I'M BACK!

 

Sometimes I take a step back and realise just how quickly time is rocketing by.  It seems no time at all since we entered summer and it's about to come to an end!

Then I realised that it has been some months since I last posted a blog.  No excuses, it has just been a very busy time.  Here is my first Mayoral Moment (blog) for 2025.  Enjoy

MAYORAL MOMENT FOR FEBRUARY

A belated welcome to 2025 Mayoral Moments.  I had leave of absence in January to visit our son in Adelaide in what turned out to be 40+ degree heat!

At the February meeting on Tuesday 25^th February there were no planning matters to be dealt with.  Council continues to see strong growth right across our municipal area, but that comes with challenges for our budget especially if we are unsuccessful in achieving grant money.  As a result, Council considered the revised budget that officers presented.  As an elected member group we are most grateful to have such competent staff at GSBC who keep a watchful eye on the budget.

Many of you will know that there has been a government inquiry into the future of local government.  Council has been offered the opportunity by Government to participate in the collection of data to allow us to better inform our communities of the benefits or otherwise of some form of boundary adjustment or amalgamation. At the forefront of Council’s position are the Minister for Local Government’s established principles that reform outcomes should always

- Be in the best interests of the community.

- Reserve and maintain local representation.

- Ensure financial sustainability of Councils.

- Improve the level of service for communities.

 

GSBC looks forward to working with our neighbouring councils and the Local Government Division on these important principles in coming months to enable robust community consultation to occur and informed decisions to be made.

Council supported a request from the family of Mr Adrian O’Leary for a commemorative seat at the Triabunna Marina.  Adrian, who sadly passed away last August, was a long-standing employee of GSBC and played an important role in the marina project.

There were some policies for review and two requests for event support and a community grant application to be considered.  Council welcomes applications for both community grants and event support.  As our Communications Officer, Eliza departs for maternity leave, we have welcomed Bernadette to the community engagement team.  Reach out to Bernadette by email community@freycinet.tas.gov.au if you are considering applying for a community grant or your organisation is hosting an event that you may want to advertise through our social media networks.

Have you heard of the Spring Bay Community Food Hub in Triabunna?  It commenced operations in August last year and has an amazing coordinator and a group of wonderful volunteers who are committed to easing the burden of food insecurity in our community.   There is no pre-condition for a pension card or the like to access the hub.  They are currently opening Wednesday 3pm till approx. 6 pm, Thursday and Saturday 10 am to 2pm.  Everyone is welcome.

MARCH MAYORAL MOMENT

 

Welcome to the Mayoral Moment for March. 

The Council meeting held on March 26th dealt with the usual statutory matters as well as leave of absence for two councillors.  One of the statutory matters was the Determination of a Code of Conduct that had been lodged against me in relation to a planning matter that we dealt with almost a year ago.  I have accepted the Panel’s determination, but moving forward I welcome the Office of Local Government’s review of the Code of Conduct provisions that hopefully will provide some clarity around the declaration of a conflict that is non-pecuniary in the context of Councillors involvement in community groups. 

The questions on notice section provided some interesting reading, particularly in relation to the question around the costs of planning appeals held over from the February meeting.  Council welcomes questions from the public and encourages people to lodge them as ‘on notice’ so that a response can be provided in the agenda.

Council was pleased to support some event funding for Bicheno Beams and the Van Dieman’s Band as well as a community small grant for the Spring Bay Maritime and Discovery Centre.  It is becoming a very popular experience in Triabunna for locals and visitors alike. 

The Swansea Court House Management Committee provided their annual report to Council.  This group has done an amazing job caring for what is one of our most precious historical buildings.

Have you caught up with the surveys from Council in recent times.  The surveys are very important in that they provide us with a snapshot of the community and your expectations.  There is considerable value in the surveys as we move into the budget discussions for the coming financial year.   Council has had some early discussions around potential rates increases.  I would like to assure you that we have listened to your concerns about the current economic climate and as we head into the last quarter of this financial year, we will work closely with staff on budget matters. 

