Minutes
Ordinary Meeting
Thursday, 2 February 2017
Minutes
Ordinary Meeting
Thursday, 2 February 2017
BYRON SHIRE COUNCIL
Ordinary Meeting Minutes
2 February 2017
The following items are listed in the order in which they were dealt with.
Report No. 13.1 Council Investments 24 November to 31st December 2016
Report No. 13.3 Code of Conduct Annual Report 1 September 2015 - 31 August 2016
Report No. 13.4 Section 355 Committee - Resignation and Appointment of new members
Report No. 14.1 Report of the Finance Advisory Committee Meeting held on 10 November 2016
Report No. 16.1 CONFIDENTIAL - Tender 2016-0033 Construction of Sewerage Pump Station SPS5012
Report No. 13.2 2017/2018 Special Rate Variation Application
Delegates Report New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.............................................................. 13
Report No. 13.5 Rating and Revenue Options
Report No. 13.6 Proposed NBN Fixed Wireless Tower - 308 Coorabell Road
Report No. 13.7 Report of the Planning Review Committee Meeting held on 1 December, 2016
Petition No. 10.1 Objection to Designer Collective Markets and food Truck Street Party5
BYRON SHIRE COUNCIL
Ordinary Meeting Minutes 2 February 2017
MINUTES OF THE BYRON SHIRE COUNCIL Ordinary Meeting HELD ON Thursday, 2 February 2017 COMMENCING AT 9.04AM AND CONCLUDING AT 12.10PM
I2017/133
PRESENT: Cr S Richardson (Mayor), Cr B Cameron, Cr C Coorey, Cr J Hackett, Cr A Hunter, Cr M Lyon, Cr J Martin, Cr S Ndiaye and Cr P Spooner
Staff: Ken Gainger (General Manager)
Mark Arnold (Director Corporate and Community Services)
Phil Holloway (Director Infrastructure Services)
Shannon Burt (Director Sustainable Environment and Economy)
James Brickley (Manager Finance for item 13.2)
Ralph James (Coordinator Legal Services)
David Royston-Jennings (Minute Taker)
The Mayor opened the meeting and acknowledged that the meeting is being held on Arakwal Country and that we pay our respects to the elders past and present and extend our respect to the Bundjalung clans whose lands and waters are part of the Shire.
Prior to dealing with the circulated reports and associated information, a Public Access Session was held and Council was addressed on the following:
13.1 Council Investments 24 November to 31 December 2016
Chris Harris addressed Council against the recommendation.
13.2 2017/2018 Special Rate Variation Application
Chris Harris, Sandra Kessler and Kathy Norley addressed Council against the recommendation.
13.8 BSC & Anor ats Arnott – 10.2016.716.1 Three storey dwelling with basement at 27 Marine Parade, Wategoes
Chris Pratt, representing the applicant (accompanied by Kate Singleton) addressed Council.
Submission No. 1 Road Maintenance
Matthew Lambourne made a submission to Council regarding road maintenance.
Submission No. 2 Water Sensitive Living
Dr. Mary Gardner made a submission to Council regarding Water Sensitive Living.
Question No. 1 Illegal Holiday Letting
David Wallace asked the following question:
What were the other legal actions undertaken in the LEC against illegal holiday letting and what ongoing legal action has been undertaken to recover the $300,000?
The question was taken on notice.
The meeting adjourned at 9.38am and resumed at 10.06am.
There were no apologies.
There were no requests for leave of absence
Declarations of Interest – Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary
There were no declarations of interest.
Tabling of Pecuniary Interest Returns
There were no Pecuniary Interest Returns tabled.
Adoption of Minutes from Previous Meetings
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Resolved that the minutes of the following meetings be confirmed: · Ordinary Meeting held 15 December 2016 · Byron Shire Reserve Trust Committee held 15 December 2016 (Richardson/Hunter)
The motion was put to the vote and declared carried. |
Reservation of Items for Debate and Order of Business
The Mayor suspended standing orders to allow for items to be reserved for debate, being:
Staff Reports
Corporate and Community Services
Report No. 13.2 2017/2018 Special Rate Variation Application
Report No. 13.5 Rating and Revenue Options
Report No. 13.6 Proposed NBN Fixed Wireless Tower - 308 Coorabell Road
Sustainable Environment and Economy
Report No. 13.7 Report of the Planning Review Committee Meeting held on 1 December, 2016
Report No. 13.8 BSC & Anor ats Arnott-10.2016.716.1 Three storey dwelling with basement at 27 Marine Parade, Wategoes
Infrastructure Services
Report No. 14.3 Report of the Water, Waste and Sewer Advisory Committee Meeting held on 1 December 2016
The remaining Recommendations and Committee Recommendation were adopted as a whole, being moved by Cr Richardson and seconded by Cr Hunter. Each recommendation is recorded with a separate resolution number commencing at Resolution No. 17-002 and concluding with Resolution No. 17-017.
