agenda of ordinary meeting - 19 january 2010 - maitland city

MAITLAND CITY COUNCIL Notice is hereby given, in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Act 1993 that a Meeting of Maitland City Council will be held in the Senior Citizens Hall, Grant Street, Maitland, commencing at 5.30pm.

ORDINARY MEETING

AGENDA

19 JANUARY 2010 DAVID EVANS GENERAL MANAGER

Please note:

In accordance with the NSW Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act, you are advised that all discussion held during the Open Council meeting is recorded for the purpose of verifying the minutes. This will include any discussion involving a Councillor, Staff member or a member of the public.

ORDINARY MEETING AGENDA 19 JANUARY 2010

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ITEM SUBJECT PAGE NO

1 INVOCATION................................................................................................. 1

2 APOLOGIES AND LEAVE OF ABSENCE .................................................... 1

3 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST .................................................................. 1

4 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING.......................... 1

5 BUSINESS ARISING FROM MINUTES......................................................... 1

6 MAYORAL MINUTE....................................................................................... 1

NIL.................................................................................................................. 1

7 WITHDRAWAL OF ITEMS AND ACCEPTANCE OF LATE ITEMS OF BUSINESS ..................................................................................................... 1

8 PUBLIC ACCESS .......................................................................................... 1

9 GENERAL MANAGER'S REPORTS ............................................................. 2

NIL.................................................................................................................. 2

10 SERVICE PLANNING AND REGULATION REPORTS ................................ 3

10.1 DA 05-2619 SECTION 96 - REQUEST REVIEW OF SECTION 94 CONTRIBUTIONS - LOTS 130 & 131 DP136187, 766 NEW ENGLAND HIGHWAY, WINDELLA & LOT 1 DP248728 & LOT 1 DP1127197 NEW ENGLAND HIGHWAY, WINDELLA ................... 3

10.2 DA 09-2487 PROPOSED FLOOD MOUND - LOT 11 DP1139283, 131 FLAT ROAD, BOLWARRA RECOMMENDATION: APPROVAL................................................ 18

10.3 TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF ALCOHOL FREE ZONE - MAITLAND HERITAGE MALL ......................................................... 37

10.4 CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA DAY 2010................................................. 39 10.5 RESERVE NAMING PROPOSAL - CESSNOCK ROAD,

GILLIESTON HEIGHTS................................................................... 41 10.6 MAITLAND LEP 2011 - REVIEW OF URBAN EXTENSION

AND URBAN INFILL SITES............................................................. 69 10.7 ADOPTION OF ACTIVITY CENTRES AND EMPLOYMENT

CLUSTERS STRATEGY ................................................................. 78

11 ASSETS AND INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING REPORTS..................... 157

11.1 ACQUISITION PART LOT 80 DP 113716 - THORNTON ROAD THORNTON - AVALON RURAL HOLDINGS PTY LTD ..... 157

11.2 LOCAL TRAFFIC COMMITTEE DECEMBER 2009 DRAFT MINUTES....................................................................................... 161


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11.3 FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT AUTHORITIES OF NSW 50TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE .............................................................. 167

12 FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION REPORTS......................................... 173

12.1 BITTER & TWISTED INTERNATIONAL BOUTIQUE BEER FESTIVAL...................................................................................... 173

12.2 WORLD'S BIGGEST SLEEPOVER............................................... 178 12.3 STATEMENT OF INVESTMENTS AS AT NOVEMBER AND

DECEMBER 2009.......................................................................... 182

13 CITY WORKS AND SERVICES REPORTS............................................... 201

13.1 REVIEW OF COUNCIL'S PLANT AND FLEET ............................. 201

14 ITEMS FOR INFORMATION...................................................................... 213

14.1 MAITLAND LOCAL DISASTER PLAN REVIEW............................ 213 14.2 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS - DECEMBER 2009 ........... 215 14.3 COUNCILLOR MOTIONS.............................................................. 235 14.4 CUSTOMER SERVICE REPORT FOR DECEMBER 2009 ........... 237 14.5 COUNCIL'S HOMEPAGE STATISTICS ........................................ 239 14.6 MONTHLY FINANCIAL REPORT - DECEMBER 2009 ................. 240

15 NOTICES OF MOTION/RESCISSION ....................................................... 244

15.1 MAINTENANCE OF THE NEW ENGLAND HIGHWAY IN MAITLAND CITY COUNCIL AREA................................................ 244

15.2 WOODBERRY SKATE PARK........................................................ 248

16 QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE .............................................................. 251

17 URGENT BUSINESS ................................................................................. 251

18 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE.................................................................. 251

NIL.............................................................................................................. 251

19 CLOSURE.................................................................................................. 251


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PRESENT 1 INVOCATION

2 APOLOGIES AND LEAVE OF ABSENCE

3 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

4 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

● The Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held 8 December 2009 be confirmed.

5 BUSINESS ARISING FROM MINUTES

6 MAYORAL MINUTE

Nil

7 WITHDRAWAL OF ITEMS AND ACCEPTANCE OF LATE ITEMS OF BUSINESS

8 PUBLIC ACCESS


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9 GENERAL MANAGER'S REPORTS

Nil


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10 SERVICE PLANNING AND REGULATION REPORTS

10.1 DA 05-2619 SECTION 96 - REQUEST REVIEW OF SECTION 94 CONTRIBUTIONS - LOTS 130 & 131 DP136187, 766 NEW ENGLAND HIGHWAY, WINDELLA & LOT 1 DP248728 & LOT 1 DP1127197 NEW ENGLAND HIGHWAY, WINDELLA

File No: DA 05-2619 Attachments: 1. Locality Plan

2. Applicant's Submission Responsible Officer: Leanne Harris - Group Manager Service Planning and

Regulation David Simm - Manager Development and Environment Stephen Punch - Principal Planner

Author: Greg Clayden - Senior Town Planner

Applicant: Lyndon John McLeod Owner: LJ & JA McLeod & Windella Ridge Pty Ltd Proposal: Section 96(1A) Modified Development Application –

Request Review of Section 94 Contributions Location: 766 New England Highway, Windella Zone: 1(c) Rural Small Holdings & 7(c) Environmental

Protection General

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Council, under delegated authority, granted consent to a 58 lot rural residential subdivision on the subject land on 6 September 2007. The consent included a standard condition requiring a contribution per lot to be paid to Council in accordance with the current Maitland City Wide Contributions Plan 2006 relevant at the time of the determination of the application. The development’s lot yield has recently been increased to 59 proposed lots via a Section 96 (1A) modified development application determined on 10 November 2009. Taking into account that two of these lots contain existing dwellings, the current contribution per lot is $11,830 which equates to a total of $674,310 for 57 of the 59 Lots. Council has received a further modified Development Application submitted under Section 96(1A) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, 1979 which seeks to reduce Section 94 contributions from $11, 830 per lot to $2700 per lot. The application has been made pursuant to Section 2.9 of the Maitland Section 94 Contributions Plan (City Wide) 2006 which states that “Council may consider an application for the reassessment of the development contribution payable. This may result in the contribution being reduced or waived or modified”. Under this clause, Council may consider a reassessment where the request provides “…sufficient information to satisfy Council of the inappropriate nature of the contribution and the implications to Council of reducing or waiving the contribution in the particular circumstances.


DA 05-2619 SECTION 96 - REQUEST REVIEW OF SECTION 94 CONTRIBUTIONS - LOTS 130 & 131 DP136187, 766 NEW ENGLAND HIGHWAY, WINDELLA & LOT 1 DP248728 & LOT 1 DP1127197 NEW ENGLAND HIGHWAY, WINDELLA (Cont.)

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The applicant’s submission, providing justification for the reduction of Section 94 contributions, has been taken into account in the assessment of the application, however, the arguments provided are considered to be insufficient for Council to consider a variation to the adopted S94 Contributions Plan. The applicant has not satisfactorily demonstrated that the current required S94 contribution is inappropriate and, importantly, has not provided sufficient information to Council regarding “…the implications to Council of reducing or waiving the contribution in the particular circumstances” as required by Section 2.9 of the Contributions Plan. Additionally, and most importantly, the Savings & Transitional Arrangements in Section 2.13 of the Maitland Section 94 Contributions Plan City Wide 2006 specifies that “A development application which has been submitted prior to the adoption of this Plan, but not determined, shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of the plan which applied at the date of determination of the application”. In this regard, while the subdivision application was lodged on 8 August, 2005, nine months prior to the Contributions Plan becoming effective in May 2006, Council did not resolve to support the draft Local Environmental Plan to rezone the land until June 2006, and the plan was not made by the Minister until September 2006. Determination of the subdivision application could not have occurred until such time as the land had been rezoned to permit the proposed rural residential subdivision. The proposed reduction in contributions is also inconsistent with the Draft Development Contributions Guidelines 2009 recently produced by the Department of Planning which indicate that discounting of contributions on a case by case basis is not appropriate and raises significant probity and precedent issues. While Council can use its discretion to reduce the required per lot Section 94 contribution, it is considered that doing so, in this case, would set a precedent that other developers may choose to exploit. A reduction in the developer contribution is not considered to be in the public interest and it is recommended that the modified development application be refused. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT The Section 96(1A) Modified Development Application submitted on 10 November 2009 seeking to reduce developer contribution levies associated with DA 05-2619 be refused for the following reasons:

1. The proposed reduction in Section 94 contributions for the development is not consistent with the provisions of Council’s adopted Maitland Section 94 Contributions Plan City Wide 2006.

2. A reduction in Section 94 contributions would set a significant precedent and is not in the public interest.

3. A reduction in Section 94 contributions raises significant probity issues and is not consistent with the Department of Planning’s Draft Development Contributions Guidelines 2009.



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INTRODUCTION

The consent of Council is sought for a modification to the development consent issued on 6 September, 2007 and subsequently modified under an earlier Section 96(1A) application on 10 November 2009 for a 59 Lot rural residential subdivision on the subject land.

The Section 96(1A) application seeks to modify Condition 2 of the consent relating to the payment of Section 94 developer contribution levies. The contributions have been levied under the Maitland Section 94 Contributions Plan (City Wide) 2006 pursuant to Section 80A(1) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, 1979.

BACKGROUND A rezoning proposal for a 45 lot rural residential development was first lodged with Council in October 1994. Following a period of review and strategic investigations, the rezoning application was considered by Council at a meeting on 17 December 1996. Council resolved to prepare and exhibit a draft LEP to rezone the subject land to 1(c) Rural Small Holdings. The former Department of Urban Affairs and Planning (DUAP) were advised of Council’s decision by letter dated 2 January 1997. DUAP advised Council, by letter dated 27 June 1997, that it had concerns regarding the ‘apparent trend in rural subdivision taking place within the Maitland Local Government Area’. It therefore requested Council to initiate action to prepare a draft rural residential strategy before it would consider ‘any further requests to certify the public exhibition of draft LEPs for small lot rural subdivision.’ Council considered this matter at a meeting on 27 August 1997 and resolved to prepare a Rural Lands Management Plan. Council initiated the preparation of a rural strategy with an objective to include a strategy for the location and form of rural residential subdivision in the LGA. The consideration of appropriate locations for rural residential development was subsequently incorporated in the Maitland Urban Settlement Strategy (MUSS), which included the subject land as a candidate area. Initially, the investigation area was considered to be a deferred site, pending resolution of concerns relating to the effects of the nearby aerodrome. A proposed new flight operational procedure that required the construction of an extension of the east-west runway by the developer, provided a suitable solution to the issue of noise impacts from the aerodrome. On 13 September 2005 Council considered a report for the rezoning of the subject land to allow rural residential subdivision and resolved to prepare a draft Local Environmental Plan, consult with public authorities and place the draft plan on exhibition. On 13 June, 2006 Council resolved to support the draft plan and refer it to the Minister of Planning to be legally made and further resolved that the subject Development Application 05-2619 be determined under delegated authority, subject to the satisfactory resolution of issues relating to noise, visual and environmental protection.



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The Maitland Aerodrome is located in close proximity to the east of the subject site and noise from aircraft arriving and departing affects the subject land. The noise contour map, prepared in conjunction with Maitland City Council and the Royal Newcastle Aero Club, shows that the subject land is affected by the 15-20 Australian Noise Exposure Contour (ANEC). The noise contour map was adopted for the purposes of establishing an appropriate planning mechanism and buffer between the Aerodrome and potential future urban areas. In order to provide a solution to the noise issue affecting the site, the applicant entered into a Deed of Agreement with the RNAC to extend the east-west Runway 08-26 by 200m towards the east, to provide a displaced threshold for the runway 26 approach. Preliminary mapping indicated that this would reduce the noise impact from the aerodrome on the proposed subdivision to outside the planning noise contour and within acceptable limits. The Obstacle Limitation Surface affecting the subject land will also be reduced by the extension of the runway towards the east. The LEP was published in Government Gazette No. 114 on 8 September 2006 and development consent for the initial 58 lot subdivision was issued on 6 September 2007. The first Section 96(1A) application determined on 10 November 2009 increased the lot yield to 59 lots and, following input from the RTA, allows Stage 1 of the development (consisting of ten lots) to be carried out without any New England Highway/River Road intersection improvements. Following completion of Stage 1, but prior to the release of any further lots up to a maximum of 28 lots, the intersection is required to be upgraded to a degree in accordance with Condition 20(ii) of the revised consent, though the Sea Gull intersection originally required by the RTA will not be required unless the developer wishes to develop more than 28 lots (including the two existing residences) prior to the expected opening of the Hunter Expressway in 2014. Thus, unless the developer wishes to bring more than 28 lots onto the market before the Hunter Expressway is completed, overall costs associated with upgrading the intersection should be significantly reduced. REPORT

Development consent is sought for a modification to the development consent issued by Council on 6 September, 2007 and modified under a Section 96 application on 10 November 2009, for a 59 lot subdivision on Lots 130 and 131 DP136187, Lot 1 DP248728 and Lot 1 DP1127197, New England Highway, Windella. The Section 96(1A) application seeks to modify Condition No. 2 of the consent relating to the payment of Section 94 developer contribution levies. The contributions have been levied under the Maitland S94 Contributions Plan (City Wide) 2006 pursuant to Section 80A(1) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and currently amount to $11,830 per lot. The applicant is seeking to have these contributions reduced to $2700 per lot. The instances in which Council may reconsider a reassessment includes the following:

• The applicant is a registered charity, church, hospital or community organisation;



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• The development satisfies a broader planning objective and the achievement of which is considered to be of greater importance or priority than making a contribution;

• Where it is considered that the contribution is unreasonable in the circumstances;

• The application involves the development of a heritage item; and • Applications for Tourist Accommodation (eg. bed and breakfast

establishments) where the demand from the development can be justified to be less than a single dwelling house.

The modified application has been made under Section 96(1A) of the EP&A Act, 1979 and pursuant to Section 2.9 of the Maitland Section 94 Contributions Plan (City Wide) 2006 which states, inter alia, that “Council may consider an application for the reassessment of the development contribution payable. This may result in the contribution being reduced or waived or modified”. Under this clause, Council may consider a reassessment where it is considered that the “contribution is unreasonable in the circumstances.” The applicant’s request, included with this report as Attachment 2, is essentially that:

• the contribution is unreasonable given the length of time taken to rezone the land;

• the development application for subdivision (DA 05-2619) was lodged on 8 August 2005, 9 months prior to the Maitland S94 Contributions Plan (City Wide) 2006 becoming effective in May 2006;

• Significant and costly River Road/New England Highway intersection upgrading works are required which other developers in the locality have not had to contribute to; and

• A 200 metre extension to the eastern end of the main runway at the Maitland Aerodrome, to be paid for by the applicant, is required to be carried out prior to the issue of the Subdivision Certificate for Stage 1 of the development consisting of 10 lots.

In regard to the applicant’s submission, included with this report as Attachment 2, the following comments are made:

• As noted in the Background section of this report, the development application was lodged in August, 2005, well in advance of the rezoning of the land. Council did not resolve to support the draft Local Environmental Plan to rezone the land until June 2006, and the plan was not made by the Minister until September 2006. Determination of the development application could not have occurred until such time as the land had been rezoned to permit the proposed rural residential subdivision.

The length of time taken to deal with the rezoning application was, in part, associated with the various constraints affecting the land – for example resolving a solution to the aerodrome impacts (both acoustic and obstacle limitation) and resolving a suitable package of roadworks at the New England



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Highway intersection with the RTA. These matters are however not issues to be taken into account in deciding whether to vary the Section 94 contributions.

• The Savings and Transitional Arrangements contained within Section 2.13 of

the Maitland S94 Contributions Plan (City Wide) 2006 state that “A development application which has been submitted prior to the adoption of this Plan, but not determined, shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of the Plan which applied at the date of determination of the development application.” That means that once the current Section 94 Plan was adopted, all development applications lodged, but not determined prior to the date of adoption, have been the subject of the contribution rates specified in the 2006 Plan.

• These savings and transitional arrangements are standard practice in relation

to the adoption of new planning policies and legislation and the assessment of development applications. There is no legal mechanism which would enable the levying of contributions from the repealed 1995 Contributions Plan.

• It is acknowledged that the applicant is required to upgrade the intersection of

River Road with the New England Highway as a condition of development consent. However, with the announcement of the construction of the F3 Link Road, or the Hunter Expressway, unless the developer wishes to bring more than 28 lots to the market before the Hunter Expressway is completed, the scope of intersection works necessary has been considered and considerably reduced under the previous S96(1A) application which should result in substantial cost savings to the developer.

• As noted above, the applicant has entered into a Deed of Agreement with the

RNAC to extend the aerodrome’s east-west runway by 200 metres in an easterly direction. The provision of this facility is required primarily to alleviate issues relating to noise and obstacle height limitations which otherwise would have prevented the subdivision of the land. Neither the runway extension nor the intersection upgrade works are listed within the S94 works schedules. This is in recognition that they are not considered to be critical to support population growth across the Maitland Local Government Area. Offsets to the S94 developer contributions cannot be provided in return for the provision of these facilities.

• The applicant has not satisfactorily demonstrated that the current required

S94 contribution is inappropriate and, importantly, has not provided sufficient information to Council regarding “…the implications to Council of reducing or waiving the contribution in the particular circumstances” as required by Section 2.9 of the Contributions Plan.

• Reducing the developer contribution is inconsistent with the Draft

Development Contributions Guidelines 2009 recently prepared by the Department of Planning. These draft guidelines advise against discounting the calculated contribution rate on a case by case basis, and indicate that such discounting raises significant probity issues. These guidelines indicate



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that “it is important for a Council to consider the implications which discounting, and the consequent reduction in contributions, may have for the existing and/or the new community. Implications could include the delay in the provision of an infrastructure item or the provision of infrastructure of a lesser standard or capacity. Additionally, “another implication is the creation of a precedent. Where discounting has been actively employed, perhaps to encourage development, it may be difficult (not to mention unreasonable) to shift the policy or defend a new policy in the face of past actions.

• The increase in Section 94 contributions from the repealed 1995 plan to the

current 2006 plan are reflective of the significant increases in the cost of provision of infrastructure, and particularly land values during this period.

• The current contributions are considered reasonable and are substantially

less than the $20,000 contribution cap implemented by the Minister for Planning under the State Government’s infrastructure reform in December 2008. It should also be noted that development charges imposed by Hunter Water also ceased under the same reforms.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS A reduction in the S94 Developer Contributions levied on this development from the current total of $674, 000 to $153,000 for 57 of the 59 proposed lots, as requested, could threaten the provision of essential infrastructure in a timely fashion for the incoming population. Population projections contained within the 2006 Developer Contributions Plan are a calculated estimate of population growth over the life of the plan. The level of demand for facilities, however, is based on adopted Council standards and policies with detailed costings for the facilities undertaken. The implication of a reduced contribution would be a short fall in funding for the facilities required to meet the demands of the incoming population. POLICY IMPLICATIONS This application, if supported, is likely to have detrimental implications for Council’s adopted Section 94 plans through the setting of an undesirable precedent. STATUTORY IMPLICATIONS Statutory implications relating to assessment of the subject application have been addressed in the body of the report CONCLUSION

An assessment of the modified application to reduce Section 94 Developer Contributions has been carried out. However, for the reasons outlined in the body of the report, the application should not be supported.



