of assessing the impacts of this planning proposal. The probable scale of infrastructure required to adequately address the impacts, and the ability for potential development proponents to fully fund the upgrades, is also well appreciated. Council may wish to explore several funding options to arrive at an equitable contribution scheme. With the recent State Government investments on the Oxley Highway in Port Macquarie, there would appear little justification for Roads and Maritime to be a contributor in any substantial way towards a contribution scheme.

The previous Roads and Maritime response of 2 August was intended to allow investigations for the rezoning to continue so that potential interim measures could be identified and assessed, without causing undue delay. The results of the latest modelling conclude that the proposed interim measure (partial signalisation of the Wrights Road roundabout) is not a feasible option. Without identification of the appropriate road infrastructure necessary to address the impacts of the proposal, and an equitable contributions scheme determined, Roads and Maritime cannot support the proposed strategy to intensify development in the eastern section of John Oxley Drive.”

The RMS states that Council can continue with the rezoning investigations while solutions to the road infrastructure issues are addressed. However, this rezoning is at the final stage - awaiting a Council decision on what will be submitted to the delegate of the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure in relation to making the relevant LEP amendments.

The proponent for the bulky goods rezoning has commissioned traffic consultants TTM Pty Ltd to review the recent traffic modelling by Council and the RMS of the potential use of metering signals to extend the life of the intersection - a copy is in Attachment 4.

A summary report has been provided by TTM which suggests that metered signals could provide an interim measure to defer major expenditure on the intersection. This report was not accompanied by modelling data and was submitted to Council one day prior to the close of reports for this Council meeting agenda. It has therefore not been possible for Council or the RMS to review the TTM report in detail in conjunction with the preparation of this report.

The TTM report also shows that queue lengths for traffic on the Oxley Highway would be up to approximately 400m with the use of metering signals and it is likely that this would be unacceptable to the RMS. The information presented does not include details of level of service (i.e. delay) and degree of saturation (i.e. how close the intersection is to failure having regard to traffic volumes). Nevertheless, the report provides additional information for ongoing consultation with the RMS regarding the upgrade options for the intersection.

The proponent has also made a revised offer to enter into a planning agreement with Council to address the traffic impacts associated with the proposal. The latest offer is in King & Campbell letter dated 5 December 2013 (Attachment 5; the associated site concept plan is in Appendix D (page 54) of Attachment 1). The proposed planning agreement now includes the following components:

1. The amenity of the adjoining Sienna Grange residents

This is addressed in the next section of this report.

2. Site access - staged upgrade; contribution for intersection upgrade

a) This provides for signalised site access prior to occupation of Stage 2 of the proposed bulky goods development, being the bulky goods building in the south-western part of the site. It also provides for site access for Stage 1 (the hardware building) in accordance with independent traffic assessment.

b) The offer includes a contribution of up to $500,000 for the upgrade of the Wrights Road intersection, such as installing metering signals to extend the life of the current roundabout, and to allow Stage 1 to proceed.

Given the proximity to the Wrights Road intersection, the site access design needs to be carefully tuned to integrate with the operation of that intersection, whether roundabout, roundabout with metered signals, traffic lights or grade separation. Traffic signals may be required earlier, or not be appropriate, irrespective of the timing of Stage 2 of the proposed development.

3. Occupation of Stage 1 conditional on arrangements for future intersection upgrade

This would allow finalisation of the proposed rezoning, development consent and construction, but no commencement of use until “Council is satisfied that suitable arrangements are in place for the future upgrade of the Oxley Highway/Wrights Road/John Oxley Drive intersection”. This particularly aims to allow for parallel actions, rather than:

“The expected long timelines associated with both the negotiating the funding arrangement relating to the ultimate upgrade of the Oxley Highway/Wrights Road/John Oxley Drive intersection and the planning process associated with the LEP and subsequent development application.”

The proponent suggests that this is similar to the Sancrox Employment Lands Road Construction Planning Agreement. However, in that case, there was more certainty in terms of the design and funding for the required intersection upgrade. The proposed planning agreement for the John Oxley Drive site has inherent risk for the proponent and for Council that a satisfactory solution will not be found to upgrade the Wrights Road intersection and that arrangements for development will have substantially progressed.

4. Council to prepare updated Major Roads Section 94 Contribution Plan

a) The proponent would like to ensure that other new development on John Oxley Drive, north from The Ruins Way, is included in Council’s Major Roads Section 94 Contribution Plan.

b) The proponent also seeks in principle agreement that the costs of associated roadworks offset against developer contributions.

There is limited scope to obtain developer contributions from future development within the catchment of the intersection. However, this is something that can be considered by Council in the review of the Major Roads Section 94 Contribution Plan. There is no objection to in principle agreement to offsetting roadwork costs against developer contributions within a Planning Agreement, although this could be covered by a Works in Kind Agreement at DA stage.

In summary, the first major issue in relation to the proposed bulky goods rezoning is traffic impacts.

Modelling by Council and the RMS suggests that there will be significant delays for local traffic entering the existing roundabout in approximately 10 years time with background growth, and in less than 10 years, if the proposed bulky goods rezoning proceeds.

The RMS has objected to the rezoning but have provided no solution to the required intersection upgrade notwithstanding that it is State infrastructure and Council is not in a position to organise funding of the scale required to upgrade the intersection.

The proponent has offered to enter into an agreement and has now increased the amount of the offer towards the Wrights Road intersection upgrade to $500,000. If the RMS was willing to accept metering signals, these could be paid for using the proposed $500,000 contribution from the proponent. This may extend the life of the intersection slightly, however, the metering signals works would not form part of a longer term intersection upgrade that will be necessary.

If metering signals are not acceptable as an interim solution, as the modelling by Council and the RMS suggests, the proposed $500,000 would cover only a relatively small part of the intersection upgrade cost. The bulk of the funding for the intersection upgrade would need to come from the State government, given Council’s limited ability to levy contributions in this case.

Council has forwarded the TTM report and the revised offer from the proponent to the RMS for comment. No response has been received given the timing of submission of the report to Council.

If Council wishes to proceed with a Planning Agreement, it would be necessary:

· to have negotiations to refine the proposed agreement,

· to publicly exhibit the proposed agreement, and

· to formally approve it (possibly under delegation).

This should occur prior to submission of the draft LEP for approval.

As noted above, the proposed planning agreement for the John Oxley Drive site has inherent risk for the proponent and for Council that a satisfactory solution will not be found to upgrade the Wrights Road intersection and that arrangements for development will have substantially progressed.

Discussion of Council’s options are addressed in the Options section of this report.

Issue 2: Impacts on Sienna Grange

The residents of Sienna Grange have been consulted in earlier phases of planning for the John Oxley Drive Precinct. The residents have previously raised concerns regarding likely impacts such as traffic management, noise, overshadowing, privacy, light pollution, bulk and scale, safety, deliveries, operational times and security.

As a consequence, the Council resolution in July 2012 required in part that Council:

“c) Establish with the proponent a statutory mechanism to ensure that any future development of No.18 John Oxley Drive is designed in accordance with the future development control provisions in b) above, relating to the amenity of residents of No 28 John Oxley Drive, prior to the exhibition of the Planning Proposal and Development Control Plan.”

The proponent’s offer to enter into a Planning Agreement includes the following:

“That the future development of 18 John Oxley Drive for bulky goods retail purposes will be designed to reasonably comply with the Development Provisions to be included in DCP 2011 to protect the amenity of the residents of 28 John Oxley Drive Port Macquarie.”

Although Council has drafted the current development control plan (DCP) provisions to maximise their effectiveness, DCP provisions have limited legal weight following recent changes to the NSW Environmental Planning & Assessment Act 1979 (as amended). The proponent’s offer implies a commitment to comply with the DCP provisions irrespective of their legal weight, although the offer is qualified by the words “reasonably comply”.

The offer has limited benefit but at the same time doesn’t seem to have adverse consequences and can therefore be reasonably included in any planning agreement that is proposed between Council and the proponent.

The main potential impacts on the residents of Sienna Grange to be addressed at the LEP stage are accessibility and building height. At this stage, the objective is to ensure that appropriate measures are in place for any development application assessment and determination.

In terms of accessibility, pedestrian access remains a key issue for the John Oxley Drive Precinct as there is a shortage of safe pedestrian access points and constraints as to where these access points can be located in light of current and proposed intersections and slip lanes.

The planning agreement offer from the proponent provides for signalised site access prior to occupation of Stage 2 of the proposed bulky goods development. Pedestrian access issues across John Oxley Drive for Sienna Grange residents would be resolved at the time that a signalised intersection is provided.

The timing of construction of these facilities is uncertain and access across John Oxley Drive would be more difficult in the interim following construction of Stage 1 of a bulky goods development. It is important to note, however, that total traffic volumes on John Oxley Drive have decreased since the opening of the new Oxley Highway.

In relation to building height:

· the draft LEP proposes a maximum of 11.5 m,

· a resident of Sienna Grange requests that the height limit for the (proposed bulky goods) building adjoining Sienna Grange be reduced to 8.5 m, and

· the consultant for the proponent has submitted information that indicates that while the height for that proposed building would be no more than 8.5 m on the Sienna Grange boundary, given the ground levels, near the Oxley Highway it would be around 10 m.

It would seem reasonable to reduce the height limit to 8.5 m for land within 20 m of the common boundary with Sienna Grange. The illustration shows this, together with aerial photography and the current concept plan for development of the site. The standard height limit for residential land (excluding medium and high density) is 8.5 m.

HOB variation for Agenda

Note that the LEP and DCP controls need to be applicable to any development layout submitted for Council approval, and not just the current concept.

It is considered that the total package of controls (especially the current and proposed DCP provisions) will enable Council to give weight to ensuring that any building next to Sienna Grange is neither too high nor too bulky. Therefore it is considered that the proposed height variation should be adequate.

In summary, in relation to impacts on Sienna Grange residents, it is considered that no additional measures are required at LEP stage, other than the consideration of pedestrian access arrangements in conjunction with the planning agreement offer, as discussed under traffic impact in this report.

Issue 3: Economic impacts

The supply of land for “retail premises” (including bulky goods premises), is a key issue in Council’s strategic planning and there has been considerable effort by Council in recent years to ensure that a clear retail hierarchy will be maintained as urban growth takes place over the next 20 years.

Key issues relating to retail planning include:

(a) Ensuring there is adequate land supply (in the right hierarchy of locations) for customer convenience and for potential retail growth, and

(b) Not having an oversupply of land, or poorly located land that can undermine the viability of investment in new premises, and

Council engaged consultants Hill PDA, to provide independent advice on retail supply and demand during the preparation of Urban Growth Management Strategy 2011-2031. The Port Macquarie Hastings Retail Strategy Review 2010 by Hill PDA is included as Attachment 6 - the “2010 Hill PDA report”) with this report and forms the basis for Council’s current retail policy in the Urban Growth Management Strategy 2011-2031 (particularly pages 29-31 and on pages 32-34 the Retail Policy Plan).

There are subsequent reports by Hill PDA:

1. Peer Review of Economic Impact Assessment accompanying the Proposed Development of Hardware and Bulky Goods Floorspace at 18 John Oxley Drive, Port Macquarie, December 2012 (Attachment 7) - the “2012 Hill PDA report”

The rezoning submission to Council included an Economic Impact Assessment prepared on behalf of the proponent by MacroPlan Dimasi in August 2012. The Gateway determination from the NSW Dept of Planning & Infrastructure required Council to obtain a peer review of that EIA - Hill PDA were commissioned by Council to prepare that review.

2. Port Macquarie - Hastings Bulky Goods Retailing Planning, 6 November 2013 (Attachment 8) - the “2013 Hill PDA report”

More recently, Hill PDA were requested to clarify the scope of land uses encompassed under their analysis and to advise on the implications of reduced population forecasts on bulky goods retailing forecasts. This work included a survey of existing bulky goods retailing based on the revised scope, leading to a higher calculation of current supply.

The commentary below draws on the UGMS and later reports by Hill PDA and other parties to summarise the likely impact of the proposed rezoning on retail supply and demand in the Port Macquarie-Hastings.

The UGMS identifies land on John Oxley Drive between the old and new alignments of the Oxley Highway as an area for potential investigation for bulky goods development, having regard to the locational criteria for successful bulky goods centre or cluster, which are:

· “Large land area preferably on the fringe of a major or regional shopping centre;

· Main road frontage or strong visual exposure from a main road that carries considerable traffic;

· Having a large trade area and being located in the middle of, or near the entry of, the trade area; and

· Preferably having a trade area that is affluent and/or experiencing household growth”. (Hill PDA, 2010; p.29).

Council has received an objection from Sovereign Hills Pty Ltd, supported by another specialist retail assessment (Norling Consulting Pty Ltd), during exhibition of the John Oxley Drive proposal. The submission questions the location of additional bulky goods retail floorspace at John Oxley Dve instead of in conjunction with the Thrumster Town Centre.

The supply of bulky goods retail at Thrumster is addressed in the UGMS and in a recent report to Council on 21 August 2013, regarding the type and amount of retail development in the Thrumster Town Centre. In summary, Council has resolved to maintain the proposed status of the Thrumster Town Centre as a local centre in Council’s retail hierarchy and the current limit of 5,000sqm of bulky goods retail floorspace is proposed to be maintained in conjunction with local retail development in the Thrumster Town Centre.

In terms of total bulky goods retail floorspace in the Port Macquarie-Hastings local government area (LGA), the 2010 Hill PDA report projects annual growth in demand for bulky goods of around 1,000 sq m to 1,200 sq m Gross Leaseable Area (GLA) per annum from 2009 to 2031. The projected increase in demand between 2009 and 2031 was estimated at 24,000 sq m.

The update in the 2013 Hill PDA report (Attachment 8) considers the forecast supply and demand for bulky goods retailing in more detail. The 2013 report includes a more accurate estimate of current supply of bulky goods retail based on a survey by Council staff in consultation with Hill PDA. The report also incorporates staged development of the subject site at 18 John Oxley Drive (with a discount for the wholesale related trade), and limited bulky goods retail development at Thrumster.

Hill PDA now estimate that the supply and demand of bulky goods floorspace, including the proposed development, will result in bulky goods supply and demand as shown in the following graph. Demand is predicted to increase by 23,000 sq m over the period from 2011 to 2031 based on population growth.

Whilst the projected supply of bulky goods retail floorspace exceeds projected demand to 2031, Hill PDA emphasise that bulky goods retail is only one component of total retail demand and that competition with other centres will be limited to those centres which contain bulky goods retail. In the Port Macquarie-Hastings this is primarily the Lake Road and Hastings River Drive B5 Business Development areas.

The graph shows a substantial increase in supply to 2016, in recognition of the proposed Stage 1 development in the Masters concept for the subject site. This recognises that such developments do not happen incrementally, but in occasional large projects.

The report acknowledges the imprecision in the data, with the current apparent oversupply reflecting that the supply is partly satisfying demand from outside the Council area, and the difficulties in classifying bulky goods retailing floorspace.

