Source: http://busselton.infocouncil.biz/Open/2019/03/OC_27032019_AGN_739_AT.htm
Timestamp: 2019-07-19 08:44:25
Document Index: 417117274

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 5', 'art 5', 'art 5', 'arts 1', 'art 2', 'arts 1', 'art 10', 'art 2']

MEETING NOTICE AND AGENDA – 27 March 2019
NOTICE is given that a meeting of the Council will be held in the the Council Chambers, Administration Building, Southern Drive, Busselton on Wednesday, 27 March 2019, commencing at 5.30pm.
Agenda FOR THE Council MEETING TO BE HELD ON 27 March 2019
8.1 Minutes of the Council Meeting held 13 March 2019. 5
8.2 Minutes of the Policy and Legislation Committee held 12 March 2019. 5
8.3 Minutes of the Audit Committtee meeting held 14 March 2019. 5
8.4 Minutes of the Airport Advisory Committee meeting held 13 March 2019. 6
12.1 Policy and Legislation Committee - 12/03/2019 - COUNCIL POLICY: PORTABLE ADVERTISING SIGNS IN PUBLIC PLACES. 7
12.2 Policy and Legislation Committee - 12/03/2019 - RESCISSION OF COUNCIL POLICY 235 - ACCESS AND INCLUSION.. 17
12.3 Policy and Legislation Committee - 12/03/2019 - PROPOSED POLICY NEUTRAL AMENDMENTS TO THE LOCAL PLANNING POLICY MANUAL. 22
12.4 Audit Committee - 14/03/2019 - COMPLIANCE AUDIT REPORT 2018. 27
12.5 Audit Committee - 14/03/2019 - GOVERNANCE SYSTEMS REVIEW - STATUS UPDATE. 46
13..... Planning and Development Services Report. 54
13.1 BOUNDARY REALIGNMENT AND AMENDED MANAGEMENT ORDER FOR RESERVE 37775 (BUSSELTON KART CLUB LAND). 54
13.2 PROPOSED BUSHFIRE LOCAL PLANNING POLICY (AND RELATED REVIEW OF HOLIDAY HOMES LOCAL PLANNING POLICY), AND PROPOSED SUBMISSION ON WAPC DRAFT POSITION STATEMENT: TOURISM LAND USES WITHIN BUSHFIRE PRONE AREAS. 60
14..... Engineering and Work Services Report. 91
15..... Community and Commercial Services Report. 92
15.1 COMMUNITY SPORT & RECREATION FACILITIES FUND - SMALL GRANTS ROUND APPLICATION FEBRUARY 2019. 92
16..... Finance and Corporate Services Report. 136
17..... Chief Executive Officers Report. 137
17.1 COUNCILLORS' INFORMATION BULLETIN.. 137
18..... Motions of which Previous Notice has been Given.. 141
19..... urgent business. 141
20..... Confidential Matters. 141
21..... Closure. 141
Council 6 27 March 2019
8.1 Minutes of the Council Meeting held 13 March 2019
That the Minutes of the Council Meeting held 13 March 2019 be confirmed as a true and correct record.
8.2 Minutes of the Policy and Legislation Committee held 12 March 2019
That the Minutes of the Policy and Legislation Committee held 12 March 2019 be noted.
8.3 Minutes of the Audit Committtee meeting held 14 March 2019
That the Minutes of the Audit Committtee meeting held 14 March 2019 be noted.
8.4 Minutes of the Airport Advisory Committee meeting held 13 March 2019
That the Minutes of the Airport Advisory Committee meeting held 13 March 2019 be noted.
Council 8 27 March 2019
12.1 Policy and Legislation Committee - 12/03/2019 - COUNCIL POLICY: PORTABLE ADVERTISING SIGNS IN PUBLIC PLACES
Ranger & Emergency Services Coordinator - Ian McDowell
Attachment a Council Policy - Portable Signs in Public Places⇩
This item was considered by the Policy and Legislation Committee at its meeting on 12 March 2019, the recommendations from which have been included in this report.
The purpose of this report is to seek the Council’s endorsement of a proposed amendment to Council Policy: Portable Advertising Signs in Public Places (the Policy); specifically, clause 5.6 of the Policy that requires businesses or commercial ventures to provide evidence of current public liability insurance to the value of $10 million and which indemnifies the City against any claims for damages arising from the sign on the public land.
In practice this clause has proven to be unworkable, or at the very least difficult to administer, due to the fact that while most applicants to date provided current Public Liability Insurance Certificates, none specifically indemnified the City as required by the Policy. Further, two of the applicants only had $2m cover and not the $10m required by the Policy.
To overcome this, Officers propose to amend this clause so that businesses need only provide evidence of “broad form” cover to the value of at least $2m with their application for a permit.
The Council endorsed the Policy as a new Policy on 9 May 2018 (C1805/090) – see Attachment A.
The new Council Policy was developed as a means of providing a regulatory framework for the design and placement of portable advertising signs within the City of Busselton. The policy, underpinned by the Activities in Thoroughfares and Public Places and Trading Local Law 2015 (the Local Law), is intended to provide clear direction to local business as to where they can display portable advertising signs, the types of signs requiring a permit, and the restrictions with regard to the number of signs and the times they may be displayed
Pursuant to section 2.7(2)(b) of the Local Government Act 1995, a role of the Council is to determine the local government’s policies.