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While Council has the discretion to reduce the overall contribution, to do so in this case would compromise the integrity of the Section 94 Plan and set a undesirable precedent which would likely lead to other developers seeking reduced developer contributions for similar reasons.



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Service Planning and Regulation Reports

DA 05-2619 SECTION 96 - REQUEST REVIEW OF SECTION 94

CONTRIBUTIONS - LOTS 130 & 131 DP136187, 766 NEW ENGLAND HIGHWAY, WINDELLA & LOT 1

DP248728 & LOT 1 DP1127197 NEW ENGLAND HIGHWAY, WINDELLA

Locality Plan

Meeting Date: 19 January 2010

Attachment No: 1

Number of Pages: 1



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DA 05-2619 SECTION 96 - REQUEST REVIEW OF SECTION 94 CONTRIBUTIONS - LOTS 130 & 131 DP136187, 766 NEW ENGLAND

HIGHWAY, WINDELLA & LOT 1 DP248728 & LOT 1 DP1127197 NEW ENGLAND

HIGHWAY, WINDELLA

Applicant's Submission


Attachment No: 2

Number of Pages: 4



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10.2 DA 09-2487 PROPOSED FLOOD MOUND - LOT 11 DP1139283, 131 FLAT ROAD, BOLWARRA RECOMMENDATION: APPROVAL

File No: DA 09-2487 Attachments: 1. Locality Plan

2. Submissions 3. Flood Mound Plans

Responsible Officer: Leanne Harris - Group Manager Service Planning and Regulation David Simm - Manager Development and Environment Stephen Punch - Principal Planner

Author: Ian Cunningham - Town Planner

Applicant: Hill Top Planners Owner: Shibabrae Pty Ltd Proposal: Proposed Flood Mound Location: Lot 11 DP1139283, 131 Flat Road, Bolwarra Zone: 1(a) Prime Rural

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The proposal seeks to construct a flood mound within the subject property of 131 Flat Road, Bolwarra. The property, which is affected by the 1% AEP flood height, consists of approximately 18ha, and is utilised for the purpose of turf farming. The proposed flood mound is intended to provide flood relief for the storage of chicken litter, and machinery that is associated with the turf production. The proposed site for the mound is approximately central within the overall property and comprises 22,500 m3 of fill, will be approximately 4m in height, and covers roughly 120m x 80m in an elliptical shape. Fill for the mound is proposed to be sourced from current road works adjacent to the property, with the mound construction taking approximately 3 months. The mound will be constructed in accordance with engineer’s specification that addresses the impact of flood water, and will be compacted, battered and turfed accordingly. The proposal was notified in accordance with Council policy, and attracted two submissions objecting to the proposal. The substance of the objections primarily relates to the perceived impact of the mound in terms of loss of prime agricultural land, negative aesthetics and odour generation. These matters are addressed in the body of this report, and are not found to be of sufficient merit to warrant refusal of the proposal.


DA 09-2487 PROPOSED FLOOD MOUND - LOT 11 DP1139283, 131 FLAT ROAD, BOLWARRA RECOMMENDATION: APPROVAL (Cont.)

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OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT Development Application 09-2487 for a proposed flood mound at Lot 11, DP 1139283, 131 Flat Road, Bolwarra, be approved subject to conditions of consent. REPORT

The subject property is used wholly for the purpose of turf farming. The nature of turf farming requires the periodic application of manure, generally chicken litter.

Until recently, the subject operation stockpiled the chicken litter in bunkers within the property adjacent to Flat Road, however with the impact of the current road construction for the ‘Third River Crossing’, this site has become impractical. The operation also relies on various farm machinery for the production of the turf.

The intent of the flood mound is to provide flood free storage for the litter and the farm machinery, and capitalises on the availability of fill that will be sourced from the current road works for the ‘Third River Crossing’. The fill will be rated as Virgin Excavated Natural Material (VENM), and relevant consent conditioning will reflect this requirement. (It is understood that the chicken litter and machinery will be stored elsewhere on the property during normal operations, but will be moved to the mound in times of flooding).

The initial flood mound proposal saw the location of the mound in a position that would potentially impact adjoining property in terms of the flow of flood waters. The applicant was made aware of this, with an amended proposed location submitted which satisfactorily addresses this issue.

The design of the mound has also been altered to an elliptical configuration that serves to enhance the flow of flood waters around the mound. It is noted further that the actual flow rate of flood water at the site is less than 1 metre per second, thus it is considered that with the construction and subsequent compaction of the mound being consistent with the engineer’s specification, it is not forseen that the mound will unduly affect adjoining property.

PLANNING ASSESSMENT

Section 79C(1)(a)(i) provisions of any environmental planning instrument

Maitland Local Environmental Plan 1993

The proposal is generally consistent with the provisions of the Maitland Local Environment Plan 1993.

Regional Environmental Plan

Not applicable.

State Environmental Planning Policies

No State Environmental Planning Policy applies to this proposal.



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Section 79C(1)(a)(ii) any draft environmental planning instrument that is or has been placed on public exhibition

Not applicable.

Section 79C(1)(a)(iii) any development control plan

The ‘Hunter River Floodplain Management’ chapter of the Maitland Citywide DCP is applicable to this proposal.

The proposal was assessed by Council’s Floodplain Co-ordinator with negligible foreseeable impacts resulting from the mound being noted, and the proposed mound also being considered a low risk from a flood perspective.

Section 79C(1)(a)(iv) the regulations (to the extent that they prescribe matters for the purposes of this paragraph)

Not applicable.

Section 79C(1)(b) the likely impacts of that development, including environmental impacts on both the natural and built environments, and social and economic impacts in the locality

The proposed mound will be located so as to minimise influence upon the flows of flood waters over what is essentially level topography. The design of the mound in terms of the elliptical shaping is intentional so as to address the known path and flow of flood waters.

The proposed flood mound is not considered to present undue impacts upon the natural, built, social or economic environment. The proposal has attracted two submissions in terms of perceived negative impacts which are discussed in Section 79C (1) (d) of this assessment.

Section 79C(1)(c) the suitability of the site for the development

The subject site is prime rural land, and is utilised for turf farming which is an appropriate and practical use of the land given the relatively limited area (approximately 18ha) for an agricultural activity to function. The site is flood prone, and as such, to enable the rapid continuity of the operation after the subsidence of flood waters, machinery and manure is intended to be stored temporarily on the proposed flood mound.

It is considered this proposal is a practical solution to enable the continuity of the operation, and does not adversely affect the overall land use and function, thus is suitable for the site.

Section 79C(1)(d) any submissions made in accordance with this act or the regulations

The proposal was notified for 14 (fourteen) days from the 19th November 2009 to the 3rd December 2009. As a result of this notification, 2 (two) submissions were received objecting to the proposal.



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The main issues raised by the objectors are summarised below and comment provided: Issue 1 The flood mound is excessive in size. Comment The proposed mound has footprint dimensions of approximately 120m by 80m in an elliptical configuration, with sides tapering to a height of approximately 4m. The actual usable level surface of the mound equates to approximately 50m by 75m, which is an area that would be required to adequately store both bulky farm machinery and manure, together with adequate manoeuvring space. This usable area of the mound is comparable to two average size residential building lots. The size of the mound is not considered excessive given the large size of the floodplain, its intended function and the fact that good separation distance (around 400m) is maintained to the nearest adjoining dwelling. Issue 2 The flood mound will be an eyesore on the agricultural outlook. Comment It is acknowledged that the proposed flood mound will represent a departure from the topography of the existing flood plain. However it is noted that flood mounds are a practical solution to the issues of adequate storage and stock refuge on flood prone rural land, and are a common element in the Maitland LGA. Issue 3 The structure may alter the water movements across Bolwarra flood plain. Comment The proposed mound has been assessed by Council in terms of its impact on the flow of water across the floodplain. The proposed initial location of the mound has been altered to address issues relating to the flow of flood waters, and is subsequently considered satisfactory in terms of the ability of the mound to withstand the impacts of flood waters, and is not considered to represent a risk to adjoining property through altered flood water movement. Issue 4 The mound will increase the impact of odours emanating from the turf farm and will result in increased dust affecting adjoining property. The mound will be used at all times and not just during flood events.



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Comment The proposed mound will be turfed, which will address the issue of dust. It is intended to condition the consent such that turfing covers the entire mound, as well as a requirement for covering the manure on the mound whilst it is in storage, thus reducing the potential impact of odours and airborne particulates from the manure storage. Conditioning will also address the issue of when the mound is used for storage, that being restricted to periods of a reasonable time frame whilst the property is affected by the inundation of flood waters. Issue 5 The mound will be structurally unstable. Comment The proposal is accompanied by certification by a practising consulting engineer that stipulates, “the mound would be subjected to minimal damage as a result of inundation of the site by floodwaters if it is compacted to a minimum density of 95% standard in accordance with AS1289”. It is intended to condition the consent to ensure compliance with this requirement. Issue Comment FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS This matter has no direct financial impact upon Council’s adopted budget or forward estimates. POLICY IMPLICATIONS This matter has no specific policy implications for Council. STATUTORY IMPLICATIONS Statutory implications relating to assessment of the subject application have been addressed in the body of the report CONCLUSION

The proposal is generally in accordance with relevant guidelines relating to structures within the floodplain. It is considered that flood mounds serve a useful and necessary purpose where the operation of agricultural enterprise is constrained by the impacts of flood water inundation. The mound is considered to have planning merit subject to conditions which will control its location, level of compaction, vegetation, quality of fill material, covering of chicken litter and limiting its use to flood periods only.



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SCHEDULE OF CONDITIONS Proposed flood mound at Lot 11, DP 1139283, 131 Flat Road, Bolwarra. Reason for Conditions The following condition(s) have been applied to the development, subject of this consent, to ensure that the development meets the requirements of the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000, and the various policies and development controls of Maitland City Council and other government agencies relevant to the development being undertaken. 1 APPROVED PLANS AND DOCUMENTATION The development shall be carried out in accordance with the stamped approved plans and documentation as detailed in the following schedule and any amendments arising through conditions to this consent.

Plan Reference

Sheet

No

Rev n

No

Rev

date

Prepared by:

(consultant)

Location plan showing proposed mound

09/100

Largs 2 9/11/09 David Cant Surveyors

Plan showing contours over prop. mound 09/100

Largs 2 9/11/09 David Cant Surveyors

EARTHWORKS 2 The owner/occupier shall ensure that access to the landfill site is restricted and

monitored to prevent the unauthorised deposition of material.

3 Only “virgin excavated natural material” (VENM), or waste-derived material the

subject of a resource recovery exemption, within the meaning of the Protection Of the Environment & Operations (POEO) Act or Regulations, shall be deposited on the land.

The material(s), shall be certified as compliant via a validation report provided by a suitable qualified geotechnical consultant and submitted to Council at the completion of filling.

4 All grass and topsoil on the proposed fill area shall be stripped and stockpiled for re-

use on the finished surface and batters.

5 Filling material shall be stabilised against erosion upon final placement with topsoil

and grass turf, and shall be graded evenly to shed stormwater runoff within the site and to an existing overland flow path



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6 The mound shall be compacted to a minimum density of 95% standard in accordance with AS1829.

STORMWATER DRAINAGE 7 Fill material shall not obstruct any local watercourse, flow path or drain, that is within

or that enters the site, without provision for conveyance, within the site, of stormwater flows through or around the proposed fill area.

EROSION CONTROLS 8 The environment surrounding the work shall be protected against soil erosion, such

that sediment is not carried from the construction site by the action of stormwater, wind and “vehicle tracking”.

AMENITY 9 Stored manure on the mound shall be suitably covered when not used to ensure

minimal impact upon local amenity arising through odour and air borne particulates emanating from the stockpiled manure.

COMPLIANCE 10 The completed flood mound shall not be used for storage at any times other than

impending and actual flood waters affecting the subject property.

ADVICES A You are advised that in regard to potential soil erosion from the construction site,

such pollution of the environment is an offence under the Protection Of the Environment & Operations (POEO) Act and may incur infringement fines.

B You are advised that waste products, such as (but not limited to), timber, steel,

paper, green-waste, food, oil-based products, plastics, etc, are not permitted for fill purposes.



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DA 09-2487 PROPOSED FLOOD MOUND - LOT 11 DP1139283, 131 FLAT

ROAD, BOLWARRA RECOMMENDATION: APPROVAL

Locality Plan


Attachment No: 1

Number of Pages: 1



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DA 09-2487 PROPOSED FLOOD MOUND - LOT 11 DP1139283, 131 FLAT ROAD,

BOLWARRA RECOMMENDATION: APPROVAL

Submissions


Attachment No: 2

Number of Pages: 4



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DA 09-2487 PROPOSED FLOOD MOUND - LOT 11 DP1139283, 131 FLAT ROAD,

BOLWARRA RECOMMENDATION: APPROVAL

Flood Mound Plans


Attachment No: 3

Number of Pages: 4



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10.3 TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF ALCOHOL FREE ZONE - MAITLAND HERITAGE MALL

File No: 21/44/1 Attachments: Nil Responsible Officer: Leanne Harris - Group Manager Service Planning and

Regulation Lynn Morton - Manager Community and Recreation Services

Author: Robert Kerr - Community Planner/Projects and Safety

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Council has received an application from the Lions and Lioness Australia Day Ball in the Mall committee to temporarily suspend the Alcohol Free Zone in the Heritage Mall during the annual Australia Day Ball in the Mall. Council has previously resolved to suspend the Alcohol Free Zone for this event and it is recommended that the application for this event be approved. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT 1. The part of the Alcohol Free Zone from Bourke Street to Elgin Street be

suspended from 4:00pm Saturday 23 January 2010 to 3:00am Sunday 24 January 2010.

2. The period of suspension of the Alcohol Free Zone be advertised, and 3. The Alcohol Free Zone signage within the affected area is covered over

during the period of suspension at the full cost to the applicant. REPORT Council has received an application from the Lions and Lioness Australia Day Ball in the Mall committee to temporarily suspend the Alcohol Free Zone in the Heritage Mall during the annual Australia Day Ball in the Mall 2010.

The period of suspension is:

4:00pm Saturday 23 January 2010 to 3:00am Sunday 24 January 2010.

The application has been assessed in accordance with the Local Government Act 1993, Chapter 16 Part 4 – Street Drinking and Ministerial Guidelines. The NSW Police and other interested parties were notified of the application and an advertisement was placed in the Maitland Mercury on Thursday 19 November 2009 seeking comments or objections to the proposed suspension. The closing date for submissions was Friday 18 December 2009. Council did not receive any submissions.


TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF ALCOHOL FREE ZONE - MAITLAND HERITAGE MALL (Cont.)

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CONCLUSION Council has previously resolved to temporarily suspend the Alcohol Free Zone in the Heritage Mall for the annual Australia Day Ball in the Mall. The application is consistent with the requirements of the Ministerial Guidelines and the temporary suspension will assist in promoting a respected community building event.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS This matter has no direct financial impact upon Council's adopted budget or forward estimates. POLICY IMPLICATIONS This matter has no specific policy implications for Council. STATUTORY IMPLICATIONS There are no statutory implications under the Local Government Act 1993 with this matter.


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10.4 CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA DAY 2010

File No: 61/6 Attachments: Nil Responsible Officer: Leanne Harris - Group Manager Service Planning and

Regulation David Simm - Manager Development and Environment Deanne Nelson-Pritchard - Senior Environmental Health Officer

Author: Fiona Rowan - Environmental Officer

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Clean Up Australia Day 2010 will be held on Sunday March 7, 2010. The day aims to encourage the local community to play their part in removing litter from the local environment. In addition to the community clean up day, schools will clean up on Friday March 5, 2010 within and around their school grounds. Council will once again support the activities of those community and school groups that choose to clean up in 2010 by promoting their efforts and providing free collection of waste materials from their clean up site. As a part of this report Council is asked to consider supporting a second clean up day to follow on from that of the official Clean Up Australia activities in March each year. The day would be coordinated by Council and encourage community groups to clean up their local environment on a second nominated date each year. As per Clean Up Australia Day Council would provide free collection of waste materials from community clean up sites. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION 1. THAT Council support the clean up activities of the community and schools as a part of Clean Up Australia Day 2010. 2. THAT Council consider supporting a second annual Clean Up Day for Maitland when preparing the 2010/2011 Management Plan. REPORT Clean Up Australia Day 2010 will be held on Sunday March 7, 2010. The day aims to bring local communities together to clean up their local environment. Clean Up Australia Day has been run Australia wide since 1989 with participants collecting in excess of 200,000 tonnes of rubbish to date. Each year Maitland community groups, groups of friends, Scouts, Guides and local businesses come together to participate.


CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA DAY 2010 (Cont.)

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In addition to the community clean up, Maitland schools will participate in their own clean up activities on Friday March 5, 2010. Schools will clean up their own grounds and within the surrounding community. Council will support the activities of local community groups and schools by promoting their activities and providing free collection of waste materials from clean up sites. In 2009 twenty one community groups and ten schools participated in Clean Up Australia Day activities with in excess of 1.8 tonnes of waste being collected from local roadsides, parkland and waterways. The 1.8 tonnes of waste collected was equivalent to 256 of the ten litre Clean Up Australia Day collection bags being filled. As a part of this report Council is asked to consider supporting a second clean up day to follow on from that of the official Clean Up Australia activities in March each year. The day would be coordinated by Council and encourage community groups to clean up their local environment. As per Clean Up Australia Day Council would provide free collection of waste materials from community clean up sites. CONCLUSION As per previous years Council will once again support the activities of community groups and schools participating in Clean Up Australia Day in March 2010. Further to this Council is asked to consider supporting a second annual day of clean up activities as a part of the development of 2010/2011 Management Plan. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS This matter has no direct financial impact upon Council's adopted budget or forward estimates. Existing budgets will absorb the costs of holding a second litter clean-up day during the 2010/2011 reporting period. POLICY IMPLICATIONS This matter has no specific policy implications for Council. STATUTORY IMPLICATIONS There are no statutory implications under the Local Government Act 1993 with this matter.


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10.5 RESERVE NAMING PROPOSAL - CESSNOCK ROAD, GILLIESTON HEIGHTS

File No: P34901 Attachments: 1. Application to Name the Park in Gillieston

Heights 2. Location Plan

Responsible Officer: Leanne Harris - Group Manager Service Planning and Regulation Lynn Morton - Manager Community and Recreation Services Jocelyn Palmer - Recreation Planning Coordinator

Author: Nathan Eveleigh - Recreation Development Officer

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report provides Council with a reserve naming proposal for an unnamed reserve on Cessnock Road, Gillieston Heights. It is recommended that the application be approved and referred to the Geographical Names Board for gazettal. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT 1. Council resolve to accept the naming proposal as outlined in the report

subject to gazettal by the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales2. Once approval is received from the Geographical Names Board of NSW,

Council install appropriate signage consistent with current reserve signage design and layout specifications.

3. The applicants be advised of the outcome of the application. REPORT Council received an application from Theresa O’Connell and Geoffrey Kilmurray to name an unnamed reserve on the corner of Cessnock Road and Beckett Street, Gillieston Heights (refer attachment 1).

The applicants wish to name the park after former Gillieston Heights man Judd Greedy, who was killed in a multi-bike accident whilst competing in the Australian 600 Super Sport Series in Tasmania on 5 April 2009.

Judd was born in Maitland and spent the first 23 years of his life living at Gillieston Heights before moving to Queensland to pursue his dream. Judd had ridden bikes all his life, and was a multiple dirt bike champion and competed in both Australian Supersport & Australian Superbike championships. His racing achievements included 16 Junior and three (3) Senior Australian Dirt Track Titles, 32 state dirt track titles. He also won the Superbike Lites Pro Class Championship in 2002 and won the ASC Supersport Privateer Championship in 2008.


RESERVE NAMING PROPOSAL - CESSNOCK ROAD, GILLIESTON HEIGHTS (Cont.)

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The reserve is currently unnamed and the proposed name and application satisfy Council’s Naming and Renaming of Reserves Policy.