In recent weeks I have had conversations with various stakeholders about the need for a Food Hub in Orford/Triabunna.  It had been identified by a concerned Triabunna resident that some members of that community have been travelling to the Brighton Food Hub.  Have you experienced times when you have had difficulty providing a meal?  Have you accessed a food hub or other charity? Do you have concerns about feeding your pet?  There will be an anonymous survey done during April both electronically and paper based to gather the data to establish the need.  It is not intended that the food hub would be Council run but rather a collaboration amongst the wonderful volunteer organisations, charities, and churches in our area.  Some of those groups are already providing some food relief but have offered their support to what has become known for want of a title as ‘The Mayor’s Food Hub Project’.    It maybe you or your neighbour or the person down the road that needs assistance so please reach out confidentially to me at cheryl.arnol@freycinet.tas.gov.au if you would rather not speak in person to one of the other stakeholders when the survey is released.

Till next time, take care and stay safe.

Cheryl Arnol

Mayor

FEBRUARY MAYORAL MOMENT

 

Welcome to the Mayoral Moment for February.   I did do one for January but I forgot to post it!  The Great Oyster Bay News did and it is posted on Council's website.

The Council meeting held on February 27^th dealt with the usual statutory matters as well as leave of absence for two councillors.  Councillor Young was on pre-approved leave of absence and so it meant that we only just had a quorum for the meeting. 

Council welcomed Councillor Kenneth Gregson to the Chamber for his first meeting.  He told me afterwards that he found it to be an enjoyable time and he was looking forward to continuing to learn the protocols and processes of life in local government.  From where I sat as chair of the meeting he did very well, and I offer congratulations to him for his obvious dedication to reading his first Council agenda. 

Two planning matters and two requests for grant funding were approved.  Clr Gregson accepted a nomination to be Council representative on the Cranbrook Hall Committee and we thank him for being willing to undertake that role so soon into his tenure as a Councillor. 

One of the statutory matters we dealt with was a review of Council’s strategic plan.  As noted in the report, the strategic plan informs and guides Council’s annual Operating Plan and Budgets that are set and scrutinised by Council and which will provide residents, ratepayers and businesses with a clear sense of what Council is doing and why.  With a change of Council in late 2022, it was important to update the strategic plan to reflect the current councillors and reaffirm our commitments. With the Future of Local Government Review in play, it was prudent for the review to be done in-house rather than involving a costly consultancy. Staff are to be congratulated on the manner in which they undertook this very important process.

Council’s Delegation Register is another important legislated document that must be maintained.  At the February meeting, the Delegations Register was updated to reflect some changes in several Acts of Parliament.  Whilst Council is governed by the Local Government Act 1993, there is a multitude of other legislation that must be abided by, and the Delegations Register provides operational authority to the General Manager and his team. 

 With the recent review of Crown Land leases and licences, it became apparent that the Mobile Food Vans, Pop Up Stalls and Kerbside Vending Policy was no longer fit for purpose, and it was rescinded effective from this meeting.  Staff will over coming months and during the negotiations with the Crown on the leases and licences, undertake a review for a new policy.

Have you checked out the Director of Works and Infrastructure reports in our agenda?  It really does give a snapshot of the enormous workload that our small and very dedicated team undertake.  We are so lucky to have such a wonderful, committed group of people in our various teams. 

I know I have said it before, but time just seems to rocket by me these days!  I hardly seem to have had time to get over Christmas and Easter is fast approaching.  As always, please stay safe especially as we move towards another busy holiday season.  

Till next time,

Cheryl Arnol

Mayor

AND 2023 DRAWS TO A CLOSE

 

One of the joys I have as Mayor is attending the school presentation assemblies.  I have been able to attend Triabunna, Orford and Bicheno but unfortunately not Swansea (due to a conflicting appointment).  All the schools have showcased the amazing work done by students supported by very talented teaching staff.  We are so lucky in our area to have small rural public schools who have the welfare and well-being of all students at heart.

We have so many talented artists and musicians in our school communities.  As someone who can't play a note or draw a straight line, I am always in awe of that talent especially when the kinder/prep students step onto the stage.   Couple this is the academic achievements of students and the future is looking very positive for our area and indeed the State.

One of the exciting aspects of life on the east coast is the number of very successful businesses we have in all areas.  Our industries shine whether on the local or world stage.  Please take the time to shop locally and support those that support us in so many ways.  Many of the businesses step up when asked for donations for community events so the least we can do is support them.  The support by businesses of the various Christmas activities across our municipal area was appreciated by all the volunteer organisers and brought so much joy to so many. 

