Agenda of Sustainable Economy Committee Meeting

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

What is a “Conflict of Interests” - A conflict of interests can be of two types:

Pecuniary - an interest that a person has in a matter because of a reasonable likelihood or expectation of appreciable financial gain or loss to the person or another person with whom the person is associated.

Non-pecuniary – a private or personal interest that a Council official has that does not amount to a pecuniary interest as defined in the Local Government Act (eg. A friendship, membership of an association, society or trade union or involvement or interest in an activity and may include an interest of a financial nature).

Remoteness – a person does not have a pecuniary interest in a matter if the interest is so remote or insignificant that it could not reasonably be regarded as likely to influence any decision the person might make in relation to a matter or if the interest is of a kind specified in Section 448 of the Local Government Act.

Who has a Pecuniary Interest? - a person has a pecuniary interest in a matter if the pecuniary interest is the interest of the person, or another person with whom the person is associated (see below).

Relatives, Partners - a person is taken to have a pecuniary interest in a matter if:

§ The person’s spouse or de facto partner or a relative of the person has a pecuniary interest in the matter, or

§ The person, or a nominee, partners or employer of the person, is a member of a company or other body that has a pecuniary interest in the matter.

N.B. “Relative”, in relation to a person means any of the following:

(a) the parent, grandparent, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, lineal descends or adopted child of the person or of the person’s spouse;

(b) the spouse or de facto partners of the person or of a person referred to in paragraph (a)

No Interest in the Matter - however, a person is not taken to have a pecuniary interest in a matter:

§ If the person is unaware of the relevant pecuniary interest of the spouse, de facto partner, relative or company or other body, or

§ Just because the person is a member of, or is employed by, the Council.

§ Just because the person is a member of, or a delegate of the Council to, a company or other body that has a pecuniary interest in the matter provided that the person has no beneficial interest in any shares of the company or body.

Disclosure and participation in meetings

§ A Councillor or a member of a Council Committee who has a pecuniary interest in any matter with which the Council is concerned and who is present at a meeting of the Council or Committee at which the matter is being considered must disclose the nature of the interest to the meeting as soon as practicable.

§ The Councillor or member must not be present at, or in sight of, the meeting of the Council or Committee:

(a) at any time during which the matter is being considered or discussed by the Council or Committee, or

(b) at any time during which the Council or Committee is voting on any question in relation to the matter.

No Knowledge - a person does not breach this Clause if the person did not know and could not reasonably be expected to have known that the matter under consideration at the meeting was a matter in which he or she had a pecuniary interest.

Participation in Meetings Despite Pecuniary Interest (S 452 Act)

A Councillor is not prevented from taking part in the consideration or discussion of, or from voting on, any of the matters/questions detailed in Section 452 of the Local Government Act.

Non-pecuniary Interests - Must be disclosed in meetings.

There are a broad range of options available for managing conflicts & the option chosen will depend on an assessment of the circumstances of the matter, the nature of the interest and the significance of the issue being dealt with. Non-pecuniary conflicts of interests must be dealt with in at least one of the following ways:

§ It may be appropriate that no action be taken where the potential for conflict is minimal. However, Councillors should consider providing an explanation of why they consider a conflict does not exist.

§ Limit involvement if practical (eg. Participate in discussion but not in decision making or vice-versa). Care needs to be taken when exercising this option.

§ Remove the source of the conflict (eg. Relinquishing or divesting the personal interest that creates the conflict)

§ Have no involvement by absenting yourself from and not taking part in any debate or voting on the issue as if the provisions in S451 of the Local Government Act apply (particularly if you have a significant non-pecuniary interest)

RECORDING OF VOTING ON PLANNING MATTERS

Clause 375A of the Local Government Act 1993 – Recording of voting on planning matters

(1) In this section, planning decision means a decision made in the exercise of a function of a council under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979:

(a) including a decision relating to a development application, an environmental planning instrument, a development control plan or a development contribution plan under that Act, but

(b) not including the making of an order under Division 2A of Part 6 of that Act.

(2) The general manager is required to keep a register containing, for each planning decision made at a meeting of the council or a council committee, the names of the councillors who supported the decision and the names of any councillors who opposed (or are taken to have opposed) the decision.

(3) For the purpose of maintaining the register, a division is required to be called whenever a motion for a planning decision is put at a meeting of the council or a council committee.

(4) Each decision recorded in the register is to be described in the register or identified in a manner that enables the description to be obtained from another publicly available document, and is to include the information required by the regulations.

(5) This section extends to a meeting that is closed to the public.

BYRON SHIRE COUNCIL

Staff Reports - Sustainable Environment and Economy 5.1

Staff Reports - Sustainable Environment and Economy

Report No. 5.1 Economic Development Strategy - Enterprising Byron 2025

Directorate: Sustainable Environment and Economy

Report Author: Jane Laverty, Economic Development and Tourism Coordinator

File No: I2015/839

Theme: Economy

Economic Development

Summary:

The Byron Shire Economic Development Strategy, Enterprising Byron 2025, is currently in development with a proposed sign-off timeframe for Council of September/October 2015. The Strategy development process has included industry conversations, sessions with Councillors and staff to create the strategy framework and set the guiding principles and community priorities. With the recent establishment of the Sustainable Economy Committee this is an opportunity to ground truth the framework, the draft strategies and delivery platform activities.