The proposed reserve comprises the following properties (refer attachment 2):

• Lot 3, DP1115705, (Council property Number P19935)



The Geographical Names Board of NSW (GNB) has the role of assigning names to places and natural features. The GNB’s guidelines and procedures are aimed at ensuring community input, giving all interested parties a say in a naming decision and avoiding duplication of names.

It is recommended that Council approve the naming application and refer the application to the GNB for gazettal. The GNB will publicly exhibit the naming application in the local media.




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RESERVE NAMING PROPOSAL - CESSNOCK ROAD, GILLIESTON

HEIGHTS

Application to Name the Park in Gillieston Heights


Attachment No: 1

Number of Pages: 23



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RESERVE NAMING PROPOSAL - CESSNOCK ROAD, GILLIESTON HEIGHTS

Location Plan


Attachment No: 2

Number of Pages: 1



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10.6 MAITLAND LEP 2011 - REVIEW OF URBAN EXTENSION AND URBAN INFILL SITES

File No: 103/135/1 Attachments: 1. Review of Urban Infill & Urban Extension

Assessment Responsible Officer: Leanne Harris - Group Manager Service Planning and

Regulation Author: Monica Gibson - Manager City Strategy

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Council has previously adopted a framework for the identification and assessment of sites for additional urban development either on the fringe of existing urban area (extension sites) or for re-development within the existing urban area (infill sites). The Department of Planning are supportive of this approach as it is consistent with the intent of the Maitland Urban Settlement Strategy 2008 (as endorsed). A number of sites were identified from the adopted principles and council officers are currently assessing proposals for various infill and extension sites to be included in the draft Maitland Local Environmental Plan 2011, in accordance with Council’s resolution. The Department of Planning have requested that Council monitor the progress of the rezoning proposal to ensure that their inclusion does not cause any delays to the progression of the draft LEP 2011. Further information has been submitted to Council for several sites that were previously assessed as Category 4 – Not suitable as infill or extension sites. This additional information has been reviewed and it is considered that these sites are consistent with the assessment criteria for urban infill or urban extension sites. It is therefore recommended that they be categorised as Category 2 – Spot Rezonings, and considered in the draft Maitland Local Environmental Plan 2011. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT 1. The following sites be re-categorised to Category 2 – Spot Rezoning in

accordance with the adopted assessment criteria for Urban Extension and Urban Infill development: • LOR 05 – Brush Farm Road, Raworth • LOR 09 – Aberglasslyn Road, Rutherford • LOR 17 – Maitland Road, Bolwarra

2. The additional Category 2 sites be progressed with the preparation of the Maitland LEP 2011, subject to written request from the landowner and lodgement of a suitable rezoning application.


MAITLAND LEP 2011 - REVIEW OF URBAN EXTENSION AND URBAN INFILL SITES (Cont.)

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REPORT Background

Council supports appropriate urban growth for the City of Maitland: this is first principle of the Maitland Urban Settlement Strategy. On 25 August 2009, Council considered a report and adopted a policy for the identification and assessment of sites for the purpose of urban extension or urban infill development. This policy included a definition of extension and infill development, assessment criteria for the identification and analysis of land and a categorisation ranking for suitable sites. All sites ranked as Category 1 or Category 2 were to be progressed (subject to appropriate assessment) with the Maitland Local Environmental Plan 2011.

Review of Sites

Several sites put forward by landowners were assessed and considered to be not suitable for urban extension or infill development (Category 4 sites). Following Council’s resolution, discussions were held with a number of Category 4 landowners and additional information was submitted to provide clarity to matters affecting their land. This information has been reviewed against the assessment criteria and it is considered that these sites are consistent with the principles for urban infill or urban extension development (Attachment 1).

In accordance with Council’s categorisation ranking, sites that may be rezoned for urban purposes where the proposal would require site specific studies to resolve constraints would be considered as Category 2 – Spot Rezonings. Assessment of Category 2 sites and the preparation of an LEP is subject to a written request from the landowner and the lodgement of a rezoning application.

Advice from Department of Planning

The Department of Planning has reviewed the framework for identifying and assessing urban extension and urban infill sites, and is supportive of the criteria and the process for investigating and rezoning these sites. The Department also note that this is consistent with the intent of the Maitland Urban Settlement Strategy 2008, which they have endorsed, and have requested that the more detailed approach to infill development should be reflected in the next review of the Settlement Strategy.

Careful monitoring of the progress on Category 1 and Category 2 site rezonings is suggested by the Department, to ensure that their inclusion does not delay the preparation of the draft Maitland Local Environmental Plan 2011.

Conclusion The receipt of additional information from landowner regarding their sites has enabled Council officers to re-assess urban infill and extension potential and rank the sites as Category 2 – Spot Rezoning. Each site requires further investigation, and this may take place during the preparation of the Maitland Local Environmental Plan 2011. The drafting of the new LEP is significantly underway and Council officers will continue to work with landowners to ensure that information for urban infill and extension sites is timely and does not delay the LEP.



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FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS This matter has no direct financial impact upon Council's adopted budget or forward estimates. POLICY IMPLICATIONS This matter has no specific policy implications for Council. STATUTORY IMPLICATIONS There are no statutory implications under the Local Government Act 1993 or Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 with this matter.



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MAITLAND LEP 2011 - REVIEW OF URBAN EXTENSION AND URBAN

INFILL SITES

Review of Urban Infill & Urban Extension Assessment


Attachment No: 1

Number of Pages: 5



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10.7 ADOPTION OF ACTIVITY CENTRES AND EMPLOYMENT CLUSTERS STRATEGY

File No: 103/130 Attachments: 1. Submissions

2. Activity Centres & Employment Clusters Strategy

Responsible Officer: Leanne Harris - Group Manager Service Planning and Regulation Monica Gibson - Manager City Strategy

Author: Claire Tew - Assistant Town Planner April McCabe - Strategic Project Planner

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Centres are more than just places for commercial and retail activity. They are places where people go to socialise, access services and community facilities, to shop and to work. They provide opportunities for residents, workers and visitors to actively participate in community life and enjoy the lifestyle that the Maitland LGA has to offer. The Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy is a key strategy to guide the future growth and prosperity of Maitland’s centres and employment lands for the next 20 years. It aims to create high quality places, strengthen existing activity centres and employment clusters and cater for growth of centres and clusters to provide a range of facilities, services and activities to serve the needs of the Maitland community. In conjunction with the Central Maitland Structure Plan, Council consulted the community on a draft centres strategy (prepared by HillPDA, as per the original project brief). The submissions received specific to the draft centres strategy, expressed a number of significant concerns with the framework, principles and general clarity of the document. In response to the submissions and the issues raised, Council decided that the appropriate response was to retain the technical background document, with minor amendments, but to comprehensively review and revise the centres strategy. The purpose of this revision was to ensure that Council’s vision, key policy objectives and future opportunities were clearly articulated and that the framework to encourage growth of the centres and employment areas was flexible to respond to future changes and to support the continued prosperity of the Maitland LGA. Council also provided a further opportunity for comments on the revised strategy with the re-exhibition of the document between 30 November 2009 and 14 December 2009. The submissions received expressed strong support for the revised framework, principles and key policy objectives of the revised strategy. Furthermore submissions supported the substantial changes made to the document and commended Council for positively responding to the concerns outlined in the submissions received during the exhibition of the draft Maitland Centres Strategy. Issues raised in submissions have resulted in some minor changes and clarification of Part D – Review and Implementation. Council’s response to the issues raised is discussed in this report.


ADOPTION OF ACTIVITY CENTRES AND EMPLOYMENT CLUSTERS STRATEGY (Cont.)

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The revision, preparation and consultation of the Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy demonstrate Council’s commitment to ongoing, effective engagement with the local community on strategic planning policy and to contribute to the future development of the Maitland LGA. The Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy sets a logical framework to facilitate the growth and prosperity of all activity centres and employment clusters in the Maitland LGA to serve the economic and social needs of the community to positively support the lifestyle that the Maitland LGA has to offer. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT 1. The Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy be adopted; 2. The Maitland Centres Study as prepared by Hill PDA be noted; and 3. Both documents be forwarded to the NSW Department of Planning (DoP),

with a request for endorsement and also to express Council’s appreciation to DoP for their financial contribution towards the preparation of the strategy.

REPORT

The purpose of this report is to provide:

• The background and summary of the Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy and the study which underpins it;

• An outline of the consultation process that was undertaken to inform and seek feedback on the strategy;

• An analysis of the submissions received and how these have been responded to in the finalisation of the strategy; and

• An outline of the implementation of the strategy.

Background The Lower Hunter Regional Strategy (LHRS) identifies Central Maitland as a ‘Major Regional Centre’ with East Maitland, Rutherford, Thornton and Lochinvar as the area’s ‘Town Centres’. Council identified the need for a clear strategy to guide the future growth and enhance all activity centres throughout the Maitland LGA to support the growing residential population. The provision of a logical framework to facilitate the growth of employment generating opportunities in the Maitland LGA over the next 20+ years was also a key priority.

Council engaged Hill PDA, economic and retail planning experts, to provide Council with a background study which provides a detailed analysis of the economic conditions within existing centres and employment areas, the LGA and wider regional area, as well as and the job and residential growth targets set by the Department of Planning (DoP) through the LHRS.



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The project brief also required that the outcomes of this study would form the basis for the preparation of a strategy to guide the future development of all centres in the Maitland LGA and provide continued employment opportunities for the next 20+ years. The preparation of this strategy was to include a range of strategic directions for existing and future planned commercial centres and employment land uses supported by justified recommendations for appropriate LEP land use zonings.

HillPDA draft centres strategy

As a requirement of the original project brief, HillPDA prepared a draft Centres Strategy in addition to the technical background study. This document was reported and endorsed for exhibition by Council at it’s meeting on the 24 March 2009.

In conjunction with the Central Maitland Structure Plan, Council consulted the community on a draft centres strategy (prepared by HillPDA). The consultation process for this document was conducted over an eight (8) week period between Monday 21 June 2009 and Friday 21 August 2009 and a total of 42 submissions were received.

The majority of submissions received specific to the draft centres strategy expressed a number of significant concerns with the framework, principles and general clarity of the document. In response to the submissions and the issues raised, Council decided that the appropriate response was to retain the technical background document (as provided separately to Councillors), with minor amendments and clarification of issues raised, but to comprehensively review and revise the centres strategy. The purpose of this revision was to ensure that Council’s vision, key policy objectives and future opportunities were clearly articulated and that the framework to encourage growth of the centres and employment areas was flexible to respond to future changes and to support the continued prosperity of the Maitland LGA.

Revised Strategy – Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy.

As a result of the submissions received and subsequent briefings with Councillors and internal staff, council officers revised and prepared a new centres strategy. The draft Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy maintained the central aim to guide the future growth and prosperity of all centres and employment lands in Maitland for the next 20 years.

However, it also aimed to more clearly articulate Council’s desire to create high quality places, to strengthen existing activity centres and employment clusters and cater for growth of centres and clusters to provide a range of facilities, services and activities to serve the needs of the Maitland community.

The review of submissions and the draft centres strategy was reported to Council (13 October 2009 meeting), and the recommendation for the preparation of a revised strategy and a further period of consultation was endorsed in principle. Therefore, Council prepared the Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy, which positively responded to the concerns of the community and maintained a strong policy framework to guide the future development of activity centres and employment clusters, to support Council’s desire future outcomes.



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This report provides an analysis of the submissions received during the re-exhibition of the Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy and requests consideration for the adoption as Council’s approach to the future growth and development of activity centres and employment clusters to the social and economic benefit of existing and future residents, business owners and landowners of the Maitland LGA.

Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy The Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy sets out key principles to encourage the growth of all activity centres and employment clusters within the Maitland LGA and to support the growing residential community with adequate services, facilities and employment opportunities. Set within the regional and local context, the strategy presents a proactive approach to the planning and development of activity centres and employment clusters.

This approach is set within a network and hierarchy framework which supports the key objectives of DoP’s state-wide draft centres strategy and also provides a clear definition as to the vision, role and function of activity centres and employment clusters. The definition of a network (the spatial pattern of provision) and hierarchy (the role and relationship) ensure growth considers the overall network and how they interrelate.

The purpose of the Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy is to:

• Support the growth of the local economy and employment in Maitland for the next 20 years;

• Provide clear direction as to the vision, role, function and potential growth for each activity centre and employment cluster;

• Ensure all activity centres and employment clusters in Maitland are viable, well designed and provide appropriate facilities and services;

• Guide future land use and development decisions which reflect the principles of the strategy, the vision of the activity centre or employment cluster to support the residential growth within the Maitland LGA; and

• Complete regular reviews to ensure activity centres and employment clusters are flexible and able to respond to future economic and social changes.

The strategy defines an Activity Centre as being:

“…the local and regional hub for community activity. They are places providing a diverse mix of activities where people can socialise, shop, work, meet, relax and often live. Activity centres range in size, scale and development intensity from a neighbourhood centre, like Largs or Tenambit through to a major regional centre, like Central Maitland. Activity centres are usually well-served by public transport, offering a highly accessible location for commercial, personal and retail services, community, entertainment and recreational facilities as well as a mix of housing options to attract for a diverse population” (pg.2).



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The strategy defines an Employment Cluster as being:

“…provided [in] an accessible location to accommodate a range of industries, bulky goods retailing and business activities. Employment clusters are usually located outside of activity centres however, due to the size, activity or potential impact of the activity, it may be inappropriate for the particular industry or business use to be located within an activity centre. They range in size and intensity but all have a common aim to provide employment generating activities to encourage growth in the local economy and provide job opportunities to cater for a range of skills and qualifications” (pg.3).

Community Engagement As per Council’s resolution (13 October 2009) the re-exhibition of the draft Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy was held for fourteen (14) days between Monday 30 November 2009 and Monday 14 December 2009. In line with Council’s adopted Community Engagement Strategy, the purpose of this consultation as per the public participation spectrum was to inform and consult. Consistent with the notification of the previous consultation process, letters were again sent to land owners and business operators within existing centres (a total of 1430 letters). In addition, notification and a paper copy of the revised strategy were sent to the 42 respondents who provided submissions during the previous consultation process held in June-August. Local organisations, together with relevant government departments, agencies and adjoining local authorities were also notified of the re-exhibition period. Notification was provided via Council’s website, notices in the local newspaper and at all of Council’s libraries. All consultation documents and how to submit comments regarding the draft document were made available through Council’s website and paper copies were available, free of charge from Council’s administration building and by request.

Analysis of Submissions and Response A total of five (5) submissions were received providing feedback on the draft Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy. Attachment 1 provides a copy of the submissions received. All submissions received expressed strong support for the revised strategy. In particular, the submissions were complementary of Council in its positive response to the issues raised, resulting in the substantial revisions made to the document. Clarification of the framework and principles of the strategy was also well received. In addition to this support, the submission identified some areas of the strategy where reconsideration or review was recommended. These issues are outlined below. PART D: Implementation and Review - Sequential Testing Some submissions expressed concerns with the application of sequential testing as a method for assessing planning proposals. In discussions with respondents, the key concern is when this testing method would apply and to what type of applications.



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In response to the issues raised, the section on sequential testing has been reviewed to clarify when this testing methodology would be applied. The section titled ‘Sequential Testing’ makes clear that it is intended to be applied in cases where a request for rezoning is made to Council, which seeks to introduce an activity which is best suited within an existing activity centre or employment cluster. The sequential testing details Council’s preference for these types of activities to be located within or at the edge of activity centres and employment clusters rather than out-of-centre where there is less physical and social infrastructure support the activity. Largs Neighbourhood Centre One submission recommended that the strategy recognise the need for greater retail offer in Largs to provide for the needs of the entire northern sector of the LGA by defining it has a new type of centre - a District Activity Centre. The strategy recognises the importance of Largs by formalising the status of the existing neighbourhood activity centre which has developed in the area. However to maintain flexibility, the strategy also recognises that some activity centres have an additional role which services a wider need and it does not preclude the opportunity for growth in the future, so long as the network of centres and employment clusters is considered with future development. The hierarchy of centres aims to provide a clear understanding of the intended role and function of each centre. The definition within the hierarchy firstly recognises the local function that an activity centre plays, however the policy detail for all activity centres also provides opportunities to bolster any additional function that it may play within the wider LGA or regional area. The identification of four types of activity centres provides a straightforward description and aims to reduce confusion as to the identification, role and function of each activity centre is. For example, Morpeth is defined as a local centre, which accurately reflects the role it plays within the local context. However, the vision and key policy objectives recognises the wider regional role of this historical activity centre as a significant tourist destination within the Hunter and aims to facilitate opportunities to strengthen this additional tourism function to benefit the local economy. As outlined in Part D – Review and Implementation, ongoing monitoring and review of all activity centres and employment clusters is a critical part of ensuring the vision and policy objectives are achieved. The identification of Largs as a Neighbourhood Activity Centre, its role, function and performance in supporting the local community will be monitored on a regular basis and review when required or within 5 years of adoption, whichever occurs first. Implementation of the Strategy One submission suggested that objective, numeric measurements should be included within the strategy so as to ensure certainty of the intent of the strategy. The submission suggests developing and utilising a common language and to include simple, objective measurements in the strategy to ensure consistency across relevant disciplines. More specifically, the feedback indicated a concern with the excessive flexibility created through the omission of the numeric targets from the strategy which threatened the integrity of retail hierarchy defined. One of the key criticisms of the prevision draft Maitland centres strategy (prepared by HillPDA) was the perceived inflexibility of the strategy. Therefore, consistent with key principles of DoP’s draft Centres Policy, the Activity Centres and Employment



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Clusters Strategy aims to “be flexible enough to enable centres to grow, and new centres to form (Principle 2)” and recognise that “the role of the planning system is to regulate the location and scale of development to accommodate market demand (Principle 3)”. Therefore, the network and hierarchy framework allow Council to effectively regulate the scale of the activity centres, through the identification of the role and function within a hierarchical framework and the network of activity centres and employment clusters provides a clear understanding as to there spatial distribution, ensuring convenient access for all residential communities in the Maitland LGA. This framework also maintains the flexibility to allow for future growth of centres to respond to the inevitable changing needs of the Maitland community. The introduction of standardised measures, rather than objective based measures does not allow for variations within a specific activity centre definition to its role and function (for example Morpeth, as discussed above). The review and revision of the strategy concluded that the most effective method of regulating the scale and function of activity centres was through the vision and key policy objectives provided as well as any growth and future development demonstrating that the network and hierarchy of activity centres is considered and reinforced. As stated, activity centres are more than just places for retail activity, therefore, the measure and identification of the centres typology can not be effectively managed via a numeric standard of retail floorspace. The measure must also include the diversity of uses, the mix of commercial, retail and community services, a range of activities to enable the community to meet and socialise, high accessibility to public transport and a high quality built outcome. As outlined in Part D of the strategy, Council intends to review the performance of this strategy in achieving all of these aspects through ongoing monitoring and review. LEP Matters A number of issues raised within the submissions relate specifically to matters which are more appropriately dealt with through the preparation of the Maitland LEP 2011. Issues relating to the land use zone and potential activities associated with a land use zone will be examined through the preparation of the Maitland LEP 2011 and are not a matter for this strategy. Specific issues raised include: Highway Business - A submission considered that the strategy should continue to allow or consider limited ribbon development along the New England Highway Corridor in light of potential change driven by the construction of the Hunter Expressway. The location of highway business uses will be looked at through the preparation of the Maitland LEP 2011. However, the Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy reinforce the primary role of the New England Highway as a significant transport corridor for the movement of people and freight. Therefore, the strategy aims to provide activities and services which support this function. Thornton Town Centre – A submission identified that expansion of the Thornton Town Activity Centre so as to service the existing and growing population was required and that the draft strategy did not provide the policy context to justify the required expansion of Thornton Town Activity Centre. The identification of Thornton as a Town Centre within the strategy reinforces its status as a town centre within the Lower Hunter Regional Strategy and the Maitland



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Urban Settlement Strategy. The location of significant community facilities within the town centre and its location to Thornton Railway Station also strengthen its high order status. The strategy clearly states that Thornton “is the main activity centre within the eastern sector of the LGA and has an opportunity to grow and diversify the retail, commercial and community activities” (pg.17). The key policy objectives for the Thornton Town Centre provide adequate justification for growth in this activity centre, through the continued support for the role and function as a Town Centre; the consolidate and increase the diversity of commercial, professional and retail activities; the provision of a range of community facilities and improved pedestrian and cycleway access between the centre and railway station; an encouragement of a high quality built environment and public domain; and the encouragement for future development of higher density residential accommodation. Chisholm Local Centre – A submission considered that Chisholm Local Activity Centre and the retail development of this centre may have impacts on the network and hierarchy of centres in practice as there is no certainty, through the use of numeric standards for the community as to what is appropriate The Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy reinforce the function of the Chisholm Local Activity Centre as a support to the higher order centre at Thornton. The strategy clearly articulates the role and function of the Chisholm Local Centre as providing for the convenience needs in a walkable distance and place that the newest residential community within the Maitland LGA can connect with. Council has considered a rezoning request for the development of a local centre at Chisholm, which is the next stage in the progression of the Thornton North Structure Plan. This rezoning matter is subject to the preparation of an amendment to the Maitland LEP 1993, which is currently being progressed, as per Council’s resolution (24 November 2009). The details of scale, design and mix of activities will be examined and opportunities for comment on this will be provided through this process. Bulky Goods Retailing - Feedback notes the significant over supply of floor space for bulky goods retailing compared to the demand generated by the LGA population. Submissions identified that economic impact assessment will need to look more broadly than the LGA based motivation if existing bulky goods centres continue to serve a sub-regional population and the justification required for expansion to accommodation this specific retail activity. The Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy maintains a flexible approach for the location of bulky goods retailing and recognises the regional role that the Maitland LGA plays in its provision. The strategy also recognises the specific infrastructure needs associated with this type of retailing. The ongoing monitoring and review of this strategy and the outcomes resulting from its implementation will manage the issue of oversupply and inevitable future market changes. Business and Industrial Areas - Another submission suggested that as a hierarchy has been identified for retail centres, the same should apply for industrial lands as each has different capacities to respond to market dynamics. The creation of a hierarchy for employment clusters, specialised precincts and employment corridors is difficult due to the varied functions and activities they offer the Maitland LGA. Activity centres, while different in scale and role, there role of providing a range of commercial, social, community and retail services is the same.



