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 11 December 2018, commencing at 7:00pm.
Dareen Gebbing
Jane Viner
Bob Viner
Sandy Gatehouse
Jennifer Bantow
Jim Haigh
Lukas McVey
Lex Chalmers
Richard Loth
Dean Smith
Barry Mullholland
Councillors:
B Harwood (Mayor)
A Aitken
S Asher
E Kontelj
S Mansfield
J Mason
P Murnane
P Murrihy
T Sullivan
M Cutter ( Chief Executive Officer)
B Luxford (Director Investment and Attraction)
G Smith (Director Planning and Development)
V Shelton (Acting Director City Services)
M Dugina (Director Finance & Strategy)
R Stevens (Acting Director Community Life)
L Barton (Acting Executive Manager People and Organisation Development)
R Leonard (Executive Manager Legal Services & Governance)
The Deputy Mayor declared the meeting open at 7:00pm.
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.
The Mayor, Councillors and staff of the City of Greater Geelong recorded their respect on the passing of The Honorable Gordon Scholes AO.
Mr Scholes was Minister for Territories from 1984 to 1987, Minister for Defence from 1983 to 1984 and Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1975 to 1976. He represented the Federal Seat of Corio in the House of Representatives from 1967 to 1993. Mr Scholes was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1993 for service to Australia.
Councillors:
K Grzybek
R Nelson
Councillor Sullivan moved, Councillor Mansfield seconded –
That Leave of Absence be granted to Councillor Harwood from 10-20 January 2019, inclusive.
Carried.
Councillor Sullivan moved, Councillor Mansfield seconded –
That Leave of Absence be granted to Councillor Mason from 21 December 2018 to 20 January 2019, inclusive.
Carried.
Councillor Sullivan moved, Councillor Mansfield seconded –
That Leave of Absence be granted to Councillor Asher from 24-27 January 2019, inclusive.
Carried.
Councillor Sullivan moved, Councillor Asher seconded -
That the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on 27 November 2018 be confirmed.
Carried.
Councillor Kontelj declared an Indirect Financial Interest in Agenda Item 16 - Tender T1800026 Supply of Concrete and Concrete Works and Agenda Item 17 – Tender T1800053 Hard Waste Collection Service in that tender applicants are significant customers of the business in which he is a Director.
Darren Gebbing submitted questions in relation to Amendment C372 Hams Road, Waurn Ponds. As Mr Gebbing was not present at the meeting a written response will be provided.
Jane Viner asked why can someone who doesn’t live in Australia, an investor, build a housing complex on farm land? The roads do not appear wide enough to take emergency vehicles and cars that will be parked on these roads - has this been looked into? What will happen to the coach pick up at the end of Hams Road that takes the children to Mount Duneed Primary School? At the moment it is a safe area due to less traffic, but it won’t be with 3,000 cars travelling down there! Ghazeepore Road is already traffic heavy!
Bob Viner asked why is it acceptable to build on farm land? How was the amount of traffic worked out as some properties will no doubt have several students renting and they will have transport? What happens when the trains aren’t running and all the coaches park down Hams Road and cause congestion?
The Mayor responded that the property has been identified for rezoning for several years in strategies like the Armstrong Creek Urban Growth Plan.
The report before us tonight is recommending the proposal be placed on public exhibition in February/March 2019, at which time there will be plenty of opportunity for the community to have their say regarding the application.
Sandy Gatehouse – President – Barwon Heads Association asked the following questions:
On behalf of the Combined Bellarine Community Associations meeting on Saturday we would like to thank the CEO Mr Cutter and our 3 Bellarine Councillor s for their time on a busy Saturday morning before Christmas.
We raised a number of issues on Saturday and we noticed that you took lots of notes. We look forward to timely updates on the way forward and note there are matters which have been in the City of Greater Geelong’s system for action over many years.
Every time our combined associations meet there is discussion about these outstanding requests and projects that are either not responded to or fail to happen for whatever reason despite previous advice that the projects were listed for action. It appears that residents all over the Bellarine are waiting for basic infrastructure and maintenance to take place.
In particular there were numerous examples of failure to respond to correspondence and provide usable and focused replies.
The Mayor provided the following responses:
Does the Council have protocols for registering and responding to all correspondence including emails?
Yes, all emails are acknowledged within three working days and registered into the City’s corporate record keeping system for action.
What timeframe is considered acceptable before a response is given?
Within ten working days as per Customer Service Charter.
