Reform Wollongong City Council

National Broadband expands into city
WCC
29/03/2012 Media release

Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery OAM was enthusiastic about Prime Minster Julia Gillard’s announcement for a further rollout of the National Broadband Network across Wollongong.

“It is pleasing to see the area from Scarborough to Kiama named as a Critical Mass for the rollout of the national broadband.This technology will have a lasting impact on the development of Wollongong City as a part of the burgeoning digital economy.”

Wollongong will be connected with broadband from Scarborough to Windang following the announcement of further rollout of the National Broadband Network to many suburbs in the city. This rollout will provide Wollongong with a crucial early advantage as the national network is rolled out across the country over a nine year period. Many suburbs in the city will see work on the broadband network begin this year and will cover 46 suburbs in the city. For information on which suburbs will be covered go to the NBN website.

“We have a major educational centre of excellence, the University of Wollongong, which has several areas such as the Faculty of Informatics, the iAccelerate program and other research bodies which will benefit enormously from the national broadband network,” Cr Bradbery said.

“Other areas in the city such as financial services and health services will benefit from this rollout. And I hope there will be the ensuing growth in jobs for the city and the region.

“This announcement will be a great encouragement to the many young businesses which are just beginning their life in the new StartPad in Crown Street.

“This development will allow Wollongong city to begin a new lease of life on the digital super highway and hopefully we will also see an increase in employment in this area.

“In out city’s draft Community Strategic Plan we are aiming to have all our citizens connected with equitable access to information, resources and better services such as health and education. This new connected city also will help our Council improve our service offer – such as better libraries and better community services – to all communities throughout the city.”

NBN Co has established an interactive searchable map on its website detailing the rollout, available at: http://www.nbnco.com.au/rollout/rollout-map.html

As the Wollongong area continues to see our manufacturing jobs disappear we need to be moving as fast as possible to get our small share of the new NBN opportunities. The Minister is due to make more announcements today.

Community consultation to go digital in Kiama
27 Mar, 2012 01:26 PM
Kiama council will be given $371,000 to allow it to consult the community virtually using the National Broadband Network.

Federal broadband minister Senator Stephen Conroy announced the grant during a visit to the Illawarra this afternoon and said the money would ‘‘dramatically improve’’ how the council engages with the community.

‘‘For example, they’re starting with workshops on upcoming changes to waste management practices in the area. Residents will be able to join in discussions from their home, using videoconferencing over the NBN,’’ he said.

full story

http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/community-consultation-to-go-digital-in-kiama/2502392.aspx

PANEL TO SET DIRECTION FOR COUNCILS OF FUTURE
Tuesday, 20 March 2012

Following the successful Destination 2036 conference in Dubbo last August, and a request by the Local Government and Shires associations to investigate structural arrangements in the context of the financial sustainability of councils across NSW, Local Government Minister Don Page has announced the establishment of an independent expert panel to examine these issues.

Mr Page said the Local Government Review Panel is the first initiative to be announced out of the Destination 2036 Action Plan, which is nearing completion. The expert panel will investigate ways to create stronger and better councils in the future.

“The Local Government Review Panel will investigate and identify options for governance models, structural arrangements and voluntary boundary changes for local government in NSW,” Mr Page said.

“The Review Panel will take into consideration councils’ ability to support the needs of their communities, ability to deliver services and infrastructure efficiently, ability to provide local representation and decision making, the financial sustainability of each council area, and any barriers that inhibit, or incentives that could encourage, voluntary boundary changes.

“As Minister, I appreciate the good working relationship I have with the Local Government Association of NSW and the Shires Association of NSW, and their presidents Keith Rhoades and Ray Donald. I thank them for their positive approach to reforming local government and their request for this independent expert panel.”

The three-member Review Panel will be chaired by Professor Graham Sansom, who has considerable local government experience and currently heads up the Australian Centre for Excellence in Local Government. Two other panel members will be selected in due course.

“The independent Review Panel will seek to make councils stronger, more sustainable, and better able to meet the needs of their communities moving forward,” Mr Page said.

“Stronger local government will be able to deliver services more efficiently and effectively for residents, provide better governance for communities, and maintain and upgrade their infrastructure.

“The Review Panel will consult widely with communities and local government stakeholders while making its determinations.”

Mr Page said the Review Panel is the first stage in the rollout of the Destination 2036 Action Plan. The NSW Government’s historic Destination 2036 conference in Dubbo last August was the first time that representatives of all NSW councils and key local government stakeholders were invited by a NSW Local Government Minister to meet in one room, to develop ways to make local government in NSW more sustainable.

The Destination 2036 Action Plan supports the broader objectives of the State, as outlined in the 2021 State Plan.

“The NSW Government’s Destination 2036 conference was a watershed moment: it was the time when the State Government and the local government sector united with a common goal of improving the local government sector so it is ready to confront the challenges of the future,” Mr Page said.

“The Review Panel is the first action to be unveiled out of the Destination 2036 process.

“It was at Destination 2036 that I heard councils declare that their three greatest challenges were infrastructure and asset management, financial sustainability, and coping with the changing nature of their populations and demographics.

“Those are significant challenges for local governments, which will require significant reform, and the Review Panel will investigate options to achieve that.”

The Review Panel will be expected to report to the Minister with its findings within 12 to 14 months from its commencement.

“Urgent action is necessary, so the NSW Government has acted, in consultation with the local government sector,” Mr Page said.

“If NSW does not take action now it will have councils that are `haves’ and councils that are `have nots’. There are struggling councils now which are unable to deliver all the services their communities require, while maintaining their infrastructure appropriately as well.

