Cr Tim Overall, Mayor
Welcome to my column for the Jerrabomberra Residents Association Website. It is my hope to keep you abreast of issues and initiatives Queanbeyan City Council is undertaking which I trust will be of interest to you as readers.
5 March Queanbeyan City Council Mayoral report
Queanbeyan City Council Councillors held a workshop in early February to discuss priorities they considered important to raise with both our local Federal and State Members and all candidates prior to their respective elections. The Federal Election will be held in 2010 while the State Election will be held in March 2011. Council determined the following matters to be priorities for the Federal and State elections at its Council Meeting last week.
1. Preliminary design and environmental work for:
- Ellerton Drive extension to Old Cooma Road
- Old Cooma Rd (further stages)
- Dunns Creek Rd, and
- 13 intersections
Feasibility study for:
- Northern bypass
A total of $4 million would be required for the above work over the four-year period, 2011-2014.
2. Government funding of $300,000 for community engagement and concept design work for regional sports precinct.
3. Funding for a new aquatic centre to be located in the Jerrabomberra Valley.
I look forward to presenting and discussing Council’s priorities with sitting Members and all candidates during 2010 and early 2011.
CityCARE report
Council has just completed the community engagement process for the CityCARE levy. Council initially reported that it would be bringing the results of this engagement process to the April Council meeting to decide whether to proceed with the application or not. After holding discussions with the Division of Local Government, it has been recommended that this information should now come forward to the 24 March Council meeting. This change in date has arisen due to the type of application that Council is considering. Council wishes to pursue a Section 508 (2) application which has a departmental deadline of 28 March.
Summer Sunset Markets on trial
Partly in response to calls from the community to reintroduce markets into Queanbeyan, Council will begin its Summer Sunset Markets trial tonight (Friday). The Markets will be held every Friday evening in March from 5pm to 8pm and will be held in the courtyard between the Queanbeyan Conference Centre and Queanbeyan Library in Crawford St. The markets have attracted some of the best local handmade arts and crafts, local produce and local entertainers. If the markets are deemed successful Council will look at running them throughout the daylight savings period later this year. So by attending the markets you will be giving them a vote of approval.
Clean Up Australia Day this Sunday
This Sunday is Clean Up Australia Day and I hope to see many Queanbeyan residents out and about with their gloves on. There are six registered Clean Up Australia Day sites in Queanbeyan on Sunday and the list can be seen in Council’s advert which appears on page 28 of today’s paper. On Tuesday, about 20 Council staff members took part in Business Clean Up Australia Day and picked up 20 bags of rubbish from around Queanbeyan. Keeping Queanbeyan clean should be a constant thought for us all, not just a once-a-year-event.
26 February Queanbeyan City Council Mayoral report
Queanbeyan City Council hosted the second and final session of the Residents and Ratepayers Forum on Tuesday night and I believe the whole exercise was very successful. The Forum formed part of the Council’s community engagement to examine its proposal to seek a special rate variation of 5.8% to fund part of the city’s maintenance backlog for roads, footpaths, parks and sportsfields. It was great to see the Forum participants put so much thought into the process and Council received a lot of feedback on the proposal. Participants saw presentations from Council staff members, Council contractors and also three members of the community who gave their opinion on the proposal. Towards the end of the Forum participants were asked to rate their level of support for the proposal. 54% of participants supported Council’s proposal, 16% were neutral in that they wanted more information or time, whilst 30% were opposed to the CityCARE levy. Council officers will now prepare a report which will come to the 24 March Council meeting. At this meeting, the Council will decide whether to proceed with an application to the Minister Local Government. If we proceed down that path the Minister will make a decision and inform us by June. Council will keep Queanbeyan residents up to date with what occurs in the coming weeks and months in regards to the CityCARE levy.
Sun to power Council building
Council sees itself as a leader in the community when it comes to environmental initiatives and it is has undertaken a number of initiatives to minimise its impact on the environment. At Wednesday night’s meeting Council approved a report which will see Council to out for tender a solar cell system to provide power for the Queanbeyan Conference Centre and administrative offices in that building. This is a big step forward for Council and shows the community that we are serious about looking after the environment.