Pursuant to clause 3.2 of the Activities in Thoroughfares and Public Places and Trading Local Law 2015:
(1) A person shall not without a permit, erect, place of maintain an advertising sign:
a. on or above a thoroughfare;
b. on a path;
c. over a path where the resulting vertical clearance between the sign and the path is less than 2.5 metres (s.45B of the Building Regulations 2012 requires a vertical clearance of 2.75 metres and supercedes this sub-clause of the Local Law);
d. in any location where the sign is likely to obstruct line of sight along a thoroughfare or cause danger to the person using the thoroughfare; or
e. on any natural feature including a rock or tree on a thoroughfare, or on any bridge or the structural approaches to a bridge;
(2) Notwithstanding subclauses (1) and (2), a permit is not required in respect of a home open sign or a garage sale sign provided that:
a. the sign neither exceeds 500mm in height or 0.5m2 in area;
b. the sign is placed or erected on a thoroughfare no more than half an hour prior to the garage sale or home open and is removed within half an hour of the close of the garage sale or home open; and
c. there is no more than one garage sale or home open sign at any road intersection and no more than six separate signs which delineate not more than two alternative routes to the home open or garage sale.
There are no other relevant plans or policies relating to this matter.
There are no financial implications associated with the officer recommendation of this report.
There are no Long-term Financial Plan implications associated with the officer recommendation of this report
The Policy aligns with and supports Key Goal Area 3 – Environment: valued conserved and enjoyed of the City’s Strategic Community Plan 2017; and more specifically Community Objective 3.1 – development is managed sustainably and our environment valued.
The Policy provides a regulatory framework for the design and placement of portable advertising signs within the City of Busselton. In doing so it provides a mechanism for the management of portable advertising signs in the natural and built environment.
An assessment of the potential implications of implementing the officer recommendation has been undertaken using the City’s risk assessment framework.
Although it is proposed to remove the condition that applicants provide evidence of public liability indemnifying the City against claims for damage as the result of portable advertising signs being displayed in public places, the risk of damage occurring is considered low. Portable advertising signs have been used by businesses across Australia as a means of advertising their business, products or services for decades with no known incidents or claims for damages.
Further, it is more likely that a sign being displayed remotely from the business, which under the Local Law and Policy cannot be displayed in a public place except with some exceptions such as home open and garage sale signs, present a greater risk to public safety than a sign that is displayed immediately outside the business and for which conditions to display the sign apply under the Local Law and Policy. These conditions require the signs to be removed from the public place when the business is not occupied, and when there are severe weather warnings in place. There are also restrictions on the placement of the signs so as to provide clear access for pedestrians.
Prior to adopting the Policy in May 2018, the draft policy was available for public comment from the end of January 2018 to 19 March 2017. There were minor changes made to the draft Policy prior to the Council adopting it in May 2018.
Given the nature of the amendment which would make it easier for applicants to be granted a permit, there has been no consultation undertaken with regard to the proposed amendment.
As at Friday, 22 February 2019 the City had received 55 applications to display portable advertising signs. Of the applications received, 54 provided evidence of public liability insurance with two of these in the amount of $2m whilst the rest provide between $10m and $20m cover. None of the applicants provided evidence of public liability cover indemnifying the City. Further, their ability to obtain such cover is considered highly unlikely and will only increase the time and administrative burden of processing the applications when the risk to the City is low.
Officers propose to amend clause 5.6 of the Policy from:
“The owner of a portable advertising sign advertising a business or commercial venture will be require to provide evidence of current public liability insurance to the value of $10,000,000, which indemnifies the City of Busselton against any claims for damages arising from the sign on public land”.
“The owner of a portable advertising sign advertising a business or commercial venture will be required to provide evidence of current broad form public liability insurance to the minimum value of $2,000,000”.
To simplify the application process for businesses and to reduce the administrative burden on the City, it is proposed to amend the requirements of clause 5.6 of the Policy so as to remove the requirement for cover that indemnifies the City, and reducing the minimum amount from $10m to $2m.
Should the Council not agree with the proposed changes to the Public Liability Insurance requirements of the Policy they may require the Policy to remain as is, or direct officers to amend it further.
If the officer recommendation is approved by the Council it will take immediate effect.
That the Council approves changes to clause 5.6 of Council Policy – Portable Advertising Signs in Public Places to read as follows:
Council Policy - Portable Signs in Public Places
Council 18 27 March 2019
12.2 Policy and Legislation Committee - 12/03/2019 - RESCISSION OF COUNCIL POLICY 235 - ACCESS AND INCLUSION
Attachment a Council Policy 235 - Access and Inclusion⇩
In August 2017 the CEO commissioned a high level independent review of the City’s governance systems – the Governance Systems Review (GSR). Included in the scope of the review was the City’s policy and procedure framework with recommendations made in relation to the nature and intent of Council policies; namely that Council policies should deal with higher level strategies and objectives.
In accordance with the recommendations of the GSR, the purpose of this report is to recommend that Council Policy 235 – Access and Inclusion (the Policy) be rescinded.
The Policy, which was originally adopted in June 2006 and subsequently reviewed in March 2011 and May 2015, outlines the purpose, scope, context, principles and values of creating and encouraging accessibility and social inclusive services, facilities and functions for all people within the community. The purpose of the Policy is to recognise that the whole of community are equally valued members of society and make a unique and valuable contribution to community wellbeing, community vibrancy and way of life. The vision for an accessible and inclusive community concentrates on seven key areas:
5. Opportunity to make complaints
6. Opportunity to participate in any public consultation
The Policy applies to all activities undertaken within the City of Busselton district and states that its aims and objectives will be realised through the City of Busselton Disability Access and Inclusion Plan.