Staff Reports – CORPORATE AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
Staff Reports – Sustainable environment and ecomony
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Report No. 13.9 Byron Bay Town Centre Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plan controls review File No: I2017/80
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Staff Reports – infrastructure services
Committee Reports – Corporate and Community Services
Committee Reports – infrastructure Services
CONFIDENTIAL Reports - INFRASTRUCTURE Services
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Procedural Motion
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Resolved that Council change the order of business to deal with Reports 13.8 and then 13.2 next on the Agenda. (Richardson/Lyon) The motion was put to the vote and declared carried. |
Staff Reports - Sustainable Environment and Economy
Staff Reports – CORPORATE AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
1. That Council note community consultation is a requirement by IPART before introduction of a Special Rate Variation.
2. That Council receive and note the submissions and feedback received from the community during ‘Phase 4 – Public exhibition of the IP&R documents’ during the Special Rate Variation Consultation & Engagement process, conducted over the period from 17 December 2016 to 18 January 2017 and that these submissions are made public.
3. That based on community feedback Council not proceed with lodging a Special Rate Variation application to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal for increases to the ordinary rate income for a period up to 12 months.
4. That Council notes that an application for a Special Rate Variation is one of the strategies from its “Fit for the Future” Council Improvement Plan adopted in June 2015.
5. That
prior to lodging a Special Rate Variation Council undertake a review of
it’s Council Long Term Financial Plan to take account of:
- the impact of raising paid parking fees with net revenue being
utilised for asset renewal purposes
- the capacity to undertake increased loan borrowings for infrastructure
purposes over a 25 year period to be funded through existing financial capacity
or a special rate variation proposal
- the impact of council collecting rates income from holiday letting businesses
- the impact of revising the rate split between residents, businesses and
farmlands
- the impact of council being able to apply a tourism levy for overnight
visitor stays
6. That Council revise the Integrated Planning and Reporting documents as presented to Council on 15 December 2016 (#E2016/103981), (#E2016/100839) and (#E2016/103686) in line with this recommendation to not proceed with a special rate variation.
7. That Council submit a proposal to the State Government proposing enabling legislation to allow Council to apply a tourism levy and thus provide a source of revenue for infrastructure renewal funded by the growing number of tourists to the area. (Spooner/Hackett)
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Procedural Motion
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Resolved that Cr Spooner be granted a one minute extension to his speech. (Richardson/Coorey) The motion was put to the vote and declared carried. |
The amendment (Spooner/Hackett) was put to the vote and declared lost.
Crs Coorey, Martin, Lyon, Ndiaye, Richardson and Cameron voted against the amendment.
FORESHADOWED AMENDMENT
1. Council receive and note the submissions and feedback received from the community during ‘Phase 4 – Public exhibition of the IP&R documents’ during the Special Rate Variation Consultation & Engagement process, conducted over the period from 17 December 2016 to 18 January 2017.
2. Council notes that an application for a Special Rate Variation is a key strategy from its “Fit for the Future” Council Improvement Plan (CIP) adopted in June 2015.
3. Council adopts a 5% SRV in addition to the rate peg, compounding annual rate increase per year over a four year period commencing July 2017 to June 2021 as its preferred option for a Special Rate Variation.
4. Subject to determination and incorporation of an SRV option as recommended in part 3 of the recommendation, Council adopt the revised Integrated Planning and Reporting documents as presented to Council on 15 December 2016 (#E2016/103981), (#E2016/100839) and (#E2016/103686).
5. Council lodge a Section 508A Special Rate Variation application to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, for increases to the ordinary rate income (general revenue) of 5% (in addition to the rate peg) in 2017/18, 5% (in addition to the rate peg) in 2018/19, 5% (in addition to the rate peg) in 2019/2020 and 5% (in addition to the rate peg) in 2020/21. That this increase is limited to a 4 year period only.