Setting our priorities
Queanbeyan City Council Councillors held a workshop in early February to discuss priorities they considered important to raise with both our local Federal and State Members and all candidates prior to their respective elections. The Federal Election will be held in 2010 while the State Election will be held in March 2011. Council determined the following matters to be priorities for the Federal and State elections at its Council Meeting last week.
1. Preliminary design and environmental work for:
- Ellerton Drive extension to Old Cooma Road
- Old Cooma Rd (further stages)
- Dunns Creek Rd, and
- 13 intersections
Feasibility study for:
- Northern bypass
A total of $4 million would be required for the above work over the four-year period, 2011-2014.
2. Government funding of $300,000 for community engagement and concept design work for regional sports precinct.
3. Funding for a new aquatic centre to be located in the Jerrabomberra Valley.
I look forward to presenting and discussing Council’s priorities with sitting Members and all candidates during 2010 and early 2011.
Multicultural Festival this Sunday
Council and the Queanbeyan Multilingual Centre will host the annual Multicultural Festival this Sunday in Queanbeyan Park. The festival has attracted a number of different cultures and will feature food and information stalls and plenty of entertainment. The festival runs from 10am-4pm.
19 February Queanbeyan City Council Mayoral report
Queanbeyan City Council hosted the first part of the Residents and Ratepayers Forum last Tuesday night. The Forum was put together as part of the public consultation process for the CityCARE proposal which, if approved, would see Council apply for a special rate variation of 5.8% to fund asset maintenance. The Forum was made up of 40 residents; 20 randomly selected from the community, 10 self-nominated and 10 community organisations invited by Council. Presentations were given by three Council staff members and resident Mr John Wright. The problem facing Council stems from 33 years of rate pegging by the NSW Government. Rate pegging sets the maximum amount NSW councils can increase their rate base by each financial year. On Monday the Minister for Local Government advised councils that the rate peg for the 2010-2011 financial year would be 2.6%, a figure above CPI, but not enough to cover escalating costs for local councils. This figure is well below previous years’ rate peg with the 2009-2010 amount 3.5%. NSW is the only state which uses rate pegging and reports have shown that if rate pegging continues NSW councils will face a $6 billion backlog in funding. The only way around rate pegging is to apply to the Minister for a special rate variation. Most councils in NSW, including many of our neighbours, have applied for special rate variations on one or more occasions with Queanbeyan one of a few of the 158 NSW councils to have never applied for a variation. President of the Local Government Association, Cr Genia McCaffery this week slammed the 2.6% rate peg, saying “it's simply not enough to cover our escalating expenses, including a $6 billion infrastructure backlog”. While President of the Shires Association, Cr Bruce Miller urged the Minister “to give favourable consideration to the special rate variations required by individual councils, particularly for infrastructure maintenance and improvement projects.” The second part of the Residents and Ratepayers Forum will be held this Tuesday, 23 February with the same residents attending.
Queanbeyan gets a drenching
Queanbeyan received some welcome rain over the weekend with over 100mm falling. It has been some time since rain like that has fallen on Queanbeyan and it caused a few dramas around town with a couple of trees coming down and some localised flooding. The rain made an impression on the catchment area with Actew’s overall water storage rising from 48.8% last Friday to 51.6% on Wednesday. Googong Dam rose from 45.7% to 49.4% over the same period. Despite this downpour residents are reminded that we are still on level three restrictions and information regarding the restrictions can be found at http://www.actew.com.au/savewaterforlife/WaterRestrictions/current_restrictions.aspx
Busy month ahead
The next month will be a busy time for Queanbeyan with a number of exciting events to be held around the city:
February 27 Outdoor movie night at the Showground
February 28 Carnivale! – Queanbeyan Multicultural Festival
March 5, 12, 19, 26 Summer Sunset Markets
March 7 Clean Up Australia Day
March 13 Queanbeyan Regatta
March 22 Civic reception/street parade for Mark Webber
March 21-28 Senior Citizens Week
More information on these events will appear in the local media and can be obtained by phoning Council on 6299 6000.
