Council Meeting: April 2019

Filed in Recent News by April 30, 2019

AT last night’s Council meeting things got a little heated when the issue of the new sale yards was raised, the latest incident report for Gummun place was requested following more medication errors and the issue of homelessness was flagged as an issue that Council needed to start acting on.

Councillors present at the meeting included Lorna Driscoll, Maurice Collison, Ron Campbell, James Burns, Wayne Bedggood, Lee Watts and Sue Abbott. Councillors absent from the meeting were Joshua Brown and Kiwa Fisher.

Swimming Carnivals: Cr Abbott raised concerns about school children being out in the heat of the day for swimming carnivals. She also referred to her husband’s concerns, Dr Richard Abbott who is a local general practitioner and the health ramifications. Cr Abbott suggested that as owners of the pool perhaps Council should have discussions with the local schools about changing the times of swimming carnivals to after school hours, similar to swimming club times to have the events. Cr Campbell said it would be an issue for school buses. Mayor Bedggood suggested that it was perhaps a historical issue in terms of that’s when the carnivals had occurred, indicating there may be flexibility for change.

Community Connect Services: In relation to an item where the cost of “The Links” newsletter was questioned by Cr Brown and it was confirmed that while the community contributed information, Council staff put together the publication and paid approximately $700 in postage per edition, with some costs being recouped by Council through local businesses advertising in it. Cr Abbott suggested the costs may have increase due to new arrangements with postage and suggested re-examining that could be one way to make the publication more cost effective.

Library Network: Cr Abbott said she did not feel the Upper Hunter Shire Council was getting the full benefit of being in the library network with Muswellbrook Shire Council and the library committee felt the same way. Questions were raised by the Committee about the costs of the agreement compared to the benefits.

Recordings of Meetings: Council meetings are now being audio recorded and at the Scone Revitalisation Committee meeting, Ms Anne Frame asked if the tapes will be stored and what happens to the tapes. Cr Abbott raised this at the general Council meeting and was advised the recordings of the ordinary Council meetings and possibly some standing committees would be published on the Council website, however they are yet to determine how long the recordings will be kept for.

Murrurundi Hospital Building: Council and staff will be inspecting the Wilson Memorial Hospital in Merriwa with a view to determining if the building is worth Council maintaining as a community resource. The building is currently owned by the NSW Department of Health, but Cr Abbott said Council should investigate if the building can be repurposed rather than knocked down as part of the new hospital redevelopment at the site. Cr Abbott also questioned why the Department would spend money reroofing the building if it was to be torn down.

Gummun Place: Cr Abbott requested a copy of the Continuous Improvement Plan and Incident Report from Gummun Place in Merriwa, following nine medication incidents in the last two months at the aged care facility.

Merriwa Mural: Cr Campbell said “everyone was amazed” at the new mural on the silos at Merriwa and said he would like to see further funds dedicated to build a viewing area for the mural.

Sale Yard Safety Issue: A report on the development application for a zincalume roof at the sale yards noted a concern raised by a pilot and a peer review that the highly reflective roofing may cause a safety issue impacting on aircraft approaches. Cr Abbott recommended Council seek the advice of an independent expert on if it would pose a safety risk, before voting to pass the application. Cr Collison was angered by the suggestion and demanded to know who the pilot was, however the pilot was not named in the report and the general manager did not have the details. Cr Collison said he had worked hard on the new development, which he said was important to Scone and he would not have the development delayed and costs further blown out. Cr Burns asked if the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) had any restrictions around roofing near airports, to which the general manager said he was not aware if they did, however the Council airport manager had advised there was no such restrictions from CASA. Mayor Bedggood said he was concerned that the issue had been raised by a pilot and in the peer review and said he was not “100 percent confident or convinced that reflectivity would not be an issue for aircraft” and further questioned why it had not been in the initial report to Council. The Mayor said he was inclined to wait for a more qualified assessment of if it was a safety issue. Cr Abbott said the matter had been raised in Muswellbrook Council’s assessment of the application and noted they had said they were not in a position to advise if it was a safety risk and advised an expert be consulted. Cr Collison said he was strongly against any assessment and again became animated and wanted to know who the pilot was who also raised the issue. Cr Collison further said that Ross Pay was the best pilot in the local area and he should be asked his opinion. Mayor Bedggood said it would be a good idea to get another opinion on the matter. Cr Watts said she had raised the issue with the director twice and while she said she understood Cr Collison wanted the development to progress, she cautioned that if a safety incident occurred and Council did not get an expert opinion now, Council could be liable. Cr Campbell highlighted cost over runs with the sale yard development and said he saw the safety concern as a “delaying tactic” and said it was “not right to delay things.” Cr Burns argued if zincalume rooves caused an air safety issue CASA would have flagged it. The Mayor said he would like further information. The motion was put to the vote, with Mayor Bedggood, Cr Watts and Cr Abbott voting to seek further clarification, but it was opposed by Cr Collison, Cr Driscoll, Cr Burns and Cr Campbell.