There is a legislative requirement for all local governments to develop a Disability Access and Inclusion Plan (DAIP) under the Disability Services Act 1993, Part 5 – Disability Service Plans by Public Authorities, addressing the same seven outcome areas listed above.
Part 5 – Disability Service Plans by Public Authorities of the Disability Services Act 1993 requires all local governments to develop a Disability Access and Inclusion Plan. DAIPs assist public authorities to plan and implement improvements to access and inclusion across seven outcome areas, in regards to services and events, buildings and facilities, information, quality of service, complaints, consultation processes and employment.
The GSR was undertaken over a 3 month period by Mr John Woodhouse LLB Juris and made the following recommendations, including but not limited to, the City’s policy and procedure framework:
2. As part of that review, any existing Council Policy should be deleted where it could, more sensibly be dealt with by an OPP adopted by the CEO.
The officer recommendation will not impact adversely on the achievement of any of the community objectives contained within the Strategic Community Plan 2017. The City’s DAIP will serve to meet the objectives of Key Goal Area 1, Community Objective 1.1 – A friendly safe and inclusive community with a strong community spirit.
The review and relevance of Council Policy 235 -Access and Inclusion was discussed with the Disability Access and Inclusion Reference Group at their meeting held 11 February 2019. The Reference Group supported the view that the policy was a duplication of the City’s DAIP and were in favour of recommending its rescission to Council.
The purpose of Council Policy 235 -Access and Inclusion is to recognise that the whole of community are equally valued members of society and make a unique and valuable contribution to community wellbeing, community vibrancy and way of life. The Policy states that its aims and objectives will be realised through the City’s DAIP, a legislative requirement of the Disability Services Act 1993. The Policy lists the same seven key areas as the DAIP in which access and inclusion for the community will be achieved.
The City’s DAIP and supporting annual implementation plan contain similar elements of purpose, scope, definitions and strategic context as the Policy. Given the requirement for a DAIP to be adopted by Council under Part 5 – Disability Service Plans by Public Authorities of the Western Australian Disability Services Act (1993), the Policy could be considered a duplication and therefore an unnecessary policy; and, noting the recommendations of the GSR, it is recommended that it be rescinded.
It is recommended that the Policy be rescinded, as the City has an existing DAIP (Disability Access and Inclusion Plan 2018-2022) that describes how the City of Busselton will plan and implement improvements to access and inclusion across seven outcome areas, in regards to services and events, buildings and facilities, information, quality of service, complaints, consultation processes and employment.
The Policy will be rescinded immediately upon adoption of the officer recommendation.
That the Council rescinds Council Policy 235 – Access and Inclusion.
Council Policy 235 - Access and Inclusion
Council 23 27 March 2019
12.3 Policy and Legislation Committee - 12/03/2019 - PROPOSED POLICY NEUTRAL AMENDMENTS TO THE LOCAL PLANNING POLICY MANUAL
Development Control Policy
Attachment a Published Under Separate Cover Attachments 1 to 39⇨
Council is asked to consider a policy neutral review of the City’s local planning policies as Stage 1 in a larger review of the policies intended to be undertaken in 2019.
A need to undertake a review of the existing local planning policies (LPP) has been identified. While a full review of the content and relevance of the City’s LPP’s is required, this proposal seeks to undertake a preliminary, policy neutral review with the aim of transferring the policies into a new, easier to read template as well as breaking them out of the existing manual structure into individual policies with the aim of making them easier to distribute and read, and to enable them to be amended more easily as required.
A copy of the new template and the proposed policies are attached under separate cover (Attachment A).
The key statutory environment is set out in the Planning and Development Act 2005 (Planning Act) and related subsidiary legislation, including the City of Busselton Local Planning Scheme No. 21 (Scheme) and the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015 (Regulations), especially Schedule 2 (Deemed Provisions) of the Regulations, which form part of the Scheme.
The Deemed Provisions specifies that an LPP must be based on sound town planning principles. Policies may address either strategic or operational matters, apply generally or to a particular class of matters, and may apply to the whole of the Scheme area or particular parts of the Scheme area. While due regard to relevant policies is required in decision making it is noted that an LPP does not hold the same weight as a Scheme provision. LPP’s act only as guidelines in land use and development considerations and nothing prevents the City from making a decision contrary to a policy based on the merits of a particular proposal.
It is proposed to use the minor amendment provisions of the Regulations (such that public advertising is not required) to process the changes to the LPP’s on the basis that while some text has been removed from the introduction and/or background notes for existing Parts 1 – 9 (which are considered unnecessary) and the order of some of the policies has been modified to fit the new template, there are no significant or material changes to the policies proposed.
The City’s Local Planning Policies No.s 1-9.
The officer recommendation primarily aligns Key Goal Area 2: Places and Spaces of the City’s Strategic Community Plan 2017 and Community Objective 2.1 – ‘planning strategies that foster the development of healthy neighbourhoods that meet our needs as we grow’.
An assessment of the risks associated with the implementation of the officer recommendation has been undertaken using the City’s risk assessment framework. No significant risks have been identified.
Part 2, Division 2 of the Deemed Provisions requires that a local government undertake consultation before adopting or amending an LPP, unless in the opinion of the local government, the amendment is a minor amendment. No definition of minor amendment is provided. The current proposal however seeks generally to undertake a policy neutral conversion of the City’s existing LPP’s. While some text has been removed from the background notes for Parts 1-9 and some text has been modified to fit within the new template headings, no material changes to the policies are proposed.