Hill PDA 2012 conclude that the proposed development would deliver a net community benefit as a result of:

o The demonstrable need for the development and the acceptable levels of economic impact;

o The additional jobs which it would support both during the construction process and post-construction. Given that the existing use is ceasing, these would all be net additional jobs to the LGA;

o The additional investment in the LGA which would result from the proposed development

o The appropriate location of the Subject Site for accommodating the proposed bulky goods uses;

o Ensuring that a new retailer not currently represented in the trade area is allowed to enter the market;

o Reducing the need for residents to travel to access bulky goods shopping facilities;

o Widening retail choice for local residents and supporting competition.” [p 10]

The Hill PDA 2012 report states:

“The Land & Environment Court has stated that councils should not be concerned about competition between individual stores as this is a matter of fair trading. But it should concern itself with impact on established retail centres. The impact on competing stores and businesses is only relevant if the viability of a retail centre as a whole is threatened due to a demonstrated nexus between the competitive stores and the other retailers within the retail centre. This principle is also established by the Draft Competition SEPP (2010) which stipulates that impacts upon individual retailers are a matter of competition only.” [p 4]

The Hill PDA 2013 report states:

“Importantly Council can still approve the subject application even if there is an oversupply. This is because various court judgements have stated unambiguously that oversupply is not a directly relevant matter for determination (see Stadurn v Blacktown City Council). It is only relevant if it has consequences that affect economic impact in the locality.

We believe that Council should not delay the rezoning of the John Oxley Drive site to permit the Masters store on the grounds of economic impact …”[p 4]

Conclusion

The site itself has a total area of approximately 4.8ha and the concept development for the site represents full development of the site, allowing for parking and access requirements. It is therefore concluded that the proposal, if supported by Council, will accommodate the total projected increase in demand in bulky goods retail to 2031.

Whilst staging of the development has been contemplated by the proponent, the first stage in the concept development is a Woolworths Masters, which has a floor area of 13,500sqm. It should therefore be expected that the supply of bulky goods retail would increase in substantial components, as shown notionally in the graph above.

The proponent has offered to enter into a planning agreement in relation to the resolution of traffic impacts. The proposed solution includes an offer that there would be no commencement of use until “Council is satisfied that suitable arrangements are in place for the future upgrade of the Oxley Highway/Wrights Road/John Oxley Drive intersection”.

In conclusion, it is recommended that Council defer a decision on whether to proceed with the proposed local environmental plan and development control plan amendments pending further consultation with the RMS.

Options

The following options can be considered by Council:

1. Proceeding to finalisation of Planning Proposal and LEP amendments

This would involve:

a) possibly in the first place negotiations to prepare and finalise a Planning Agreement in relation to road infrastructure upgrades (and compliance with DCP provisions),

b) then submitting the draft LEP (with the adjustment to proposed height limits) to the Minister’s delegate, with the risk that the delegate may not support the LEP at this time, given the RMS position, and

c) adoption of DCP amendments for the site.

2. Refusal of Planning Proposal

This could be on grounds relating to the unresolved intersection problems at Wrights Road, impacts on adjoining resident and/or concerns over the amount of proposed bulky goods retailing. Such a decision would leave the future of the site unresolved within the context of the John Oxley Drive Structure Plan. The site has approval as a caravan park and this is itself an intensification of the current use of the site, with access implications. Note: the traffic generation of the former caravan park was included in the traffic modelling undertaken by the RMS.

3 Further Investigations

Council has resolved to seek a response to Council’s resolution of 20 November 2013 through Leslie Williams, State Member for Port Macquarie, from the Hon. Duncan Gay, NSW Minister for Roads and Ports, requesting that the NSW State Government upgrade the Wrights Road/ Oxley Highway intersection as an urgent priority. A letter has been sent in accordance with this resolution.

Correspondence has also sought further comment from the RMS in relation to the TTM report, as discussed in this report.

Depending on the outcomes of this consultation, Council could also proceed with the preparation of a draft planning agreement, and undertake community consultation in relation to the draft agreement prior to a further report to Council.

On balance, given the level of uncertainty that remains in relation to the intersection, it is recommended that Council defer decisions on finalisation of this rezoning pending an appropriate response from the State Government.

Community Engagement & Internal Consultation

The proposed changes to the planning controls were exhibited from 19 April to 17 May 2013. Following are the issues raised in the public comments received, together with staff responses. Copies of the submissions are in Attachment 9.

The key issues raised are discussed in more detail earlier in the report, under the subheadings of:

· Traffic impacts

· Impacts on Sienna Grange

· Economic impacts

Submissions

1. Varga, E & F (residents of Sienna Grange)

1. The Bulky Goods building height should be limited to maximum 8.5m, to reduce impact on Sienna Grange.

2. The Bulky Goods building wall/s facing Sienna Grange:

a) should not be permitted to have any signage, advertising and similar displays, be they of the painted, illuminated or neon varieties.

b) should not be left in their natural cement panel colour.

c) should be coloured by permanent methods such as glazed, coloured clay and similar in/over-lays.

3. Roof Mounted Air Conditioners and Other Equipment on the Bulky Goods & Other Buildings on the site should be fully encased in visually appealing and in sound absorbing solid enclosures which hide such equipment from view and aurally.

4. Car park & Security Lights should be the 'full cut-off' down-light types with no 'up-lighting' being used.

5. Noise Assessments/Measurements should include allowance for the reflectivity of the existing Oxley Highway noise barrier facing Sienna Grange.

6. Access by trucks to loading bays/car park be restricted and enforced after hours.

7. After hours access to car park/s by the general public should be prevented.

8. Concern that as traffic volumes increase on John Oxley Drive, such a development next door will adversely impact on being able to enter and exit Sienna Grange, even with traffic lights.

Response:

1. Agree in principle, but what is important is how bulky the building appears from Sienna Grange - the proponents may need the limit to be higher for another part of the building. (Refer to point 3 of the submission from King & Campbell.) Discussed further earlier in report.

2. The development assessment, will address this, based on the Zone Objectives, and (current) DCP provisions.

3. This will be addressed at DA stage, based on current and proposed DCP provisions.

4. This will be addressed at DA stage.

5. This would be covered by a professional assessment.

6. The proponents have foreshadowed that, and this can be a consent condition.

7. As in 6 above.

8. This will be addressed at DA stage

2. Australian Unity Retirement Living Services (Owners of Sienna Grange Retirement Village)

1. Have previously raised concerns regarding likely impacts such as traffic management, noise, overshadowing, privacy, light pollution, bulk and scale, safety, deliveries, operational times and security.

2. Understand that many of these issues cannot be addressed in the DCP.

3. Australian Unity feels both Council and PMQ Investments understand these likely impacts and measures can be taken to overcome these concerns.

4. Emphasize the importance for Council to adopt a traffic management strategy for John Oxley Drive that is safe and conscious of Sienna Grange residents (who are significantly more sensitive of road conditions than others):

a) the safety of residents entering and leaving their property both in the short term and long term.

b) adequate road upgrades need to be identified and planned for construction in the short term, rather than placing them into the long term strategy.

c) consideration needs to be given to the significant increase to traffic not only from the Bulky Goods development, but also for the pending development of the university.

d) Council recognise their responsibility to adopt and implement the construction of a safe refuge crossing across John Oxley Drive to aid in the safe crossing for the public. PMQ Investments are dedicated to providing this for Sienna Grange residents in consultation and conjunction with Council. It is therefore requested that a formal inclusion be added within this proposal or as a condition under the development consent.

5. Request that the height allowance for a section along the Sienna Grange boundary be reduced to 8.5m to reduce any future likely development impacts.

Response:

1. Noted.

2. Confirm. There will be a further opportunity for public input at DA stage.

3. Confirm.

4. This is being addressed, with final details handled at DA stage.

5. Agree - change to proposed LEP HOB map (discussed in report).

3. Minedor Development Managers

1. Why is the site being rezoned in isolation to other properties within the Structure Plan, especially when it comes to unresolved traffic issues? Shouldn't the precinct be considered as a whole so that issues such as traffic are resolved up front?

2. How can any interested party comment on a proposal that is incomplete? The traffic modelling that is yet to be completed may cause Council to consider significant changes to John Oxley Drive and any potential change should be demonstrated up front so that interested parties can provide comment.

3. The proposal includes a number of references to a lack of appropriately zoned land which is nonsense when you look at the number of vacant properties or blocks in areas that are already zoned for this use. The proponent will say it is too difficult to consolidate a site for this purpose but Council are simply being pushed to allow a 'cheap-fix' solution which is resulting in a poor planning outcome.

4. The planning proposal notes that "The site is not identified in the Mid North Coast Regional Strategy 2006-31 for urban uses". Given the MNCRS is up for review in the near future, this site should be considered at that time. There remains significant area shown in the MNCRS as "investigation areas" and they remain zoned Rural, but for some unexplained reason, this property gets to "jump the queue" so to speak. The whole of the John Oxley Drive precinct should be made wait for the review of the MNCRS.

5. This rezoning is:

a) not in a suitable location;

b) does not protect existing employment land; &

c) does not support identified strategic centres.

6. No view analysis has been undertaken for a site that is adjacent to the major entry to Port Macquarie. This should be undertaken now and exhibited with all the other material especially given the uses for the development appear to be fixed.

7. With respect to the Voluntary Planning Agreement the report notes that "The terms of the offer are general at this stage": This is an inappropriate risk to Council acting on behalf of the public. The roads and access arrangements need to be resolved, so that a detailed offer can be provided, upon which the public can then comment if they feel it necessary. This is an inappropriate process.

8. RMS suggests a wider model for the precinct, suggesting:

a) a network traffic model be developed;

b) options for access be developed; &

c) the supporting "traffic study" take into account the above.

The Gateway Determination also requires a Traffic Study be completed and exhibited so when will this occur or is the exhibited TTM work the only traffic related material that will be exhibited?

9. Page 10 of the TTM traffic report provides for a signalized intersection for a single property. This is not an equitable outcome for the broader community and the better result for the community is a median from Oxley Highway to Wrights Road with the developer rebuilding the Wrights Road roundabout. In addition, if the traffic coming off the Oxley Highway roundabout is significant then the signals could potentially cause queuing across this major roundabout and hamper traffic generally and critical hospital traffic.

10. The Macro Plan Dimasi Economic Report:

a) notes that this proposed Masters would serve Taree but Taree is getting its own Masters.

b) notes that development would provide a buffer to the Oxley Highway for surrounding residential development but this is already done by way of noise walls and all this new development will do is "dump" more traffic on the doorstep of surrounding residential areas, meaning more not less noise.

c) misrepresents the likelihood of various unrepresented bulky goods brands coming here.

Response:

1. Traffic issues are being addressed at a precinct level. This site can be developed independently of solutions to the other precinct-level issue.

2. The main studies and report in relation to the proposal were exhibited in April 2013. Subsequent investigations in relation to traffic have been detailed in the report to Council in November 2013. There has been no substantive change to the draft LEP and DCP provisions to warrant re-exhibition.

3. The survey by Council of existing bulky goods retail confirms that a range of other non-bulky goods uses exist in the current B5 zones. These uses also need larger site and cannot relocate.

4. This selective quote (from page 22) is taken out of context, and the site has Department of Planning and Infrastructure approval as a variation to Council’s UGMS, based on the adopted John Oxley Drive Precinct Structure Plan.

5. The investigation of the subject land for bulky goods retail is consistent with Council’s adopted Urban Growth Management Strategy and the John Oxley Drive Precinct Structure Plan. Bulky goods retailing cannot be readily accommodated within existing employment lands, or the CBD.

6. It is premature to require a view analysis when there is no final design. The proposed DCP provisions specifically identify this as a DA consideration.

7. This issue is addressed in the traffic impact section of this report in which the general nature of the proposed planning agreement is acknowledged. The primary risk being borne by the proponent. Final approval from Council for the rezoning will be subject to exhibition of any planning agreement.

8. Refer points 1 & 2 above. The traffic investigations have been undertaken with the support of the RMS and with RMS specialist input.

9. Traffic management solutions need to be made on merit having regard to the specific issues affecting the locale. The proposed site intersection access would also have advantages in terms of pedestrian access.

10. The review by Council’s consultants didn’t consider this of significance.

4. GLN Planning Pty Ltd (on behalf of Sovereign Hills Project Pty Ltd)

A copy of this 38 page submission was also submitted by Hopkins Consultants Pty Ltd.

[Part 1 of the submission is an introduction to the following parts, and is not reviewed. As this Part 6 is considered to be the key part of this detailed submission, it is listed first]

6. Economic and Retail Impacts

6.1 An assessment has been prepared on the economic and retail impacts of the proposed rezoning of 20,000 m² of land to allow for hardware and bulky goods development. This assessment (attached as an appendix to the submission), is based on the economic grounds presented in the MacroPlan Dimasi EIA and by the Hill PDA report. In summary, Norling Consulting notes that the planning proposal should be rejected for the following reasons:

a) There is no need for the proposal, due to the available (undeveloped) supply of sufficient B5 zoned land already provided.

b) The proposed rezoning will create fragmentation of the existing three bulky goods centres and it not situated within an existing centre.

c) The planning proposal contradicts objectives and targets set out within MNCRS & UGMS (detailed in part 4 above).

d) The MacroPlan Dimasi EIA has a number of oversights that weaken the reliability of the report including [points mentioned above] and understated turnover impacts and overstated demand for bulky goods growth.

e) The Hill PDA review has significantly misinterpreted the role of Thrumster town centre by:

· ignoring its strategic and central location,

· incorrectly limiting its catchment to the local area (10,000 - 11,000 people).

· ignoring the 9 ha of B5 zoned land,

· overlooking the catalyst role of early development at Thrumster Town Centre to attract employment and other development (including residential) to create the vibrant town centre.

f) Thrumster is considered a more adequate site for bulky goods retailing due to its strategic location being central to the new community at Thrumster, not being situated within flood prone land and already having provision for infrastructure investment to accommodate development now without the need for any rezoning.

Response:

In essence this submission is arguing that given over 9 ha of land zoned B5 at Thrumster Town Centre, there is no need for further land to be zoned for bulky goods retailing. The submission is trying to prevent competing bulky goods retailing being established, in order to protect the development potential of the Thrumster site.

The release of urban land in the 2008 rezoning contained a specific restriction on the Thrumster Town Centre, limiting the gross floor area for all bulky goods premises to 5,000 sq m (and individual premises to less than 250 sq m).

This was based on a retail study for Council that saw it as important to protect the retail hierarchy by limiting how much retail development occurred at Thrumster.

Within the Thrumster there is 9 ha of B5 land, and a total of 29 ha of business zoning (incl roads) with caps on the gross floor area of shops and bulky goods premises as a means to provide flexibility while allowing a mix of land uses. The cap is a signal that the land so zoned is not intended to all be developed as retailing.

The retailing study prepared in conjunction with UGMS took into account the limits for retailing at Thrumster, and recommended additional bulky goods retailing in the Wrights Road to Phillip Charley Drive precinct, rather than a lifting of the restriction at Thrumster.

In August Council resolved to reduce the area of land zoned B5 at Thrumster to 5,000 sq m.