“After 16 years of Labor inaction, the NSW Liberal & Nationals Government is getting on with the job of delivering change for the better in NSW.”

Local Governmnet and Shires Assn Media release 20 March

The Local Government and Shires Associations of NSW (LGSA) are looking forward to working with the Local Government Review Panel announced by Minister for Local Government, the Hon Don Page MP today to ensure that the serious issue of the future long term financial viability for councils is addressed.

President of the Local Government Association, Cr Keith Rhoades, AFSM, and President of the Shires Association of NSW, Cr Ray Donald, have welcomed the Review Panel. They are confident it will thoroughly consult with councils, their communities and other key stakeholders to address many of the key issues raised at the Destination 2036 meeting of Mayors and Councillors in Dubbo in August 2011.

Cr Rhoades believes that “this process must be focused on how councils can be adequately funded to enable an improvement in their ability to provide valuable and effective services to the community.”

“We accept that Local Government in NSW cannot stay as it is in the long term – at Destination 2036 we were all in agreement about this,” said Cr Rhoades.

President of the Shires Association of NSW, Cr Ray Donald, stated that “the Panel demonstrates that Minister Page is keen to pursue a better situation for Local Government in NSW. It puts everything on the table and allows councils and the community to really talk to the NSW Government about what needs changing.”

“The LGSA will continue to stand strong on our position that there should be no forced amalgamations of councils in NSW as a result of this Panel investigation,” said Cr Donald.

“We commend Minister Page for establishing this Panel, which will hopefully accelerate some important outcomes of the Destination 2036 Action Report.”

Cr Rhoades noted that the announcement of this Panel shows a real commitment by the NSW Government to listen to what councils are saying, and to open up to the possibility of effective reform.

“We welcome the opportunity to talk about real incentives for voluntary boundary change. We want the Panel to talk to all NSW councils, to dig down into what is really stopping councils from thinking seriously about widespread reform,” said Cr Rhoades.

“This announcement of the Panel is an opportunity for councils and the communities they represent to consider both the barriers to reform and the incentives. We hope the Panel seeks to learn what financial and legislative incentives could be provided to councils,” he said.

“We welcome a process that asks what could be done to make the relationship between the State and Local Governments less complicated to enable councils to serve their communities more effectively.”

We are also comforted by the NSW Government reiterating their policy on no forced amalgamations.”

President of the Shires Association of NSW, Cr Ray Donald, explained that the LGSA have been encouraging councils to look at ways they can build the Local Government of the future that communities will benefit from and have deserved for quite some years.

“Since June 2009, the LGSA have been raising questions within the NSW Local Government sector through our Modernising Local Government Initiative about how we might enable Local Government to deal with the challenges of the coming 20 years,” said Cr Donald.

“The Destination 2036 process initiated by Minister Page has furthered this discussion, opening up the most constructive dialogue that Local Government has had with a NSW Government for many years.”

A New Planning System for NSW

In July 2011, the Hon Brad Hazzard MP, Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, announced that the State Government had asked Hon Tim Moore, former Minister for the Environment, and Hon Ron Dyer, former Minister for Public Works, to undertake a full review of the planning system in New South Wales.

Issues Paper

The Issues Paper of the NSW Planning System Review, entitled, The way ahead for planning in NSW?, was released for public comment on 6 December 2011.

The Paper outlines the key issues raised during the Listening and Scoping consultation phase of the review. You can view or download the Issues Paper in full or you can access each section individually.

http://planningreview.nsw.gov.au/Home/IssuesPaper/tabid/117/Default.aspx
…

Your response and feedback to the issues paper will help develop policy options to be released in 2012. Lodge your submission online or by post to the Planning System Review, GPO Box 39, Sydney 2001.

The deadline for submissions is midnight, Friday 17 February 2012.

Online submissions at:
http://planningreview.nsw.gov.au/Submissions/SubmissionForm/tabid/100/Default.aspx

Keep councils out of planning decisions, say homeowners
Kelsey Munro
SMH
January 25, 2012

More than three-quarters of NSW homeowners think major developments should stay out of the reach of local councils and be determined by an appointed planning panel, according to new research commissioned by the Property Council of Australia.

The research appears to contradict the state government’s election promise to hand planning powers back to communities, as it undertakes the biggest overhaul of the state’s planning system in three decades.

The Property Council, a developer lobby group, is pushing to retain the three-year-old joint regional planning panels, but local councils want the panels scrapped.

…

A survey of 1000 NSW homeowners conducted by Auspoll for the Property Council found 78 per cent wanted the joint regional planning panels to determine big developments rather than local mayors and councillors.

However, very few respondents had heard of the panels before they were explained to them during the survey.

…

http://smh.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/keep-councils-out-of-planning-decisions-say-homeowners-20120124-1qfz7.html#comments

The Wollongong experience has shown exactly why State governments should only have the ability to dismiss a democratically elected local government as a last resort, and not a knee-jerk first response from a panicked and failing State political party seeking to save its own skin.

But we have no protection of our rights to be democratically represented at all times at the local government level.

States rights seem destined to prevail over which question will be put to the Australian people in a referendum regarding Constitutional recognition of local government, and it seems only a question to allow funds to flow to local government will get up.

Final report and Discussion paper from the Expert Panel of Constitutional Recognition of Local Government available for download from:

http://www.localgovrecognition.gov.au/

And if you want to know why this is and have 20 minutes to listen to the chair of the expert panel advising the Government there is a good video discussion at:

http://video.news.com.au/2168165097/Jim-Spigelman-tackles-changing-the-constitution

Media release from Local Government Minister:

Panel reports to Government on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government

22 December 2011
SC154/2011

Local Government Minister Simon Crean today released the report by the independent Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government.

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