Any further stages of review, which propose to revoke or amend or materially alter the text and objectives of the policies will require public advertising in accordance with the Deemed Provisions. It should also be noted if Council resolves to proceed with any policy, including those considered minor amendments as recommended in this report, the local government must publish notice of the amendments to the policy in a newspaper circulating in the area.
This report requires the consideration of a proposed policy neutral conversion of the existing local planning policies. There are essentially two components to the proposal, being the use of a new local planning policy template and a change from the current policy manual structure into individual policies.
The proposed changes to the template, formatting and structure of the policies is recommended as the first stage in a wider review of the content and relevance of all of the City’s LPP’s. While the shuffling of some text within the existing policies is required to suit the proposed template and sub-headings, no material changes to the text or objectives of any of the policies is proposed.
Separating the policies out of the existing manual structure, which groups all of the policies into nine categories (see list below) is proposed in order to make them easier to read, distribute and amend as required, forward of a full review being completed. It is proposed to maintain the numbers associated with the current policy sub-sections in order to prevent any confusion prior to there being any significant, and advertised, amendments proposed to the current policies.
Existing grouping of Local Planning Policies:
3. Special Character Areas and Visual Management
4. Urban Centres
5. Rural Areas Land Use and Development
6. Development Contribution
7. Commercial and industrial Development
8. General Development and Process Standards
9. Environment and Heritage Conservation
List of 38 individual policies as proposed to be broken out of the manual structure (as contained within Attachment A):
Single Dwelling Design
Lots Adjoining Public Open Space
Rear Loaded Lots
Kalgaritch Estate
Abbey Green Estate
Private Jetties and Boat Lifting Structures
Busselton Bypass Access
Yallingup Special Character Area
Eagle Bay Special Character Area
Old Dunsborough Special Character Area
Quindalup Special Character Area
Adelaide Street Special Character Area
Caves Road Visual Management
Outbuildings Assessment
Busselton Bypass/Bussell Highway – Setback and Buffer Provisions
Port Geographe Village Centre – Design Guidelines and Performance Standards
Busselton Town Centre Urban Design Provisions
Rural Tourist Accommodation
Relative (Ancillary Accommodation)
Mosquito Control Contribution
Road, Footpath and Cycle Network Upgrade Contribution
Drainage Infill Contributions
Social Impact Statement Provisions
Busselton Heritage Conservation Provisions
Should the policy neutral conversion be supported, the intent is for officers to undertake a review of the currency of all of the LPP’s with a view to identifying which policies should be revoked, require minor changes, require significant changes and any new policies that should be considered. How any such changes are progressed will be dependent on the amount of work required to redraft and consult on any relevant policies, as well as internal resourcing, but it is expected that a further item to Council suggesting which policies should be revoked could be presented within three months of any initial Council decision to support the policy neutral conversion. There are a number of policies, such as the Special Character Area Policies, which have not been reviewed in any meaningful way in many years and are no longer contemporary in their structure, style, language or content. It is expected that such policies will require more substantial efforts to re-draft, appropriately consult and update than more technical policies such as Stormwater Management given differing community interest.
It is recommended that the Council support the proposed policy neutral amendments as described in this report.
The Council could decide to not adopt or amend the local planning policies as recommended, or it could choose to require changes to the proposed template and/or change from the existing manual structure for grouping of the local planning policies.
Implementation of the officer recommendation would involve formalising the new policy format and publication of the new look policies on the City’s website. It is expected this would occur within one week of the Council decision.
1. That the Council adopt the reformatted local planning policies as proposed below and set out in Attachment A (2 – 39):
2. Councilors acknowledge that the reformatting inconsistencies will be addressed in the subsequent review of individual policies.
Council 28 27 March 2019
12.4 Audit Committee - 14/03/2019 - COMPLIANCE AUDIT REPORT 2018
Attachment a Compliance Audit Return 2018⇩
This item was considered by the Audit Committee at its meeting on 14 March 2019, the recommendations from which have been included in this report.
The Compliance Audit Return (CAR) is a statutory reporting tool that seeks to evaluate the City’s compliance with targeted sections of the Local Government Act 1995 during the period 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018.
The City has completed the CAR and it is included in this report at Attachment A for consideration by the Audit Committee. The completed CAR is recommended for adoption, after which it will be lodged with the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (the Department) as required by 31 March 2019.
The Department has made available the 2018 CAR for completion by local governments.
Section 7.13 of the Act requires a local government to complete the CAR in the form specified by the Department. The Local Government Audit Regulations require the CAR to be considered by the Audit Committee and Council prior to being submitted to the Department by 31 March.
Section 7.13 of the Local Government Act 1995 provides for the making of Regulations as to Audits.
Regulation 13 of the Local Government (Audit) Regulations 1996 sets out the prescribed statutory requirements for which the compliance audit needed. Regulation 14 and 15 state as follows:
(3A) The local governments audit committee is to review the compliance audit return and is to report to the council the results of that review.
(4) After the audit committee has reported to the council under sub regulation (3A), the compliance audit report is to be –
(a) presented to council at a meeting of the council; and
(b) adopted by council; and
15. Compliance audit return, certified copies of etc. to be given to Executive Director.
(1) After the compliance audit report has been presented to the council in accordance with regulation 14(3) a certified copy of the return, together with –
(b) any additional information explaining or qualifying the compliance audit, is to be submitted to the Executive Director by 31 March next following the period to which the return relates.
