The first meeting following the July by-election took place on Tuesday 30 August in Council Chambers.
Councillors discussed agenda items including electing a Deputy Mayor, development in and around Crescent Head, and the organisation's performance for the last financial year and the coming year.
Councillor Patterson is your Deputy Mayor
Council conducted an election by open voting for the position of Deputy Mayor who will serve the role until September 2023.
The open vote saw Councillor Anthony Patterson elected to Deputy Mayor.
Planning proposal for 1022 Crescent Head Road moves forward
Council allowed the General Manager to use his delegation from the Minister of Planning to amend the Kempsey Local Environmental Plan 2013 for DP 818185.
This planning proposal asks to divide a lot of land into two at 1022 Crescent Head Road. To progress this proposal Council sought permission from the Minister to amend the Kempsey Local Environmental Plan 2013 minimum lot size at this location from eight hectares to four hectares. Feedback from the community and agencies was provided as part of the proposal.
Once finalised, the amended plan will be published on the NSW legislation page.
A public park for the proposed Crescent Head subdivision
Council agreed to place a Voluntary Planning Agreement for a public park for a proposed 109 lot subdivision near Crescent Head (DA2100258) on exhibition for 28 days. This does not mean the proposal for the 109 lot division near Crescent Head will move forward.
Under the Kempsey Development Control Plan 2013, subdivisions of more than 50 lots must provide a local park. The agreement proposes that a children's playground, fenced dog park, landscaping, open recreation spaces, bus stop and water and sewer infrastructure will be included. This land can be provided at the relative low cost of $68,671.80 in offset open space contributions.
A voluntary planning agreement represents an agreement between Council and a developer in relation to a planning proposal or development application. It is a voluntary agreement under which the developer has agreed to provide or fund public amenities or public services. A voluntary planning agreement cannot be entered into, amended or revoked unless it is placed on public exhibition for a minimum period of 28 days.
Rolling 2021-22 projects into 2022-23
Council agreed to transfer the 2021-22 carryover and revote budgets to this financial year.
This means that Council can continue work on projects that weren't completed or started before 30 June 2022. Several reasons such as wet weather, COVID-19 and supply chain issues impacted the progress of projects.
The carryover budget includes projects that started before 30 June 2022 but were not finished by then. The revote projects are ones that were planned for 2021-22 but did not begin.
An example of the works included in this list is for:
- South West Rocks High Performance Centre
- Smithtown's Nestle Park amenities upgrade
- Willawarrin showground upgrade
- Belmore River Right Bank Road rehabilitation
- Construction of waste cell four
Delegates selected for Local Government New South Wales Annual Conference
Each year, it is customary for Council to send delegates to the Local Government NSW Annual Conference.
Council nominated Mayor Leo Hauville, Councillor Kerri Riddington and Councillor Arthur Bain as voting delegates.
The Local Government NSW's Annual Conference will take place in the Hunter Valley from Sunday 23 October to Tuesday 25 October 2022. It allows Councils to share, inspire one another and set the policy direction for the coming year.
Council's performance in 2021-22
Council noted the corporate performance of Council in the fourth quarter of 2021-22 relating to the following documents:
- Quarterly Budget Review Statements (full year financial review),
- Financial Sustainability Program Status Report,
- 2021-22 Key Performance Indicators Report,
- 2021-22 Delivery Program and Operational Plan Exception Report, and
- Grants Status Summary.
The financial year end status for the 2021-22 Delivery Program and Operational Plan shows 81% of actions completed, noting issues impacting progress such as flooding and COVID-19.
Councillors congratulated staff on achieving 81% of actions despite setbacks like the above mentioned. They also commended the amount of grants Council secured for projects which was approximately $38 million.
KPIs are set for 2022-23
Council endorsed the below key performance indicators for the 2022-23 financial year.
Area |
KPI description |
Rationale |
Target |
|---|---|---|---|
Our Finances |
Operating result compared to budget |
Measures Council's financial operating performance for the 2022-23 financial year |
Actual Operating result (before Capital Grants and Contributions) compared to budget year to date |
Capital expenditure compared to budget |
Measures Council's capital expenditure performance for the 2022-23 financial year |
Capital Expenditure compared to budget year to date |
|
Financial Sustainability |
Measures the progress of implementing the adopted Financial Sustainability Program |
Financial Sustainability initiatives are tracking according to plan |
|
Our Services |
Delivery of Operational Plan actions and projects |
Measure of Council's performance in delivering actions included within the adopted Operational Plan |
More than 90% of Operational Plan actions are delivered on time |
Our Assets |
Asset management |
Measures the progress of implementing improvement initiatives within the adopted Strategic Asset Management Plan (note: once data accuracy improves asset related KPIs will be reported on) |
Asset management improvement initiatives are tracking according to plan |
Our People |
Lost Time Injuries |
Measure of employee safety performance |
Lost time injuries are 10% lower than the preceding 5-year rolling average (note: progressing towards a zero-harm target) |
Employee well-being |
Measures the progress of implementing strategies to be a mentally healthy workplace |
Strategy and key initiatives developed and implemented according to plan |
|
Employee engagement |
Measures the engagement of Council employees as measured by The Voice engagement survey |
More than 77% of employees are engaged according to the employee engagement survey |
|
Workforce management |
Measures the progress of implementing the adopted Workforce Management Plan |
Workforce management initiatives are tracking according to plan |
|
Our Community |
Overall satisfaction with Council |
Measures community overall satisfaction with Council utilising the biennial customer satisfaction survey (2019 and 2020 = 79% satisfaction) |
More than 80% of Kempsey Shire residents are somewhat to very satisfied with Council's performance |
Our Governance |
Closure of high-risk internal audit items |
Measures overdue high-risk audit actions |
No high-risk internal audit actions overdue as reported to Council's Audit and Risk Committee |
Reform of employment zones
Council received and noted submissions from businesses made on the NSW Government's Employment Zone Reform.
At this stage, Council is only noting submissions made, which do not require Council to amend employment zones for the Kempsey Local Environmental Plan 2013.
If the state government mandate employment zones or land use amendments, Council will need to adopt these.
