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
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