(2) In this regulation – certified in relation to a compliance audit means signed by –
There are no budget implications associated with the officer recommendation.
An assessment of the potential implications of implementing the officer recommendation has been undertaken using the City’s risk management framework. Risks are only identified where the individual risk, once controls are identified, is medium or greater. No such risks have been identified with the CAR reflecting a high level of compliance.
In completing the CAR, relevant officers designated by the Chief Executive Officer have undertaken an audit of the City’s activities, practices and procedures in line with the Act and its associated Regulations.
The internal audit is summarised in Table 1 below:
NO (minor delays in compliance only)**
Where required, additional commentary has been provided in response to questions in the CAR, also included in Attachment A.
The CAR represents a high level of compliance by the City.
With regards to disclosures of interest, one annual return was not lodged by a designated employee within the required timeframe. The City took all appropriate and required steps with respect to this matter and considers this a delay in compliance only. Additionally one primary return was not submitted within the required timeframe due to the employee not commencing with the City on a full time basis initially. This is considered a minor delay in compliance only. Additional information regarding the noncompliance has been included in Attachment A.
It is recommended that the Council adopts the CAR for submission to the Department prior to 31 March 2019.
Council may choose to request further information from officers prior to adopting the CAR, however the CAR must be completed endorsed by Council and submitted to the Department prior to 31 March 2019.
The CAR will be lodged with the Department prior to 31 March 2018.
That Council, having reviewed the 2018 Compliance Audit Return, adopt the 2018 Compliance Audit Return and authorises the Mayor and Chief Executive Officer to sign in joint the certificate.
That Council, having reviewed the 2018 Compliance Audit Return, adopt the 2018 Compliance Audit Return, and authorises the Mayor and Chief Executive Officer to sign in joint the certificate, including the below committee amendments:
· Question 5 of the Disclosure of Interest to be amended to no, due to one delay in lodgement as per the explanation under comments
· Questions 5 and 12 of the Delegation of Power / Duty to be amended to include the review date which fell within the 2017/2018 financial year.
Reason: While the delay was minor and is explained in the comments the most accurate response to question 5 under Disclosure of Interest in No - as identified in the Officer's covering report. Questions 5 and 12 refer to the financial year despite the Compliance Audit Return being for the 2018 calendar year.
Compliance Audit Return 2018
Council 47 27 March 2019
12.5 Audit Committee - 14/03/2019 - GOVERNANCE SYSTEMS REVIEW - STATUS UPDATE
Attachment a List of Recommendations⇩
This report presents an update on the status/progress of the implementation of the recommendations identified in the Governance Systems Review undertaken in August 2017 by Mr John Woodhouse LLB B.Juris.
In August 2017, the CEO commissioned a high level independent review of the City’s governance systems and processes, the Governance Systems Review (GSR), undertaken over a 3 month period by Mr John Woodhouse LLB B.Juris. As a result of the GSR, Mr Woodhouse identified nine broad topics or areas with opportunities for improvement. The GSR and resulting recommendations for improvement (see Attachment A) were presented to Council at a briefing in October 2017 and as a result of that briefing, it was agreed that staff would commence implementation of the recommendations and would periodically report to Council on the progress of their implementation.
The GSR recommended improvements in the areas of:
· Procurement and tendering;
· Supporting local business;
· Misconduct prevention;
· Codes of conduct; gifts;
· Local laws; and
· Internal reporting.
A total of 66 recommendation were made across these nine areas of focus.
This report provides an update to the Audit Committee as to the current status of the implementation of the GSR recommendations.
The GSR reviewed the City’s performance against various governance requirements of the Local Government Act 1995 and associated regulations. Comparisons to ‘best practice’ local governments (generally larger metropolitan Band 1 Councils) were also made.
As a result of the recommendations of the GSR, the City developed a Policy Framework. This framework has formed the basis of how our subsequent policy and Staff Management Practice (SMP) reviews have taken place.
There are no financial implications directly associated with the officer recommendation. Having said that implementation of the recommendations of the GSR has and will continue to require resourcing, with significant staff time being dedicated to progressing the recommendations.
The primary purpose of this report is to provide an update with respect to the progress of the recommendations of the GSR; as such there are no applicable or identified risks associated with the officer recommendation. More broadly there is a risk that, due to levels of resourcing and competing priorities, not all of the recommendations of the GSR will be able to be implemented within an appropriate timeframe (suggested as two years or October 2019). This risk is considered of a medium level, that is, minor in terms of consequence but likely.
External consultation of varying types has, and will continue to be, undertaken as required in relation to the GSR recommendations.
The GSR resulted in a total of 66 recommendations, spread across nine areas (as per Attachment A). It is important to note however that 4 of the recommendations under policies and procedures (to review all Council policies, delete inappropriate Council policies, review all OPPs and review 3 protocols) require the review of 159 separate documents.
Overall progress to date (of the 66 recommendations) is outlined in Table 1 below and further detailed under each subheading.
Recommendations partially completed or commenced
Recommendations not yet commenced
Recommendations proposed for non-adoption
A total of ten recommendations were made in relation to the Council. In general, these recommendations addressed the ease of access to documents, guidelines, Acts and Regulations, and local laws for Councillors. All ten recommendations were accepted by the CEO and implementation was completed by December 2018.