As 2023 draws to a close, I take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support and wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Stay safe whether you are on the roads or on the water

Mayoral Moment December

 

Welcome to the last Mayoral Moment for 2023 following our Council meeting on 12^th December.

Due to the short timeframe between meetings, there were no planning matters to be considered.  Following an extensive review of the budget by staff, Councillors supported a proposed revised budget to provide certainty to some projects and infrastructure work.

At the meeting we adopted a Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy that is one of the first steps in becoming a child safe organisation in accordance with the newly introduced Tasmanian Child and Youth Safe Organisations Act 2023.  Over coming months, Council officers will be reviewing internal policies and procedures to align them with this new policy and ensuring that we embed child and youth safe practices and culture across all aspects of the organisation.  It will not be an easy task and one that will require whole of local government sector support through the Local Government Association of Tasmania, but Council is committed to continuing this journey.

Councillors and staff were very pleased to receive the Audit Panel’s report on the year.  We were delighted to note the positive comments of our Audit Panel on the journey of renewal that we have undertaken so far.

Council positively supported the notice of motion from Clr Neil Edwards to have further water quality testing done in the Coles Bay area. 

By the time you read this, the Bicheno Skate and Wheel Park will have been officially opened.  This has been a 20-year journey for the Bicheno community that started when a group of young people fronted up to a Council meeting in the Bicheno Hall and requested Council’s support for a skatepark.  It is wonderful to see it now come to fruition and something for the young, and perhaps not so young, skateboarders and wheel riders to enjoy for years to come.

2024 is shaping up to be another busy year across the local government sector and in Glamorgan Spring Bay.  All our staff are committed to doing the very best they can for our communities and as elected members the Councillors will support them in every way we can. 

On behalf of the Deputy Mayor, Councillors, General Manager and all staff, I take this opportunity to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year.  As the General Manager regularly says, it’s onwards and upwards for Glamorgan Spring Bay in 2024!

Cheryl Arnol

Mayor

Mayoral Moment November 2023

Welcome to the Mayoral Moment following the Ordinary Meeting of Council on 28th November 2023.

It was something of a record that the meeting was over in about 36 minutes.  I’ve never really known an ordinary meeting to go for so little time but as mentioned by a fellow Councillor, we didn’t have anything controversial to deal with outside of the Government’s proposed Development Assessment Panels (DAP’s).  

Council has taken the view that we may support DAP’s, but it will be reliant on the matters in our submission being addressed.    Overall, Council supports reforms that improve the operation and integrity of the planning system, but that support must be earnt through meaningful engagement with the local government sector and the community.

As always, Councillors were pleased to support community small grant applications and events support.  The Swansea Community Christmas Parade and the Pop-Up Bookstall (P.U.B.S.) in Triabunna were recipients of community small grants and the Coles Bay Triathlon received funding under the events support budget.   

Although not dealt with in this agenda, the other matter that is at the forefront of our minds is the latest report from the Future of Local Government Review Board.  The Board has made a number of recommendations for reform of local government but the one that affects Glamorgan Spring Bay the most at this point is recommendation 4.  

It is implied in Recommendation 4 that Council has had significant consultation with our neighbouring Councils and that GSBC is open to reform, but are we?    My personal view is that the reform board has taken our open-minded approach and used it against us. I stress this is my personal view and may not reflect the view of my fellow Councillors.   It is important to note that as a Council, the Mayor and General Manager had one meeting in the stage 1 days with Sorell (and Tasman) and 2 meetings with Break O’Day (BODC); one in stage 1 and one in stage 2.  Both were called by BODC and were very informal discussions.  

The current reform board has accepted that the government must fund an investigation into the potential merger with their recommendation that the government initiate a local government board to undertake the work into ‘voluntary mergers’ of all the named Councils in recommendation 4.  I am not convinced that all the Councils named in the voluntary merger recommendation (as Phase 1) will in fact agree to be included.  There is considerable discussion to be had over the next 6 or 7 weeks between all those parties to enable an informed and well-reasoned submission by the various Councils to be put to the Minister.

In my view, and I stress it is only my personal view, a much better way to reform local government would be giving the sector a Local Government Act that is fit for purpose.  The current Act is now 30 years old and does not provide a sound basis for good governance.   There are some recommendations in the report around mandating certain things for Councils.  Surely it would make sense to provide clear direction in a new Act for the future before mergers occur.   It could well be that the current 29 Councils would be ‘reformed’ by that process.  