4. GLN Planning Pty Ltd - continued

2. Independent Review of Economic Impact Assessment (EIA)

2.1 DP&I required an independent review of the economic impact assessment (EIA) prepared by MacroPlan Dimasi.

2.2 Council has engaged Hill PDA to:

a) prepare the Port Macquarie-Hastings Retail Strategy (2010), which was incorporated into Council’s Urban Growth Management Strategy 2011-2031, and which proposed bulky goods retailing in this precinct,

b) review the economic aspects of submissions on the draft UGMS,

c) review the economic aspects of submissions on the draft John Oxley Drive Precinct Structure Plan.

2.3 Therefore “it would be difficult to conclude that Hill PDA’s involvement falls within the intent of the DPI’s requirement for an independent reviewer in relation to the proposed spot rezoning.”

Response:

An independent review means by a qualified party not associated with the proponent.

Hill PDA have the background knowledge of the local retailing hierarchy and strategy, and are best placed to review a proponent’s submission, without having to start from scratch.

4. GLN Planning Pty Ltd - continued

3. Zoning

3.1 Guidelines in relation to the location of bulky goods outlets is outlined within The Right Place for Business and Services – Planning Policy which was prepared by Transport NSW and NSW Department of Urban Affairs and Planning (DUAP) in 2001. This policy identifies that bulky goods outlets should and can be located within centres. Further it states ‘when it is not realistic for bulky goods outlets to be in centres, they should be located in one or two regional clusters to help moderate travel demand and allow for public transport accessibility’.

3.2 The LGA has three (3) large bulky goods zone clusters located in the Lake Road Precinct, Hastings River Drive and at Thrumster (9 ha undeveloped to date). The proposed spot rezoning to B5 would be inconsistent with the objective of limiting bulky goods outlets to a small number of clusters noting the significant amount of B5 zoned land already available.

3.3 A significant side effect of rezoning this site would be the additional trips generated by users travelling between various sites to access services and facilities which should be clustered. This places an unnecessary demand on safety, amenity and the use of local roads.

3.4 The Right Place for Business and Services – Planning Policy identifies criteria for the justification for any new cluster). An assessment of the proposed spot rezoning has been assessed against these guidelines shows it doesn’t comply.

3.5 Several times Hill PDA have recommended to Council that it cap bulky goods retailing at Thrumster at 5,000 m² on 9 ha of land zoned B5. Hill PDA also acknowledge that this will be insufficient to meet long term demand, and support the new ‘out of centre’ site, rather than recommend a review of the cap at Thrumster.

3.6 The proposed rezoning will provide almost all of the 24,000 m² bulky goods floor area required for the next 20 years.

3.7 The proposed major anchor (Masters Home Improvements) will undermine the uptake of bulky goods retailing at other locations.

Response:

3.1 The Policy states the ideal. Given the local topography, the pattern of land use and fragmentation, and limited availability of relatively unconstrained land around Port Macquarie, the subject land has been nominated as part of an area for bulky goods retail investigation in the Port Macquarie-Hastings Urban Growth Management Strategy. The proposed site meets the location criteria for bulky goods retail in the UGMS, including good accessibility, exposure and a central location.

3.2 The important role of the existing B5 Business Development zoned areas for bulky goods is acknowledged in the UGMS. However, the capacity of these areas to accommodate growth in bulky goods retail is limited. The survey by Council of existing bulky goods retail confirms that a range of other non-bulky goods uses exist in the current B5 zones. These uses also need larger site and cannot relocate.

3.3 This site is located near the existing Lake Road B5 Business Development zone in a central location for existing and proposed future urban growth in Port Macquarie.

3.4 See 3.1 above.

3.5 This is addressed in the discussion on Issue 3 Economic Impacts in this report and in the report to Council on the Thrumster Town Centre in August 2013. A limit on bulky goods retail is proposed at Thrumster in conjunction with a local centre for the surrounding residential population.

3.6 This is addressed in the discussion on Issue 3 Economic Impacts in this report. It is acknowledged by Hill PDA that the supply of bulky goods retail in the Port Macquarie-Hastings would exceed projected demand in the period to 2031 if the proposed development proceeds. Hill PDA recommend that Council should not delay the rezoning of the John Oxley Drive site to permit the Masters store on the grounds of economic impact.

3.7 This is addressed in the discussion on Issue 3 Economic Impacts in this report. The potential competition with existing bulky goods businesses in existing B5 zones is acknowledged.

4. GLN Planning Pty Ltd - continued

4. Planning controls

4.1 The LEP controls for Thrumster are explicit about restricting development to ensure primacy of retailing centres including bulky goods. The proposed planning controls do not provide for any floor space controls which would address the issue of primacy within retailing centres. This approach is considered to be inconsistent with the approach taken at Thrumster and does not ensure the scale is appropriate in the context of the retail hierarchy.

Response:

4.1 The subject site has limited capacity due to site area and adjoining land uses. Bulky goods retail requires large floor areas and at grade parking and the maximum capacity for bulky goods development of the site is expected to be around 24,000sqm, as shown in the development concept for the Masters proposal.

4. GLN Planning Pty Ltd - continued

5. Inconsistency with Strategic Policies

5.1 The Mid North Coast Regional Strategy [MNCRS] (2009) provides a clear regional strategy which guides local planning policies and identifies that new urban release areas will be developed at Thrumster and Lake Cathie - Bonny Hills.

5.2 The MNCRS makes no reference to the proposed new out of town centre at JOD Precinct and does not identify it as either a future urban release area or for proposed employment lands.

5.3 The MNCRS specifically identifies one of the main economic challenges being to ‘support the creation of additional service jobs by supplying adequate and well located commercial and industrial floor space within centres’.

5.4 Given the 9 ha of undeveloped land for bulky goods, the proposed spot rezoning contradicts the above objective of the MNCRS.

5.5 Any proposed amendments to the MNCRS should be considered holistically in terms of their impacts across region and not simply on a site by site basis.

5.6 Question consistency with Port Macquarie-Hastings Urban Growth Management Strategy [UGMS] (2011-2031):

a) “To maintain and enhance the present hierarchy of retail centres throughout the Port Macquarie Hastings LGA.”

b) “To encourage new retail development to occur within the existing identified Commercial Business Districts of the LGA (Port Macquarie CBD, Laurieton and Wauchope).”

c) “New retail centres to be restricted to Area 13 (Thrumster) and Area 14 (Bonny Hills).”

d) “Assessment of new retail development and rezoning applications require … i. An assessment of the impact of the proposal on existing and proposed/approved retail centres.”

5.7 In relation to the John Oxley Drive Precinct Structure Plan (2012):

a) rezoning is pre-emptive, as it was lodged prior to adoption of the Structure Plan.

b) the proposed rezoning should address the combined effect of the 3 business investigation sites within the precinct, incl impacts on existing retail hierarchy, economic viability of other centres, traffic and flooding.

c) The cumulative impact of the 3 business investigation sites within the precinct will undoubtedly have a negative impact on existing centres in the LGA.

d) The flooding and traffic reviews have also been localised to site specific impacts which is an inadequate approach in reviewing the likely and potential impacts of the JOD precinct as a whole which would have, for example, cumulative impacts in relation to overall fill levels on flooding, trip generations and access points.

Response:

5.1 Agree.

5.2 Agree.

5.3 Agree.

5.4 As discussed above, there is a 5,000sqm cap on bulky goods development in the Thrumster B5 zone and limited capacity within existing B5 zones.

5.5 The investigations in the John Oxley Drive Precinct have been undertaken in accordance with the Port Macquarie-Hastings Urban Growth Management Strategy and have been endorsed by the Department of Planning & Infrastructure.

5.6 As above. The UGMS proposed “33. Consider potential for bulky goods development at Lindfield Park Road and between the old and new Oxley Highway alignments.”

The Department of Planning and Infrastructure approved the John Oxley Drive Precinct Structure Plan (which includes this proposal) as variation to UGMS.

5.7 The Structure Plan identifies the proposed future land use pattern, without specifying the timing - there is no need to assess the combined impacts of the 3 business investigation sites unless it was proposed to rezone them simultaneously. The business investigation label does not presume that all the sites will be rezoned for retailing, particularly in the short term.

Council staff deliberately focussed on finalising the Precinct Structure Plan prior to any actions on the rezoning submission, which was put aside until then.

Council and the RMS have been considering the traffic impacts at the precinct level. The impacts on flooding from this site can be considered on a site-specific basis.

4. GLN Planning Pty Ltd - continued

[Part 6 of this submission is reviewed prior to Part 2]

7. Traffic

7.1 An assessment of the traffic impacts has been prepared by Cardno (attached as an appendix to the submission) which identifies that further traffic analysis needs to be undertaken as follows:

a) Establishing robust forecast flows and network assignments for all relevant future scenarios (with and without the duplication of John Oxley Drive).

b) Network impact assessment as a result of development generated traffic particularly at the proposed site access and the Oxley Highway / John Oxley Drive roundabout, given its proximity.

c) Separate access arrangements in relation to the general public and heavy commercial vehicles in order to improve operational safety and efficiency.

d) The parking provision and traffic generation rates used are considered insufficient for preliminary assessment. Parking and traffic generation would need further review at the detailed DA stage.

Response:

7.1 The RMS assessment had already identified the need for traffic impacts to be assessed on a wider perspective. That wider assessment has been thoroughly prepared, and is also addressed in this report.

Note the comments about some aspects needing further information and consideration at DA stage.

4. GLN Planning Pty Ltd - continued

8. Flooding

Note: The subject site is marginally affected by the Probable Maximum Flood (PMF), Flood Planning Area (FPA) and the 1% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP).

An assessment of the flooding impact by Cardno identifies the following issues with the Flood Impact Assessment prepared by Worley Parsons (2012):

8.1 This is a ‘mainstream’ flooding assessment only.

8.2 No modelling has been undertaken in relation to this assessment.

8.3 A scenario based on 100 year ARI inflows from the local catchment (during a far shorter storm burst duration than adopted for the lower Hastings River) in combination with a flood level on the lower Hastings River floodplain e.g. a 10 -20 year ARI event has not been considered.

8.4 The statement by Worley Parsons that ‘although the new highway bisects the floodplain, the design incorporates a number of substantial culverts and cross-drainage structures that will allow floodwaters to ‘fill-up’ those floodplain areas that appear to be ‘cut-off’ by the highway’ does not appear to be supported by any calculations or any reporting of the size of the culverts and cross-drainage calculations.

8.5 On the basis that a ‘bath tub’ scenario only has been reported it is expected that the peak flow velocities in the subject site would be minimal and the flood hazard will be governed by flood depth only.

8.6 The flood hazard categories adopted by Worley Parsons do not align with the provisional flood hazard categories given in the 2005 Floodplain Development Manual.

8.7 If as stated, the 100 year ARI flooding is the adopted benchmark then why have the flood characteristics for the Year 2012 only been presented and not the benchmark conditions?

8.8 The conclusion that the planned filling will have negligible impact simply follows from the underlying assumption that the site is partially located in a ‘bath tub’. Under these circumstances any partial filling of the ‘bath tub” has nil or minimal impact on peak flood levels or velocities.

8.9 While the number of permanent residents living on flood affected land is reduced it is unclear if there will be a greater number of visitors to the development and when the likelihood of a proportion of residents away from their homes during work hours and the permissible hours of trading for the intended development are considered whether it would be concluded that the Population at Risk will actually increase.

Response:

8.1 The Flood Impact Assessment only addresses flooding as a result of rising water from the Hastings River. The Stormwater Drainage Assessment Report (February 2013) prepared by King & Campbell Pty Ltd has addressed overland flow events of varying ARI’s in combination with river flooding events of various ARI’s.

8.2 Very low velocities (backwater) in the order of 0.01m/s, are unlikely to materially change with new model development.

8.3 Refer to 7.1 above.

8.4 This is unlikely to have any adverse impact for or from this development.

8.5 For this site, filling on the edge of land subject to backwater flooding is the focus.

8.6 Agree, however, the provisional hazard category in accordance with Figure L2 can be altered based on other flood factors such as, effective warning time, rate of rise of floodwaters and effective flood access.

8.7 The mapped results have been presented for the 1:100 Yr (current) event, however the 1:100 Yr (2100) event results are discussed regularly throughout the report. The flood planning levels discussed are correctly utilising the 2100-based event for internal and external areas.

The Stormwater Drainage Assessment Report has addressed overland flow events of varying ARI’s in combination with lower Hastings River flooding of varying ARI’s.

8.8 Refer to 8.5 above.

8.9 Disagree. Characteristics of the development such as, Low Hazard categorisation, availability of adequate evacuation routes, an effective warning time prior to inundation and being non-habitable, equate to a reduced risk.

5. King & Campbell P/L (on behalf of PMQ Investments Pty Ltd, the Proponent)

1. Support the proposed B5 Business Development zone for the development site.

2. Support the proposed minimum lot size of 1.5 ha.

3. Support the proposed maximum building height limit of 11.5m. In relation to the proposed bulky goods building the roof height will be around 8m above finished ground level, but will be over 8.5m above ground level (existing) as defined by the LEP controls.

4. The proposal is consistent with the Mid North Coast Regional Strategy 2006-31: significant positive economic benefits in relation to additional jobs, economic development and investment, the entry of a new retailer not currently represented in the trade area and the associated widening of retail choice for local residents.

5. The proposal is consistent with Council’s Urban Growth Management Strategy 2011-2031, which identified the John Oxley Drive Precinct as one of the sites suitable for investigation for bulky goods retail development.

6. The proposal is consistent with the John Oxley Drive Precinct Structure Plan, adopted by Council in July 2012, which was an outcome of the above UGMS, and which recommended the first stage LEP for the precinct be located at 18 John Oxley Drive.

7. The proposal complies with the Gateway determination from the Dept of Planning & Infrastructure, with additional network traffic modelling as required by the RMS yet to be finalised.

8. PMQ Investments Pty Ltd confirm the commitment made in the Planning Agreement Offer to negotiate with Council with respect to an equitable apportionment of responsibility for the costs of works associated with the upgrading of John Oxley Drive in the vicinity of the subject property. It is noted that this proposal is only one part of several development growth proposals which require this upgrade.

9. In the context of the time limit imposed by the Gateway determination seek Council’s commitment to resolving the future design of John Oxley Drive with RMS as efficiently as possible.

10. Based on preliminary assessments for the concept plans, expect a future development application will be able to satisfy the draft DCP provisions relating to noise assessment, overshadowing and visual appearance.

11. Acknowledge that the final terms of the Planning Agreement will be negotiated upon completion of the additional traffic modelling currently being undertaken by Council.

Response:

1. Noted.

2. Noted.

3. Note that the current concept would require a building height above existing ground level of 8.1m at the nearest point to Sienna Grange dwellings, but that close to the Oxley Highway the height above existing ground level is in the order of 10m. Amended height controls are proposed as discussed in this report and in response to submission 2 above.

4. Noted.

5. Noted.

6. Noted.

7. Noted.

8. Noted. Discussed further in report.

9. Noted.

10. Noted.

11. Noted. Discussed further in report.

There was also a submission from Hopkins Consultants Pty Ltd, which simply enclosed a copy of the GLN Planning Pty Ltd submission (Refer No 4 above). It has not been separately reviewed.

Planning & Policy Implications

The proposal is the first stage of implementation of the John Oxley Drive Precinct Structure Plan, and of the UGMS economic strategy to “identify opportunities for bulky goods style retailing in accessible locations in or near commercial centres and restrict this form of retailing in industrial zones”.