A total of six recommendations were made in relation to Policies and Procedures. The recommendations include a thorough review of all Council policies, OPP’s and protocols and the development of a new organisational policy framework. As stated above this area of recommendation requires the review of 159 documents.
Currently, two of the six recommendations have been complete, with the development of a new policy framework setting out the purpose of a Council policy as opposed to a (new) Staff Management Practice document and other operational documents, and four are progressing. Of the 159 documents identified for review, 42 have been completed.
Through use of the new policy framework and the process of review to date of the current council policies, OPP’s and protocols, several additional areas of improvement have been identified. Governance are currently re-evaluating the policy framework, with the aim of providing improved clarity and education to staff in policy development and improving the overall review process, particularly in relation to consultation. This may result in the policy review schedule extending beyond October 2019.
The GSR made seven recommendations in relation to procurement and tendering policies, including the amalgamation of several separate policies into one, the development of a new OPP, review and revision of the City’s Regional Price Preference policy and the management and availability of evaluation and pricing information for tenders.
Four of the seven recommendations are now complete with a revised Purchasing Policy, Regional Price Preference Policy and a new Procurement Selection Criteria SMP, two are progressing and expected to be completed by 30 April 2019, while the final recommendation, ‘to delegate to the CEO the authority to make a Purchasing Policy’ is not proposed to be actioned as a decision has been made to leave this as a Council Policy.
A recommendation to review the City’s current approach to supporting local business through policy was implemented by July 2018, along-side the review of Council policies and the implementation of the new Procurement Selection Criteria SMP. A local benefit criteria with a fixed weighting of 5 percent was included in this selection criteria SMP.
The GSR made nine recommendations in the area of contracts, covering off issues in relation to variations, appointment of superintendents, management and document control. In addressing these recommendations, officers have progressed the development of a suite of standard contracts to meet new objectives, with these set for completion by the end of April 2019. Officers have also considered the appointment of a panel of superintendents but have determined not to proceed with this. The City would only appoint an external superintendent for very large value projects, and, given the limited number of these, officers do not feel that appointment of a panel is necessary or an efficient use of resourcing. The remaining seven recommendations, relating to the implementation of practices and procedures, are pending a wider review of the current processes and systems.
Eleven recommendations were made in relation to the City’s misconduct prevention systems and processes. Staff have now completed three of the recommendations, including the provision made in the workforce plan for the appointment of an internal auditor (currently scheduled for 2021/2022); a review of the credit card policy and testing of the City’s key financial controls. A number of the other recommendations align more closely with a review of the codes of conduct and therefore will be considered and implemented under that area. Specifically, the development of a misconduct prevention strategy document will be considered post the review of the codes of conduct.
In total, five recommendations were made to realise opportunities for improvement in the City’s codes of conduct. A review of the current structure of the codes was undertaken and while it is supported to keep the four codes separate, the format of the codes will be amended to align more closely with a council policy template for increased formality and to ensure they are clearer and more readily understood. Officers are also developing a Councillor Charter, amending the Councillor Code of Conduct and developing a Councillor manual, with expected completion in draft form (for further workshopping with Council) by 31 March 2019. With the exception of a recommendation to delegate to the CEO the authority to prepare an employees’ code, which officers don’t believe is required, all other recommendations are progressing.
The GSR made six recommendations relating to gifts to employees. Of those, two are completed, the development and provision of guidance information on the City’s intranet and establishment of a regular review of the gift register by the CEO and Senior Management Group, and three are pending. Officers propose that the final one, to combine the existing gift registers and publish to the City’s website, is not progressed at present, noting that there are significant changes pending in relation to gift provisions as part of the Local Government Act review process. There is currently no legislative requirement to publish the notifiable gift register, only to have it available for public viewing on request.
As with the misconduct prevention recommendations, a number of the recommendations in relation to gifts will be included in the review of the codes of conduct and subsequent induction / training of staff and elected members.
The outstanding recommendation are expected to be completed by 30 May 2019.
A total of nine recommendations were made for improvements to the City’s local laws, of which six are now completed, all in relation to the review of several clauses within the City’s Standing Orders Local Law. Officers are continuing to progress the development of two new local laws under the Bush Fires Act 1954 and an Extractive Industries Local Law, with completion targeting 30 June 2019. The recommendation to develop a new Council policy for the Property Local Law is currently pending and is unlikely to be completed until the bulk of the current Council policies are reviewed.
The GSR made two recommendations in relation to internal reporting – to document the CEO’s expectation of Directors and the Directors’ expectations for Managers within the organisation. In effect these recommendations require the formalisation of a more structured internal performance reporting system / methodology. Consideration is being given as to what sort of system / methodology might suit the City’s needs, with a proposal expected to be presented to the CEO by 30 June 2019.
While there were no recommendations in relation to delegations or employee culture, there is and has been a large amount of work undertaken in these two areas, with both identified internally as areas where improvement was required.
In relation to delegations, a number of gaps have been identified as compared to best practice and in response a number of delegations from Council to the CEO have been reviewed. Additionally delegations from the CEO to officers have also been reviewed and updated. This review process is nearing finalisation, as is development of a new delegations register which combines both levels of delegations. Processes in relation to issuing of delegations have also been reviewed.
With respect to employee culture, the CEO, in 2018, determined that there was a need to better understand the current levels of engagement amongst staff and what impacts the organisational culture has on engagement and ultimately performance. Work has been underway in relation to this since mid-2018.