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The Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy seeks to maintain a high level of flexibility for employment clusters to ensure the LGA can attract a diverse range of employment generating activities to support the local residential community with jobs and continue the prosperity of the local economy. The identification of Anambah as a Business Area within the strategy maintains the flexibility to ensure a range of employment generating activities can be accommodated in the future development of the site. Land zoning outcomes and the associated permissible activities for this site is a matter to be examined with the preparation of the Maitland LEP 2011.

Implementation of the Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy The adoption of the Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy signals Council’s desire to ensure residents, business operators and landowners within the Maitland LGA are support through a range of activity centres, providing commercial, social, community and retail services within convenient locations and land to encourage a range of employment generating activities to provide jobs and continue the prosperity of the local economy. As outlined in Part D – Review and Implementation, ongoing monitoring of activity centres and employment clusters is critical to ensure the delivery and success of the strategic principles and the visions, key policy objectives and future opportunities stated for each centre and cluster. The preparation of the Maitland LEP 2011 represents a significant opportunity to implement the desired outcomes of this strategy, through the use of appropriate land use zones, supported by clear zone objectives and a range of permissible activities. Implementation of this strategy must not be restricted to the preparation of the Maitland LEP 2011. The delivery of the vision, key policy objectives, and future opportunities for each activity centre and employment clusters must be also be implemented through the development assessment process, land release and rezoning process. In addition to the opportunities to implement this strategy through the planning processes, Council’s streetscape improvement programs, infrastructure management plans and the allocation of Section 94 Developer Contributions to support the delivery of visions is also critical. The preparation of Council’s Community Strategic Plan also presents a unique opportunity to reinforce the importance of all of the activity centres and employment clusters within the Maitland LGA and recognise the critical contribution they make in providing a positive social, economic, civic and environmental outcome for residents, workers and visitors to participate in the community life of Maitland.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

This matter has no direct financial impact upon Council's adopted budget or forward estimates.

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

This matter provides a new strategy for the future planning of activity centres and employment clusters within the Maitland LGA. The implementation of this approach will be through the preparation of Maitland LEP 2011 and subsequent planning



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proposals for individual land rezoning which is deemed relevant to the outcomes of this strategy.

STATUTORY IMPLICATIONS

There are no statutory implications under the Local Government Act 1993 with this matter.

CONCLUSION

The Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy is a key strategy to guide the future growth and prosperity of Maitland’s centres and employment lands for the next 20 years. It aims to create high quality places, strengthens existing activity centres and employment clusters and caters for growth of centres and clusters to provide a range of facilities, services and activities to serve the needs of the Maitland community. The network and hierarchy framework supports the key objectives of DoP’s state-wide draft centres strategy and also provides a clear definition as to the vision, role and function of activity centres and employment clusters. The definition of a network (the spatial pattern of provision) and hierarchy (the role and relationship) ensure growth considers the overall network and how they interrelate.

The revision, preparation and consultation of the Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy demonstrates Council’s commitment to ongoing, effective engagement with the local community on strategic planning policy and to contribute to the future development of the Maitland LGA. The Activity Centres and Employment Clusters Strategy sets a logical framework to facilitate the growth and prosperity of all activity centres and employment clusters in the Maitland LGA to serve the economic and social needs of the community to positively support the lifestyle that the Maitland LGA has to offer.



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ADOPTION OF ACTIVITY CENTRES AND EMPLOYMENT CLUSTERS

STRATEGY

Submissions


Attachment No: 1

Number of Pages: 23



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ADOPTION OF ACTIVITY CENTRES AND EMPLOYMENT CLUSTERS STRATEGY

Activity Centres & Employment Clusters Strategy


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11 ASSETS AND INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING REPORTS

11.1 ACQUISITION PART LOT 80 DP 113716 - THORNTON ROAD THORNTON - AVALON RURAL HOLDINGS PTY LTD

File No: P45094 Attachments: 1. Locality Plan Responsible Officer: Chris James - Group Manager Assets & Infrastructure

Planning Author: Stephen Hawes - Manager Infrastructure Planning and

Administration

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The acquisition of three parcels of land is required for the road embankment for the approaches to the new railway overpass at Thornton (Thornton Rail Bridge). Council has approached all three owners, and to date, one owner, Avalon Rural Holdings Pty Ltd has agreed to the acquisition and compensation, and that is in relation to the subject land Lot 80 DP113716. The compensation for the subject land is appropriate for this rural property. Council officers will continue to negotiate with the two remaining land owners and will report back to Council when there is agreement. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT 1. Council acquire part of Lot 80 DP113716 as shown on the attached plan; 2. Council pay the sum of $10,945 as compensation for the land for road

purposes subject to survey; 3. Council meet owners’ legal costs associated with the acquisition; 4. The Council seal be applied to any necessary documentation. REPORT This report is submitted for Council approval to acquire land, for road purposes, associated with the construction of the Thornton Rail Bridge.

BACKGROUND

The design for the Thornton Rail Bridge and approaches has been completed and land required to be purchased to allow the new infrastructure and adjustment to the existing road formation has been identified. The road widening acquisitions costs including legal and survey costs will be paid from the State’s funds for these works.

Council has notified the affected land owners of the proposed acquisition and in accordance with the Just Terms Compensation Act have approached the owners with an offer determined by an independent valuer. The valuations appear to be reasonable and have taken into consideration the effect on the property owners.


ACQUISITION PART LOT 80 DP 113716 - THORNTON ROAD THORNTON - AVALON RURAL HOLDINGS PTY LTD (Cont.)

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Property Owner

Location Category Approx. Area Required

(Subject to Survey)

Valuation

Avalon Rural Holdings Pty Ltd

Lot 80 DP113716 Thornton Road, Thornton

Rural 3800m²($2.50 per m²) $9500

R M Jensen 32 Railway Avenue Thornton

Commercial 18.9m²($450 per m²) $8500

AP & JL Hoffman

23 Railway Avenue Thornton

Residential 14.4m²($190 per m²) + Injurious Affection

$2750 $2500 $5750

At this stage, Avalon Rural Holdings Pty Ltd has agreed to the acquisition and the compensation subject to final survey. Council has received limited response from two other landowners. A reminder letter has been sent from Council to those landowners requesting a reply so that their intention can be known.

These two properties are not critical to the bridge construction process and Council officers will continue to follow up and to report on results of negotiations with these owners.

The survey for road widening has been completed and the area required as determined by the survey is 4,378 m². This brings the value of the compensation that should be offered to $10,945.

CONCLUSION The acquisition of one parcel of land that is required for the Thornton Rail Bridge project to proceed has been secured subject to Council approval, and the valuations and discussions with the other landholders are continuing. A separate report will be prepared for another two parcels when officers have been notified as to whether the owners are prepared to accept the offer or have some additional requirements of their own. It is recommended that Council offer Avalon Rural Holdings Pty Ltd the sum of $10,945 as compensation for the road widening over Lot 80 DP113716 at the market rate and meet all survey and legal fees associated with the purchase.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS Acquisition costs form part of the construction costs funded ultimately by the State Government. Until those funds become available there are sufficient monies with the “Thornton Rail Bridge” allocation to purchase the required land. POLICY IMPLICATIONS This matter has no specific policy implications for Council. STATUTORY IMPLICATIONS There are no statutory implications under the Local Government Act 1993 with this matter.


ACQUISITION PART LOT 80 DP 113716 - THORNTON ROAD THORNTON - AVALON RURAL HOLDINGS PTY LTD (Cont.)

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Assets and Infrastructure Planning Reports

ACQUISITION PART LOT 80 DP 113716 - THORNTON ROAD THORNTON -

AVALON RURAL HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Locality Plan


Attachment No: 1

Number of Pages: 1


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LOCAL TRAFFIC COMMITTEE DECEMBER 2009 DRAFT MINUTES (Cont.)

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11.2 LOCAL TRAFFIC COMMITTEE DECEMBER 2009 DRAFT MINUTES

File No: 140/5 Attachments: 1. Local Traffic Committee Meeting December

2009 Draft Minutes Responsible Officer: Chris James - Group Manager Assets & Infrastructure

Planning Stephen Hawes - Manager Infrastructure Planning and Administration Scott Henderson - Infrastructure Planning Engineer

Author: Kenneth Splatt - Traffic Officer

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Draft minutes of Maitland City Council’s Local Traffic Committee Meeting held Thursday, 3 December 2009, are attached for Council’s information. These draft minutes will be adopted at the next Local Traffic Committee Meeting to be held Thursday, 4 February 2010. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT the information contained in this report be noted. REPORT The draft minutes of Maitland City Council’s Local Traffic Committee Meeting held Thursday, 3 December 2009, are attached for Council’s information. These draft minutes will be adopted at the next Local Traffic Committee Meeting to be held Thursday, 4 February 2010.



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LOCAL TRAFFIC COMMITTEE DECEMBER 2009 DRAFT MINUTES

Local Traffic Committee Meeting December 2009 Draft Minutes


Attachment No: 1

Number of Pages: 4


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MAITLAND CITY COUNCIL

LOCAL TRAFFIC COMMITTEE MINUTES

FOR MEETING

Thursday, 3 December 2009



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Meeting: MAITLAND CITY COUNCIL LOCAL TRAFFIC COMMITTEE

Meeting Date: 3 December 2009

Venue: Hunter Room, Maitland Town Hall

Commenced At: 9.36 am

Completion Time: 10.45 am

Chairperson: Cr. Bob Geoghegan

Minute Taker: Jane Hake

Present:

Clr. Ray Fairweather – Councillor Clr. Bob Geoghegan – Mayor’s Representative Mr. Bill Butler– RTA Representative Sgt Dave Wilson – Maitland Police Representative Mr. Stephen Hawes – Council Manager Infrastructure, Planning and Administration Mr. Scott Henderson – Council Infrastructure Planning Engineer Mr. Ken Splatt – Council Traffic Officer Mr. Brian Mosely – Hunter Valley Buses representative Jane Hake - Administration

Apologies: Mr Frank Terenzini – Member for Maitland

Attachments:

1. ADOPTION OF MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING • The minutes of the Local Traffic Committee meeting held on 5 November 2009 be

confirmed. Moved by Clr Bob Geoghegan Seconded by Bill Butler

2. AGENDA ITEMS – LOCAL TRAFFIC COMMITTEE

2.1 Proposal to Install a STOP Traffic Control – Shipley Drive Rutherford

(File: 2009-104; 222/952)

Summary The intersection of Shipley Drive with Racecourse Road was inspected with regards to safety during recent nearby road reconstruction on Racecourse Road. The recommendation of the Local Traffic Committee on 7 May 2009 was to install a STOP traffic control on Shipley Drive at



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its intersection with Racecourse Road for the duration of the roadworks, and that this matter be reviewed following the roadworks, to determine if the STOP traffic control should remain.

Recommendation THAT a STOP traffic control be permanently installed on Shipley Drive at its intersection with Racecourse Road.

______________________________________

2.2 Redundant NO STANDING Signage Conversion Programme – Bank Arcade, Maitland Station loop road, section of Melbourne Street, Grant

Street – Maitland and East Maitland (File: 2009-105; 222/30,222/384,222/249)

Summary A few redundant NO STANDING zones within the Maitland LGA have been identified for conversion to NO PARKING or NO STOPPING according to an RTA directive. Approval is sought for conversion of NO STANDING zones to new standards in Bank Arcade, Maitland Railway Station loop road, a section of Melbourne Street, and the north-western side of Grant Street (East Maitland).

Recommendation That the changes to the existing NO STANDING zones on the streets listed below be approved: Maitland: 1) Bank Arcade – convert to NO STOPPING zones 2) Maitland Railway Station loop road - convert to NO STOPPING zone East Maitland: 3) Melbourne Street from Day Street to just past the rail underpass - convert to NO STOPPING zones 4) north-western side of Grant Street – convert to a restricted times NO PARKING zone – operating times to be 4.00pm – 6.00pm Mon to Fri and 9.00am – 12 noon Sat.

______________________________________

2.3 Proposed Installation of Line Marking – Denton Park Drive Aberglasslyn

(File: 2009-107; 222/156)

Summary Council is proposing to install linemarking on Denton Park Drive from Weblands Street to Aberglasslyn Road. Formal approval is sought for the installation of a S1 centreline, E1 edgelines, and C4 continuity lines.

Recommendation THAT approval be granted for the installation of regulatory linemarking on the section of Denton Park Drive between Weblands Street and Aberglasslyn Road Aberglasslyn, as detailed in the submitted drawing, with a modification that the C4 lines be changed to C1.



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______________________________________

2.4 Proposed Installation of 2-Hour Parking Restrictions – Hillview Street Rutherford

(File: 2009-108; 222/277)

Summary The opening of the new skateboard park along Hillview Street Rutherford has increased the demand for parking in this area. To provide additional short-stay parking, Council seeks approval to install a 2-hour parking limit on 25 bays in the angle-parking area of Hillview Street.

Recommendation THAT two-hour limited parking bays be installed within the angle-parking area on the western side of Hillview Street. Five of these bays are to be located at the northern end and twenty bays are to be located at the southern end of the angle-parking area.

______________________________________


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11.3 FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT AUTHORITIES OF NSW 50TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE

File No: 103/64 Attachments: 1. 2010 FMA Conference Registration Brochure Responsible Officer: Chris James - Group Manager Assets & Infrastructure

Planning Chris McGrath - Manager Assets

Author: Elizabeth Jardine - Environmental Engineer

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Floodplain Management Authorities of NSW (FMA) is holding its annual conference in Gosford from 23 February to 26 February 2010. The theme of the conference is “2060 – What will your flood legacy be?” The FMA actively liaises and lobbies with government and its agencies for the recognition of the many issues that are associated with flooding, mitigation, and effects upon the environment. This report seeks Council’s determination of its representation to the conference. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT 1. Council determine its representation to the 2010 Floodplain Management Authorities of NSW annual conference. 2. Attendance at the conference be funded in accordance with Council’s policy “Payment of Expenses and Provision of Facilities to Councillors.” REPORT The Floodplain Management Authorities of NSW (FMA) is holding its annual conference in Gosford from 23 February to 26 February 2010. The theme of the conference is “2060 – What will your flood legacy be?” The conference will attract State Government Ministers, and will also include technical papers, technical tours, and speakers with wide experience in floodplain management. The FMA quarterly meeting and the AGM will be conducted at the conference. Council has been an active member of the Floodplain Management Authorities of NSW (FMA) since its introduction in the 1950s. The FMA actively liaises and lobbies with government and its agencies for the recognition of the many issues that are associated with flooding, mitigation, and effects upon the environment.


FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT AUTHORITIES OF NSW 50TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE (Cont.)

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Interested Councillors can attend the conference with all conference expenditure to be funded from conference allowances in accordance with Council Policy “Payment of Expenses and Provision of facilities to Councillors” which states in part:

“All Councillors will be allocated the sum of $3,000, annually, subject to review by Council in conjunction with the Annual Management Plan, to specifically provide for the professional development of Councillors…”

CONCLUSION In accordance with the policy, interested Councillors should seek authorisation via a resolution of the Council at the Ordinary Council Meeting to enable attendance at the conference. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS This matter has no direct financial impact upon Council’s adopted budget as expenses will be met from the Councillor’s training expenses vote. POLICY IMPLICATIONS This matter has no specific policy implications for Council. STATUTORY IMPLICATIONS There are no statutory implications under the Local Government Act 1993 with this matter.



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FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT AUTHORITIES OF NSW 50TH ANNUAL

CONFERENCE

2010 FMA Conference Registration Brochure


Attachment No: 1

Number of Pages: 3



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12 FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION REPORTS

12.1 BITTER & TWISTED INTERNATIONAL BOUTIQUE BEER FESTIVAL

File No: 35/21/7 Attachments: Nil Responsible Officer: Graeme Tolhurst - Group Manager Finance and

Administration Author: Rachel MacLucas - Manager Tourism

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the 2009 Bitter and Twisted International Boutique Beer Festival and to advise of planning for the 2010 Festival. Despite inclement weather the 2009 Festival was a success both from a visitation and a financial perspective, with the event returning a modest profit to Council. A particularly successful initiative was the green levy on the tickets, which raised sufficient funds to enable a low energy lighting project to be commenced at the Maitland Gaol over the coming months, reducing both overheads and carbon emissions. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT the report be received and noted. REPORT The Bitter & Twisted International Boutique Beer Festival was held between 10.00am and 6.00pm at the Maitland Gaol from 7 – 8 November. This was the third year of the Festival and the second time that it was held at the Gaol facility.

The Festival featured a range of Australian craft and boutique international beers, a selection of international cuisine, market stalls, a nationally recognised entertainment program, appreciation classes, food and beer matching lunches and abridged gaol tours.

In all a total of fifteen breweries participated with nine food stalls, 13 general (produce, art etc.) stalls, two water stalls and three wine stalls.

Around 50 members of the community offered their time and service as members of the “Brew Crew” who are essential to the successful operation of the Festival.

Did the Festival work?

By all measures of performance Bitter & Twisted was a great success. Some of these measures include:

Program of activities

The diverse range of stalls, complemented by entertainment on the Main Stage, an International Beer Hall, street style performers, a dedicated Kid’s Zone, appreciation


BITTER & TWISTED INTERNATIONAL BOUTIQUE BEER FESTIVAL (Cont.)

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classes and Maitland Gaol Tours ensured that visitors to the Festival had ample activities to keep them entertained.

In addition to the entertainment program Bitter & Twisted 2009 also had a strong educational and appreciation focus. This position was strengthened with a timetable of master classes and tours including Food & Beer Matching, Meet The Brewer, How to Home Brew, Beer Diva Ladies Only Tours and Hosting a Beer Dinner forums.

This mix of activities was essential to the event to ensure that the Festival was viewed, and experienced, as a tasting and discovery opportunity rather than a drinking Festival. Participant behaviour and feedback has shown that this was very successful with only one minor incident throughout the weekend.

Visitation

The purpose of any event is to gain market profile, attract people, encourage visitor expenditure on the day and promote return visits.