The capacity limits of the Wrights Road / Oxley Highway /John Oxley Drive intersection affect not only this proposal but also several other rezoning proposals for additional development in south-western Port Macquarie. The proposed Charles Sturt University campus is a significant proposal, but there are also some residential rezoning proposals in preparation for Council’s consideration.

Financial & Economic Implications

The investigation of the subject land for Business purposes is based on economic data to identify key trends, opportunities and gaps, as described in this report. The aim is to ensure that appropriately zoned land exists to encourage business investment in accordance with Council’s Urban Growth Management Strategy and Economic Development Strategy.

There are financial risks for Council in proceeding with the Planning Proposal and the Landowner offer at this time, due to the current uncertainties about costs and funding for road upgrades for John Oxley Drive, and the Wrights Road roundabout.

Attachments

1. Planning Proposal - as Exhibited (excl App F - O)

2. Report to Council 20/11/2013 (excl Attachments)

3. RMS letter 15/10/2013

4. King & Campbell email 2013 12 04 - encl TTM Consulting traffic review

5. King & Campbell letter 2013 12 05 - revised Planning Agreement Offer

6. Hill PDA 2010 - Port Macquarie Hastings Retail Strategy Review

7 . Hill PDA 2012 - Peer Review of Economic Impact Assessment

8 . Hill PDA 2013 - Port Macquarie - Hastings Bulky Goods Retailing Planning

9 . Submissions received

AGENDA Ordinary Council

Description: Governance Strap.jpg 18/12/2013

Item: 11.03

Subject: Tender For Waste Services (T13-21)
Part A: Waste Collection Services
Part B: Organics Receival & Processing Services

Presented by: Development & Environment, Matt Rogers

Alignment with Delivery Program

4.4.1 Reduce waste to landfill, utilising appropriate education, facilities and strategies.

RECOMMENDATION

That Council:

1. Award the Tender for Waste Services Part A: Waste Collection Services to JR & EG Richards Pty Ltd (T/A JR Richards and Sons) for $48.543M (Ex GST) for the 10 year term commencing on 1 September 2014 with options to extend for a further two (2) one (1) year periods (at Council’s discretion).

2. Endorse the following waste collection service options;

a) Fortnightly mixed solid waste (MSW) collections (i.e. red bin) and supply bins in accordance with Scenario 2 detailed in this report.

b) Bulky Kerbside Clean Up services in accordance with Option 2 as detailed in this report.

3. Endorse the development of a Cairncross Transport Depot site for $2,396,450 (Ex GST) over the 10 year term of the contract.

4. Award the Tender for Waste Services Part B: Organics Receival & Processing Services to Remondis Australia Pty Ltd for $27.100M (Ex GST) for the 10 year term commencing on 1 September 2014 with options to extend for a further two (2) one (1) year periods (at Council’s discretion), subject to finalisation of the necessary financial capacity checks.

5. Note that a report establishing Fees and Charges for waste services based on new contract rates be presented to Council in early 2014.

6. Affix the Council’s seal to the necessary documents.

Executive Summary

The purpose of this report is to advise Council of the results of the recent tender evaluation for Waste Collection Services and Organic Processing Services.

The Port Macquarie-Hastings Council’s (PMHC) Domestic Waste Collection Contract, and Organic Resource Recovery Facility (ORRF) Contract, are due to conclude at the end of August 2014.

A specialist waste consultant (Impact Environmental Pty Ltd) was engaged to assist in the preparation of the new contracts.

Tender documentation was developed with separable Parts for Council’s Waste Collection Services; the processing of Organic Waste; and the possible inclusion of other waste management services as considered appropriate.

In the interests of regional collaboration and possible efficiencies, PMHC invited Kempsey Shire Council (KSC) to join in the tender process in order to examine any opportunities for offering joint waste collection services.

A Probity and Evaluation Plan was developed prior to the close of tenders and outlines the assessment criteria used.

An independent Probity Adviser (Procure Group) was appointed to oversee the evaluation process and prepared a Probity Report.

A Tender for the Waste Collection Services (Part A) and Organics Receival & Processing Services was advertised on 6 August 2013, and closed on Thursday 31^st October 2013. The following tenders were received from the following organisations;

Part A: Waste Collection Services;

· JR & EG Richards Pty Ltd (T/A JR Richards)

· Remondis Australia Pty Ltd

Part B: Organics Processing Services

· Australian Native Landscapes Pty Ltd

· JR & EG Richards Pty Ltd (T/A JR Richards)

· Remondis Australia Pty Ltd

A tender for Part B: Organics Processing Services from Davis Earthmoving was emailed to Council at 11:19am. Council sought advice relating to acceptance of the late tender from the Independent Probity Advisors and Council’s Legal Advisors, Marsdens Law Group. Based on this advice Council was unable to accept the submission from Davis Earthmoving and it was not considered for evaluation.

An Evaluation Panel was established with internal and external members and met at Port Macquarie-Hastings Council offices on 11 November 2013.

A detailed analysis was undertaken of each tender in accordance with the criteria outlined in the Probity and Evaluation Plan.

Collection Frequency and Bin Sizes

Current best practice waste management illustrates that if the frequency of mixed solid waste (red) bin collection is reduced this will promote behavioural change and result in more recyclables in the recyclable (yellow) bin and more food waste into the organic (green bins), thus reducing landfill. Therefore, the following two (2) scenarios were included in the tender:

Scenario 1: weekly red bin (existing) collection

Scenario 2: fortnightly red bin collection,

The tender prices for a fortnightly red bin collection were significantly cheaper and show that Council could save approximately $645,000 per year to change to a fortnightly mixed solid waste (red) bin collection.

As detailed in this report, it is recommended the ‘Standard’ red bin service become fortnightly with a ‘Premium’ weekly service available at additional cost. The Premium service will accommodate residents with a specific need for a weekly service (e.g. families with nappy disposal needs).

It is not proposed to change the collection frequencies associated with multi-unit dwellings given the variability in arrangements for these developments.

Education will be a key part of the implementation plan for any change in bin collection frequencies. Detailed planning and thorough implementation of educational activities both in the lead up to any change and on an ongoing basis will be a key aspect to the success of this approach.

Bulky Kerbside Clean Up Services

The current bulky kerbside service is costing Council approximately $120,000 for approximately 5,000 services per year. In addition, illegal dumping on kerbsides has increased significantly over the last few years and this improper use of the service generates additional compliance and waste management costs and has a negative impact on residential amenity.

Three (3) options for Bulky Kerbside Clean Up Waste Collection Services were included in the tender:

Option 1: On-Request Service (current service).

Option 2: Pay-As-You Go.

Option 3: Zone Based (all out) Service.

The tender prices received are approximately 75% higher than the current rates or an additional $90,000 per year.

Given the high cost to maintain the current system and the problems with illegal dumping, it is recommended to adopt Option 2 (Unlimited pay-as-you go services) and to provide residents with two (2) tip tickets for free disposal at transfer stations.

Public Place Litter Bins

PMHC staff currently collect all public place litter bins (e.g. streets, reserves, beaches etc).

Options for the collection of Public Place Litter Bin Services were included in the tender to ‘test the market’ to determine if this current service by PMHC provides the best value (i.e. cost and service).

Tender prices received are approximately three (3) times the rate per bin that PMHC’s Waste Section can undertake the service for. The service provided by PMHC’s Waste Section is of a high standard and it is recommended to retain this service in-house.

Cairncross Truck Depot

A waste precinct development is being prepared at Cairncross to provide for ancillary waste services. Within this development a parcel of land has been marked for a “Transport Depot”.

This site will be available for lease by the successful Contractor for use in activities related to this Contract.

The successful Contractor will be responsible for establishing a depot and will be responsible for financing, designing, constructing, commissioning, operating and maintaining the facility for the Contract Term.

The recommended Contractor will charge a monthly capital fee of $19,970.42 to Council for the Term of the Contract. The total cost over the contract term is $2,396,450 (Ex GST).

The transport depot shall be owned by the successful Contractor during the Contract Term. However, upon expiry of the Contract, ownership of all buildings, infrastructure and associated fixed plant and equipment shall transfer to Port Macquarie-Hastings Council.

Part B: Organics Receival & Processing Services

The organics processing contract is essentially the continuation of a ‘business as usual’ service for the continued processing of ‘Green Bin’ waste, woody mulch waste and biosolids, utilising the existing Organics Resource Recovery Facility (ORRF) at the Cairncross Waste Management Facility.

Other than general maintenance and upgrades there are no significant changes proposed.

Regional Collaboration

In the interests of regional collaboration and possible efficiencies, the tender requested prices for combined and separate contracts. The combined contract included services for both PMHC and KSC.

Based on the tender prices it is recommended PMHC enter in to an individual contract and not a combined regional contract with Kempsey Shire Council.

Finance

The cost associated with the proposed contract services is outlined in the confidential spreadsheet.

Annual domestic waste charges and tipping fees are yet to be determined. A separate report will be presented to council early in 2014 so that Fees and Charges can be considered and incorporated in to the 2014/15 budget process.

Discussion

The Port Macquarie-Hastings Council’s (PMHC) Domestic Waste Collection Contract, currently held by JR Richards and Sons, is due to conclude at the end of August 2014. This contract covers a range of services including the distribution, replacement and collection of the three (3) domestic bins (i.e. red, yellow and green), bulky kerbside waste collection, distribution of kitchen food waste bins and bags, and servicing of bulk transfer bins at Council facilities.

The PMHC Organic Resource Recovery Facility (ORRF) Contract, currently held by Remondis Australia Pty Ltd, is also due to conclude at the end of August 2014.

A specialist waste consultant (Impact Environmental Pty Ltd) was engaged to assist in the preparation of the new contracts.

In addition to processing all organic (i.e. green bin) waste into a high quality compost, the Cairncross ORRF also contained an Inert Processing Facility (IPF) that processed mixed solid waste (i.e. red bin) into an inert waste material therefore reducing emissions and maximising landfill capacity. However, in July 2011 the facility was discontinued due to limited success and high costs.

The development phase of the waste contract involved a publicly advertised Expression of Interest (EOI). This process allowed Council to consider a range of possibilities to advance sustainable waste management practices for the Port Macquarie-Hastings community; and in particular, provided some direction for utilising the Cairncross Waste Management Facility.

The feedback from industry identified that the current technologies were costly and had considerable uncertainties around their success. It was decided to only continue with organics processing as per the current process.

A Tender for the Waste Collection Services (Part A) and Organics Receival & Processing Services was advertised on 6 August 2013, and closed on Thursday 31^st October 2013. During the tender period thirty seven (37) individual organisations downloaded the tender documents from the Council’s tendering website.

A pre-tender briefing was held at 11.00am on Tuesday 20 August 2013 at the Cairncross Waste Management Facility. Five (5) organisations attended.

An additional site inspection was held on 20 September 2013 at the Cairncross Waste Management Facility. Five (5) organisations attended.

The Tender contained two (2) separable portions as follows:

· Part A: Waste Collection Services

For Port Macquarie-Hastings and Kempsey Shire Councils

· Part B: Organics Receival & Processing Services

For Port Macquarie-Hastings Council

Tender responses were invited for either or both of the separable portions Responses Tenders were sought for a term of 10 years.

Probity and Evaluation

A Probity and Evaluation Plan was developed prior to the close of tenders and outlines the assessment criteria and their respective weightings. The weightings were not provided to any tenderers.

The Probity and Evaluation Plan contains information that would, if disclosed, confer a commercial advantage on a person with whom the Council is conducting (or proposes to conduct) business (Local Government Act 1993 – Section 10A(2(c))) and is therefore provided in a confidential attachment.

The agreed Non-price assessment criteria for Part A: Waste Collection Services includes:

- Confidence in the Contractor

- Physical and Human Resources

- Management Systems

The agreed Non-price assessment criteria for Part B: Organics Processing Services includes:

- Environmental Performance

- End Use/Beneficial Products Performance

- Confidence in the Contractor

An independent Probity Adviser (Procure Group) was appointed to oversee the evaluation process and a Probity Report was prepared. This report demonstrates compliant procedure in accordance with the Local government Act 1993, The Local Government (General) regulation 2005 (NSW) and The Tendering Guidelines for NSW Local Government. A copy of the Probity Report is attached to this report.

Tender Opening

At 11am Thursday 31^st October 2013 the PMHC Tender Box was opened by Port Macquarie-Hastings Council staff. The Tender Opening Members included;

- Environmental Engineer

- Records Coordinator

- Senior Records Officer Conservation

- Procurement Support Officer

At the time of tender closing four (4) tenders were received from the following organisations;

Part A: Waste Collection Services;

· JR & EG Richards Pty Ltd (T/A JR Richards)

· Remondis Australia Pty Ltd

Part B: Organics Processing Services

· Australian Native Landscapes Pty Ltd

· JR & EG Richards Pty Ltd (T/A JR Richards)

· Remondis Australia Pty Ltd

Each tender was examined in accordance with the Probity and Evaluation Plan.

Council received notification from Davis Earthmoving, that the company had been unable to upload their submission to Tenderlink for Part B: Organics Processing Services. The submission was emailed to Council at 11:19am.

Council sought advice relating to acceptance, of the late tender for evaluation, from the Independent Probity Advisors and Councils Legal Advisors, Marsdens Law Group.

Consideration was given with respect to the following:

- The Request for Tender

- The Probity and Evaluation Plan

- The Local Government (General) regulation 2005 (NSW) (Regulations).

- The Tendering Guidelines for NSW Local Government (Guidelines)

Based on advice, Council was unable to accept the submission from Davis Earthmoving and it was not considered for evaluation.

Evaluation

The tender Evaluation Panel met at Port Macquarie-Hastings Council offices on 11 November 2013.

The Evaluation Panel was comprised of the following members:

- Director Development and Environment (Chair), Port Macquarie-Hastings Council;

- Director Commercial Services and Industry Engagement, Port Macquarie-Hastings Council;

- Environmental Engineer, Port Macquarie-Hastings Council;

- Manager Operations, Kempsey Shire Council (Part A Only);

- Acting Procurement Coordinator, Port Macquarie-Hastings Council (observing member).

External Consultants;

- Project Manager, Impact Environmental Consulting

- Director, Impact Environmental Consulting

- Probity Advisor, Procure Group (observing member).

A detailed analysis was undertaken of each tender in accordance with the criteria outlined in the Probity and Evaluation Plan. Each criteria was scored and weighted score were determined by the Evaluation Panel for the non-price tender criteria.

Once the non-price criteria were scored and agreed upon, the tendered prices were analysed and scored in accordance with the Probity and Evaluation Plan. The assessment considered the tendered prices for both a Port Macquarie-Hastings Council and Kempsey Shire Council combined contract; and individual contract prices.

The attached Evaluation Report fully details the analysis undertaken including the final scores for the tenders as determined by the Evaluation Panel. The Evaluation Report is a confidential attachment as it also includes prices offered by each of the tenderers and contains information that would, if disclosed, confer a commercial advantage on a person with whom the Council is conducting (or proposes to conduct) business (Local Government Act 1993 – Section 10A(2(c))) and is therefore provided in a confidential attachment.