CityCARE Consultation
Public comment has recently been made criticising Council over the consultation process in respect of the CityCARE levy proposal. Since it made its decision to seek community views on the proposed CityCARE program in late October last year, Council has proactively ensured that everyone in the community was aware of the proposed levy and given every opportunity to have input to the process consisting of:
- 15,916 booklets with attached survey were individually addressed and mailed out to ALL ratepayers in the city seeking their response. This used Council’s ratepayer database which has all the mailing addresses for every ratepayer in the city. In recognition of the Christmas holiday period Council has allowed a period of 50 days to give people sufficient time to read the important information and then to freepost back their survey and comments.
- In early December 16,000 editions of Council’s newsletter City Life were delivered to ALL households within the Queanbeyan local government area which contained a 1½ page article outlining why Council was needing to urgently address asset maintenance and renewal within the city and detailing the proposed levy.
- Over the past three months items have been regularly published in the Age and Chronicle outlining what the CityCARE proposal is about and advising of the community engagement process for CityCARE. This has included articles, advertisements and columns which have appeared regularly since the end of October 2009.
- A telephone hotline (6298 4580) has been established since early November 2009 at the Council to allow anyone to call to ask questions about CityCARE.
- A web feedback form is available on Council’s website under Current Projects along with extensive information on the CityCARE project to allow input from anyone on the issue.
- A series of public meetings have been held or are being organised across the city to take the community through the proposal. Two were held in the rural community of Queanbeyan prior to Christmas and the one for the urban area is planned for 9 February. Council will be advertising this meeting in local media over the coming week.
- A Residents & Ratepayers Forum is being established to obtain a representative sample from the Queanbeyan community to discuss and debate the proposal. This forum will be made up of a random sample of 20 ratepayers, 10 community groups & organisations and 10 self nominated representatives.
Claims that a lot more information is required is misleading. As outlined above Council is taking the matter of community engagement on this very important issue seriously and has gone to extensive efforts to ensure that both all residents and ratepayers are aware of its proposal and have been given adequate opportunity since October last year to provide feedback to assist in it making its final decision on whether to proceed with an application to the Minister for Local Government seeking approval for a Special Rate Variation.
Googong approved
Queanbeyan City Council received confirmation from the NSW Government on Christmas Eve that the Queanbeyan Local Environmental Plan (Googong) 2009 had been approved, allowing for the construction of a new town at Googong. This is a huge step forward for Queanbeyan as this development will result in a new community of about 16,000 people consisting of 5,550 dwellings of varying sizes. To support the new residents and existing communities it will also contain about 34,000 square metres of retail/commercial floor space, considerable physical and community infrastructure and about 183 hectares of open space. Googong will also include various state of the art sustainability measures, including measures to reduce water usage, recycle waste water as well as promoting energy efficiency. As this development will result in a significant population growth in Queanbeyan’s south, Council will be working to upgrade roads around the area in the coming years based on the findings of the Googong and Tralee Traffic Study (2031) which was developed last year. The immediate projects will include the extension of Edwin Land Parkway and realignment of Old Cooma Rd which will both begin this year. The Edwin Land Parkway extension will see a two-lane extension of the road from Jerrabomberra to Old Cooma Rd at Karabar, while the realignment of Old Cooma Rd will occur on a stretch of road near the quarry. The study also recommended the extension of Ellerton Drive to join up with Edwin Land Parkway, however it was stated that the road would not be needed before 2021. It also recommended that Old Cooma Rd be upgraded to a four-lane road by 2031. Council is also continuing discussions with the Village Building Company and State and Federal Governments in regards to the construction of Dunns Creek Rd which would link Googong with the Monaro Highway. The development of Googong will create thousands of jobs over the coming years and will deliver a timely boost to the region’s economy. It has been some time since Queanbeyan’s last Greenfield development (Jerrabomberra) and I expect this development to be very popular and I look forward to seeing it progress.
Website links
Queanbeyan City Council website
Contacting council offices
Contacting your councillors
Council meeting dates