Despite inclement weather on Sunday, on the pure measure of visitor numbers the event was a success, attracting a total of 4,546 people. These visitors were sourced from the Hunter Region, Sydney, regional New South Wales and interstate (Queensland, ACT and Victoria). Participant surveys show that Bitter & Twisted attendees also travelled from as far as the United Kingdom and New Zealand to be a part of the event. The primary demographic was male, 25 – 34, attending with friends and family. Complementing this was a selection of attendees up to the age of 64, many couples, groups of friends/work colleagues and also attendees with children. These visitors bought 42,117 beer tasting vouchers, 27,785 food vouchers, 1,942 water vouchers and 5,673 wine vouchers (a total of 78,072; an increase of over 16,500 vouchers from 2008). They also spent considerable sums in local retail and food outlets and in tourist accommodation throughout the city.

Marketing profile

Maitland is able to gain a tourism / marketing profile through events that it could never achieve through general tourism advertising alone. Bitter and Twisted once again proved this to be the case with the event, Maitland achieving extraordinary coverage.

Bitter and Twisted purchased advertisements in local, state and national media, including:

Print media -

The Herald Weekender

Hunter & Central Coast IMAG

Beer & Brewer Magazine

Hub of the Hunter (Maitland Mercury)



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The Lamp, Nurses NSW Newsletter

Electronic media -

15 and 30 second advertisements (after 8.30 pm) on various local television stations and KOFM/NXFM.

In many ways more important than the above, however, was the large amount of editorial coverage the event generated, with unpaid media coverage achieved in:

The Sydney Morning Herald

The Daily Telegraph

The Herald

Maitland Mercury

Reverb Music Magazine

Newcastle University Union What's On

The Hunter Post

The Newcastle & Lake Macquarie Post

The Lower Hunter Star

The Cessnock Advertiser

ABC, KOFM, 2GB and 2NUR Radio Stations

Television News on NBN

Caravan & Motorhome on Tour DVD

In addition to this unpaid exposure Maitland Tourism also implemented a very low cost marketing initiative for the first time during Bitter & Twisted 2009. The initiative involved sourcing contacts for local and regional businesses and government departments and making contact with their Social Committee. Over 100 contacts were sourced and a ticketing offer distributed. As a direct result more than 10 bulk, pre-paid ticket purchases were made, significantly increasing attendance figures from 2008 at little to no cost.

The event was also covered on a wide range of websites including, but not limited to: Tourism NSW Hunter Region Tourism Organisation Beer Diva Murray’s Craft Brewing Co. Facebook Mark’s Home Brew Maitland Gaol Aussie Home Brewer



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Mi Society My Weekend Beer Guide Australia Beer & Brewer Pint.com.au Top Bloke Day Eventful NSW UNU – Newcastle University Flight Centre Gourmet Traveller YouTube ABC.net.au Tastebeer.com.au BeerFestivals.org

The Festival also had its own, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter pages, which proved popular and generated online discussion. It is almost impossible to quantify what such coverage might have cost especially given that editorial coverage has a different and arguably much stronger impact on potential audiences. What can be said, however, is that the editorial coverage that was generated bears testament to the quality of the collateral supplied to the media and the appeal and newsworthiness of the event itself.

Income and Expenditure

The Bitter & Twisted budget for 2009 was based upon an attendance figure of 4,500 people and similar voucher sales as 2007 and 2008. Ticket prices were adjusted upward to include a $2.00 green levy, which is being spent on the installation of low energy lighting at the Gaol, and to return additional income to the Festival. The attendance figure at the Festival was slightly higher in 2009 than anticipated (including paid and complimentary tickets) which also contributed to the significant increase in the sales of vouchers, which surpassed previous income.

As a result, Bitter & Twisted was able to achieve full cost recovery status in 2009, with a small profit of $986 (incl GST) being returned to Maitland City Council at the close of the event. Income for the Festival amounted to $199,415.70 (incl GST) and expenditure totalled to $198,429.00 (incl GST).

Future Directions

Now it its third year, the Festival has firmly established itself as one of the City’s significant events, with a winning formula that attracts the desired target audience. Minimal change will be implemented to the format of the Festival for 2010 however there are a couple of opportunities which will enable the Festival to develop and will be beneficial to its longevity. They include:

- Being the only new event in NSW to securing Triennial Regional NSW Flagship Events Funding from Tourism NSW in 2009, which will see



Page (177)

the event receive $20,000 plus GST per annum for the next three years to expand its marketing activities

- Liaising with Maitland hoteliers, restaurants and clubs to encourage their involvement with evening activities and capitalise on the increased visitation to the City.

- Building on the success of the Corporate Social Committee marketing initiative of 2009

CONCLUSION The 2009 Bitter & Twisted International Boutique Beer Festival was a great success for both visitors and exhibitors, despite the wet weather on the Sunday. The positive media coverage that it attracts presents the City as a vibrant and interesting place to visit. The event attracts a non – traditional and diverse audience, who would not normally consider Maitland as a destination.

Attainment of the Triennial Flagship Event Funding from Tourism NSW will ensure that a broader range of marketing initiatives can be developed and implemented, which will ensure the events continued growth and exposure to this non traditional audience in the medium term.



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12.2 WORLD'S BIGGEST SLEEPOVER

File No: 35/21/10 Attachments: 1. World's Biggest Sleepover Sample Posters

2. World's Biggest Sleepover Brand Sample Responsible Officer: Graeme Tolhurst - Group Manager Finance and

Administration Author: Rachel MacLucas - Manager Tourism

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this report is to inform Council of planning for the inaugural World’s Biggest Sleepover, which will become the third flagship tourism event for the City identified for development within the adopted Management Plan. The Sleepover will be held on the weekend of 10 – 11 July and will include a Guinness World Record attempt, 2 – 3 events coordinated by Maitland Tourism as well as a variety of events presented by residents, community groups and businesses throughout the City. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT

1. The report be received and noted.

2. A progress report on the detailed planning of the event be presented to a future meeting of the Council.

REPORT The Maitland Tourism Strategic Plan Framework and Management Plan of Council have as Principal Activities the identification and planning of a third flagship tourism event for the City, to sit alongside Hunter Valley Steamfest and the Bitter & Twisted International Boutique Beer Festival.

In consideration of the competition from other events throughout the Region and State, extensive research was undertaken to determine the style and format of event that was likely to have broad scale appeal, media cut through and a unique selling proposition to generate visitation and participation. The World’s Biggest Sleepover is the result.

Background:

The concept of the World’s Biggest Sleepover was established in a different manner to most events. In general, events are developed around an idea and the audience it attracts flows from that idea. For the World’s Biggest Sleepover the target audience determined the broad concept of the event and will to a large degree assist in determining its final format.


WORLD'S BIGGEST SLEEPOVER (Cont.)

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According to statistics from Tourism Research Australia, the Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) market accounts for 55% of the annual domestic overnight visitors to Maitland, which in the year ending June 2007 equated to 82,000 visitors. Each of these visitors spent an average of $301 during their stay. Despite the lucrative nature of this market, which is very strong right throughout New South Wales, very little is done by tourism businesses or marketing bodies to capitalise on the sector. This is set to change with the World’s Biggest Sleepover.

Visitation & Guinness World Record Attempt

The primary target audience for the World’s Biggest Sleepover will be the residents of Maitland. The aim is to encourage them to invite friends and relatives to come to Maitland on the weekend of 10 – 11 July 2010 to participate in the Sleepover. Visitors may stay with residents, participate in an overnight activity or stay in commercial accommodation facilities throughout the City. The secondary audience will be visitors from outside the Hunter Region, who may be attracted to particular events on the program through the marketing campaign and will utilise commercial accommodation.

The broad program of activities that will occur over the weekend will provide residents and visitors with a plethora of choices to occupy their time and reinforce the reputation of Maitland as a friendly, welcoming and vibrant City.

As an added incentive for participation Maitland has been successful in its submission to attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the World’s Biggest Sleepover with a target of 39,093 people registered to sleepover. For the attempt to be valid participants will need to register via the Maitland Visitor Information Centre or on line. Interested parties will be able to see how close Maitland is getting to breaking the record through an online counter. Details such as demographics, place of origin, length of stay and spend will be recorded and used to evaluate the success of the event however even in pure economic terms if the figure of 39,093 were achieved it would attract an additional $11.7 million expenditure in the local economy*.

* Based on average overnight spend according to Tourism Research Australia statistics to June 2007.

Event Values

The World’s Biggest Sleepover concept is built upon traditional values of family and mateship. It is an event which to succeed requires the involvement of the entire Maitland community, residents and businesses alike, bringing a sense of pride and of course economic stimulation to the City.

The theme of the event is based around mateship – catching up with old mates, finding new mates, even meeting your soul mate and activities will focus on opportunities for people to interact and enjoy quality time together.

In a time of increasingly challenging economics, the World’s Biggest Sleepover is a relatively inexpensive way to generate income potential for the majority of Maitland based businesses. A flow on effect will be created from festival participants and locals alike as they spend money throughout the City during their stay.



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To help give back to the community for their support it is planned to align the World’s Biggest Sleepover with a charitable organisation. This partnership will reiterate the events community message and bring further benefit to Maitland and Hunter Valley residents through the contribution by the event to this charity. Investigations into suitable charities are now underway.

Program:

Maitland Tourism will develop and manage a core program of activities for the weekend, which will include 1 – 2 feature events at key locations throughout the City. However to expand the program on offer businesses, community groups and individuals will be encouraged to host their own events and activities.

It is important to know that whilst the highlight of the weekend is the sleepover on Saturday 10 July the program of activities will be designed to be held throughout the entire weekend.

Potential events that might be organised by the community throughout the weekend could include but are not limited to:

• All night movie marathon

• Vintage and veteran car show

• Indoor bowling competition or other sporting carnival

• Events or activities that relate to discovering family history, heritage etc.

• Family, workplace and school reunions

• Markets and fetes

• Group sleepovers

• Speed dating or other events for singles

These parties will take on the ‘ownership’ of these activities with Maitland Tourism staff available for support throughout the planning process. Their events will be registered and promoted as key activities via the website and marketing plan for the Sleepover.

Information relating to the Sleepover is currently being distributed to residents, local businesses and community groups to advise them of the event and encourage their involvement and where appropriate meetings will be held to ensure a comprehensive and complementary program for the event is developed.

Marketing:

Maitland is able to gain a tourism / marketing profile through events that it could never achieve through general tourism advertising alone. The World’s Biggest Sleepover has the potential to draw not only regional and interstate media interest but international attention due to the Guinness World Record attempt.



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A play on words will see Maitland become Mateland for the weekend. The event brand has been developed to incorporate the underlying values of the event (see attachment for sample brand and marketing materials). The multimedia marketing plan will incorporate advertisements in local and state print media, television and radio. In addition social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter will be used to build anticipation, discussion and attendee participation/registration for the weekend. Relationships will also be built with key media representatives to gain editorial and free / low cost coverage whilst relevant companies / websites will be approached to generate listings and links for the Sleepover on their sites. Proforma posters and flyers will be developed and distributed to participating groups enabling them to promote their activities individually but within the broader brand of the Sleepover. Sponsorship will also be sought for key activities. CONCLUSION Tourism events are an invaluable means of building tourism profile, expenditure and return visitation. Whilst the World’s Biggest Sleepover will deliver these objectives it also has the capacity to offer the community and visitors something more. The opportunity for residents and visitors to reconnect with traditional values, to take stock of what is important in life and to share quality time with those that are important to them. As its success is reliant on active community participation it also empowers them to determine the level of its ultimate success and impact on the social, cultural and economic sectors of the City.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS The World’s Biggest Sleepover is budgeted to be cost neutral and therefore has no financial impact upon Council’s budget or forward estimates. POLICY IMPLICATIONS This matter has no specific policy implications for Council. STATUTORY IMPLICATIONS There are no statutory implications under the Local Government Act 1993 with this matter.


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12.3 STATEMENT OF INVESTMENTS AS AT NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2009

File No: 82/2 Attachments: 1. November 2009

2. December 2009 3. S&P Ratings Definitions

Responsible Officer: Graeme Tolhurst - Group Manager Finance and Administration

Author: Kristy Bragg - Compliance Accountant

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Local Government (General) Regulation 2005, Section 212 requires Council to report its investments. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT the report be received and noted. REPORT The current market trends are continuing and the process of recovery will be long and measured. During this recovery process it should be expected that there will be some implications for Council’s investment portfolio. Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) have recently redefined their methodology and assumptions for rating securities and as such there has been some changes to the ratings of some Council held investments. Namely; o Select Access Investments 2005-4 has been downgraded from AAA to A+ during

November 2009. Council has been advised from Oakvale Capital that with less than 12 months to maturity on this investment and a reasonable amount of subordination remaining, at this stage the Select Access security appears to be on track to reach maturity without loss of capital.

o Magnolia Finance PLC 2005-14 has been downgraded from AA to NR during

December 2009. According to the S&P definition “this indicates that no rating has been requested, that there is insufficient information on which to base a rating, or that S&P does not rate a particular obligation as a matter of policy.” This has occurred as the collateral for this security, BayernLB has requested that its rating be withdrawn from S&P. However S&P have noted that given the high systemic importance of BayernLB to Bavaria and the Federal Public of Germany it would receive extraordinary financial support from Bavaria.

Council is still expecting the default of the Credit Linked Asset Prepackagings (CLEAR) PLC Series 34 CDO in the amount of $500,000 to be imminent.


STATEMENT OF INVESTMENTS AS AT NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2009 (Cont.)

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Despite these changes, Council’s investment advisors continue to indicate the following:

(a) Categories 1 – 3: (Asset Backed Securities, Credit Linked Note Investment Group (Stock Exchange) and Credit Linked Note Investment Group) Given the current market, selling these investments is not a viable option as this would crystallise losses which otherwise may be avoided if the investments are held to maturity.

(b) Categories 4 - 7: (Bank Bill Investment Group, Floating Rate Note Investment Group, Term Investment Group and On-call Account) Although the market valuations will continue to fluctuate on a month to month basis, it is expected that all of Council’s capital will be returned on maturity.

Council will maintain a conservative and prudent investment strategy aimed at protecting its capital as opposed to generating high interest revenue. Council’s investment portfolio will continue to be monitored closely, with all relevant information being disclosed to Council regularly.

Please find attached:

• Summary of Investments as at 30 November 09 - Table

• Summary of Investments as at 31 December 09 - Table

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS Whilst the RBA has now started to increase the official cash rate, there have already been adverse impacts on all cash and term deposit investments held by Council, resulting in reduced interest income. Any adjustments will be addressed as part of the quarterly budget review process. POLICY IMPLICATIONS Council’s investments are made in accordance with Council’s Investment Policy. STATUTORY IMPLICATIONS The above sums have been invested in accordance with:

• Section 625 of the Local Government Act 1993 • The regulations pertaining to the Local Government Act 1993 • Council’s Investment Policies



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Finance and Administration Reports

STATEMENT OF INVESTMENTS AS AT NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER

2009

November 2009


Attachment No: 1

Number of Pages: 5



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Summary of Investments: 1. Asset Backed Securities

Investment Purchase Date

Maturity Date

Original Standard & Poors Rating

Current Standard & Poors Rating

Face Value

Market Value as at Nov 2009

Reset / Coupon

Date

Current Coupon Interest

Rate

Govt Guarante

e (Y or N)

See Note

Credit Linked Asset Prepackagings PLC Series 34

2 Apr 07 21 Mar 12

AA CCC- 500,000 713 20 Dec 09

3.34% N 2 & 6

TOTAL 500,000 713 2. Credit Linked Note Investment Group (Stock Exchange) (CDOs)


Maturity Date



Face Value


Reset / Coupon

Date


Rate

Govt Guarantee

(Y or N) See Note

Generator Income Note

8 Apr 05 10 Oct 11

AAA AA 1,000,000 495,000 NA Nil N 2 & 5

TOTAL 1,000,000 495,000



Page (186)

3. Credit Linked Note Investment Group (CDOs)


Maturity Date



Face Value


Reset / Coupon

Date


Rate

Govt Guarantee

(Y or N) See Note

Select Access Investments 2005-4

14 Jun 05 14 Dec 10

AAA A+ 500,000 452,109 14 Dec 09

4.2433% N 2

Magnolia Finance PLC 2005-14

27 Jun 05 20 Mar 12

AA BB 1,500,000 1,079,956 21 Dec 09

4.775% N 2

TOTAL 2,000,000 1,532,065 4. Bank Bill Investment Group


Maturity Date



Face Value


Reset / Coupon

Date


Rate

Govt Guarantee

(Y or N) See Note

ANZ Banking Group Ltd

10 Nov 09 8 Dec 09 A-1+ A-1+ 1,000,000 999,211 8 Dec 09 3.67% Y 7

TOTAL 1,000,000 999,211



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5. Floating Rate Note Investment Group


Maturity Date



Face Value


Reset / Coupon

Date


Rate

Govt Guarantee

(Y or N) See Note

Westpac Banking Corporation Subordinated Debt

13 Nov 07 16 Nov 10

AA- AA- 2,000,000 1,977,680 16 Feb 10

4.265% N 2

Bendigo Bank Subordinated Debt

14 Nov 07 9 Nov 12 BBB+ BBB 900,000 832,778 8 Feb 10 5.15% N 2

Maitland Mutual Building Society Subordinated Debt

31 Dec 07 31 Dec 12

N/A N/A 2,000,000 1,419,258 31 Dec 09

4.3767% N 2 &4


7 Mar 08 24 Jan 12

AA- AA- 1,000,000 971,459 25 Jan 10

4.1033% N 2

HSBC Bank Australia Sub Debt

14 Mar 08 15 Mar 13

AA- AA- 1,000,000 968,140 15 Dec 09

5.655% N 2

ANZ Banking Group

22 Apr 08 22 Apr 13

AA AA 500,000 508,505 22 Jan 10

5.14% N 2

Holiday Coast Credit Union Sub Debt

26 May 03 16 Apr 13

N/A N/A 500,000 422,920 18 Jan 10

7.60% N 2 & 4

Commonwealth Bank of Australia

24 Jun 08 24 Jun 11

AA AA 500,000 506,265 24 Dec 09

4.11% N 2

National Australia Bank

16 Sep 09 16 Sep 14

AA AA 1,000,000 1,011,401 16 Dec 09

4.3667% N 2

TOTAL 9,400,000 8,618,406



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6. Term Investment Group


Maturity /

Rollover Date



Face Value


Maturity /

Rollover Date


Rate

Govt Guarantee

(Y or N) See Note

Macquarie Bank Limited

9 Mar 09 9 Mar 10 A-1 A-1 2,500,000 2,577,716 9 Mar 10 4.25% Y 3


28 Sep 09

29 Dec 09

A-1+ A-1+ 1,000,000 1,007,458 29 Dec 09

4.20% N 3

Bank of Queensland

16 Sep 09

14 Jan 10

A-2 A-2 1,000,000 1,009,819 14 Jan 10

4.50% Y 3

IMB Limited 3 Jun 09 4 Dec 09 A-2 A-2 1,000,000 1,021,027 4 Dec 09 4.25% Y 3


2 Sep 09 1 Dec 09 A-1+ A-1+ 1,000,000 1,010,259 1 Dec 09 4.20% Y 3


14 Sep 09

16 Aug 10

A-1+ A-1+ 1,000,000 1,015,570 16 Aug 10

5.20% N 3

Bank of Western Australia

3 Nov 09 1 Dec 09 A-1+ A-1+ 1,000,000 1,003,164 1 Dec 09 4.25% N 3

Credit Union Australia

8 Sep 09 8 Apr 10 N/A N/A 1,000,000 1,015,099 8 Apr 10 5.18% Y 3 & 4


17 Nov 09

15 Dec 09

A-1+ A-1+ 1,000,000 1,002,003 15 Dec 09

4.60% Y 3


21 Sep 09

21 Sep 10

A-1+ A-1+ 1,000,000 1,013,026 21 Sep 10

5.00% N 3

Newcastle Permanent Building Society

28 Aug 09

24 Feb 10

A-2 A-2 1,000,000 1,014,889 24 Feb 10

5.00% Y 3 & 4

TOTAL 12,500,000 12,690,030



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7. On-call Accounts


Maturity Date



Face Value


Reset / Coupon

Date


Rate

Govt Guarantee

(Y or N) See Note

National Australia Bank Professional Funds Account

N/A N/A A-1+ A-1+ 5,877,951 5,877,951 N/A 3.55% N 1

TOTAL 5,877,951 5,877,951

GRAND TOTAL $32,277,951 $30,213,376

Notes: 1. These funds are not held on a fixed term. The funds are redeemed as and when required. Hence these investments do not have a market value that differs from the face value invested. Council would receive all of its capital back if it was to completely redeem these investments. During these uncertain times Council is holding more funds in this account as they can be fully redeemed within an hour. Council needs to ensure that it has adequate cashflow to be able to fund its immediate obligations for payroll and to its creditors. The on-call account continues to pay good interest given the short term investment of these funds. 2. The interest rate shown applies for the period ending on the current coupon reset date. The interest rate will then reset for the next term based on current BBSW (Bank Bill Swap Rate). These investments can be sold within 3 days at prevailing market prices. The market price can fluctuate on the face value of the investment. Therefore regardless of any changes to market value, there is no realised loss as Council continues to hold the investment to maturity. Given the current market values it would be unwise to crystallise the loss by selling these investments. 3. Term deposit required to be held to maturity. 4. Building Societies and Credit Unions are not rated by Standard & Poor’s, however these investments are issued by authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) as defined by the Banking Act 1959 (Cwth). As such these investments are made in accordance with the order of the Minister regarding investments for the purpose of Section 625 (2), subsection (d) of the Local Government Act 1993. 5. Generator Note – As a result of credit events this security is no longer paying any interest income. The subordination structure of this security was constructed to protect the principal of the investment, with the impact being felt by the income component. Hence as credit events have occurred this has resulted in a loss of interest income. 6. If current market trends continue, this investment is at risk of default. Currently this investment continues to deliver a high, consistent income stream in line with Council’s original investment objectives. 7. Bank Bills are short-term investments offered with a very high credit standing, consequently trading at low yields. They are very liquid assets and can be sold at any point in time at prevailing market prices without incurring break fees. 8. During the 2008/09 financial year to date Council has had one investment that has defaulted and capital was lost in the amount of $500,000. 9. The face value of investments per the investment report above are adjusted for impairments on categories 1-3 to arrive at the value of investments shown in Council’s Monthly Financial Report.