This report presents an update on the status/progress of the implementation of the recommendations identified in the GSR. With a current completion percentage of 43.9% and a number of additional items significantly progressed, progress to date is considered to be satisfactory.
The Committee / Council could request that additional information is provided.
Not applicable given the nature of this report and the recommendation
That the Council notes the progress of the implementation of the Governance Systems Review recommendations.
Council 52 27 March 2019
13.1 BOUNDARY REALIGNMENT AND AMENDED MANAGEMENT ORDER FOR RESERVE 37775 (BUSSELTON KART CLUB LAND)
SLAD018 : Strategic Land Acquisition and Disposal : Reserve 48157 - Lot 500 Gordon Road Kalgup Property
Attachment b Proposed Boundary Realignment⇩
The Council is requested to support the expansion of Reserve 37775, Lot 4747 Vasse Highway, Kalgup and accept the resulting amended Management Order. This will increase the land potentially available for recreational use, including potentially allowing for the expansion of the area available for the Busselton Kart Club (BKC), who are the current users of the existing, somewhat smaller reserve.
Reserve 37775 is a ‘C’ Class Reserve subject to a Management Order in favour of the City for ‘Recreation’ purposes. The 2.2ha parcel is currently leased to the Busselton Kart Club (BKC), with the current lease extending to June 2022. The site is located near the southern end of the Busselton-Margaret River Airport and is located between the Vasse Diversion Drain and Gordon Road. Land to the west is owned in freehold by the Water Corporation and Reserve 48157, to the east, is a Reserve currently vested in the Water Corporation for drainage purposes. A location plan is provided at Attachment A.
To accommodate their growing activities and provide security for future investment, BKC requested an increase to their lease area for car parking and storage. Given the cooperation provided by the BKC during the negotiations for the Pistol Club co-location, City officers agreed to proceed with facilitating expansion of the Reserve. The proposal under consideration is therefore to increase the size of Reserve 37775 by shifting the eastern boundary further east into Reserve 48157 by approximately 60 metres, increasing the City’s land by approximately 0.6ha (Attachment B).
Expansion to the west, into the Water Corporation’s freehold land parcel was also considered, but not further pursued for three key reasons. Firstly, the City would most likely need to purchase the land, ultimately at ratepayer’s expense. Secondly, that land is currently used to provide access for farm vehicles between agricultural holdings located to the north and south of Reserve 37775, and it is difficult to see how the land could be usefully used without critically compromising that access. Thirdly, there is not now seen to be any clear need to secure that land.
A formal request to modify the reserve boundaries has been lodged with the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (DPLH) and the Water Corporation has raised no objection to the proposal. A survey has been commissioned for the proposed boundary adjustment, following which the new area is proposed to be re-vested in the City, resulting in a change to the land description within the Management Order for the subject land.
The current proposal came about when the site was identified for potential co-location of BKC with the Busselton Pistol Club in late 2017. Although that is no longer being pursued, limitations on the BKC lease area were identified. BKC had been using private farmland to the north when major events were held, but this use has discontinued due to a change in use of that land. Additional informal use of a section of the adjacent Reserve 48157 by the club had been taking place for storage of material, which has since been removed following requests from the City.
There are no provisions under the Local Government Act 1995 (LGA) that fully address the power/authority requirements for accepting an expanded Management Order over a reserve, nor is there a City of Busselton delegation that deals specifically with this matter.
The Land Administration Act 1997 (LAA), section 46 ‘Care, control and management of reserves’ discusses the powers of the Minister to place the management of a reserve to “one person or jointly with any 2 or more persons”. The changes to the boundary will result in the amendment of the Management Order to Reserve 37775, requiring the support of the Council. Pursuant to the LAA, officers request that the Council supports the re-vesting of the portion of the adjacent Reserve 48157 and accepts the amended Management Order.
The proposal is supported by planning directions set out in the City of Busselton Draft Local Planning Strategy (2016) that “encourage the development of new and improved community facilities to meet the needs of a growing and increasingly diverse population” (clause 6.2(i)) and “identify locations for noisy sports, e.g. motor sports” (clause 6.2(l)).
Costs to the City for the vesting and acceptance of a Management Order over this parcel would be limited to managing bushfire risk (and dependent on the outcomes of future lease or licence matters, those obligations may in practice be borne by BKC in future anyway). There is no City infrastructure currently located within the new area of land proposed to be included into Reserve 37775, nor is there a proposal for this to take place. Minimal maintenance of the land parcel is anticipated.
The officer recommendation is consistent with Key Goal Area 1 – ‘Community’ of the City of Busselton Strategic Community Plan 2017, specifically Objective 1.3 “A community with access to a range of cultural and art, social and recreational facilities and experiences.”
An assessment of the implications of the officer recommendation has been undertaken using the City’s risk assessment framework. The assessment identified ‘downside’ risks only, rather than upside risks as well. In this regard, there are no risks identified of a medium or greater level.
The City has approached the Water Corporation and DPLH to propose realigning the boundary between Reserve 37775 and Reserve 48157. No objections were raised to the proposal and a formal request was subsequently lodged with DPLH. In accordance with standard practice, DPLH then issued instructions for the necessary survey works to be undertaken. The City is yet to give its final authorisation for commencement of the survey, which will be given should the Council provide support for this proposal.