RECOMMENDATION:

That the Sustainable Economy Committee note the report and draft strategy overview to be presented and discussed during the session provided on Thursday 3 September 2015.

Report

The aim of Enterprise Byron 2025 is to deliver a resilient and diverse Byron Shire economy providing for the community in a sustainable manner.

The Byron Shire Economic Development Strategy, Enterprising Byron 2025, is an exciting opportunity for one of Australia’s most iconic destinations to demonstrate its capacity to deliver homegrown and inspired entrepreneurial activity and achievements.

Industry strengths in the visitor economy, creative and knowledge industries, the food economy and business services will continue to strengthen Byron’s brand integrity and create community opportunities for employment creation.

The Strategy development process has included business and industry conversations and sessions with Councillors and staff to create the strategy framework and set the guiding principles and community priorities for the Strategy.

Council's Sustainable Economy Committee can play a key role in the further development of the Strategy with discussion on the objectives, key strategies and unique delivery platform. Continued consultation with all stakeholders will deliver a strategy to guide projects through partnerships and collaboration and provide an action orientated approach to implementation.

Strategy Framework Diagram

An overview of the Strategy Framework

Understanding Byron – is an overview of Byron’s value proposition, a statistical data analysis of key indicators and snapshot of industry strengths and broader economic development enablers.

Guiding Principles – provides the strategy development process with high level goal posts considered important by all areas of the community to ensure that Byron continues to differentiate through sustainable core values.

Community Priorities & Imperatives – provides the core expectations of what the strategy will deliver for the community and guides how the delivery platform should operate.

Objectives – in combination with the guiding principles, provides a platform for the development of strategies. Baseline data aligns with each objective allowing capacity to be measured and ability to clearly point to the areas that are in most need of change and which can be delivered through industry strengths and visionary leadership.

Delivery Platform – each key strategy direction has a clear intent and is aligned with a flagship program and corresponding strategic activity. Each direction also points to an attitudinal strategy, institutional strategy and place based strategy.

Action Plan – provides a spreadsheet matrix detailing the strategy flow and next level actions, timeframes, partners and resources for implementation.

The following matrix provides an overview of content contained in each of the strategy framework areas.

Presentation and Feedback session

The session with the Sustainable Economy Committee on Thursday 3 September will be an opportunity to provide a more in-depth exploration of the strategy background and the delivery platform programs and activities and gather feedback.

Financial Implications

N/A at this stage

Statutory and Policy Compliance Implications

The Economic Development Strategy will provide a guide to economic development programs and investment of Council staff time in facilitation, partnerships and collaboration.

BYRON SHIRE COUNCIL

Staff Reports - Sustainable Environment and Economy 5.2

Report No. 5.2 Whale Trail and Foreshore Signage Project

Directorate: Sustainable Environment and Economy

Report Author: Joanne McMurtry, Community Policy Officer

File No: I2015/840

Theme: Economy

Economic Development

Summary:

The Whale Trail Project involves the establishment of interpretive signage along the Byron Bay Foreshore, in collaboration with key stakeholders. Permission was granted by the Reserve Trust (Resolution 15-336) to install signage. This report provides an overview of the project.

RECOMMENDATION:

That the Sustainable Economy Committee receive and note the report as part of the tourism update.

Report

The Byron Shire Tourism Management Plan identifies that where a destination offers a multi-dimensional range of visitor experiences, it is in a better competitive position than one which doesn’t. In addition to the iconic attractions, there needs to be diversity of tourism experiences to enhance the whole experience, encourage visitors to stay longer and improve the visitor yield. Objective eight outlines several strategies to enhance the ‘product’ on offer to visitors, including (S8.2) which suggests development and promotion of a series of touring/ itineraries for visitors.

The Whale Trail Project involves the establishment of interpretive signage along the Byron Bay Foreshore, in collaboration with key stakeholders.

Byron Shire Council was successful in obtaining a grant offered by the Department of Environment. Grants of up to $25,000 were made available in 2014-15 to local government authorities to install or improve existing whale watching facilities and/or interpretative signage. The grants were provided by the Australian Government, through the National Landcare Program – Natural Heritage Trust by the Minister of Environment, but were administered through the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage.

Byron Shire Council was successful in applying for this grant for:

· Several interpretive signs along the Byron foreshore to engage, educate and encourage participation in whale watching and other marine environmental activities in the Byron Shire. The signage will encourage increased whale watching in the area by indicating to visitors the best times of year for viewing, best vantage points, migration habits, lifecycle and biological characteristics of whales.

