Mayoral Minute Advocacy
I added the following points to the Mayoral Minute which were accepted and passed with the full recommendation.
4. Writes to the Hon. Penny Sharp MLC Minster for Heritage in support of the application for State Heritage listing by Dr Bronwyn Hannah.
5. That the Mayor is authorised to advocate for the retention of the Small arms Factory Museum in situ and for its State Heritage Listing with both State and Federl Parliament.
Request for Information – Cr Ticehurst
Cr Ticehurst has been seeking information on the Barton Street sale for several years but insisted the item was withdrawn. Why?
LEEP 2025 – 2026 Action Plan
I deferred the following items to an Emerging Economy meeting for review:
That Council withhold funding for LEEP Budget Items: Cadetship. Internship & Graduate Programs (total allocation over two years $101,000 and Capacity Building and Transition management training (total allocation over two years $88,000) until the Emerging Economy Committee undertaker a review of these project.
Of the 6 million dollars raised by the srv just over 1 million dollars is allocated to economic development. Expenditure of these funds need closer oversight by all Councillors.
Draft Lithgow Future Fund Policy
I moved that this policy be place on exhibition until the January meeting. I was not impressed with staff trying to rush through this and several other items with a new Council.
LEEP Communications and Engagement Strategy
That a decision on the LEEP Engagement Plan is deferred until the January 2025 meeting in order to provide Councillors adequate time to review the document and make comment and recommendations for change prior to it going on public exhibition.
The administration wanted Councillors to endorse this document and then they would undertake a final review and make corrections.
If a document is not ready when it is submitted to Council, it has no right being on the agenda.
Draft Policy – Categorisation of Land as Farmland for Rating
I supported the public exhibition of this policy because it provided sufficient time for affected residents to review and make submissions.
Essentially Council Administration is saying that properties that do not meet the category for farms will be transferred to rural residential. This will increase rates for the affected properties while reducing rates for productive farms.