The Tasmanian Government is inviting comment and submissions on the report until the 29th February 2024.  You will find the report at Future of Local Government Review – Tasmanian Government (futurelocal.tas.gov.au)

Until next time, stay safe.  

Cheryl Arnol

Mayor

MAYORAL MOMENT - OCTOBER

 I've been very fortunate to have the support of the Greater Oyster Bay News at Swansea since I was elected as Mayor and it has proven to be very beneficial in communicating what happens at a Council meeting.  Council does post it on our website after GOBC News has published it.  It occurred to me that a different audience might be reached through this forum so I have decided to post future Mayoral Moments at the same time as Council posts it.

Here is October's offering - 

Welcome to the Mayoral Moment following the Ordinary Meeting of Council on the 24^th October.  As always, I am grateful to the GOBC News for their support in publishing this column.

This month’s agenda dealt with several administrative matters as well as a request for community small grant support for the Triabunna Christmas Crew.  Council was pleased to support this initiative by a very enthusiastic group of people to make Triabunna ‘Christmasy’ again and reinstate the float parade that used to be a fixture of the silly season a few years ago.

One of the administrative matters was acknowledging the recent declaration of office by Richard Parker who won the recount.  It was my pleasure to welcome Clr Parker back to the Council Chamber after an absence of some years.

There will be advertisements placed shortly for land that Council can see no future use for.  Any funds generated will be far better utilised in much needed infrastructure than retaining some under-utilised land.  There is a process that allows members of the public to lodge representations if you feel that this is not the right outcome.

As always, acting as a planning authority was a difficult and at times emotive part of the Council meeting.   I think it is fair to say that all four development applications had a degree of community concern, some more than others. All four applications were passed albeit reluctantly in some cases by the planning authority. 

The proposed Bicheno Ambulance Station has been the subject of much discussion in the community and a request was made by Council planning staff to the developer to defer the matter to enable more robust community consultation to be undertaken.  That request was denied and due to legislated planning timeframes, Council had little choice but to debate the matter at this meeting.   I understand that the new Minister for Health may have stepped in and asked his department to defer processing the development application to enable further discussion with interested stakeholders. As the planning authority, we have obligations to meet under the Tasmanian Planning Scheme and staff put a compelling argument to approve it under the provisions of the Scheme.  It does not mean that Council endorsed the project on the proposed site.

There has been some conjecture about the large Eucalyptus Globulus tree at the back of Morris’ store and how the new development may impact on it.  Some concern has been raised that Council did not take the tree into consideration when officers assessed the application.  Investigations have been undertaken and the tree is on the crown reserve and therefore not part of this development application as the development is all within the developer’s own boundary.   If the developer wanted to take any action in relation to the tree, then they would require a number of permissions.  My own investigation with staff indicates it would be unlikely for Crown or Council to give any permission, unless it was declared a dangerous tree by a suitably qualified person.

On other matters, we are hopeful that the Local Government Board Reform paper will be released at the end of October.    Will we be ‘boundary adjusted’?  Who knows!  If you have an interest in this matter, keep an eye out for the paper.   Personally, I am not convinced that GSBC won’t be targeted for boundary adjustment.

Of greater concern is the Draft Fire and Emergency Services Bill currently before State Parliament.

In summary the key points of the Bill reform are;

Tasmania Fire Service TFS and State Emergency Service SES will combine under a            single entity Tasmania Fire and Emergency Service TFES.

 The newly formed TFES will be headed by a Commissioner reporting directly to the                  Minister for Police and Emergency Services.

The authorities legislated for the current State Fire Commission will be transferred to the      new Commissioner.

 A State Fire and Emergency Service Committee will be ministerially appointed.

Council shares the concern of the broader local government sector that this will mean the current residential fire levy will likely double under either option.  The impact on businesses is worse.  The short timeframe for submissions on the Bill was a major concern for the sector.  We received some welcome news that the submission deadline has been extended to 1^st December.  Please remember that this fire levy is only collected by Council for the State Government through the rates process.  If you are of a mind to review the Bill, please consider putting in a submission.  You will find it at What is changing - Tasmania Fire Service

Now the good news, it is only about 60 days to Christmas!  I think I have blinked and missed a large portion of this year.  Time goes by so fast these days.

Until next time, stay safe

Cheryl