· The signage will link to websites that include interactive elements related to whale watching

· Partner with key stakeholders such as:

o National Parks and Wildlife (Byron Bay office have extensive whale interpretive information which they will provide as a partner to this project)

o Marine Parks Authority

o Southern Cross University’s Whale Research Group which supports research on whale and dolphin populations in the Southern Hemisphere

o Destination Byron, the Byron Bay Historical Society, Byron Visitor Centre and other identified local groups and experts.

This project provides an excellent opportunity to reinforce the ‘Byron, don’t spoil us, we’ll spoil you’ brand and will add a valuable additional product to the Byron Trails initiative.

The broad components of the project are described below:

There are obvious synergies between this project and the Foreshore History Trail that the Byron Bay Historical Society has developed. As much as possible, the two projects will be developed and installed together, looking to provide a coherent and creative visual identity/uniform ‘look and feel’ to the signage (incorporating signage together where appropriate and with all stakeholders working together).

A Brief Word about the Foreshore History Trail

The Byron Bay Historical Society has been working on the development of a Foreshore History Trail for some time.

The Trail includes up to 20 signage points/discrete bollards where residents and visitors can scan the QR code on the bollard with their smart phone, which takes them to a website that includes a historical story relevant to where they are standing.

The Historical Society has provided the following information:

· Map and Guide (2 pages)

· Example of information on top of each bollard, including QR code

· A powerpoint document linking the Foreshore History Trail to the Byron Bay Town Centre Masterplan ‘Place Vitality Criteria’

· An example of a story as displayed on the website (Captain Cook story)

The Byron Bay Historical Society is working hard to raise the funds needed to implement the project, which is approximately $10,000.

The Byron Bay Historical Society plan to undertake the following tasks:

A. Arrange for all materials to be made, including bollards, information plaques to go on the top of the bollards, printable maps/ brochures

B. Develop all relevant online content to link to the bollards

C. Arrange for the website set up and hosting (this could be incorporated into any future website work undertaken in the tourism arena by Council, Destination Byron, the Byron Visitor Centre and the like)

D. Maintain the bollards once installed

Council staff would be involved during the final phases of development through to installation, including Economic Development and Tourism staff and Open Space and Resource Recovery staff.

Financial Implications

A grant has been awarded to Council for $25,000 to implement the project.

Statutory and Policy Compliance Implications

Byron Shire Tourism Management Plan

BYRON SHIRE COUNCIL

Staff Reports - Sustainable Environment and Economy 5.3

Report No. 5.3 Update on Council's progress with events

Directorate: Sustainable Environment and Economy

Report Author: Claire McGarry, Events and Grants Officer

File No: I2015/846

Theme: Economy

Economic Development

Summary:

In September 2014, an Events and Grants Support Officer was appointed as a new role within Council, sitting within the Economic Development & Tourism team. One of the key functions of this role was to investigate ways in which Council could work better with local event organisers – streamlining and processes; improving customer service and communication; and supporting them in becoming best practice examples of event management.

This report, and the presentation that goes with it, will provide an update on progress with events.

RECOMMENDATION:

That the Sustainable Economy Committee receive and note the report and associated presentation.

Report

Events Process

In September 2014, an Events and Grants Support Officer was appointed as a new role within Council, sitting within the Economic Development & Tourism team. One of the key functions of this role was to investigate ways in which Council could work better with local event organisers – streamlining processes; improving customer service and communication; and supporting them in becoming best practice examples of event management.

For the first five months, the Events and Grants Support Officer mapped the existing internal processes relating to events and identified where processes are efficient and work well, and where they could be improved. Following on from this internal ‘audit’, a new events-related process was developed, in consultation with the relevant staff and managers, and is now six months into the ‘testing and monitoring’ phase.

Events Toolkit

Council has created an Events Toolkit to support the above streamlined process and improve our communication with event organisers. The toolkit is currently in draft form and will be presented to industry on Wednesday 19 August to gain their input and feedback before it is officially adopted by Council.

Events Strategy

The Events and Grants Support Officer is now developing an events strategy for the Shire, the framework of which will be presented at the Sustainable Economy Committee meeting.

Event Organisers’ Forum and Events Think-tank

Every quarter, Council hosts an ‘event organisers forum’. This forum provides an opportunity for event organisers to come together to share ideas, resources, network and learn about best practice event management models from outside the region.

Additionally, Council has established an Events Think-tank – an opportunity for new events, or events who are facing particular challenges, to access the expertise of local business owners and community members to gain feedback on ideas, brainstorm challenges and opportunities, and for new event organisers, gain contacts with local community and industry groups.

Presentation and Feedback session

The session with the Sustainable Economy Committee on Thursday 3 September will be an opportunity to provide a 15 minute presentation on the Events Toolkit and gather broader feedback.

Financial Implications

N/A

Statutory and Policy Compliance Implications

Events Policy – currently being updated.

Venue	Byron Community Centre - Cavanbah Room, Jonson Street, Byron Bay
Date	Thursday, 3 September 2015
Time	9.30am