Evaluation Panel Recommendation

1. Part A: Waste Collection Services

The scoring for both the non-price criteria and then price were consistent in J R & E G Richards Pty Ltd’s favour for the Waste Collection Services.

The Evaluation Panel recommends Council accept the tender for the Waste Collection Services from JR & EG Richards Pty Ltd for the 10 year term (Port Macquarie-Hastings Council) commencing on 1 September 2014 with options to extend for a further two (2) one (1) year periods (at Council’s discretion).

2. Part B: Organics Processing Services

The scoring for both the non-price criteria and then price were consistent in Remondis Australia Pty Ltd’s favour for the Organics Processing Services.

The Tender Evaluation Panel recommends Council accept the tender for the Organics Processing Services from Remondis Australia Pty Ltd for the ten (10) year term commencing on 1 September 2014 with options to extend for a further two (2) one (1) year periods (at Council’s discretion).

Service Options

While Part A: Waste Collection Services is a high cost contract it is essentially the continuation of a ‘business as usual’ service. Nevertheless, in an attempt to further reduce waste to landfill, a number of services options were included in the contract.

Collection Frequency and Bin Sizes

Scenario 1 (existing conditions):

· Red - weekly, 140L (Standard), 240L (Premium) [Note: This option includes a phase out of 80L & 120L red bins].

· Green - weekly, 240L (Standard).

· Yellow - fortnightly, 240L (Standard).

Scenario 2:

· Red - fortnightly, 140L/240L(*) (Standard) [Note: Includes a phase out of 80L & 120L red bins].

· Red - weekly as an optional Premium service.

· Green - weekly, 240L (Standard).

· Yellow - fortnightly, 240L (Standard), 360L (Optional).

(*) It is expected that there will be a different annual charge to residents for 140L and 240L bins under this scenario.

The tender prices for a fortnightly collection were significantly cheaper and show that Council could save approximately $645,000 per year to change to a fortnightly mixed solid waste (red) bin collection. However, to assist residents increase the diversion from landfill, this option would require a rollout of some new 140 litre and 240 litre bins as well as kitchen bins and bags. An optional 360 litre recycling (yellow) bin has also been considered. With these items included the resultant annual costs for fortnightly verses the current weekly collections remain approximately the same for the first year ($2.90M per year). However, a fortnightly service will be cheaper over the life of the contract (estimated $32.880M fortnightly vs $38.370M weekly).

It is not proposed to change the collection frequencies associated with multi-unit dwellings. A weekly service will continue to be provided given the variability in arrangements for multi-unit developments.

PMHC has undertaken community consultation on a number of waste matters as part of this contract.

Following a community survey, the question of reducing red bin collection frequencies produced varying results. The following summarises those results:

· Just under 70% of residents rejected the proposition of reducing red bin collection frequency.

· However, if required almost 50% say they could cope with reduced frequency of pick up.

· Just under 70% of residents indicated they would struggle with food waste if collection frequency was reduced.

It is clear there is a significant opportunity to better inform residents that food can be put into the organics bin and to increase awareness and usage of kitchen bins and corn starch bags. Less than 30% of residents put their food waste into their organics bin on a daily basis. Opportunities exist for NSW State Government funding (Waste Less Recycle More Initiative, Organics Infrastructure Fund) to assist with the rollout of kitchen bins and bags to all residents.

Over 50% of the residents would prefer to have a bigger recycling bin.

It is recommended the ‘Standard’ red bin service become fortnightly with a ‘Premium’ weekly service available at extra cost. The Premium service will accommodate residents with a specific need for a weekly service (e.g. families with nappy disposal needs).

With the combination of education on the use of the green bin for food waste and the standard fortnightly service at a lower cost it is predicted that the majority of residents will opt for the forthrightly service.

Bulky Kerbside Clean Up Services

The current service is costing Council approximately $120,000 for approximately 5,000 services per year. In addition, illegal dumping on kerbsides has increased significantly over the last few years and this improper use of the service generates additional compliance and waste management costs and has a negative impact on residential amenity.

Options for Bulky Kerbside Clean Up Waste Collection Services were included in the tender as follows:

Option 1: On-Request Service:

· Residents allowed one (1) free collection per year and unlimited pay-as-you go services. Residents book the service through the call centre on demand. [Current service].

Option 2: Pay-As-You Go:

· Unlimited pay-as-you go services. Residents book the service through the call centre on demand.

Option 3: Zone Based (all out) Service:

· One per premises per annum at a scheduled time in organised zones.

The results of the community surveys indicate that generally, residents are aware of the free bulky waste collection service. However, only 50% of the residents actually use the service.

The tender prices received are approximately 75% higher than current rates or an additional $90,000 per year.

Public Place Litter Bins

PMHC staff currently collect all public place litter bins (e.g. streets, reserves, beaches etc).

Cairncross Truck Depot

A waste precinct development is being prepared at Cairncross to provide for ancillary waste services. Within this development a parcel of land has been marked for a ‘Transport Depot’.

This site will be available for lease by the successful Contractor for use in activities related to this Contract. The lease will be between Council and the Contractor and include aspects such as:

· being subject to the Contract and all provisions relating to the establishment and maintenance of a depot therein;

· the lessee shall be responsible for all service charges for use;

· no Council rates will be payable by the Contractor;

· an annual licence fee payable to Council of $100.00 + GST, adjusted in accordance with movements in the Consumer Price index (CPI).

The existing transport depot at Kingfisher Road remains available for the successful Contractor to use at the Commencement Date until such time as the space nominated at Cairncross Waste Management Facility is available for occupation. It is expected the site at Cairncross will be available for development from July 2014.

The recommended Contractor will charge a monthly capital fee of $19,970.42 to Council for the Term of the Contract. Rise and Fall adjustments are not payable. The total cost over the contract term is $2,396,450 (Ex GST).

The transport depot shall be owned by the Contractor during the Contract Term. Upon expiry of the Contract, ownership of all buildings, infrastructure and associated fixed plant and equipment shall transfer to Port Macquarie-Hastings Council free from all encumbrances and adverse interests and at no further cost to Port Macquarie-Hastings Council.

The recommended contractor proposes to make use of the Cairncross site.

Part B: Organics Receival & Processing Services

The organics processing contract is essentially the continuation of a ‘business as usual’ service for the continued processing of “Green Bin’ waste, woody mulch waste and biosolids, utilising the existing Organics Resource Recovery Facility (ORRF) at the Cairncross Waste Management Facility.

Other than general maintenance and upgrades there are no significant changes proposed.

Options

Council has the option of accepting the tender submitted by JR & EG Richards Pty Ltd for the Waste Collection Services or not accepting same, in which case Council would be required to re-tender for this work.

Council has the option to exclude some or all the various waste collections services such as Transfer Station bin collections, illegal dumping collections, dead animal collections etc. A full list of variable collections services is included in the confidential spreadsheet. However, it is important to note that while these are ancillary to the kerbside collection service, they are essential to the overall waste management service that Council provides to the community. Not accepting these services would require Council and the current contractor to extend the existing contract while a new tender process is undertaken or for Council to provide resources for those services to be provided in-house.

Council has the option of accepting the tender submitted by Remondis Australia Pty Ltd for the Organics Processing Services or not accepting same, in which case Council would be required to re-tender for this work. Not accepting this tender would require Council and the current contractors to extend the existing contracts while a new tender process is undertaken in early 2014.

It is important to note that not accepting a tender for either the waste collection or organic processing services would have serious implications given the long lead in times required for the successful contractors to prepare plant, equipment and facilities required for the services.

Community Engagement & Internal Consultation

PMHC has undertaken community consultation on a number of waste matters as part of this contract. A statistically valid phone survey of 700 random telephone interviews was carried out between 18 to 24 April 2013 by Micromex Research. In addition, PMHC provided the same survey on PMHC Listening from June to July 2013 to further gauge the community’s attitudes. The online surveys received 180 responses. The outcomes of this consultation and how it is proposed to deal with the issues raised are discussed in the report above.

Detailed briefings were provided to Councillors regularly through the tender process. Briefings were provided on 13 November 2012, 7 February 2013 and 9 October 2013.

A comprehensive education campaign will be implemented as an essential part of the new collection contract. This education campaign will be undertaken by both council and the new contractor and include aspect such as:

· Brochures, fact sheets and website information designed to educate residents on correct use of the waste services and waste minimization practices including:

o Adopted collection frequency and bin size options.

o What materials are suitable for each stream collected and what is ‘contamination’ for each waste stream;

o How to use the kitchen bins and compostable bags, and how to get new bags etc.;

o How lost, stolen, damaged bins should be reported and replaced;

o How to contact the Contractor with services enquiries or complaints etc.;

o How multi-unit developments and shared services are collected.

· Yearly collection schedule (calendars);

· Information on ‘hazardous waste’ and where these materials can be delivered (including E-waste, batteries, asbestos, pesticides, paints etc);

· Major environmental programs (eg. Clean Up Australia Day, World Environment Day and National Recycling Week etc);

Multiple points of community contact during the mobilisation phase and following implementation of the services will be required.

Planning & Policy Implications

The development of the Waste Collection Services and Organic Processing Services contract is supported by the 2011-2015 Waste and Resource Management Strategy (2011).

The NSW Government also requires Council’s to meet waste reduction, recovery and recycling targes. This waste services options recommended in this report will contribute to meeting these targets.

Financial & Economic Implications

The development of the project brief and the tender assessment process have been undertaken in the context of over-arching principles of best value service delivery, which include quality and cost standards, responsiveness to community needs, accessibility and continuous improvement.

The cost associated with the proposed contract services is outlined in the confidential spreadsheet.

The attachment titled “Comparison of Prices - Collection and Organics Services” is confidential as it contains information that would, if disclosed, confer a commercial advantage on a person with whom the Council is conducting (or proposes to conduct) business (Local Government Act 1993 – Section 10A(2(c))) and is therefore provided in a confidential attachment.

Annual domestic waste charges and tipping fees are yet to be determined. A separate report will be presented to Council early in 2014 so that Fees and Charges can be considered and incorporated in to the 2014/15 budget process.

It is expected that there will be no significant adverse economic impost as a result of adopting the recommendations of this report. It is expected that ongoing positive economic impacts associated with the provision of best practice waste management services will be achieved. Positive economic impacts may include:

· Overall reduction in waste services costs to the community;

· Continued provision of an essential public health/amenity/environmental service to residents and businesses; and

· Maximisation of resource recovery and reuse.

Regional Collaboration

In the interests of regional collaboration and possible efficiencies, the tender requested prices for a combined and separate contracts. The combined contract included services for both PMHC and KSC.

Both the tendered rates for a combined or separate contract was assessed and the details are included in the confidential spreadsheet.

Based on the tender prices it is recommended PMHC enter in to an individual contract and not a combined regional contract with Kempsey Shire Council.

Attachments

1. Probity Report

2. Evaluation Report (Confidential)

3 . Comparison of Prices - Collection and Organics Services (Confidential)

4 . Probity & Evaluation Plan (Confidential) (Confidential)

Description: Governance Strap.jpg

AGENDA Ordinary Council

18/12/2013

Item: 12.06

Subject: Port Macquarie Sportsfield Masterplans

Presented by: Infrastructure & Asset Management, Jeffery Sharp

Alignment with Delivery Program

5.3.1 Plan, investigate, design and construct open spaces and recreational facilities.

RECOMMENDATION

That Council:

1. Adopt the Port Macquarie Sportsfield Masterplans as presented.

2. Recognise the constraints within the existing funding agreement and explore with the Federal Government a modification to the existing funding agreement for Wayne Richards Park Stage 3 to allow for delivery of a new multi-use synthetic turf field at Wayne Richards Park.

Executive Summary

The purpose of this report is to present to Council for consideration sportsfield masterplans for Stuart Park/Woods Street, Tuffins Lane and Wayne Richards Park, and to discuss options for expenditure of grant funding made available by the Federal Government for provision of sporting facilities at Wayne Richards Park.

Discussion

Early in 2012 Council staff identified the need to develop facility masterplans for key sporting complexes within Port Macquarie, namely Wayne Richards Park, Stuart Park and Tuffins Lane.

At that point in time key factors driving the need for facility masterplans for these sites included:

· significant shifts in participation rates associated with some sports at a local/state/national level. For example, participation rates in AFL and hockey at a local level have increased significantly and existing site masterplans do not provide appropriate opportunities for these groups to continue to grow.

· the shift of AFL to Wayne Richards Park presents opportunities at Stuart Park.

· the desire of some groups to be based year round at one facility. For example, Port Macquarie Touch could be based at Tuffins Lane year round with the provision of supporting infrastructure at this site.

· the adoption of the Port Macquarie Airport Masterplan by Council gives some certainty as to what infrastructure can be provided within the Tuffins Lane complex. For example, provision of sports field floodlighting on the western side of the complex.

A Request for Quotation for this project was developed. The project brief identified the need for the appointed consultant to develop draft and final draft masterplans for consideration by key stakeholders, and to develop final masterplans for adoption by Council.

Further it was identified that masterplans must include an overall facility layout including field configuration. It was also identified that the development of these masterplans would require consideration of a range of factors including (but not limited to):

· current and future needs of existing user groups,

· local, state and national sporting participation trends,

· field configurations and existing infrastructure,

· maximising use of available space, and

· potential consolidation of buildings.

Epic Landscape Architecture were subsequently appointed to develop the Port Macquarie Sportsfield Masterplans.

It should be noted that the project was limited to Stuart Park/Woods Street, Tuffins Lane and Wayne Richards Park sporting precincts. This was determined as other Council owned facilities were considered too small to present the sort of opportunities the project was aiming to identify.

The stakeholder engagement process is discussed later in this report.

Unfortunately, the project had until recently been on hold for an extended period to allow for emerging planning issues to be clarified or resolved. Specifically these issues were the potential requirement for Public Safety Zones (PSZs) at the end of Port Macquarie Airport and the impact of the Port Macquarie Indoor Stadium expansion on existing sports field configuration at Stuart Park.

These issues are further discussed in the Planning & Policy Implications section of this report.

In accordance with the brief masterplans for Stuart Park/Woods Street, Tuffins Lane and Wayne Richards Park sporting precincts have been developed and are attached for consideration.

Key elements of the Wayne Richards Park plan include:

· Provision of an additional AFL ground adjacent to the existing ground to support future growth in this sport and to present sports tourism opportunities,

· Provision of an additional turf wicket adjacent to the existing turf wicket to support future growth in this sport and to present sports tourism opportunities,

· Provision of additional amenities blocks in future stages of development to adequately service these facilities,

· Provision of a mountain bike skills track adjacent to existing trails, and

· Provision of a multi-use synthetic turf field adjacent to the existing hockey field to support future growth in hockey at a local level and to present increased opportunity for access for other sporting disciplines.

Key elements of the Tuffins Lane plan include:

· Provision of sportsfield floodlighting on the western side of the facility to allow for clubs to be venue based year round (minimising wear impacts at other sites),

· Improved access through the site through provision of access paths,

· Expansion to amenities on western side (outside of floodway) to support increased utilisation of this side of the facility.

