Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of the Greater Geelong City Council held at the Council Conference and Reception Centre in City Hall, 57 Little Malop Street, Geelong on 22 August 2017, commencing at 6:30pm.
Helen Carton
Doctor Michael Leahy
Nicole Ahmed
Gary Oraniuk
Ashley Viccars
Sandra Gatehouse
Colin Bridges
Rusty
Doctor K Alexander (Chair), L Gardner, P Dorling.
K Spiller (Chief Executive Officer)
G Lawler (Acting Director Planning and Development)
B Luxford (Director Investment & Attraction)
P Godfrey (Acting Director City Services)
L Quinn (Director Community Life)
P Anderson (Acting Director Finance & Strategy)
R Leonard (Senior Manager Legal Services & Governance)
The Chair declared the meeting open at 6:30pm.
Council acknowledged Wadawurrung Traditional Owners of this land and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People who are part of the Greater Geelong community today.
Nil.
L Gardner moved, P Dorling seconded -
That the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on 25 July 2017, be confirmed.
Carried.
Peter Dorling (Administrator) declared an Indirect Interest in Agenda Item 1, Barwon Heads Structure Plan 2017, in that he had a past interest in previous Structure Plan for Barwon Heads.
Rebecca Leonard (Executive Manager Legal Services and Governance) declared an Indirect Interest in Agenda Item 3, Amendment C332 & Permit 1303/2015 – Barwon Water Depot, Breakwater – Consideration of Panel Report and Adoption in that she is a Director of Barwon Water.
On behalf of Council, Doctor Kathy Alexander (Chair), acknowledged the resignation of William Tieppo (Director City Services) for his significant contribution to Council and thanked him for the assistance he provided to the Administrators during their term of office.
Question Time is an opportunity for questions to be addressed to Council and while the minutes record the general content, they do not purport to be a transcript of what was said by individuals. Likewise Councillor or Officer verbal responses are in summary form only. Views expressed may not be the views of Council.
Council's practice is to provide a separate document on its website setting out questions and responses including any more detailed written responses which may be provided subsequent to the meeting.
Helen Carton submitted a question prior to the Council Meeting which has been responded to.
Doctor Michael Leahy submitted a question but was not present at the Meeting. A written response will be provided.
Gary Oraniuk submitted various statements/questions which were not asked at the meeting, but did, however, ask about Council’s intended sale of public assets, ie Geelong Saleyards and the Civic Car Park:
Kathy Alexander responded it was not a decision to sell the Saleyards, but a decision to close the Saleyards. In so far as the Civic Car Park is concerned, there has not been any.
Ashley Viccars asked when will a decision be made whether or not we have a Council Election in October?
Kathy Alexander responded the Council election will be held on 28 October in accordance with the legislative requirement of the City of Greater Geelong Amendment Act 2017 dated 17 June 2017.
Sandra Gatehouse asked the following in relation to the Barwon Heads Structure Plan:
We thank the Planners at CoGG for a very comprehensive review and for listening to our community with patience and respect. We are amazed that there is criticism that the process of consultation is inadequate. We thank the Planners for the recommendation “requesting the Minister for Planning to exercise powers under Section 20(4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 by applying an interim Environmental Significance Overlay schedule while the formal Planning Scheme Amendment is prepared and considered.
Geoff Lawler thanked Ms Gatehouse for her comments in relation to the Review.
We don’t accept the statement “that the recommendation to not extend the settlement boundary will have an influence on how development occurs within the township – please explain this, especially in the context of previous statements that the two are not linked. In light of these statements how much faith can we have in the “controls” that are proposed to stop the incremental erosion of the coastal character of our village.
Geoff Lawler responded that limiting the supply of greenfield land will result in home builders looking to redevelopment sites within the existing areas of Barwon Heads. Current data shows that there is a high level of infill development activity underway. It is not possible to stop all growth and Barwon Heads is required to provide a ‘modest’ level of growth in line with the G21 Regional Growth Plan.
Please clarify when planning permits for single dwellings are exempt from advertising and third party appeal rights.
Geoff Lawler advised an application for a single dwelling that does not meet the quantifiable designs requirement will trigger a planning permit. When no other overlays apply to the site (Significant Landscape or Heritage) this application will be exempt from advertising and review at VCAT. These application will be assessed by Council’s planners against the design objectives and decision guidelines in the Design and Development Overlay.
What are the opportunities for Councillors to call in matters? What triggers this?
Geoff Lawler responded that a Ward Councillor can call in any matter for a decision by the Planning Committee. The Planning Committee comprises all Councillors and has delegation to make decision of permit applications.
We are disappointed there is no recommendation to conduct a further Traffic and Parking Study. If this is not a relevant matter for the current Structure Plan, where is Traffic and Parking relevant and how will this be addressed by the Council?
Geoff Lawler acknowledged the lack of parking and congestion through the town, particularly during the holiday season. However, does not support the need for additional parking and traffic studies as considerable resources have been put into implementing improvement for the town identified in the earlier 2003 study.
Colin Bridges asked the following in relation to the Barwon Heads Structure Plan:
A principle of the current 2010 Barwon Heads Structure Plan is to encourage retention of existing vegetation. The report to Council on the 2017 Plan states that additional tree assessments are being undertaken on public land and road reserves with a view to likely Planning Scheme amendments.
If Council considers protection of vegetation is necessary for public land, why has Council abandoned the existing principle of vegetation protection for private land except for the Warrenbeen Court area when there is abundant evidence of significant vegetation being completely removed from lots prior to commencement of building developments?
Geoff Lawler responded that recognition of the importance of indigenous vegetation on private land has not been abandoned. This is recognised through the new DDO’s which requires two canopy trees to be retained in the incremental change area and one canopy tree in the IHDA area. The private land in Warrenbeen Court has for a long time been recognised as needing further analysis and possible planning controls due to the location of Moonah vegetation, State recognition and recognition in the 2010 Structure Plan.
Rusty submitted a question in relation to Civic Accommodation as follows –
Will the current Council be making a decision concerning the consolidated City Hall and Council staff administration accommodation prior to the return of the democratically elected Council?
A written response will be provided.
Nil.
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