Page (190)


STATEMENT OF INVESTMENTS AS AT NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2009

December 2009


Attachment No: 2

Number of Pages: 5



Page (191)

Summary of Investments: 1. Asset Backed Securities


Maturity Date



Face Value

Market Value as at Dec 2009

Reset / Coupon

Date


Rate

Govt Guarante

e (Y or N)

See Note

Credit Linked Asset Prepackagings PLC Series 34

2 Apr 07 21 Mar 12

AA CCC- 500,000 237 20 Mar 10

4.088% N 2 & 6

TOTAL 500,000 237 2. Credit Linked Note Investment Group (Stock Exchange) (CDOs)


Maturity Date



Face Value


Reset / Coupon

Date


Rate

Govt Guarantee

(Y or N) See Note

Generator Income Note

8 Apr 05 10 Oct 11

AAA A- 1,000,000 545,500 NA Nil N 2 & 5

TOTAL 1,000,000 545,500



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3. Credit Linked Note Investment Group (CDOs)


Maturity Date



Face Value


Reset / Coupon

Date


Rate

Govt Guarantee

(Y or N) See Note

Select Access Investments 2005-4

14 Jun 05 14 Dec 10

AAA A+ 500,000 452,886 15 Mar 10

5.07% N 2

Magnolia Finance PLC 2005-14

27 Jun 05 20 Mar 12

AA NR 1,500,000 1,123,537 20 Mar 10

5.5233% N 2 & 10

TOTAL 2,000,000 1,576,423 4. Bank Bill Investment Group


Maturity Date



Face Value


Reset / Coupon

Date


Rate

Govt Guarantee

(Y or N) See Note

ANZ Banking Group Ltd

10 Nov 09 8 Dec 09 A-1+ A-1+ 1,000,000 999,484 5 Jan 10 3.97% Y 7

TOTAL 1,000,000 999,484



Page (193)

5. Floating Rate Note Investment Group


Maturity Date



Face Value


Reset / Coupon

Date


Rate

Govt Guarantee

(Y or N) See Note


13 Nov 07 16 Nov 10

AA- AA- 2,000,000 1,985,020 16 Feb 10

4.265% N 2

Bendigo Bank Subordinated Debt

14 Nov 07 9 Nov 12 BBB+ BBB 900,000 849,221 9 Feb 10 5.15% N 2

Maitland Mutual Building Society Subordinated Debt

31 Dec 07 31 Dec 12

N/A N/A 2,000,000 1,418,548 31 Mar 10

5.2783% N 2 &4


7 Mar 08 24 Jan 12

AA- AA- 1,000,000 976,250 25 Jan 10

4.1033% N 2

HSBC Bank Australia Sub Debt

14 Mar 08 15 Mar 13

AA- AA- 1,000,000 960,330 15 Mar 10

6.45% N 2

ANZ Banking Group

22 Apr 08 22 Apr 13

AA AA 500,000 510,572 22 Jan 10

5.14% N 2

Holiday Coast Credit Union Sub Debt

26 May 03 16 Apr 13

N/A N/A 500,000 428,020 18 Jan 10

7.60% N 2 & 4

Commonwealth Bank of Australia

24 Jun 08 24 Jun 11

AA AA 500,000 502,950 24 Mar 10

5.00% N 2


16 Sep 09 16 Sep 14

AA AA 1,000,000 1,004,340 16 Mar 10

5.0633% N 2

TOTAL 9,400,000 8,635,251



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6. Term Investment Group


Maturity /

Rollover Date



Face Value


Maturity /

Rollover Date


Rate

Govt Guarantee

(Y or N) See Note

Macquarie Bank Limited

9 Mar 09 9 Mar 10 A-1 A-1 2,500,000 2,585,896 9 Mar 10 4.25% Y 3

Bank of Queensland

16 Sep 09

14 Jan 10

A-2 A-2 1,000,000 1,013,269 14 Jan 10

4.50% Y 3

IMB Limited 3 Jun 09 4 Dec 09 A-2 A-2 1,000,000 1,007,096 9 Apr 10 5.50% Y 3


14 Sep 09

16 Aug 10

A-1+ A-1+ 1,000,000 1,018,986 16 Aug 10

5.20% N 3


1 Dec 09 5 Jan 10 A-1+ A-1+ 1,000,000 1,003,893 5 Jan 10 4.60% N 3

Credit Union Australia

8 Sep 09 8 Apr 10 N/A N/A 1,000,000 1018,354 8 Apr 10 5.18% Y 3 & 4


15 Dec 09

12 Jan 10

A-1+ A-1+ 1,000,000 1,002,406 12 Jan 10

4.80% Y 3


21 Sep 09

21 Sep 10

A-1+ A-1+ 1,000,000 1016,217 21 Sep 10

5.00% N 3

Newcastle Permanent Building Society

28 Aug 09

24 Feb 10

A-2 A-2 1,000,000 1,018,153 24 Feb 10

5.00% Y 3 & 4

Westpac Banking Corporation

3 Dec 09 6 Dec 10 A-1+ A-1+ 1,000,000 1,023,543 6 Dec 10 6.80% Y 3



Page (195)

Suncorp Metway

4 Dec 09 8 Jun 10 A-1 A-1 1,000,000 1,010,052 8 Jun 10 5.80% Y 3

St George bank Limited

4 Dec 09 6 Dec 10 A-1+ A-1+ 1,000,000 1,023,364 6 Dec 10 6.80% Y 3


29 Dec 09

27 Apr 10

A-1+ A-1+ 1,000,000 1,003,636 27 Apr 10

5.37% N 3

TOTAL 14,500,000 14,744,865



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7. On-call Accounts


Maturity Date



Face Value


Reset / Coupon

Date


Rate

Govt Guarantee

(Y or N) See Note

National Australia Bank Professional Funds Account

N/A N/A A-1+ A-1+ 4,027,951 4,027,951 N/A 3.80% N 1

TOTAL 4,027,951 4,027,951

GRAND TOTAL $32,427,951 $30,529,711

Notes: 1. These funds are not held on a fixed term. The funds are redeemed as and when required. Hence these investments do not have a market value that differs from the face value invested. Council would receive all of its capital back if it was to completely redeem these investments. During these uncertain times Council is holding more funds in this account as they can be fully redeemed within an hour. Council needs to ensure that it has adequate cashflow to be able to fund its immediate obligations for payroll and to its creditors. The on-call account continues to pay good interest given the short term investment of these funds. 2. The interest rate shown applies for the period ending on the current coupon reset date. The interest rate will then reset for the next term based on current BBSW (Bank Bill Swap Rate). These investments can be sold within 3 days at prevailing market prices. The market price can fluctuate on the face value of the investment. Therefore regardless of any changes to market value, there is no realised loss as Council continues to hold the investment to maturity. Given the current market values it would be unwise to crystallise the loss by selling these investments. 3. Term deposit required to be held to maturity. 4. Building Societies and Credit Unions are not rated by Standard & Poor’s, however these investments are issued by authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) as defined by the Banking Act 1959 (Cwth). As such these investments are made in accordance with the order of the Minister regarding investments for the purpose of Section 625 (2), subsection (d) of the Local Government Act 1993. 5. Generator Note – As a result of credit events this security is no longer paying any interest income. The subordination structure of this security was constructed to protect the principal of the investment, with the impact being felt by the income component. Hence as credit events have occurred this has resulted in a loss of interest income. 6. If current market trends continue, this investment is at risk of default. Currently this investment continues to deliver a high, consistent income stream in line with Council’s original investment objectives. 7. Bank Bills are short-term investments offered with a very high credit standing, consequently trading at low yields. They are very liquid assets and can be sold at any point in time at prevailing market prices without incurring break fees. 8. During the 2008/09 financial year to date Council has had one investment that has defaulted and capital was lost in the amount of $500,000. 9. The face value of investments per the investment report above are adjusted for impairments on categories 1-3 to arrive at the value of investments shown in Council’s Monthly Financial Report. 10. The Magnolia Finance PLC 2005-14 investment is now rated NR by Standard & Poor’s (S&P). According to the S&P definition “this indicates that no rating has been requested, that there is insufficient information on which to base a rating, or that S&P does not rate a particular obligation as a matter of policy.” This has occurred as the collateral for this security has requested that its rating be withdrawn from S&P.



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STATEMENT OF INVESTMENTS AS AT NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2009

S&P Ratings Definitions


Attachment No: 3

Number of Pages: 3



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13 CITY WORKS AND SERVICES REPORTS

13.1 REVIEW OF COUNCIL'S PLANT AND FLEET

File No: 146/4 Attachments: 1. Annexure A - Current Plant & Equipment -

Replacement Policy 2. Annexure B - Amended Plant & Equipment -

Replacement Policy Responsible Officer: Wayne Cone - Group Manager City Works and

Services Author: Richard Minter - Manager Projects and City Services

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Council’s 2008/09 Management Plan included under “Responsible Asset Management” a review of Council’s plant and vehicle fleet. The review was completed in mid 2009 with a number of recommendations adopted which are now being implemented. The purpose of this report is to detail the main outcomes of the review and amend Council’s “Plant & Equipment – Replacement” policy. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT 1. The Plant & Equipment Replacement Policy adopted 26 February 2008

and contained in Annexure A be rescinded; and 2. Council adopt the Plant & Equipment Replacement Policy dated 19

January 2010 contained in Annexure B. REPORT Maitland City Council’s Management Plan for 2008/09 included a number of actions as a part of its vision statement. As a part of the section titled “Responsible Asset Management”, the following action item was included:

“Fleet Management Review

Undertake a review of the long term fleet management needs of Council incorporating heavy vehicles, light vehicles, plant and passenger vehicles. Review to consider the expected types of Council work in the future, effectiveness and efficiency, minimisation of ownership and operating costs, whole of life costs, fuel types and issues and environmental considerations. Produce a discussion paper, a 5 to 10 year strategy and develop policy on future direction.”


REVIEW OF COUNCIL'S PLANT AND FLEET (Cont.)

Page (202)

The fleet management review has been undertaken and was completed in mid 2009. A range of findings and recommendations were made, with these detailed below in regard to passenger vehicles and major and minor plant.

Passenger Vehicles

At the time of the passenger vehicle fleet review, Maitland City Council operated a fleet of passenger vehicles, predominantly under a contract with Heritage Motor Group, Maitland. The contract with Heritage Motor Group covered forty five (45) of Council’s passenger vehicle fleet and was for a two (2) year period from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2009 with a one (1) year option period to 30 June 2010.

The total fleet size of Council’s passenger vehicles is fifty six (56) vehicles. The vehicles within Council’s fleet at the time of the review were typically 6 cylinder sedans and wagons, with some smaller 4 cylinder vehicles. The vehicles were generally turned over every 25,000km.

The majority of the fleet operated on unleaded fuel with some vehicles operating on diesel fuel.

As a result of the passenger vehicle fleet review, a short term strategy was developed and the following was adopted:

• The one year option period for the Heritage Holden contract was exercised, however, the number of vehicles under the contract reduced from forty five (45) to approximately fifteen (15).

• The changeover period for passenger vehicles has been increased from 25,000km to 2 years/80,000km (whichever comes first).

• Staff are encouraged to take up 4 cylinder vehicles with a range of vehicles being offered.

• High annual travel 6 cylinder vehicles are to be changed from unleaded fuel to LPG fuel.

• Purchase of vehicles outside the Heritage Holden contract are made, where possible, through local dealers using government contract rates.

The direction detailed above is being progressively implemented with encouraging results to date. Prior to the review, 94% of Council’s non-contract staff passenger vehicles were 6 cylinder vehicles with just 6% being 4 cylinder vehicles. Based on current and proposed vehicles, the fleet mix is now 50% 4 cylinder vehicles, 38% 6 cylinder unleaded vehicles and 12% 6 cylinder LPG vehicles.

The adopted recommendations of the passenger vehicle fleet review have resulted in a significant increase in 4 cylinder vehicles in Council’s passenger vehicle fleet. Along with extended turnover periods, this will result in reduced costs to Council as well as environmental benefits through smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles. A further review to develop a five (5) year passenger vehicle strategy will be undertaken at the completion of the Heritage Holden contract.



Page (203)

Major and Minor Plant

Maitland City Council operates a major and minor plant fleet to undertake its civil construction, civil maintenance, recreation, waste services, building services and other functions. The fleet consists of a wide variety of items and includes everything from utilities to trucks of various sizes, road graders and backhoes, tractors, garbage trucks, a landfill compactor and rollers.

The majority of the fleet is owned directly by Council and is turned over at set intervals depending on the plant type. Council’s Waste Services plant (garbage trucks, landfill compactor and traxcavator) are purchased by Council through a hire purchase arrangement.

Given the nature of the major and minor plant fleet, almost all the fleet operates on diesel fuel. Council does not use any biofuels as a part of its operations. Council utility vehicles in the fleet operate on unleaded fuel.

The review into Council’s major and minor plant fleet has indicated that, whilst some changes are required, the major and minor plant fleet generally meets Council’s current needs and its likely needs into the near future.

Utilisation rates have been reviewed and found to be generally very good and are mostly meeting industry benchmarks. The ongoing review of utilisation is essential to ensure any low utilisation rates are identified and rectified. A quarterly review of plant utilisation rates will continue to be undertaken to ensure industry standard utilisation is being achieved.

Council’s five to ten year major and minor plant fleet requirements will generally be met by the current mix of plant items. As such, the fifteen (15) year rolling plant replacement program that is reviewed on an annual basis forms the 10 year major and minor plant strategy.

Some items will need future review or consideration including road graders, civil rollers, boom lift / cherry picker, backhoe loaders, excavators and trucks. These reviews are needed due to changes in the way some works are carried out by Council and will be undertaken over the next 12 to 18 months.

A review of environmental options and considerations has concluded that there would be minimal benefit for Council in the adoption of technology such as LPG injection systems, and that until the “food versus fuel” issue in regard to biodiesel is resolved and quality price competitive biodiesels are available, Council should not switch to biodiesel, but should continue operating on standard diesel fuel.

The review has identified that Council’s current policy covering replacement periods is appropriate with the exception of utility vehicles that should, to potentially further reduce costs, have the changeover period increased from 2-3 years to 2-4 years. Threshold values setting dollar limits for funding as plant, rather than tools and equipment, should be increased in the policy from $3,000 to $5,000 to reflect price increases in the purchase costs of plant, tools and equipment.

Attached as Annexure A is the current Plant & Equipment – Replacement policy. The policy has been amended to reflect the two items above, with the amended policy contained in Annexure B.



Page (204)

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS The adopted recommendations from the fleet management review will result in savings in Council’s ongoing plant budget. These savings will be reflected in the 2010/11 budget currently being prepared. POLICY IMPLICATIONS If adopted, the Plant & Equipment Replacement policy contained in Annexure B of this report will replace the current Plant & Equipment Replacement policy contained in Annexure A. STATUTORY IMPLICATIONS There are no statutory implications under the Local Government Act 1993 with this matter.



Page (205)

City Works and Services Reports

REVIEW OF COUNCIL'S PLANT AND FLEET

Annexure A - Current Plant & Equipment - Replacement Policy


Attachment No: 1

Number of Pages: 3



Page (206)

Policy Name: PLANT & EQUIPMENT – REPLACEMENT

File Number: 12/6

Date Approved: 26/2/08

Policy Review Date: As needed

Business Group: City Works & Services

Responsible Officer: Group Manager City Works & Services

Further Information:

OBJECTIVE To ensure Council’s plant/vehicles and other mechanical equipment is available in good working order so as to achieve the best cost benefits for Council.

1. REPLACEMENT PERIODS Replacement periods will be set to provide the best economic turnover result for Council whilst also taking account of Council’s operational requirements and funding resources. In general, turnover periods for Plant and Equipment will be as follows:

Plant Item Turnover Period Utilities, wagons, vans and light trucks (Up to 2 tonne)

2 – 3 years

Purpose built vehicles (Up to 2 tonne / 4,500 GVM)

3 – 5 years

Truck (Over 2 tonne / 4,500 GVM) 5 – 7 years

Road Grader 7 – 9 years

Road Roller 7 – 9 years

Backhoe / Loader / Excavator 5 – 7 years

Skidsteer Loader 5 – 7 years

Tractor 5 – 7 years

Garbage truck 4 – 6 years

Water truck / fuel truck 7 – 9 years

Flocon truck 5 – 7 years

Caravan Amenities 10 – 12 years

Tree chipper 8 – 10 years



Page (207)

Stump grinder 8 – 10 years

Street Sweeper 4 – 6 years

Aerator 5 – 7 years

Broad area mower 5 – 7 years

Others On an as needs basis If it is necessary to replace an item of Plant or Equipment outside the usual replacement period, this will be reported to Council. 2. PURCHASING AND DISPOSAL 2.1 The purchasing of major Plant and Equipment should take into account the following (but

not limited to):

Demonstrated need for the item Cost analysis, taking into account the level of performance required Consideration of whether to purchase (by use of Council monies or loans), lease,

hire purchase or hire Utilisation levels

2.2 Purchases are to be undertaken in accordance with Council’s Procurement Policy. In

particular, purchases in excess of $150,000 (Incl. GST) are to be conducted through a tender process in accordance with the Local Government Act (1993) and the Local Government (General) Regulation (2005). Purchases below $150,000 (incl. GST) are to be conducted through a quotation process, with the number of quotes sought to be in accordance with the Procurement Policy.

2.3 Where an item of Plant or Equipment is no longer required, disposal can be by way of direct

sale by tender or motor vehicle auction. Disposal of the item of Plant or Equipment is to be approved by Council.

3. PLANT REPLACEMENT – GENERAL 3.1 A fifteen (15) year plant replacement program is to be maintained and reviewed annually

and is to be reported to Council on an annual basis. 3.2 An annual Plant Replacement Program is to be submitted to Council based on the fifteen

(15) replacement program. 3.3 Delegation is provided to the General Manager, under Section 377 of the local Government

Act (1993), to approve the purchase and replacement of major plant and vehicles in accordance with Council’s adopted annual Plant Replacement Program, subject to the changeover costs being within ten percent (10%) of the estimated changeover costs and within the total Council budget allocation for the program, and provided the purchase and replacement procedures are in accordance with Council’s Procurement Policy.