Key elements of the Stuart Park/Woods Street plan include:

· Provision of additional cricket nets to support future growth in this sport,

· Provision of an additional turf wicket adjacent to the existing turf wicket to support future growth in this sport and to present sports tourism opportunities,

· Provision of additional sportsfield floodlighting Woods Street to allow for clubs to be venue based year round,

· Potential for improvements to ground on eastern side of rugby ground to offset loss of field due to indoor stadium expansion.

Wayne Richards Park Stage 3 funding

The masterplan for the Wayne Richards Park precinct provides direction for future development of this sporting facility. This is particularly important given that a current grant funding allocation exists for development of a new stage of this facility.

Council has received funding totalling $1.8 million (ex. GST) from the Federal Government through the Community Infrastructure Grants Program to allow for replacement of the synthetic turf at Port Macquarie hockey field and development of Stage 3 of Wayne Richards Park. Stage 3 works include development of two full sized multi-use turf fields, a turf cricket wicket between and associated sporting infrastructure.

In relation to this funding allocation, Council has expended $313,556 to date on replacement of the synthetic turf at Port Macquarie hockey field. A balance of funds totalling $1,486,444 of this grant funding allocation remains.

The funding agreement requires relocation of the Council Works Depot currently situated on Koala Street, Port Macquarie and commits Council as part of the agreement to funding the relocation as part of the project.

The funding agreement was established prior to election of existing Councillors and to this point, relocation of the Depot has proved problematic with regard to site options and related costs.

Should Council ultimately not supportive of depot relocation, the terms of the funding allocation cannot be met and it will be necessary to consider amending the next stage of development at Wayne Richards Park and to contact the Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts & Sport to discuss options.

If an approach to the Department is supported, options for consideration include:

· the development of the proposed athletics track including an internal football field, or

· the development of a new multi-use synthetic turf sports court on the northern side of the existing hockey facility. This new facility could be utilised by a number of sports including hockey, cricket and football.

The development of the proposed athletics track and football field will trigger the need provision of amenities to service users of this facility. The nearest amenities are a considerable distance to the east with the works depot between the existing fields. It is not considered practical that this new facility would be adequately serviced by the existing amenities.

Accurate costings associated with provision of athletics track, football field and amenities will exceed available funding. To support this position, the cost of developing the AFL/cricket facility at Wayne Richards Park was $900,000 excluding earthworks which had been undertaken during an earlier stage.

In January 2012 Port Macquarie - Hastings Hockey Association were investigating costs associated with development of a second field at Wayne Richards Park to support the club’s strategic planning requirements. Quotations were provided by contractors and at that point in time the quotation for such a facility was $1.375 million. Whilst detailed costings require further investigation, it is assumed that costs for provision of such a facility will not have escalated significantly since this time and it is possible that this facility could be delivered with the balance of available grant funding.

There may be potential for financial contribution from the hockey association to facilitate an outcome that will support the future growth of this sport.

Further, given the apparent reluctance of the current Federal Government to fund the previous government commitments there is some risk that it may not be possible to negotiate a different outcome in relation to this funding allocation and Council may be required to return the balance of funds. Additionally Council may be required to refund the $313,556 of grant funding expended to date.

Options

Council can:

· adopt the recommendations as included within this report,

· choose to further investigate costings associated delivery of the athletics track and football field in preference to the development of a multi-use synthetic turf field,

· choose not to negotiate with the Federal Government regarding modifications to the funding agreement for delivery of Stage 3 Wayne Richards Park and deliver this project,

· choose not to negotiate with the Federal Government regarding modifications to the funding agreement for delivery of Stage 3 Wayne Richards Park and to return the funds,

· consider other options not discussed within this report.

Community Engagement & Internal Consultation

Initial project engagement occurred between the consultant and relevant Council officers including Group Manager Recreation & Buildings, Parks Management Officer, Parks Coordinator and Sportsfield Coordinator. This engagement included site specific visits so the consultant could get an appreciation of facility strengths and opportunities for improvement based on staff knowledge of the sites from a maintenance and management perspective.

Key sporting stakeholders utilising Wayne Richards Park, Stuart Park and Tuffins Lane were identified and are included below:

· Port Breakers (Junior and Senior) Rugby League,

· Port Macquarie Dog Obedience,

· Hastings Valley Mountain Bike Riders,

· Westport Tennis Club,

· Port Macquarie Touch Association,

· Port Macquarie AFL (Junior and Senior),

· Port Pirate Rugby Union Club,

· Port Macquarie Oztag,

· Football Mid North Coast,

· Fishos,

· Port Macquarie Junior Rugby League Sharks,

· Combined Cricket group,

· Port Macquarie Athletics (Junior and Senior),

· Port Macquarie - Hastings Hockey Association,

· Port Macquarie Pony Club,

· Port FC and Port United Soccer Club.

The first round of engagement with identified key stakeholder groups was held from 16^th - 18^th May 2012. This engagement included a 1 hour sessions with the appointed consultant where clubs/associations were asked to identify the issues, opportunities and ideas they had for the sporting facilities they utilise.

Stakeholders were asked to provide any additional information to the consultant for consideration in developing site specific masterplans.

Feedback gathered during and after the first round of engagement is attached for information.

It was extremely positive that some stakeholders were proactive in identifying other stakeholders with similar needs and attended meetings with the consultant to simplify and strengthen the planning process. One such example was the combined cricket group (HRDCA, HRDJCA, Hastings Women’s Cricket).

Subsequently two draft master plans were prepared for each site based upon feedback gathered through first round engagement.

These plans were presented to key stakeholders as part of the second round engagement held between 18^th - 20^th July 2012. Again feedback from stakeholders was gathered during and after this session and a summary of this information is attached for information.

There has been subsequent engagement with a number of stakeholders regarding these masterplans including but not limited to:

· Hastings Senior & Junior Cricket Associations regarding cricket net siting at Wayne Richards Park and potential future staging development at this site;

· Westport Tennis Club regarding vegetative screening along the facility’s northern boundary;

· Port Macquarie - Hastings Hockey Association regarding additional facilities and potential future staging at Wayne Richards Park;

· Port Macquarie Touch Association regarding potential clubhouse siting.

Planning & Policy Implications

If adopted by Council, the Sportsfield Masterplan for Wayne Richards Park precinct will supersede the Wayne Richards Park Masterplan developed in 2004.

Works proposed within the masterplans may require statutory approvals. A significant amount of works proposed within the Stuart Park/Wood Street and Wayne Richards Park precincts will be considered exempt development or development permitted without consent in accordance with sections 65 & 66 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Infrastructure) 2007.

Copies of these (and other) masterplans have been provided to ROSS Planning for reference in development of the Port Macquarie - Hastings Recreation Plan.

Airport management impacts

As mentioned in the body of the report, one planning issue that emerged during the development of these sportsfield masterplans was the potential future requirement for establishment of Public Safety Zones (PSZs) on the eastern side of Tuffins Lane. A plan showing the potentially impacted area is attached for information.

Should the establishment of a PSZs on the eastern side of Tuffins Lane become a requirement there will be significant impacts on available useable sporting area to service current and future community needs without provision of additional sporting facilities as an offset. Establishment of PSZs in this area also has the potential to neutralise the use of this precinct for sports tourism events such as NSW State Cup.

Port Macquarie Indoor Stadium expansion impacts

Council has secured state and federal funding to allow for expansion of Port Macquarie Indoor Stadium to incorporate additional indoor sports courts and a PCYC facility. The scale of the expansion is significant and additional car parking space is required to support increased future use of this facility.

The detailed design of the car park was a complex matter and it took many months to complete. This impacted on staff being able to finalise the Stuart Park/Woods Street precinct plan as it had been identified early in the design process that there would likely be an impact on configuration of existing sporting fields at this site.

The footprint of the car park has now been confirmed and the masterplan document has been modified to reflect this.

Flooding impacts - Tuffins Lane

Port Macquarie Hastings Interim Flood Policy - flooding policy impacts on developments at Tuffins Lane. Floodway/flood storage areas in accordance with this policy have been referenced on the masterplan. Proposed developments within floodway and flood storage areas are consistent with the policy though it is understood that justification and/or mitigation against risk for some developments within flood storage will be required. As an example, an evacuation process will need to be developed and submitted as part of Development Application for new or refurbished amenities at Tuffins Lane (western side).

The masterplan for Tuffins Lane proposes for additional filling to be undertaken on a section of the western fields to marry into surrounding land heights to improve multi-use field configuration opportunities. It is noted that at the Ordinary Council Meeting held on 17 February 2010 it was resolved:

‘That a moratorium to be placed on filling west of Boundary Street until further assessment is undertaken to determine impacts of filling in this location. This further assessment will form an action of the future Hastings River Floodplain Risk Management Plan’.

More recently the Implementation Schedule of the Port Macquarie - Hastings River Floodplain Management Plan identified the need to ‘Commission a Hibbard Precinct Floodway Refinement Study to investigate potential options for the management of the designated floodway between Fernbank Creek and Hibbard, including potential options to modify the current floodway to accommodate existing development, while at the same time maintaining flow conveyance’. At this point in time funding has not been made available for the Hibbard Precinct Floodway Refinement Study to be undertaken.

Tuffins Lane land tenure

Council has entered into a licence agreement with Panthers Investment Corporation, Panthers Property Management, Penrith Rugby League Club and Mulgoa Road (No.1) for the site known as Tuffins Lane Sports Fields. The term of this licence agreement commenced on 1 July 2006 and will likely terminate on 30 June 2036.

The licence agreement ensures that, should Panthers opt to terminate the licence agreement prior to this time, there will be compensation paid to Council for improvements made to the site during occupation.

Land tenure at this site was identified as a concern for some clubs in relation to ongoing access to the site and reduced access to grant funding opportunities as the land is not a public asset.

Financial & Economic Implications

Improvements to existing facilities are proposed within the master planning documents. Estimates of cost have not been developed and a funding strategy associated with identified facility improvements has not been developed at this point in time. The aim of the plan is to ensure there is clarity for clubs and associations in future development of these facilities which may encourage groups to assist or fully deliver identified improvements.

Adoption of site specific masterplans will assist clubs seeking to secure grant funding for identified improvement projects.

As mentioned above, Council has received funding totalling $1.8 million from the Federal Government to allow for replacement of the synthetic turf at Port Macquarie hockey field and development of Stage 3 of Wayne Richards Park. Stage 3 works include development of two full sized multi-use turf fields, a turf cricket wicket between and associated sporting infrastructure. The funding agreement requires relocation of the Council Works Depot currently situated on Koala Street, Port Macquarie and commits Council as part of the agreement to funding the relocation as part of the project.

Should Council not be supportive of depot relocation the terms of this funding allocation cannot be met and Council will be required to consider amending the next stage of development at Wayne Richards Park and to contact the Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts & Sport to discuss options.

Council has expended $313,556 of this grant to date on replacement of the synthetic turf at Port Macquarie hockey field. A balance of funds totalling $1,486,444 of this grant funding allocation remains.

Further, given the apparent reluctance of the current Federal Government to fund previous government commitments there is some risk that it may not be possible to negotiate a different outcome in relation to this funding allocation and Council may be required to return the balance of funds. Additionally Council may be required to refund the $313,556 of grant funding expended to date.

Attachments

1. Port Macquarie Sportsfield Masterplan - Wayne Richards Park precinct

2. Port Macquarie Sportsfield Masterplan - Tuffins Lane precinct

3. Port Macquarie Sportsfield Masterplan - Stuart Park/Woods Street precinct

4. Port Macquarie Airport Runway Protection & Public Safety Zones

5. Sportsfield Masterplan Stakeholder Engagement May 2012

6. Sportsfield Masterplan Stakeholder Engagement July 2012

Description: Governance Strap.jpg

AGENDA Ordinary Council

18/12/2013

Item: 12.07

Subject: Stingray Creek Bridge Project Update

Presented by: Infrastructure & Asset Management, Jeffery Sharp

Alignment with Delivery Program

5.1.1 Plan, investigate, design and construct road and transport assets which include pedestrian, cyclist and vehicular needs.

RECOMMENDATION

That Council:

1. Note this status report (including the attached Detailed Project Plan) for the Stingray Creek Bridge Replacement Project.

2. Form the Stingray Creek Bridge Replacement Project Steering Group for the duration of the project with a Steering Group Charter as attached to this report.

3. Accept the upper limit fee proposal of $846,753.00 and engage NSW Public Works for the project management and construction supervision of the Stingray Creek Bridge Replacement Project as detailed in this report.

4. Note the responses to the EOI - 13 - 04 for “The Replacement of Stingray Creek Bridge, North Haven” and proceed to a selective tender process forthwith with McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) Pty Ltd, Leed Engineering and Construction Pty Ltd, Smithbridge Australia Pty Ltd, BMD Constructions Pty Ltd, Abergeldie Contractors Pty Ltd, Civilbuild Pty Ltd, Arenco (NSW) Pty Ltd and Ditchfield Contracting Pty Ltd.

5. Note the estimated total project cost of $19.1million as shown in the Detailed Project Plan, with a more accurate estimate of costs to be confirmed and reported back to Council during the finalisation of the selective construction tender process.

Executive Summary

This report provides a current status on the Stingray Creek Bridge Replacement Project. It continues on from previous Council reports to the February and June 2013 Ordinary Council meetings.

The report includes a recommendation to establish a Project Steering Group to provide an effective conduit between the project management staff and the elected officials and this process will support appropriate project governance. The report also makes recommendation concerning the project management and site supervision of this important project and further makes recommendation towards the upcoming construction tender process for the delivery of the bridge.

The attached confidential attachment titled “Stingray Creek Bridge Replacement Project Plan” which contains information that would, if disclosed, confer a commercial advantage on a person with whom the Council is conducting (or proposes to conduct) business. Local Government Act 1993 – Section 10A(2(c)), provides a compendious record of the projects background, and path to completion, and includes a risk matrix which will be maintained throughout the project. The financial risk concerning the final project cost is noted and discussed within the report and will not be fully realised until construction tenders have been advertised and evaluated.

Discussion

Councillors resolved at the Ordinary Council Meeting of the 19 June 2013 the following:

That Council:

1. Resolve to replace the Stingray Creek Bridge given the advice from the Minister for Roads and Ports regarding the use of the current grant funding.

2. Modify the 2013/14 Operational Plan to allow for the construction works associated with the Stingray Creek Bridge to be commenced.

3. Thank the Minister for Roads and Ports and the State Member for Port Macquarie for increasing the NSW State Government contribution to the replacement of Stingray Creek Bridge to a 50 percent share of the estimated cost of $16 million.

4. Note that this decision replaces the 20 February 2013 resolutions which sought to repair the bridge rather than replace in the short term.

Since this resolution, Council’s Infrastructure and Asset Management Division staff have progressed the detailed design, preconstruction administration and approvals to the following current status:

1. A Detailed Project Plan has been prepared for this project and has been updated in accordance with the current status. The Detailed Project Plan covers off the areas of:

1. Project Definition, including background, objectives, constraints and assumptions,

2. Project Management, including governance, methodology, timeline, business case, risk management, community engagement and expected costs

3. Project Delivery, including monitoring and review and completion reporting and evaluation.

The Detailed Project Plan is included as Attachment to this report. Please note, the Detailed Project Plan has a number of annexures that have not been attached to this report for brevity.