Operational Plan: Cr Abbott thanked Mayor Bedggood for his leadership with the operational plan, but said Councillors were only given two days to review the plan and asked that staff provide more time for elected representatives to review such important documents. The general manager confirmed that would be the case in the future.

Airport Development: Cr Abbott raised concerns about the costs to ratepayers for the Scone airport development and said she was concerned about supporting a motion to accept the final design. The general manager advised the development had not reached tender stage and there would be several opportunities for further decisions throughout the process. Cr Abbott also expressed her concern that the presentation, which the motion was based on, had not been forwarded to Councillors. The Mayor confirmed the presentation would be available on Wednesday.

Standing Questions:

Cr Watts asked when answers will be provided to previous questions asked by Councillors. The general manager asked if there were any particular questions Cr Watts required answers to. Cr Watts said she wanted all of them answered and was advised they would be in due course.

Cr Burns clarified that his question in relation to Hunter Road was the tarring of the road, not the removal of debris. Cr Burns was advised the Hunter Road was the number one priority on the field program and was subject to grant funding. Cr Burns then said “so it’s not a program it’s a wish list.”

Cr Campbell asked when the security cameras for Merriwa, which were already funded would be implemented. Cr Campbell was advised Council had a resourcing issue and would be forming a project group and talk to local police as well as local businesses for the best installation positions for the cameras.

Cr Campbell also asked when another cardboard compactor would be at the Merriwa tip. Cr Campbell was advised another bin was being delivered to the facility this week.

New Questions:

Cr Watts highlighted the Figtree Gully crossing on Oxford Road, which was a high traffic area with the preschool, a bus stop, the men’s shed and the senior citizen’s hall and suggested a pedestrian bridge be put in place. Cr Watts also said the footbridge at the gully crossing in Park Street should also be reassessed.

Cr Watts also asked on the progress of returning the exercise equipment to the Bill Rose Complex and was advised it was in the design phase and Council staff were managing some drainage issues at the site the equipment was being returned to and they wanted to resolve the drainage before putting the equipment back.

Cr Watts then raised the issue of homelessness and domestic violence in the area saying she was concerned the Councillors did not appreciate the scale of the issue. Cr Watts said while it may not be Council’s role, Council did many community projects that were not strictly within its remit when resources were lacking and housing for people in emergency situations was a vital one. Cr Watts said she sees an average of two families per week in need of emergency accommodation because they have left their home due to domestic violence, have nowhere to live because of rent prices, have been released from gaol or simply can’t find accommodation. Cr Watts said during horse week she sees an increase in people needing accommodation because renters that do not have a lease can be asked to leave so property owners can charge more for their properties during horse week. Cr Watts said domestic violence was a significant issue in our community with more than twenty matters in court each months that are domestic violence related. Cr Watts questioned why in the last 12 months Council had only applied for one grant for this matter, when money seemed to be plentiful for other major projects in the Shire. Cr Watts asked that Council do more to address the issue. The general manager confirmed they had applied for one grant and were unsuccessful but said he would be happy to have Council staff work with Cr Watts on the issue.

Cr Abbott asked where recycling from the Shire was sent. Cr Abbott was advised general waste was sent to Muswellbrook and recycling waste was sent to Gateshead.

Cr Abbott asked if there would be a new contract with the new wind farm owners which boarders the Warrumbungle Shire. The general manager advised the contract would need to be resigned, but the contract terms he expected would be the same and it would not be a new agreement.

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