Page (208)

3.4 Tools and equipment of value less than $3,000 are not to be funded as plant, but are to be purchased from the budget allocation of the Division concerned.

3.5 Plant and equipment items valued at $1,000 or greater are to be capitalised and be given a

plant number.



Page (209)

City Works and Services Reports

REVIEW OF COUNCIL'S PLANT AND FLEET

Annexure B - Amended Plant & Equipment - Replacement Policy


Attachment No: 2

Number of Pages: 3



Page (210)

Policy Name: PLANT & EQUIPMENT – REPLACEMENT

File Number: 12/6

Date Approved: 26/2/08, 19/1/10

Policy Review Date: As needed

Business Group: City Works & Services

Responsible Officer: Group Manager City Works & Services

Further Information:

OBJECTIVE To ensure Council’s plant/vehicles and other mechanical equipment is available in good working order so as to achieve the best cost benefits for Council.

1. REPLACEMENT PERIODS Replacement periods will be set to provide the best economic turnover result for Council whilst also taking account of Council’s operational requirements and funding resources. In general, turnover periods for Plant and Equipment will be as follows:

Plant Item Turnover Period Utilities, wagons, vans and light trucks (Up to 2 tonne)

2 – 4 years

Purpose built vehicles (Up to 2 tonne / 4,500 GVM)

3 – 5 years

Truck (Over 2 tonne / 4,500 GVM) 5 – 7 years

Road Grader 7 – 9 years

Road Roller 7 – 9 years

Backhoe / Loader / Excavator 5 – 7 years

Skidsteer Loader 5 – 7 years

Tractor 5 – 7 years

Garbage truck 4 – 6 years

Water truck / fuel truck 7 – 9 years

Flocon truck 5 – 7 years

Caravan Amenities 10 – 12 years

Tree chipper 8 – 10 years



Page (211)

Stump grinder 8 – 10 years

Street Sweeper 4 – 6 years

Aerator 5 – 7 years

Broad area mower 5 – 7 years

Others On an as needs basis If it is necessary to replace an item of Plant or Equipment outside the usual replacement period, this will be reported to Council. 2. PURCHASING AND DISPOSAL 2.1 The purchasing of major Plant and Equipment should take into account the following (but

not limited to):

Demonstrated need for the item Cost analysis, taking into account the level of performance required Consideration of whether to purchase (by use of Council monies or loans), lease,

hire purchase or hire Utilisation levels

2.2 Purchases are to be undertaken in accordance with Council’s Procurement Policy. In

particular, purchases in excess of $150,000 (Incl. GST) are to be conducted through a tender process in accordance with the Local Government Act (1993) and the Local Government (General) Regulation (2005). Purchases below $150,000 (incl. GST) are to be conducted through a quotation process, with the number of quotes sought to be in accordance with the Procurement Policy.

2.3 Where an item of Plant or Equipment is no longer required, disposal can be by way of direct

sale by tender or motor vehicle auction. Disposal of the item of Plant or Equipment is to be approved by Council.

3. PLANT REPLACEMENT – GENERAL 3.1 A fifteen (15) year plant replacement program is to be maintained and reviewed annually

and is to be reported to Council on an annual basis. 3.2 An annual Plant Replacement Program is to be submitted to Council based on the fifteen

(15) replacement program. 3.3 Delegation is provided to the General Manager, under Section 377 of the local Government

Act (1993), to approve the purchase and replacement of major plant and vehicles in accordance with Council’s adopted annual Plant Replacement Program, subject to the changeover costs being within ten percent (10%) of the estimated changeover costs and within the total Council budget allocation for the program, and provided the purchase and replacement procedures are in accordance with Council’s Procurement Policy.



Page (212)

3.4 Tools and equipment of value less than $5,000 are not to be funded as plant, but are to be purchased from the budget allocation of the Division concerned.

3.5 Plant and equipment items valued at $1,000 or greater are to be capitalised and be given a

plant number.


Page (213)

14 ITEMS FOR INFORMATION

14.1 MAITLAND LOCAL DISASTER PLAN REVIEW

File No: 149/3 Attachments: Nil Responsible Officer: Wayne Cone - Group Manager City Works and

Services Author: Richard Minter - Manager Projects and City Services

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Local Emergency Management Committees are required to prepare a Disaster Plan (Displan) for their local government area. The Maitland Displan has been under review, with the review now completed and endorsed through the District Emergency Management Committee. A standardised Displan covering Cessnock, Dungog, Maitland and Port Stephens Councils has been adopted. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT the information contained in this Report be noted. REPORT A Local Emergency Management Committee (LEMC) is required to prepare a Disaster Plan (Displan) for their local government area. The Maitland LEMC has had a Displan in place with the last review of the Displan taking place following the June 2007 flood event. The Lower Hunter Emergency Management Coordinating Committee (LHEMCC) comprises representatives from the Cessnock, Dungog, Maitland and Port Stephens LEMC’s. The LHEMCC has been reviewing Displans with a view to combining the four (4) local government area Displans into one (1) generic Displan. The LHEMCC standardised Displan has now been developed, reviewed and approved by the individual LEMC’s with the Displan also tabled and endorsed by the District Emergency Management Committee at its meeting in November 2009. The Displan details arrangements that prevent or mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies within the Local Government Areas. The objectives of the Local Disaster Plan are to detail:

a) Responsibilities for prevention and mitigation strategies. b) Roles and responsibilities in preparation for response to and recovery

from emergencies – including which agency is responsible (ie the lead agency) for a range of potential hazard types such as flood, fire, earthquake, etc.


MAITLAND LOCAL DISASTER PLAN REVIEW (Cont.)

Page (214)

c) The control, coordination and liaison arrangements at the Local level, detailing how agencies will interact in the event of an emergency.

d) Activation and alerting arrangements including “Alert’, “Stand by”, “Callout Alert” and “Stand down and debrief” stages.

e) Arrangements for the acquisition and coordination of resources such as emergency funding, Commonwealth and Defence assistance and out of area assistance.

f) Public warning systems and responsibility for implementation. g) Public information arrangements and public education responsibilities. h) Emergency recovery operations covering recovery principles, planning for

recovery operations and disaster relief funding arrangements. i) Arrangements for the review, testing, evaluation and maintenance of the

plan. j) Reporting and information flow arrangements.

The guiding principle of the Displan is that the responsibility for preparation, response and recovery in relation to emergencies rests initially at the local level, with District, State or Commonwealth resources to be employed if the event is beyond capacity of the local resources. The advantage of a generic displan covering the four (4) local government areas is that it will allow enhanced cooperation and assistance between the four (4) councils in the event of an emergency. It will also allow emergency response agencies to deploy staff into any of the four (4) Council areas in the knowledge that all will be operating under the same documentation and procedures. The LHEMCC Displan is available to the public and can be accessed on Council’s website under the “Residents and Community” section.

ORDINARY MEETING 19 JANUARY 2010

Page (215)

14.2 KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS - DECEMBER 2009

File No: 35/57 Attachment/s: Nil Responsible Officer: Graeme Tolhurst - Group Manager Finance and

Administration Author: Melissa Allen - Executive Assistant Marketing and

Business Services

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report provides Council with information in relation to performance against key indicators. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT the information contained in this Report be noted. REPORT

This report provides regular monthly data against a set of core key performance indicators. These types of indicators align broadly with Council’s adopted Key Focus Areas and together provide an overall snapshot of activity in the Maitland Local Government Area. The aim of such reporting is to present the data in an informative and easily understood manner, so that Council can easily determine trends and / or anomalies that may require action. It is also intended that this type of reporting will provide an opportunity to highlight any key issues of particular importance to Council. Performance Indicator: Approval Statistics Approval statistics provide an indication of the level of building and development activity in the LGA, as well as the efficiency and effectiveness of our processing systems. Data is presented showing trends over the last twelve months for the number of applications (DAs and CCs) lodged with Council, the number approved and the number that remain outstanding. Median days and the estimated value of development and construction are also presented. For the 12 month period of January 2009 through to December 2009, the average monthly number of lodged Development Applications was 95 and the average monthly number of applications approved was 95. In December 2009, there were 87 applications lodged and 89 applications approved. The number of applications on-hand has decreased to 178.


KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS - DECEMBER 2009 (Cont.)

Page (216)

The Median Processing Times for Development Applications in December 2009 has increased to 24 days. The average Median Days for the twelve month period is 23 days. For the 12 (twelve) month period January 2009 through to December 2009, the average monthly number of lodged Construction Certificates was 61 and the average monthly number of approved Construction Certificates was 59. In December 2009, there were 59 Construction Certificates lodged and 52 approved. There are currently 123 applications on-hand. The Median Processing Times for Construction Certificates in December 2009 has decreased to 23 days. The twelve month period is 14 days. For the 12 (twelve) month period January 2009 through to December 2009, the average monthly number of lodged DA S96 Applications was 12 and the average monthly number of determined DA S96 Applications was 12. In December 2009, there were 10 DA S96 Applications lodged and 8 determined. There are currently 33 applications on-hand.



Page (217)

DAs - On-Hand, Lodged & Approved Applications

60

80

100

120

140

150155160165170175180185190195200205

Lodged 67 80 107 97 84 92 97 107 117 119 89 87

Approved 65 77 93 95 98 76 95 118 134 88 110 89

On-Hand 177 180 191 193 178 196 197 186 170 201 180 178

Jan-09 Feb-09 M ar-09 Apr-09 M ay-09 Jun-09 Jul-09 Aug-09 Sep-09 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09

DAs - Median Processing Times

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Calendar Days 29 21 28 23 25 22 22 20 21 21 23 24


DAs - Estimated Value of Development

$0

$10,000

$20,000

$30,000

$40,000

$50,000

$60,000

$70,000

$80,000

$90,000

$'00

0s

Est imated Value $5,889 $11,659 $8,545 $12,061 $23,011 $22,799 $12,130 $16,609 $80,848 $9,699 $15,540 $9,807




Page (218)

CCs - On-Hand, Lodged & Approved Applications

0

20

40

60

80

100

020406080100120140160

Lodged 45 52 73 45 52 64 66 75 77 81 47 59

Approved 47 49 58 62 48 45 53 80 89 57 73 52

On-Hand 99 102 115 98 101 120 133 128 117 142 116 123


Trendline - Approved

CCs - Median Processing Times

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Calendar Days 26 17 21 19 20 20 15 16 14 17 26 23


CCs Estimated Value of Construction

$0$1,000$2,000$3,000$4,000$5,000$6,000$7,000$8,000$9,000

$10,000

$'00

0s

Estimated Value $3,958 $4,682 $4,753 $4,151 $5,019 $4,060 $4,761 $8,552 $9,213 $4,579 $8,369 $4,980




Page (219)

DA S96 Applications - On-Hand, Lodged & Determined Applications

0

5

10

1520

25

30

35

40

0

5

10

1520

25

30

35

40

S96 Applications Lodged 9 7 11 12 9 16 9 19 22 10 12 10

S96 Applications Determined 10 5 12 9 9 11 19 14 17 18 13 8

S96 Applications On Hand 26 28 27 33 33 39 30 35 38 31 30 33




Page (220)

Performance Indicator: Consolidated Development Services Income The following graph shows actual YTD consolidated Development Services income to December 2009.

YTD CONSOLIDATED DEVELOPMENT SERVICES INCOME 2009/2010

$0

$250,000

$500,000

$750,000

$1,000,000

$1,250,000

$1,500,000

Org Vote $114,583 $229,167 $343,750 $458,333 $572,917 $687,500 $802,083 $916,667 $1,031,250 $1,145,833 $1,260,417 $1,375,000

YTD $166,024.3 $314,249.1 $481,183.19 $597,345.3 $773,395.4 $895,634.8 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Adj Vote $114,583 $229,167 $343,750 $463,076 $578,845 $694,614 $810,382 $926,151 $1,041,920 $1,157,689 $1,273,458 $1,389,227

J 09 A 09 S 09 O 09 N 09 D 09 J 10 F 10 M 10 A 10 M 10 J 10

Actual income is shown below.

MONTHLY CONSOLIDATED DEVELOPMENT SERVICES INCOME 2009/2010

$0.00

$25,000.00

$50,000.00

$75,000.00

$100,000.00

$125,000.00

$150,000.00

$175,000.00

$200,000.00

Actual $166,024.3 $148,224.8 $166,934.0 $135,111.01 $157,101.27 $122,239.3 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

AV M onthly $114,583 $114,583 $114,583 $115,769 $115,769 $115,769 $115,769 $115,769 $115,769 $115,769 $115,769 $115,769

J 09 A 09 S 09 O 09 N 09 D 09 J 10 F 10 M 10 A 10 M 10 J 10



Page (221)

Performance Indicator: Patronage of Community Services Patronage at Council’s libraries, art gallery and childhood immunisation clinics are displayed graphically below to more clearly identify trends of usage at the various facilities. Libraries Overall patronage trends at Council’s libraries for the months October to December 2009 inclusive are higher to the patronage trends for the corresponding period last year. Total patronage for all libraries for this three month period was 5.89% higher than the corresponding period last year. The same comparison but on an individual library basis reveals the following comparisons: City 6.43% lower East Maitland 4.78% higher Rutherford 22.96% higher Thornton 5.32% higher

LIBRARY VISITORS

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

City 5,313 4,749 3,817 5,123 4,548 3,315

East 7,470 6,094 5,112 7,800 6,430 5,338

Ruth 4,096 4,291 3,271 5,484 4,831 4,020

Thorn 4,702 4,403 3,946 5,118 4,651 3,976

Total 21,581 19,537 16,146 23,525 20,460 16,649

Oct 2008 Nov 2008 Dec 2008 Oct 2009 Nov 2009 Dec 2009

Library Visitors



Page (222)

Art Gallery MRAG COLLECTION– December 2009 Education after school/ weekend Programming Art Tuesdays Art Tuesdays is an after-school class for children aged 6-12, which runs every term on Tuesday afternoons from 4:00 – 5:30. The aim of the classes are to involve children in educational, enjoyable art classes that focus on the MRAG collection and on exhibitions on display, while at the same time teaching artistic skills to youngsters. Attendance Figures: Dec 1: 14 Dec 8: 14 Dec 15: 14 FREE Art Sundays FREE art Sundays is a free program open to all members of the public. It is a drop-in art workshop for children running from 11am – 1pm every Sunday. Each Sunday, the participants and their families have the chance to do a new art activity based on the artworks on exhibition in the gallery. Attendance Figures (children only, these figures do not include parents and caregivers): Dec 6: 6 Dec 13: 14 Dec 20: 8 Dec 27: 16 TOTAL after school/weekend education program visitors in December 09: 86 attendees (not including parents/caregivers) Education School visits MRAG Education provides a range of options for visiting school groups, including tours, workshops, talks and coordinated programs. Attendance Figures (students only, these figures do not include teachers or supervisors): Dec 1: Karuah Public School (59 students) Dec 1: Telarah Public School, self-guided visit (63 students) Dec 3: Gateshead West Public School (47 students) Dec 4: Gateshead Public School (34 students) Dec 4: Callaghan College Year 11 and 12 students (41 students) Dec 8: Cessnock Public School group 1 (77 students) Dec 10: Cessnock Public School group 2 (77 students) Dec 15: Kearsley Public School (56 students) TOTAL student group visitors in December 09: 454 students (not including teachers) MRAG Education ArtPass 2009 project (undertaken over October, November and December 2009)



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MRAG ArtPass ran at MRAG over Term 4 2009, and concluded in December with the end of the school year. The program was funded by ConnectEd, Arts NSW and also used some funds raised by other 2009 education programs at MRAG. The program aimed to bring students from Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 from 11 disadvantaged (PSP funded) schools, to visit the art gallery, many of which for the first time. MRAG Education coordinated whole-day school visits to MRAG which included 4 different art making and art appreciating workshops across the whole gallery, featuring the Art Factory, MRAG’s children’s art space. The primary aim of the school visit program was to promote the potential of MRAG as a site for future educational visits from schools, and so in 2009 MRAG targeted schools that were less likely to come of their own accord due to distance. 11 schools were contacted on the basis of their proximity to Maitland and to their PSP status (all schools being approximately 45 minutes away from MRAG). Of 12 schools originally contacted, 11 agreed to the program, and in total 745 students and 52 teachers attended the art gallery across Term 4 2009. Feedback from the teachers involved has been phenomenal, with all schools relaying to the gallery how unique the experience was for their children and how valuable it was educationally. One school commented: K-2 students and their teachers had the BEST day ever! Children talked about it for days. Lauren and her staff were fabulous, the activities were great, the whole gallery experience was magical! We can't wait to come again. We have never visited another art gallery as a school excursion. MRAG was fabulous! The layout is great, the exhibitions are great! Overall GREAT DAY! Although Lake Macquarie Art Gallery is near to us, we have never been invited to spend time there in this capacity. The children and the teachers of Fennell Bay had a great experience at MRAG. Education Special Events Brenda Clouten Memorial Travelling Scholarship for a Young Achiever in the Visual Arts Presentation Event December 4 2009: 90 attendees The Brenda Clouten Scholarship Presentation Event not only announced the winner of the 2009 award but also for the first time in the scholarship’s history opened an exhibition of the student’s work. This event was supported by scholarship founders Bruce and Vicki Woods. MRAG Christmas Morning Tea: Northern Highland Travel December 9 2009: 70 attendees MRAG Education and Northern Highland Travel have enjoyed a good working relationship in 2009, with over 14 school visits coordinated through MRAG Education and over 700 students transported by Northern Highland Travel. Northern Highland Travel was also celebrating the opening of their new local depot, and invited 70 friends and patrons of their coach service to the art gallery for a gallery talk and morning tea.



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MRAG Christmas Afternoon Tea: Telarah Public School December 18 2009: 35 attendees Telarah Public School is one of many local schools who enjoy a good working relationship with MRAG Education. In 2009, Telarah Public provided a representative for MRAG’s Education Advisory Team, and also had several individual teachers who have worked towards resource development for education visits in 2010. The teachers and staff of Telarah PS visited the art gallery for an afternoon tea on the final day of school, in order to promote the gallery and its education programs to all staff. TOTAL attendees at special events in December 09: 195 attendees at 3 functions MRAG COLLECTION– December 2009 Travelling Exhibitions The touring exhibition Salvatore Zofrea – Days of Summer is currently on exhibition at MRAG from 11th December – 28th February 2010. The exhibition Hanna Kay - Undertow is currently on exhibition at Tamworth Regional Gallery until the 10th January 2010 before going on to Moree. Cultural Gifts Program (CGP) Donations have been received for the next CGP meeting in March 2010 and include a folio of prints by artist Max Miller and three works donated by Geoff and Vicki Ainsworth. These works are currently being valued to complete the CGP documentation. Other donations include a portrait of Alan Jones by artist Peter Kingston, an Andy Devine print donated by Janis Wilton and approximately 100 works from various artists from donor Patrick Corrigan. All these items are in the process of being photographed and accessioned into the Collection and CGP documentation prepared. The total value of the MRAG Collection (not including the recent donations which have not yet been valued) is currently $3,716,034. MRAG SHOP – December 2009 Gallery Shop During the month of December the gallery shop gained a reputation for being a great shop to purchase Christmas gifts. Many favourable comments were received on the great selection and reasonable pricing of the stock. Most people appreciated that they were also purchasing a unique gift. December sales were across the whole range of items available – jewellery, antiques, glass, books, cards and accessories. Total income for shop items for December was $17364, with the gross profit for that period at $5728. PUBLIC PROGRAMS Exhibitions Two new exhibitions opened 11 December with well over 100 people in attendance. The current exhibitions are;



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Until 17 Jan, In Your Dreams; CAMILLE KERSLEY, of trees and love; Antarctica, a place in the wilderness; GISELLE PENN and MICHAEL GARTH Spanning the void Until 17 Jan, In Your Dreams- touring exhibition of fibres- textiles; CAMILLE KERSLEY, on trees and love; JUDY PARROTT, Antarctica, a place in the wilderness-touring exhibtion; GISELLE PENN and MICHAEL GARTH Spanning the void; Until 28 Feb; SALVATORE ZOFREA, Days of Summer, an MRAG Touring exhibition; TANYA RICHARDS, Sediments of Improvisation

ART GALLERY VISITORS

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

Art Gallery Visitors 1,435 1,566 1,040 3,173 2,118 3,073

1,435 1,566 1,040 3,173 2,118 3,073


Art Gallery Visitors



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Immunisation Clinics Immunisation attendances which increased since the introduction of the national Childhood Pneumococcal Vaccination Program in January 2005, have plateaued and remained stable in recent months. As an immunisation provider, Maitland City Council will continue to administer this expanded program for the children of Maitland.

