Council Meeting Summary April 2022
Published on 09 May 2022
Snowy Valleys Council met on Thursday 21 April for its April Council Meeting which was held in Council Chambers and via video link. The meeting was open to members of the public and was livestreamed on Council’s YouTube channel.
Mayor Ian Chaffey summed up the meeting by saying, “It was an interesting day, we had some interesting issues to debate and one thing I think about it was that the outcome, whilst it might not have been to the benefit of everybody or their greatest wish, I think we’ve come to a reasonably acceptable outcome for the day’s activities.
“One of the things that’s come out of it is there’s an understanding within Council now that our role is not necessarily to do but it’s to be a sponsor for projects and also supply the necessary help and assistance that organisations require to make their jobs easier.”
The meeting began with a notice of motion to waive fees already charged to community, sporting groups and schools for utilising council’s open spaces.
While the motion was not supported Councillors did agree to consider changes in income and expenditure as part of the June adoption of the 2022/23 Fees and Charges and other documents in the Integrated Planning and Reporting (IP&R) suite.
A second notice of motion was then put forward that Council request the establishment of a Royal Commission into the handling of all aspects of COVID-19. This motion was supported.
A report on the future of Council’s Community Services Programs was discussed. Council confirmed its commitment to ensuring residents of the Snowy Valleys have access to a range of quality aged services and providers.
They also committed to advocating to other levels of government for the provision of appropriate aged care programs in the region.
A proposal to explore transfer of council run community service programs to an accredited external provider was not supported.
Mayor Chaffey said, “Council made an ongoing commitment to look at the way these services are provided and to ensure that they continue to be provided in areas where they’re not normally offered by private providers. It’s a positive outcome and we’ve found over the years that small communities do provide these services very effectively and efficiently within the community and this was a reinforcing of that process.”
In their continued support for the establishment of a new Pre-School in Tumbarumba, Councillors confirmed their preferred location for the new Pre-School be King George Fifth Park, with Bicentennial Park as their second option.
Council was advised that it was not eligible to apply for a special one-off Additional Special Rate Variation (ASV) for the 2022/23 financial year due to the existing Special Rate Variation (SRV) application lodged with IPART in February 2022.
Councillors resolved to write to IPART and to the Minister for Local Government to request an automatic inclusion in the ASV of a permanent 2.5% SRV should council’s original SRV application not be approved.
Other matters discussed included:
- Consulting further with the Khancoban community regarding a road name change from Mitchell Avenue to Wallaby Avenue.
- Deferring a decision on selling vacant land lots in Khancoban to a future meeting.
- Agreeing to invite NSW Water to speak on its Regional Water Strategies and to receive a further report following the NSW Water’s public exhibition of the draft strategies.
- Agreeing to place the updated SVC Information Guide 2022 on public exhibition for 28 days.
- Receipt of Pecuniary Interest Returns for staff and Councillors.
- Receipt of the March Statement of Investments.
- Receipt of a report on the Environmental Planning Assessment Order 2021.
- Receipt of Minutes for the February Canberra Region Join Organisation Board meeting, the February Aboriginal Liaison Committee meeting, and the March Aerodrome Committee meeting.
Business documents and the live video recording of the Snowy Valleys Council April 2022 Ordinary Meeting can be viewed on council’s website at www.svc.nsw.gov.au/21-Apr-2022.
The next Ordinary Meeting of Council will be held on Thursday 19 May 2022, starting at 2pm. The agenda and business papers will be available closer to the meeting date.
-ENDS-