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 27th 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.
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