If we have not received a response within this timeframe what is the escalation process?
You can register a complaint through the geelongaustralia website, post or phone where your complaint will be investigated and responded to within 14 days.
If the response refers to a future action by the City of Greater Geelong how is this monitored so that it is followed up?
A request for service will be raised and service delivery will be monitored by the responsible officer. If the service is long term, the service is placed on a worklist for monitoring.
How can we improve our communication mechanisms so we get more timely and positive responses?
Is it better to send all correspondence through the contact us email address copy to the CEO and Bellarine Councillors?
Contactus is the preferred email address for operational requests and information. Your ward Councillor s can be contacted via email directly or via the Mayor and Councillor ’s Office. The City has a Customer Service Strategy that outline our commitment to service delivery via the Customer Service Charter.
We are looking forward to a time when we can sit with you and talk collaboratively about how we can work together for the Bellarine and our communities. It would be good if a number of these outstanding issues are resolved.
We wish you all a very Happy Christmas - stay safe out there and if you are in a hurry please don’t drive through Barwon Heads.
Jennifer Bantow addressed Council in relation to Osborne Park Master Plan:
Can Councillors please instruct the individual people from Hansen Partnership, who have already had contact with Industry and Port and Agency groups, and have the carriage of this project, to hold a Consultation directly with the Community Groups in late December, before the public consultation, and when Hansen are formulating their first concepts, to balance the scales and give equity and fairness to the views of those who have had a long term dedication to Osborne Park, and who currently justifiably feel side-lined in this project?
The Mayor thanked Ms Bantow for her questions which will be further addressed during debate of the item this evening.
Jim Haigh addressed Council as follows:
The community have only had one week to review the Master Plan. It is clear from the feedback we have received from many members of our community that they are unhappy with the proposed redevelopment. To give us an opportunity to open dialogue with the developer and also to give the developers an opportunity to respond to our concerns – would Council consider the possibility of deferring the decision to exhibit to a later date?
The Mayor responded there will be further debate on the issue later this evening.
Lukas McVey asked if Council that based on dated and incorrect data, shortcomings on contaminated land assessment, flood concerns, no changed from C276 which was rejected. Major increase in traffic movement and risk, no community consultation that you reject this evening’s application to proceed to exhibition, which you can do?
The Mayor responded the issue will be debated later this evening.
Lex Chalmers addressed Council regarding brochure ‘Geelong City of Design’ budget to support the UNESCO Award:
I refer to Council’s recently published brochure, ‘Geelong City of Design’. It is a very worthwhile document, but unfortunately is already in short supply.
Promotion of the UNESCO Award to date has been very low key. The brochure could have been supported with a launch function to gain local interest.
Would Council consider re-printing it in sufficient quantities to have it available in Council offices, in all local Visitor Information Centres and in all major Victorian Information Cenres in capital cities and at airports to attract the visiting public?
The brochure could then promote the planned National Gallery of Victoria extension of Melbourne Design Week to Geelong in March 2019. Many organisations, including the National Trust, have put up their hands to host design related events.
Is Council planning to increase the UNESCO City of Design budget for 2019-2020, for example to include better publicity for the Award and possibly to prepare a Business Case for a Design Centre, preferable in the former Post Office?
I understand that a Business Case would be required for any approach to the Government through Regional Development Victoria for funding towards a Design Centre.
The Mayor thanked Ms Chalmers for her valid points and strong discussion.
Richard Loth asked is Council was aware that the majority of the community objects to C276 (which was voted against by Council) have not been considered in the design of C372?
These include the single point of entry and egress from the subdivision (where else in the City of Greater Geelong does a new subdivision only have one pointy of entry and egress).
Lot sizes inconsistent with the suburb and surrounding 2km radius – down to 208m2 listed however there are two ‘medium density super-lots’ which are silent on dwelling density?
The Mayor thanked Mr Roth for his comments.
Dean Smith asked what is the Council’s opinion on larger block sizes rather than the shoe box size blocks like in most new sub-divisions. The C372 development is not in the amenity of the current area?
The Mayor took Mr Smith’s point but added that people buy land for different reasons.
Barry Mullholland commented on:
Sound walls on highway and Bannip Boulevard;
Sound walls along rail line;
Bike paths along line to station;
One access to subdivision – Ghazeepore Road;
Lifestyle block sizes.
The Mayor thanked Mr Mullholland for his comments.
Nil.
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