6. Council continue to actively campaign for the state government to legislate to enable the Council to levy a tourism levy and thus provide a source of revenue for infrastructure renewal funded by the growing number of tourists to the area.
7. Council continue to lobby the Office of Local Government and the NSW Grants Commission for a revision of the Financial Assistance Grants (FAGs) funding distribution formula so that the impact of tourists upon Council and its ratepayers is adequately recognised and compensated for as a disability factor.
8. Council continue to closely monitor the IPART review of NSW council rating systems and advocate for an expansion of rating categories that would facilitate Holiday Let establishments being rated as or similar to Business.
9. Council establish a Byron Shire Revenue Exploration Working Party to work alongside staff to identify non resident revenue sources and to report the outcomes of research at each community roundtable.
10. Council to write to the local Member, Tamara Smith, Ben Franklin MLC and Minister of Tourism, seeking an urgent meeting to discuss State Government potential for more targeted tourism support in the Byron Shire.
11. That Council develops a SRV quarterly expenditure auditing and reporting profile linked to Council’s CIP in conjunction with Council’s auditors within 3 months of any SRV approval issued by the IPART. (Coorey/Hackett)
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Procedural Motion
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Resolved that Cr Richardson be granted a one minute extension to his speech. (Spooner/Cameron) The motion was put to the vote and declared carried. |
The amendment (Coorey/Hackett) was put to the vote and declared lost.
Crs Martin, Lyon, Ndiaye, Richardson, Cameron, Spooner and Hunter voted against the amendment.
The motion (Cameron/Ndiaye) was put to the vote and declared carried.
Crs Hackett and Spooner voted against the motion.
1. New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day
Cr Richardson advised Council:
Although I am not an official delegate, I just wanted to congratulate Council staff and the Byron Community Centre for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day events again. Really well done. We’ve completely changed that activity but also thoughts that we have as a community around New Years Eve. Another very good success.
There were no submissions or grants.
Staff Reports - Corporate and Community Services
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Report No. 13.5 Rating and Revenue Options File No: I2017/81
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1. That the report on Rating and Revenue Options be received and noted.
2. That Council review its rating structure including the redistribution of the rating burden between the Residential, Business and Farmland rating categories and sub-categories, and that this review be undertaken as part of developing 2017/2018 Revenue Policy and supported by further modelling of rating structure scenarios and further consultation with impacted ratepayers.
3. That Council: i. increase the hourly pay parking fee from $3 to $4 per hour and the capped fee for 4 hours from $10 to $12 from the 2017/18 financial year and, ii. undertake the required advertising and 28 day consultation period inviting submissions prior to any formal adoption.
iii. that
revenue raised from the increase be used for current asset renewal 4. That Council identify residential properties used for holiday letting and develop a process to reclassify these properties as business for rating purposes.
5. Prior to adoption, that Council receive a detailed evaluation report on the operation of paid parking. (Ndiaye/Cameron)
The motion was put to the vote and declared carried. Cr Spooner voted against the motion. |
Staff Reports - Sustainable Environment and Economy
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Report No. 13.7 Report of the Planning Review Committee Meeting held on 1 December, 2016 File No: I2016/1285
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1. That DA 10.2016.625.1 35-37 Burringbar St Mullumbimby 35-37 Burringbar St Mullumbimby be referred to Council for determination due to the perceived public significance of the application.
2. That the report otherwise be noted. (Richardson/Cameron)
The motion was put to the vote and declared carried. |
Reports of Committees - Infrastructure Services
Petitions
Cr Spooner tabled the following:
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Title of Petitions |
No. of Signatures |
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1. |
Byron Residents Reject Rate Rise #E2017/7728 “Don't raise Byron Shire's rates! 30% of Byron Shire's rates don't go to locals. There is a better way - don't slug those in our community who are least able to afford it. Why not ensure that the burden of increased rates falls onto tourists, rather than residents, through an increased ‘special rate’? Increasing the number of business ratepayers by including holiday lets, AirBnB and other short-term rentals would increase our revenue, acting as a de facto bed tax. Additional revenue could be gained from increasing parking fees at popular tourist locations like Main Beach and Wategos. This would ensure the burden is placed on tourists, not locals. Make tourists pay their fair share!”
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There being no further business the meeting concluded at 12.10pm.
I hereby certify that these are the true and correct Minutes of this Meeting
as confirmed at Council’s Ordinary Meeting on 23 February 2017.
….…………………………
Mayor Simon Richardson