2. The detailed design of the new bridge is being finalised by bridge design specialists OPUS International Pty Ltd Consultants. During the recent design revision processes, the need for additional geotechnical investigations on the western approach and abutment area was identified. These investigations were commissioned immediately and are programmed to be completed in approx 3 days commencing in early January 2014 (based on consultant availability). The statutory notices and approvals are being finalised presently for these investigations. The results of the geotechnical investigations are expected to be received 2 weeks after the completion of the onsite activities.

The finalisation of these investigations is expected to allow OPUS to quickly progress to complete the bridge detailed designs to 100% and as such ready for Tender advertisement during ideally February 2014.

3. Council’s General Manager, Director of Infrastructure and Asset Management and Group Manager Infrastructure Delivery have recently met with the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) Northern Area Asset Manager to discuss:

- the potential for a cooperative approach the delivery of the bridge

- the scope for RMS to project manage and supervise the

construction of the bridge.

- the appropriate/preferred project governance model from the RMS perspective given their status as a funding partner in the project.

The RMS have formally responded to Council following this meeting and have indicated that after consideration they are unfortunately not in a position to be heavily involved in the project due to their own project and program delivery pressures. The RMS also pointed out the asset will remain in the ownership of Council upon completion despite its location on a regional road and being funded in part by the NSW State Government. The RMS also indicated strongly their support for the project proceeding to completion as soon as possible.

In relation to project governance the RMS suggested their participation with Council in the formation of a "Project Steering Group" or similar type approach would be their preference. RMS’s involvement in a Steering Group of this nature, would allow more direct access to RMS expertise (particularly the RMS Bridges and Structures Section) during the project and help to streamline delivery/decision making from the perspective of funding, milestones and quality aspects.

The RMS also recommended that in relation to the project/contract management task for the project, that the engagement of a professional services contractor or alternately, the engagement of NSW Public Works would be acceptable ways to provide contract and construction supervision and management.

4. Following the RMS advice, Council staff commenced discussions with NSW Public Works in relation to both:

- Undertaking an expert review of the draft construction and tender documentation received by Council from OPUS, and

- Providing Project Management and Construction Supervision services associated with the delivery of the project for Council as a professional services consultant.

NSW Public Works have formally responded to Council with 2 fee proposals, the first for expert review of the draft construction and tender documentation, and the second for Project Management and Construction Supervision services. Council staff have proceeded to engage NSW Public Works for the documentation review in order progress the project expediently towards tender advertisement. The following information has therefore been forwarded to NSW Public Works for review.

- Bridge Design & Road Approaches Drawings issued at EOI Stage.

- Environmental Management Plan Documents issued at EOI Stage.

- Draft Construction tender docs issued to PMHC by OPUS for review.

- DA consent conditions for the replacement of Stingray Creek Bridge.

It is recommend that the NSW Public Works fee proposal for Project Management and Construction Supervision services be accepted by Council also. The commercial conditions of this engagement will be consistent with previous engagements of NSW Public Works by Council and will be formalised through execution of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) ahead of construction commencement as detailed in the fee proposal. NSW Public Works are a multi-disciplined, NSW Treasury accredited Project Management organisation with a vast depth of experience in the delivery of larger scale public infrastructure.

The Department of Local Government Act 1993, Clause 55 (3) (b) provides the ability for Council to be able to directly engage a body like NSW Public Works, without the need to formally go to tender as follows:

Clause 55 (3) (b) a contract entered into by a council with the Crown (whether in right of the Commonwealth, New South Wales of or any other State or a Territory), a Minister of the Crown or a statutory body representing the Crown.

NSW Public Works have a local office in Port Macquarie from which their professional services would be based. They have been involved extensively with Council over the past 30 years as Project Manager for the delivery of the majority the major capital infrastructure in water and sewerage in the local Government area, and most recently were appointed by Council to deliver small villages sewerage schemes over the coming 2 years.

Overall project ownership and management of the bridge construction will remain with Council, with all work involving community consultation and obtaining approvals and consent conditions to be undertaken by Council in consultation with NSW Public Works where required.

All procurement processes including formal tendering required as part of this project will be undertaken by NSW Public Works on behalf of Council, following documented Council policies and procedures.

5. Also in accordance with RMS advice, and as discussed in the Detailed Project Plan for this project, a “Project Steering Group” is recommended to be established to provide oversight and governance to the project.

This forum will provide a reporting mechanism to Council that allows the project delivery to proceed expediently as required, whilst keeping the Council informed of progress and fully aware of risks, concerns, financial matters and legislative/regulatory requirements continuously throughout the tendering, construction and completion phases.

A Steering Group Charter has been developed and is included as an Attachment to this report.

The proposed membership of the Stingray Creek Bridge Replacement - Project Steering Group is:

Name	Title	Role Description
Justin Levido	Councillor, Major Projects Portfolio Chairman	Councillor Representative
Jeffery Sharp	Director Infrastructure & Asset Management	Council Executive (Chairperson)
Duncan Clarke	Group Manager Transport & Stormwater Network Planning	Transport planning and programming representative
Brett Butcher and/or John Alexander	Roads and Maritime Services (RMS)	RMS and state funding representative
Gary Randall	Group Manager Infrastructure Delivery	Project Management Team representative
Rebecca Olsen	Group Manager Commercial and Business Services	Independent of Project

6. Council’s Development and Environment Division staff are progressing well on the review and assessment of the bridge Construction Certificate (CC). The assessment is reported as on track for completion ahead of expected construction tendering scheduled for early 2014.

7. A Expression of Interest (EOI) process for “The Replacement of Stingray Creek Bridge, North Haven EOI -13-04” was advertised in September 2013. Eight submissions were received and evaluated by Council. Council staff did expect a larger response to this EOI than was received, however the quality of the submissions was considered to be good. All eight companies demonstrated capacity to deliver the replacement Stingray Creek Bridge, and whilst some had experience that significantly exceeded (in scale and complexity) that of this project, all sufficiently demonstrated that their systems, proposed personnel and business’s could deliver an appropriate outcome for Council.

As such all eight construction companies are recommended to proceed to the selective tender process of this project. In taking all tenders forward the Council should have confidence that the best possible outcome in relation to the delivery of this bridge will be achieved. The recommended construction companies are (in no particular order):

a. McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust) Pty Ltd

b. Leed Engineering and Construction Pty Ltd

c. Smithbridge Australia Pty Ltd

d. BMD Constructions Pty Ltd

e. Abergeldie Contractors Pty Ltd

f. Civilbuild Pty Ltd

g. Arenco (NSW) Pty Ltd

h. Ditchfield Contracting Pty Ltd

Options

Council has the option to accept/reject or amend the recommendations as proposed, noting that any significant alteration/amendments to the recommendations may result in further delays to the projects delivery.

Community Engagement & Internal Consultation

Extensive community consultation has been undertaken during the development and options assessment for this project. A Community Engagement Plan is being developed for the implementation phase in accordance with the Community Participation Policy.

Planning & Policy Implications

There are no additional or new planning or policy implications by considering and determining this report.

The delivery of the Stingray Creek Bridge replacement project is in direct alignment with the 2013/14 Operational Plan - Works Program.

Financial & Economic Implications

The project funding and estimated total project cost are discussed within the Detailed Project Plan attached to this report.

The total project cost is subject to the finalisation of the construction tender advertisement and subsequent award. A further report will be brought before council regarding the finalised project budget and recommended successful construction company at the completion of the selective tender process (target, March 2014).

Attachments

1. Stingray Creek Bridge Replacement Steering Group Charter

2. Stingray Creek Bridge Replacement Project Plan (Confidential)

Description: Governance Strap.jpg

AGENDA Ordinary Council

18/12/2013

Item: 12.16

Subject: Urban Regeneration Project: Urban Design Report

Presented by: Development & Environment, Matt Rogers

Alignment with Delivery Program

5.4.2 Review planning instruments and strategies to ensure currency and facilitate sustainable development outcomes whilst acknowledging the impact on community affordability.

RECOMMENDATION

That Council:

1. Note the recommended changes to Council’s Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plan described in the Urban Design Report.

2. Publicly exhibit the Urban Design Report for a period of 28 days in accordance with the attached community engagement plan.

3. Thank the members of the Community Reference Group for their enthusiastic participation and valuable advice.

Executive Summary

The Port Macquarie-Hastings Urban Growth Management Strategy 2011-2031 includes an objective to promote urban consolidation in central, well-connected locations that provide a range of services or recreation opportunities for residents, and a strategy to focus on specific urban consolidation initiatives in areas:

· With locational advantages for higher development densities;

· Where existing infrastructure is under-utilised, and

· With the aim of achieving a minimum of 40% attached new dwellings in the LGA.

Council commenced the Urban Consolidation: Town Fringe Project in early 2011 and successfully sought funding from the State Government’s Planning Reform Fund. The project was later redefined from ‘urban consolidation’ to ‘urban regeneration’ with a focus on creating liveable neighbourhoods.

A community reference group was formed in the early stages of the project with a view to providing feedback on the issues and proposed recommendations. The group’s involvement is discussed in more detail in the community engagement section later in this report.

Urban regeneration is likely to result in higher density housing close to the CBD within a more urbanised environment. Benefits include focusing investment in identified areas and providing support to the CBD by increasing the adjacent residential population.

The Urban Regeneration Project consists of a number of sub-projects, two of which are the subject of this report.

· Urban Design Report, including suggestions for changes to various development controls

· Development Feasibility Report

The Urban Design Report is the most significant component of the project and makes over 90 recommendations, including changes to the Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plan, and suggestions for development incentives and infrastructure improvements. The report forms the basis for development of Council’s Urban Regeneration development policies.

The Development Feasibility Report tested several sites for their development profitability under current and proposed controls and found that all scenarios failed to meet the target Internal Rate of Return under the current market conditions. The current property market, particularly demand for medium density housing, rather than restrictive planning controls, is identified as having the largest effect on redevelopment of the Town Fringe area. Positive development margins were only realised under further test scenarios where on-site parking controls were significantly reduced or when a 20% increase in sales price was factored in.

It is proposed to seek public comment on the Urban Design Report, including the recommended changes to development controls. The Development Feasibility Report will not be made public as it contains information that has potential to affect negotiations between landowners and potential purchasers of the study sites. Exhibition of the draft document will be delayed to commence in February 2014.

The results of this engagement will form part of an overall report that Council is anticipated to consider for decision in May 2014, including final draft changes to the Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plan.

It is anticipated that Council may also commence a more detailed review of parking policy, development control planning and concept streetscape improvements. The post-exhibition report to Council will also address these matters. At that time, Council staff may have a better understanding of the status of the new Planning Bill for NSW, including Council’s capacity to levy contributions for parking.

Discussion

Project background

The State Government’s Mid North Coast Regional Strategy sets out population projections and objectives to achieve a range of housing types, particularly in major coastal centres like Port Macquarie, to accommodate changing demand due to an aging population.

The supporting Mid North Coast Settlement Planning Guidelines recommends that future development should be encouraged to achieve 40% of new dwellings in multi-unit housing across the region.

The Port Macquarie-Hastings Urban Growth Management Strategy 2011-2031 facilitates the Regional Strategy by including an objective:

“to promote urban consolidation in central, well-connected locations that provide a range of services or recreation opportunities for residents”

To achieve this objective the Urban Growth Management Strategy seeks to:

“focus on specific urban consolidation initiatives in areas:

· With locational advantages for higher development densities;

· Where existing infrastructure is under-utilised, and

· With the aim of achieving a minimum of 40% attached new dwellings in the LGA.”

Council’s urban consolidation planning is prioritised to focus on the area surrounding the Port Macquarie Town Centre, referred to as the ‘Town Fringe’. This is expected to provide lessons for future urban consolidation initiatives, such as for the Lord Street and Town Beach Precinct, also identified in the Urban Growth Management Strategy.

Features and benefits of urban regeneration

Features

· Higher density residential development in existing areas within walking distance to shops and transport.

· A more urban experience with reduced front setbacks and some local commercial activity at ground level.

· Good quality pedestrian environments with a focus on connectivity to key areas of interest.

· Development designed to add interest and activity to the street.

· Capitalises on opportunities for reduced car use.

Benefits

· Helps to achieve the housing supply target of 40% attached dwellings.

· Lower infrastructure costs for development where there is existing capacity.

· Encourages and focuses investment in identified areas.

· Supports the CBD by increasing the adjacent residential population.

· Reduces pressure to rezone for greenfield development in environmentally constrained land, maintaining the area’s economic advantage of high natural amenity.

Project management and status

Council commenced the Urban Consolidation: Town Fringe Project in early 2011 and successfully sought $40,000 funding from the State Government’s Planning Reform Fund. Payments are aligned to project milestones as agreed in a Memorandum of Understanding between Council and the Department of Planning and Infrastructure.

After consideration of urban consolidation objectives in a local context, the project was redefined from urban consolidation to urban regeneration with a focus on creating liveable neighbourhoods.

The project objectives are:

1. To facilitate good quality, well designed, medium and high density development in the urban consolidation areas in the Port Macquarie Town Centre Fringe.

2. To promote:

· Efficient use of existing infrastructure,

· Increased viability for the Greater Town Centre,

· Improvements in housing affordability and diversity of housing choice,

· Reduced car dependence and better use of public transport,

· Improved streetscape outcomes,

· Reduce pressure for greenfield development, and

· Adaptable building forms that promote mixed use outcomes over time.

3. To involve the community and other key stakeholders in the review of urban consolidation policy for the Town Centre Fringe.

The project consists of several sub-projects and stages, summarised in the table below.

Sub-projects/stages	Status
An urban design review of existing development controls, including a focus on possible locations that may be suitable for development as a catalyst to further urban consolidation initiatives.	Review complete. The draft report is discussed in this Council Report and attached.
Preparation of revised development control plan provisions for the Port Macquarie Greater Town Centre Fringe.	Preliminary changes are proposed as part of the above urban design report.
Development feasibility testing to determine if proposed changes have an economic effect on development.	Testing complete. Findings are included in this Council Report.
Community participation and review	Pending Council decision to proceed.
Council consideration of final draft policies and planning report and decision whether to proceed	Pending post-consultation review
Review of the development contributions framework as it applies to housing in the Port Macquarie Town Centre Fringe.	Pending post-consultation review and Council decision to proceed (May 2014)

Urban Design Report

An urban design study, carried out by Deena Ridenour of Gallagher Ridenour Pty Ltd, has been under way since August 2012. The study had a particular focus on identifying opportunities to improve the public domain and ensure LEP and DCP controls and development contributions are consistent with the policy intent to achieve urban consolidation in the study area. A draft report, Liveable Neighbourhoods: An urban regeneration framework for Port Macquarie, is attached.

The report identifies three ‘neighbourhoods’ (Figure 1).

· Aston Hill

· Westport

· Town Beach West

Study area.jpg

The report makes over 90 recommendations to achieve the project objectives. The recommendations can be generally categorised as:

· Changes to the Local Environmental Plan (zoning, height of buildings and floor space ratio);

· Changes to the general controls within the Development Control Plan;

· Changes to the area based provisions in the Development Control Plan, namely to the Westport and Town Beach plans;

· Suggestions for development incentives, particularly local area parking offsets;

· Suggestions for design and coordination of public domain improvements; and

· Identification of key infrastructure improvements and suggestions for their prioritisation;

Attached is a summary of these recommendations, listed by neighbourhood and street. For full details of each recommendation, please refer to the Urban Design Report.