IMMUNISATION ATTENDANCES

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Thornton 14 23 18 19 18 7

Rutherford 34 29 41 25 35 35

Town Hall 26 24 18 20 14 17

Total 74 76 77 64 67 59

Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Oct 09 Nov 09 Dec 09

Immunisation Attendances



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Swimming Pool Attendance Conditions Statistics from the Bureau of Meteorology for the Month of December 2009 were: (Figures taken at the Maitland Visitor Information Centre) Temperatures Min Max Lowest 8.0 20.3 Highest 21.0 41.0 Rainfall 57.5mm with 18.4mm on 27th December. Occurred 10 days during the month. Patronage Total December patronage was higher than last season by 656 (3.9% increase) making total attendance close to 56800. It is noted that the combined patronage levels to December are higher than for the previous three seasons. (see Table 1 and Graph 1). Table 1: Combined attendances for last four seasons

October Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar April Total 2006/2007 11523 19774 17057 23281 25452 16360 2307 1157542007/2008 11037 21480 15072 18338 19366 9518 1591 964022008/2009 14983 19908 16813 23489 19865 14944 2122 1121242009/2010 11611 27710 17469 56790

Graph 1: Combined attendances for last four seasons

Total Patronage

0

2500

5000

7500

10000

12500

15000

17500

20000

22500

25000

27500

30000

October Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar April

Months

Pat

rons

2006/20072007/20082008/20092009/2010

East Maitland’s patronage increased by 2,306 (38% increase), however Maitland’s decreased by 1,650 (15.2%). The increase at East Maitland is due to increased school sport usage, additional school learn to swim courses, school learn to swim programs, the increase of morning lap swimmers at East Maitland and good attendance for East Maitland Swimming Club nights. The decrease at Maitland is partly due the milder weather conditions.



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Swim and Survive, Learn to Swim Program The Council conducted Swim and Survive, Learn to Swim Program for Term 4 continued during December, at Maitland Pool. The 57 half hour, weekly classes conducted on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons as well as Saturday mornings ran until 12th December. 236 Learn to Swim students attended each week. Private lessons were also held at East Maitland. Council Picnic Day Maitland City Council staff and families held a successful Council Picnic Day on Friday 4th December, at Maitland Park. The activities for the day included dodgem cars, inflatable slides, merry go round, train rides and an inflatable obstacle course in the Maitland Pool. The highlight of the day was a visit from Santa Claus. The pool was closed to the general public from 10.00am to 2.30pm. Despite the mild conditions, every one enjoyed the day’s activities. Over 390 staff, family members and councilors attended on the day. Performance against KPI General admission fees are lower than expected at 31% (Maitland) and 38% (East Maitland) of the forecast annual sales. Season pass sales have been progressing well, with 102% of forecast season pass sales being reached by 4 January. The 20 entry concession passes are continuing to be very popular with families purchasing them for the school holidays. The sales of these passes would partly account for the decline in general admission fees. School usage at Maitland has been strong with 42% of forecast annual sales being achieved. In December a total of 1507 students attended Maitland Pool; the majority were from Hunter Valley Grammar, Maitland Christian, Metford Primary, Rutherford High, St John’s Primary, St Paul’s Primary, St Mary’s and St Peter’s Campus. Groups from Shortland, West Wallsend and Weston Primary schools also attended for end of year excursions. School usage at East Maitland has been strong with 52% of the forecast annual sales being achieved. In December 1894 students attended East Maitland Pool, from Bolwarra Primary, Maitland High, Maitland Grossmann High, Rutherford High, Hunter Valley Grammar, East Maitland Primary, St Peter’s Campus, St Joseph’s Primary, Tenambit Primary, Linuwel for school sport, Learn to Swim, and life saving accreditation. School Carnival season commenced with Telarah, St John’s and St Paul’s Primary holding successful carnivals at Maitland Pool. Stronger growth is anticipated in February when the majority of the carnivals will be held at both pools. Programs such as Learn to Swim are performing strongly, with 71% of the of annual forecast sales being achieved. This figure includes a large percentage of payments for Council’s January Intensive program. With an additional Council LTS program being conducted during Term 1, 2010, there is a strong likelihood the programs will exceed their annual forecast sales indicators. Lap swimmers numbers continue to be high with up to 40 attending East Maitland pool between 6.00am and 9.00am each weekday morning.



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School holiday patronage has been good with high attendances being recorded at both pools on the hot days.

Swimming Pool Attendance

02000400060008000

100001200014000160001800020000

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

M ait land Pool 378 10056 12674 10843 17259 12625 9306 2122 7581 15761 9193

East M ait land Pool 0 4549 7234 5970 6230 7240 5638 4030 11949 8276

Total At tendance 378 14605 19908 16813 23489 19865 14944 2122 11611 27710 17469

Sep 08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 M ar-09 Apr-09 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09



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Performance Indicator: Marketing and Business Strategy Visitor Information Centre Enquiries through the Maitland Visitor Information Centre for December 2009 totalled 14,296 bringing the total number of enquiries for 2009 to 214,279. Throughout December staff the have focussed on the development and sale of co-operative marketing packages for operators to participate in the 2010 Marketing Campaign, which will include the redevelopment of the Maitland Hunter Valley website, television, radio and print advertising as well as a Visiting Journalists Program and Media Kit, new brand imagery and new Visitors’ Guide and Calendar of Events, to be rolled out into the market place from February to June 2010. The Maitland, Hunter Valley website www.maitlandhuntervalley.com.au attracted 10,076 visitors who visited 26,653 pages.

VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRE ENQUIRIES

-200

4,800

9,800

14,800

19,800

24,800

29,800

Personal 3,632 3,218 2,976 3,403 2,718 3,040

Telephone 2,293 1,566 801 1,643 1,348 1,047

Mail 460 398 111 406 248 133

Internet 25,486 24,102 20,917 10,425 8,932 10,076


Maitland Reservations through the on line system that operates in conjunction with the website secured 36 bookings for the month of December totalling $4,779 of instantly confirmed and paid bookings. The Maitland Visitor Information Centre receives 11% commission in income from these bookings. The graph below displays the total number of bookings taken for the month of December along with total number of nights and total cost. The Centre booked a total of 36 bookings totalling 38 nights.



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VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRE ACCOMMODATION BOOKINGS

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

$0

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

$25,000

Number of Nights 75 78 125 98 95 45 71 77 159 138 79 38Bookings 68 72 95 60 69 40 49 65 119 109 56 36Total Cost $8,363 $9,272 $14,916 $10,940 $10,783 $5,157 $8,171 $8,698 $21,762 $14,957 $8,761 $4,779

Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09 Apr-09 May-09 Jun-09 Jul-09 Aug-09 Sep-09 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09



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Maitland Gaol The gaol visitation figures were reduced for December on previous years as there were no special Christmas activities run this year. Following the decline in numbers in 2008, the decision was made to present only dinner and tour packages in 2009 when the planned special functions had not been well booked by September. This reduced the numbers by approximately 300 but no costs were incurred. The lower tour numbers were almost fully attributable to a one-off booking in 2008 which was not repeated in 2009. Audio tours were firm on 2008 numbers.

Maitland Gaol Visitation Numbers

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

Visitors 3681 6907 2442 2797 6239 1677

Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09

Visitors



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Performance Indicator: Food Premises Inspections The number of inspections undertaken at Food Premises over the last 12 months is graphically presented below. The average number of monthly food premises inspections for this period was 16. During the month of December there was 1 Improvement Notice issued and 0 Penalty Infringement Notices issued.

FOOD PREMISES INSPECTIONS

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Inspections 16 30 1 17 11 53 3 6 11 6 27 13

Jan-09

Feb-09

Mar-09

Apr-09

May-09

Jun-09

Jul-09Aug-09

Sep-09

Oct-09

Nov-09

Dec-09



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Performance Indicator: Rates Collections As at 30th June 2009, 3.68% of rates levied for the 2008 / 2009 year remained uncollected. (In comparison, as at 30th June 2008, 5.30% of the rates levied for the 2007 /2008 year remained uncollected). The graph below shows the reductions achieved per month in the percentage of rates in arrears. Remaining arrears continue to be pursued through Council’s debt recovery agency and by Council’s debt recovery officer.

Percentage of Rates in Arrears

0.00%

1.00%

2.00%

3.00%

4.00%

5.00%

Fin Year 2007/08 5.41 4.61 3.97 3.57 2.64 2.32 2.16 1.96 1.75 1.63 1.52 1.36 1.22

Fin Year 2008/09 5.30 3.76 3.13 2.70 2.22 1.99 1.76 1.61 1.47 1.35 1.25 1.14 1.06

Fin Year 2009/10 3.68 3.25 2.79 2.44 2.05 1.81 1.66

Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June

As at 30th June 2009 the total rates outstanding was $1,263,179.30. At 31st December $571,692.45 of those rates remains unpaid.


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14.3 COUNCILLOR MOTIONS

File No: 35/61 Attachments: Nil Responsible Officer: Graeme Tolhurst - Group Manager Finance and

Administration Jon Dundas - Manager Administration and IT

Author: Nicole Kelly - Corporate Support Assistant

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The following report details the current status of Councillor motions which are currently being actioned by Council Officers. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT the information contained in this Report be noted. REPORT See attached report.


COUNCILLOR MOTIONS (Cont.)

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14.4 CUSTOMER SERVICE REPORT FOR DECEMBER 2009


Administration Author: Jon Dundas - Manager Administration and IT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The information contained in this report provides an indication of Council’s performance in the handling of customer service requests. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT the information contained in this Report be noted. REPORT The information below provides statistical information relating to customer service requests received and completed during the month of December 2009. The information supplied for this period will not include customer service requests received during the Christmas/New Year period as these were directed to Council’s after-hours number. Requests taken by the after-hours contractor during this period will be input into the Customer Service Request system and will appear in the January 2010 statistics to be reported to the February Council meeting. Total Requests Received:

630

Total Requests Finalised:

512

Within Timeframe 508 99.2% Outside Timeframe 4 0.8%

Total Requests Outstanding:

118

Within Timeframe 100 84.8% Outside Timeframe 18 15.2%

Completed Requests Request Types

Service Level (days) No.

Within Timeframe

Outside Timeframe

Barking Dog 30 days 25 100% Dog Attack-Serious(Injury) 10 days 5 100% Aggressive Dog (No Injury) 15 days 6 100% Stray/Roaming Dog 5 days 47 100% Stray/Roaming Livestock 3 days 2 100% Cat Matters 15 days 4 100% Keeping Of Animals 30 days 5 100%


CUSTOMER SERVICE REPORT FOR DECEMBER 2009 (Cont.)

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Air Pollution Domestic 30 days 1 100% Amplified Music 30 days 6 100% Trail Bikes 15 days 7 100% Noise Miscellaneous 30 days 3 100% Parking Infringement 5 days 6 100% Abandoned Vehicles 21 days 4 100% Illegal Rubbish Dumping 15 days 13 100% Footway Obstructions/Rangers 30 days 1 100% Roadside Vending 180 days 1 100% Overgrown/Unhealthy Property 70 days 10 100% Unauthorised Development 90 days 6 100% Non Compliance - Dev Consent 30 days 7 100% Community / Rec Building Mtce 90 days 39 100% Kerb & Gutter New 15 days 1 100% Kerb & Gutter Maintenance 15 days 1 100% Roadside Mowing 90 days 6 100% Park Trees 90 days 3 100% Vandalism (Graffiti) 40 days 7 100% Parks & Playing Fields(Mtce) 30 days 10 100% Road Failure/Works 15 days 5 100% Pot Holes Road 10 days 6 100% Incomplete Road Works 20 days 2 100% Road Work Signs/Barricades 30 days 1 100% Street Cleaning 7 days 22 100% Street Tree Maintenance 90 days 15 100% Street Furniture Repair / Mtce 40 days 3 100% Parking - Traffic Management 60 days 1 100% Pedestrian Issues & Crossings 120 days 1 100% Roadside Weed Spraying 90 days 4 100% Dead Animals On Roadside 3 days 7 100% Mgb Repairs 3 days 98 97% 3%Mgb Missed Service 3 days 53 100% Mgb Stolen 3 days 17 100% Garbage Truck Noise 20 days 1 100% Litter Street & Roadside 30 days 13 100% Swimming Pools – Private 30 days 1 100% Air Pollution Industrial/Commercial 60 days 1 100% Unhealthy Building 90 days 1 100% Heritage Mall Maintenance 90 days 5 100% Bridges - Minor Repair 15 days 1 100% Food Complaints 30 days 1 100% Mgb Miscellaneous – Depot Use Only 15 days 2 100% Pest - Street & Footpath 20 days 1 100% Footpath / Cycleway (Maintenance) 15 days 5 80% 20%Signs & Markings (New) 30 days 1 100% Signs & Markings (Maintenance) 15 days 18 100%


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14.5 COUNCIL'S HOMEPAGE STATISTICS


Administration Author: Adam McCarthy - Systems Administrator

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report provides statistics about Council’s web site. The statistics contained in the report allows Council to identify the type of services being accessed or used by the public and other organisations OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT the information contained in this Report be noted. REPORT

October 2009

November 2009

December 2009

No. of visits to the MCC website 23,269 26,428 23,579

No. of visits to the Community Directory 346 272 288

Online Mapping

Online Mapping

Online Mapping

Positions Vacant

Positions Vacant

Positions Vacant

Search Search Search

Library Shop News and Events

Top Five web pages with highest no. of visitors (not

homepage)

News and Events

News and Events Shop

No. of rates paid electronically (depends on

instalment dates) 34 327 143

No. of Property Certificates paid

electronically 80 83 46


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14.6 MONTHLY FINANCIAL REPORT - DECEMBER 2009

File No: 35/53 Attachments: 1. Financial Report - Dec 2009 Responsible Officer: Graeme Tolhurst - Group Manager Finance and

Administration Author: Kristy Bragg - Compliance Accountant

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report contains relevant performance data for Council. Besides being a valuable management tool, it is a performance reporting mechanism to the general community. OFFICER’S RECOMMENDATION THAT the information contained in this Report be noted. REPORT The Income Statement shows a surplus to the end of December 2009 of $23,392,000. Overall income is generally in line with budget year to date figures, except for grants and contributions provided for capital purposes. As previously reported, this surplus is due to a number of large Section 94 developer contributions being received, however as all Section 94 contributions are restricted, this surplus has no direct impact on current operations. Expenses are currently below the budget year to date figures, this is because a number of large projects have been scheduled for later in the year. The Balance Sheet shows that Council has net assets totalling $606,146,000.


MONTHLY FINANCIAL REPORT - DECEMBER 2009 (Cont.)

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Items for Information

MONTHLY FINANCIAL REPORT - DECEMBER 2009

Financial Report - Dec 2009


Attachment No: 1

Number of Pages: 2



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15 NOTICES OF MOTION/RESCISSION

15.1 MAINTENANCE OF THE NEW ENGLAND HIGHWAY IN MAITLAND CITY COUNCIL AREA

NOTICE OF MOTION SUBMITTED BY CLR RAY FAIRWEATHER

File No: 122/814 Attachments: 1. Notice of Motion - Maintenance of New

England Highway (HW9) in Maitland City Council Area

Responsible Officer: Chris James - Acting General Manager

Clr Ray Fairweather has indicated his intention to move the following Notice of Motion at the next Ordinary Council Meeting, as follows: THAT 1) The General Manager cause the appropriate council officers to be responsible for reporting to the contact persons listed in the attached document the need for maintenance, cleaning/removal of litter, mowing of areas as listed when necessary in order to maintain the area in a high state of cleanliness at all times. 2) Councillors reporting work required on the subject area do so through the established reporting system ‘Council Service Centre’ who will then contact the persons listed in the attached document. Note: Maitland City Council may have forgone their responsibility for maintaining the areas outlined in the attached document as at the 1st July 2009, however, Council must have an obligation to bring to the attention of RTA’s Road Services the need when necessary to maintain the area befitting a major city. An alternate measure would be for council to return to the previous arrangement prior to the 1st July 2009 if it is necessary to maintain a good image of the city. COMMENT BY GROUP MANAGER

The maintenance standards the RTA use on the New England Highway (NEH) are the same as those specified for Council’s contracts on the highway. The current procedures for handling requests for maintenance works on the NEH depends upon the location of the work and whether Council or the RTA is responsible for that particular section of the highway.

1. NEH work requests received from the community that fall into Council's responsibility area are handled through Council’s Customer Services and logged into the Customer Service Request System (CIVIL-CSR). The request is directed to the relevant Council Officer for inspection and action.


MAINTENANCE OF THE NEW ENGLAND HIGHWAY IN MAITLAND CITY COUNCIL AREA (Cont.)

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2. For NEH work requests received from the community that relate to areas that are the responsibility of the RTA, the customer is advised to contact the RTA directly. No request is logged into Council's CSR.

3. NEH work requests generated internally by Council officers that are in

locations that are the responsibility of the RTA are forwarded directly to the RTA.

As part of preparing comments on this notice of motion the above system has been reviewed and from now on all NEH work requests from the community will be logged into the CSR system. If the work is within Council’s responsibility area it will be directed to City Works and Services. For works outside the Council contract area, the request will be directed to Asset Infrastructure and Planning for referral to the RTA service provider. This process will ensure that works are sent efficiently to CW&S and referral to the RTA service provider will be appropriately actioned and documented. Council officers will continue to monitor the level of service delivered by RTA Road Services and advise the Authority of any Council concerns.



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Notices of Motion/Rescission

MAINTENANCE OF THE NEW ENGLAND HIGHWAY IN MAITLAND

CITY COUNCIL AREA

Notice of Motion - Maintenance of New England Highway (HW9) in Maitland

City Council Area


Attachment No: 1

Number of Pages: 1



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15.2 WOODBERRY SKATE PARK

NOTICE OF MOTION SUBMITTED BY CLR PHILIP PENFOLD

File No: 101/16/3 Attachments: 1. Woodberry Skate Park Responsible Officer: Chris James - Acting General Manager

David Simm - Acting Group Manager Service Planning & Regulation

Clr Philip Penfold has indicated his intention to move the following Notice of Motion at the next Ordinary Council Meeting, as follows: THAT 1) Council assess the existing skate facilities at Woodberry and investigate options for improving the facility. 2) A report be brought back to Council by the first meeting in March 2010 advising of the progress/outcome of the investigation including potential works, cost estimates, funding and partnership options. COMMENT BY COUNCILLOR

The skate ramps in Woodberry are half as wide at one end than the other.

This approx 2m section therefore requires the many skaters to both go down while others go up at the same time, with obvious risk.

The skate park in Woodberry is the only such facility for the residents of Beresfield, Tarro and Woodberry area (the former 2 being in Newcastle LGA). There is a footpath running the entire road (less than 1km) from Beresfield making it easy for residents of the Newcastle LGA to skate or ride to.

I understand that the Member for Maitland has also shown an interest in ensuring that quality facilities are provided in the Woodberry area and therefore suggest that the March report consider approaching the State to contribute to an improved facility.

COMMENT BY ACTING GROUP MANAGER

An assessment of the condition of the facility and consultation on the needs of the Woodberry community will be undertaken by Officers, and a detailed costing will be provided for consideration of Council. Opportunities for funding will be canvassed within such report.


WOODBERRY SKATE PARK (Cont.)

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Notices of Motion/Rescission

WOODBERRY SKATE PARK

Woodberry Skate Park


Attachment No: 1

Number of Pages: 1


WOODBERRY SKATE PARK (Cont.)

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16 QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

17 URGENT BUSINESS

18 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

Nil

19 CLOSURE

agenda of ordinary meeting - 19 january 2010 - maitland city

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