Council staff agree in principle with the recommendations, subject to any submissions received. It is proposed to seek community feedback on the draft report without further qualification or modification.

Implementation

The results of this engagement will form part of an overall report that Council is anticipated to consider for decision in May 2014. Should Council decide to proceed, the process to incorporate the recommended changes to the Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plan will start.

At this time, Council may also commence a more detailed review of parking policy, development control planning and concept streetscape improvements. The post-exhibition report to Council will also address these matters. Council staff may also have a better understanding of the status of the new Planning Bill for NSW, including Council’s capacity to levy contributions for parking.

Development feasibility testing

Ellen Robertshaw of DFP Planning Consultants carried out a development feasibility study in November 2013. The aim of the study was to test whether the recommended changes are likely to promote viable development opportunities, one of the Urban Consolidation project’s stated objectives.

Six potential development sites within the study area were selected. Each site was tested for development feasibility under two scenarios, one based on the current development controls and one based on those proposed in the Urban Design Report. Two sites underwent further testing to explore the relationship between feasibility and other development factors, including minimum parking requirements and land value.

The study found that in all cases the tested scenarios failed to meet the target development margin and Internal Rate of Return of 20% under the current market conditions. Positive development margins were only realised under further test scenarios where no basement car parking was provided. In addition, when a 20% increase in sales price was factored in, the development margin increased significantly.

This means that until such time as the local real estate market improves significantly, urban consolidation in the area is unlikely to occur. However, once the market improves, the proposed controls were found to be likely to produce a reasonable development margin and therefore create an incentive to undertake developments.

The findings also suggest that parking and other development incentives are relevant for further investigation if Council wishes to actively encourage urban consolidation. This work is proposed as a new project to be carried out as part of the 2014/2015 Operational Plan.

Proposed changes to the LEP and DCP

The Urban Design Report includes recommended changes to the Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plan. However, it is not proposed to prepare detailed changes prior to reviewing public submissions on the urban design report. Draft planning controls will be prepared and reported to Council with the report on submissions, anticipated in May 2014.

Options

Option 1: Endorse the public exhibition of the attached Urban Design Report and associated documents. This option allows the project to continue in line with the approved project plan and seek public comment in order to confirm, refine or improve the recommendations. Note the suggested 28 day timeframe for public exhibition is not a legislative requirement.

Option 2: Do not endorse the public exhibition of the attached Urban Design Report and associated documents. This option would delay subsequent project milestones and places further Planning Reform Fund payments at risk.

Option 1 is the recommended option.

Community Engagement & Internal Consultation

A community engagement plan for this project has been prepared in accordance with the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council’s Community Participation Policy and is attached.

Community reference group

A community reference group was formed in the initial stages of the project. The group’s involvement in the project is now complete. The group comprised:

Mr Ian Bassett - Architect

Mr Ross Frazier - Building certifier/surveyor

Mr Peter Johnston - Community representative

Mr Greg Laws - Real estate agent

Mr Neil Lipscombe - Community representative

Mr Andrew Lister - Town Planner

Ms Kelly Stronell - Housing NSW

Mr Tony Thorne - Hastings Construction Industry Association

The role of the reference group was to:

· Provide input at key stages of the project.

· Help inform council’s review of policy options.

· Provide a cross section of views on behalf of the community.

The group has met three times, providing input at the following key stages.

· Review and analysis

· Urban structure and development scenarios

· Draft recommendations

It is recommended that Council acknowledge the valuable contribution of the group to this project.

Internal consultation

The following internal groups were consulted in parallel with the reference group:

· Development Assessment

· Community Development

· Infrastructure Management

· Recreation and Buildings

· Environmental Services (Contributions)

· Transport and Traffic

Additional comment was sought on the draft recommendations from Council’s Economic Development section and Property Development and Leasing Coordinator.

It is now proposed to publicly exhibit the attached Urban Design Report and associated documents for a period of 28 days. This option allows the project to continue in line with the approved project plan and seek public comment in order to confirm, refine or improve the recommendations.

Exhibition would be delayed to commence in February 2014.Note the suggested 28 day timeframe for public exhibition is not a legislative requirement.

Planning & Policy Implications

The project is consistent with Council’s strategic planning framework, notably the Port Macquarie-Hastings Urban Growth Management Strategy 2011-2031.

The Project contributes to particular outcomes sought by the Community Strategic Plan:

· “looking after our people” outcome to have “community hubs which provide access to services and social connections;

· “looking after our environment” outcome to have “development outcomes that are ecologically sustainable and complement our natural environment” ; and

· “planning and providing our infrastructure” by having “employment and population growth that is clustered within urban centres”

After taking into account any submissions made during the proposed public exhibition period, Council staff will start the necessary procedures to change the Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plan.

Financial & Economic Implications

The project is identified in Council’s Operational Plan for 2013-14. Completion of the project in the manner outlined in the report is able to be undertaken within Council’s Strategic Planning Section in consultation with other divisions of Council. The work is funded as a scheduled project within Council’s Strategic Planning Program.

An additional $40,000 funding has been sourced from the State Government’s Planning Reform Fund. Payments are aligned to project milestones as agreed in a Memorandum of Understanding between Council and the Department of Planning and Infrastructure.

The project seeks to address issues relating urban regeneration and achieve multiple outcomes in that regard. From an economic perspective, this work has examined development feasibility in detail and identified that there are current market based constraints to urban regeneration. However, it is important that Council’s planning is an enabler and despite the current market conditions, proactive planning is required to assist in facilitating opportunities when market conditions permit. It is not expected that this planning work will have an adverse economic impact.

Attachments

1. Urban Regeneration: Urban Design Report

2. Urban Regenerarion: Summary of recommendations by neighbourhood and street

3. Urban Regeneration Community Engagement Plan

Donation to Pedal Against Poverty	$100.00
Remembrance Day Wreath	$60.00
Mayor’s Sporting Fund Committee - Purchase of Framed Local Olympian Sporting Items	$500.00
Dancing with the Stars Fundraiser	$260.00
	$920.00

Report	Status	Reporting Officer	Current Anticipated Date for Report
North Shelly Beach Pedestrian Access (Item 12.01 - ORD 17/07/13)	The design for Pacific Drive shared walkway/cycleway design is not complete	DIAM	~~Dec 2013~~ Feb 2014
Establishing accounting methodology - “significant” budgetary gains into “transition / holding account” (Item 08.05 - ORD 16/10/13)	Report to this meeting	DCSIE	Dec 2013
Procurement Strategy - Organisational Support (Item 08.10 - ORD 18/09/13)	Report to this meeting	DCSIE	Dec 2013
QON - Safety of the bend east of the intersection of Redbank Road and Stoney Creek Road (Item 13.03 - ORD 18/09/13)	Report to this meeting	DIAM	Dec 2013
Glasshouse Sub-Committee - results of EOI (Item 09.01 - ORD 16/10/13)	Report to this meeting	DCSIE	Dec 2013
Walking Track - Jonathon Dickson Reserve To Middle Rock Road, Lake Cathie - report on implications of extending the existing walking track from Jonathon Dixon Reserve to Middle Rock Road. (Item 11.01 - ORD 20/11/13)	Report to this meeting	DDE	Dec 2013
Illegal camping - report on implications of erecting notices, pursuant to S.632 of the Local Government Act 1993, to prohibit camping and overnight stays in public car parks and reserves. (Item 09.03 - ORD 20/11/13)	Report to this meeting	DDE	Dec 2013
Growth Constraints - Oxley Highway/Wrights Road Intersection, Port Macquarie - post-exhibition report on the bulky goods planning proposal for no. 18 John Oxley Drive. (Item 12.08 - ORD 20/11/13)	Report to this meeting	DDE	Dec 2013
Glasshouse Quarterly Financial Report		DCSIE	Feb 2014
Economic Development Strategy - report detailing how actions in outcome 1 of the Economic Development Strategy, being a whole-of-organisation approach to economic development, will be implemented. (Item 10.03 - ORD 20/11/13)		DCSIE	Feb 2014
Camden Haven River And Lake System Flood Study - report on status of the Camden Haven Floodplain Management Plan (2004) and the mitigations proposals therein. (Item 11.03 - ORD 20/11/13)		DDE	Feb 2014
4. 13.01 Building A New Local Government Performance Measurement Framework - report on the two key questions posed by the DLG, viz: 5. 1. What do councils and their community need to know to determine if they are performing well and achieving their goals? 6. 2. How well does your council (PMHC) currently measure performance and how useful is your council's current performance measurement system? (Item 13.01 - ORD 20/11/13)		GM	Feb 2014
Port Macquarie Library - Solar Generating Power Installation - report on the effectiveness of the solar power generating installation on the library building in Port Macquarie and specifically advise the: 1. Savings of usage in kilowatts 2. Percentage and dollars saved over the past year 3. Expected life of the installation 4. Break even year calculating to the year before replacement or maintenance would need to occur 5. What is the calculated savings expected before maintenance or replacement is required (Item 13.02 - ORD 20/11/13)		DDE	Feb 2014
New Development- Illaroo Road, Lake Cathie - report on relationship between the hazard identified in the vicinity of Illaroo Road, Lake Cathie and limits to new development, including like for like replacement of existing structures known to be affected by asbestos. If possible could the report also cover changes to the valuation of affected properties since the development limits were impose. (Item 13.04 - ORD 20/11/13)		DDE	Feb 2014
Tastings on Hastings 2013 - report on total cost of running the event and the source and application of those funds provided by Council. (Item 010.01 - ORD 20/11/3)		DCSIE	Feb 2014
Heritage & Cultural Sub-Committee - report outlining the feedback and a proposed Charter. (Item 08.13 - ORD 20/11/13)		DCOD	Feb 2014
Pacific Highway Destination and Tourism Signage - LEP Options		DDE	March 2014
Impact of Road Openings and Closures on Private Property (Item 12.03 - ORD 18/09/13)		DIAM	March 2014
Benefits and future options for engagement of community volunteers (Item 10.02 - ORD 21/08/13)	Report after three months of operation of volunteer arrangement	DIAM	March 2014
Wauchope Traffic Management Strategy - Exhibition Feedback and Progress Actions (Item 12.05 - ORD 16/10/13)		DIAM	March 2014
Australian Roads Research Board Group Inc (ARRB) Roads Review Report - respond to recommendations, reference to the cost implications of their implementation or otherwise (Item 06.03 - ORD 20/11/13)		DIAM	March 2014
Exhibition Of Koala Habitat And Vegetation Mapping - report addressing concerns raised about methodologies used in determining vegetation communities (including Endangered Ecological Communities) and koala activity for the purposes of the Biolink Koala Habitat & Vegetation Mapping datasets. (Item 11.05 - ORD 20/11/13)		DDE	March 2014
Council Owned Land In William Street, Port Macquarie - report on expressions of interest. (Item 10.02 - ORD 20/11/13)		DCSIE	March 2014
Glasshouse Quarterly Financial Report		DCSIE	April 2014
Tender for the Management & Operation of Council Owned Swimming Pools (Item 12.03 - ORD 19/06/13)		DIAM	April 2014
Procurement Strategy - progress on action plan including savings and efficiencies (Item 08.10 - ORD 18/09/13)	Quarterly	DCSIE	April 2014
Economic Development Strategy - report on progress against actions. (Item 10.03 - ORD 20/11/13)	Biannually	DCSIE	June 2014
Glasshouse Quarterly Financial Report		DCSIE	July 2014
MIDROC Strategic Plan 2013-2017 Outcomes (Item 08.03 - ORD 21/08/13)	Annually	GM	July 2014
Procurement Strategy - progress on action plan including savings and efficiencies (Item 08.10 - ORD 18/09/13)	Quarterly	DCSIE	July 2014
Procurement Strategy - progress on action plan including savings and efficiencies (Item 08.10 - ORD 18/09/13)	Quarterly	DCSIE	October 2014
Deferral of Payment of Development Contributions - Progress of Expanded Provisions (Item 10.01 - ORD 16/10/13)		DDE	October 2014
Use of McInherney Park Western Man-Made Beach (Item 12.04 - ORD 16/10/13)	Report within 1 month of adoption of PMH Recreation Plan	DIAM	TBA

Description	Funding Source	Total Amount
Overspend in month	Reserves	75,801
Additional funds required due to Council resolutions	Reserves	430,060
Additional non budgeted works	Reserves	93,615
Additional non budgeted works	Contributions	100,000
Additional income received from Grants, not in the original budget	Grants	412,138
Council resolution to move funds into reserves	n/a	5,300

Applicant	Purpose	Community Benefits	Eligible fees paid under the policy
Hastings Mens Shed	To construct a fly and vermin proof meal area which will also double as a meeting and conference room.	As not all participants construct, this will provide an area to allow for reading, games, discussions and cooking classes	$1,005.00
Mid North Coast Maritime Museum Inc	Project to enable the provision of a safer environment with easier access for people with disabilities etc.	Seniors, disabled, school children and all other visitors will benefit from a safer and easier access	$341.00
Hastings Senior Citizens Home Inc	Project to provide low cost housing for the aged.	Project will provide availability of low cost housing for aged married couples in the Wauchope area	$3,207.00
Hastings Senior Citizens Home Inc	Project to provide low cost housing for the aged.	Project will provide availability of low cost housing for aged married couples in the Wauchope area	$3,584.00
Total:			$8,137.00

Submission - Nangara Place Laneway Operation			Issue
1.	Peter Kallin		Retain laneway for future footpath link
	*Response/* *Comment*:	Agreed , subject of this report
2.	Ron Little		Retain laneway unless alternative access provided through subdivision of adjoining land.
	*Response/* *Comment*:	Alternative access via adjoining land not supported. Alternative access available to Lot 7 via crown road reserve.
3.	M C Lane		Laneway should not be open to traffic
	*Response/* *Comment*:	Agreed, propose prohibiting vehicular access
4.	Lesley Kedward		Laneway should not be open to traffic
	*Response/* *Comment*:	Agreed, propose prohibiting vehicular access
5.	J & B Johnson		Laneway should not be open to traffic
	*Response/* *Comment*:	Agreed, propose prohibiting vehicular access
6.	C B Davis		Laneway should not be open to traffic
	*Response/* *Comment*:	Agreed, propose prohibiting vehicular access
7.	B & E Cjzaand		Agreed, propose prohibiting vehicular access
	*Response/* *Comment*:	Agreed, propose prohibiting vehicular access
8.	Tim Ring		Laneway should not be open to traffic
	*Response/* *Comment*:	Agreed, propose prohibiting vehicular access
9.	D Ring		Laneway should not be open to traffic
	*Response/* *Comment*:	Agreed, propose prohibiting vehicular access
10.	S Carmady		Laneway should not be open to traffic
	*Response/* *Comment*:	Agreed, propose prohibiting vehicular access
11.	J Button		Laneway should not be open to traffic
	*Response/* *Comment*:	Agreed, propose prohibiting vehicular access