Until recently the BKC have been using part of neighbouring Reserve 48157 for storage of inappropriate material and parking, although use of this land had ceased while investigations were made into the expansion. Given Reserve 48157 is managed for drainage purposes, use of the land for ‘Recreation’ purposes is precluded and these differing management approaches can therefore create conflict. By shifting the boundary between Reserve 37775 and Reserve 48157 and re-vesting the affected area to the City, this will provide the City with the ability to more effectively ensure the site’s use is consistent throughout the actively used areas.
It should be noted that this report and its recommendation relate to the enlargement of Reserve 37775 only, and not to the potential leasing of the additional land to BKC. It is envisaged that consideration of that matter would follow the issuing of the new management order to the City. It is also envisaged that, in looking at future leasing (or licencing), the City would seek to identify what and whether there may be opportunities for future co-location in future, for purposes consistent with or complementary to the BKC and the locality.
By supporting the officer recommendation to re-vest part of Reserve 48157 and acceptance of an amended Management Order over Reserve 37775, the land administration of this area will be simplified and there will be options available for the City to negotiate extended use of the land by the BKC and co-location of other groups on the land.
Should the officer recommendation not be supported, the Council could resolve not to support the boundary realignment and amended Management Order over Reserve 37775.
There is no prescribed timeline to complete this process although it is anticipated that following the Council Resolution, the amended Management Order would be accepted by the City within 6 months.
1. Pursuant to the Land Administration Act 1997, advise the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage and the Water Corporation that the City of Busselton supports re-vesting part of Reserve 48157 into Reserve 37775 with an amended Management Order issued in favour of the City of Busselton; and
2. Subsequently, considers leasing and licencing options in consultation with Busselton Kart Club, including consideration of potential opportunities for co-location of other group(s).
Proposed Boundary Realignment
Council 61 27 March 2019
13.2 PROPOSED BUSHFIRE LOCAL PLANNING POLICY (AND RELATED REVIEW OF HOLIDAY HOMES LOCAL PLANNING POLICY), AND PROPOSED SUBMISSION ON WAPC DRAFT POSITION STATEMENT: TOURISM LAND USES WITHIN BUSHFIRE PRONE AREAS
Attachment a Proposed Bushfire Policy⇩
Attachment b Existing Holiday Homes Policy⇩
Attachment c Proposed Holiday Home Policy⇩
Attachment d Draft Position Statement⇩
Council is asked to consider policy and related matters associated with development in bushfire prone areas. That includes proposed changes to local planning policy and the making of a submission in response to consultation currently being undertaken by the State.
Council is asked to consider the introduction of a bushfire related local planning policy (Proposed Bushfire Policy – see Attachment A). The main purpose of the Proposed Bushfire Policy is to clarify the requirements related to the development of (or change of use to) a holiday home, or other vulnerable development, in a bushfire prone area, and to apply the same principles to other kinds of development that already apply to assessment of holiday home applications.
The Council is also asked to consider related changes to the City’s existing holiday homes local planning policy (Existing Holiday Homes Policy – see Attachment B). The proposed policy is Attachment C (Proposed Holiday Homes Policy). The proposed changes are limited to removing the substantive bushfire related content, and instead referencing the Proposed Bushfire Policy, as well as reflecting a new template for the format of local planning policies (which has also been followed in the drafting of the Proposed Bushfire Policy).
Note that, for both proposed policies, it is intended that the interpretations sections be converted to a tabular format consistent with recently adopted or reviewed Council Policies. The intent to do so was, however, identified very late in the drafting process and, as such, it is proposed that be done administratively prior to consultation occurring.
In addition, the Council is asked to consider the terms of the City’s submission regarding the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) Draft Position Statement: Tourism land uses within bushfire prone areas (Draft Position Statement – see Attachment D).
The key statutory environment is set out in the Planning and Development Act 2005 (Planning Act), Building Act 2012 (Building Act) and related subsidiary legislation, including the City of Busselton Local Planning Scheme No. 21 (Scheme) and the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015 (Regulations), especially Schedule 2 (Deemed Provisions) of the Regulations, which form part of the Scheme.
The Planning Act sets out powers of the WAPC to prepare and adopt ‘State Planning Policies’ (SPPs) which may, inter alia, ‘make provision for any matter which may be subject of a local planning scheme’ (s26(3)). Clauses 3-6 of the Deemed Provisions sets out that a local government may make, amend or revoke a ‘local planning policy’. The Deemed Provisions set out that local planning policies must be consistent with the Scheme. Essentially this means that a local planning policy may only guide an exercise of discretion already allowed under the Scheme, but cannot introduce or remove a discretion that the Scheme does not already provide. Other than a ‘minor amendment’ (pursuant to clause 5(2) of the Deemed Provisions), any decisions to adopt, amend or revoke a local planning policy involve an adoption of the proposal by the Council, followed by a period of consultation, and subsequent further consideration of the proposal by the Council, including consideration of any submissions received.
Clause 67 of the Deemed Provisions then sets out ‘matters to be considered’ in the assessment of applications for development approval. Clause 67(c) of the Deemed Provisions identifies ‘any approved State planning policy’ and clause 67(g) identifies any ‘local planning policy for the Scheme area’ as matters that must be considered. There are various other requirements to consider SPPs set out in the Act, Regulations and Scheme, and which relate to applications for development approval, as well as the preparation, review and amendment of town planning schemes, Structure Plans, Local Development Plans and Activity Centre Plans. The State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) gives considerable weight to SPPs in their consideration of planning matters; and original decision-makers (including local governments) are also required to give considerable weight to SPPs.
Part 10A of the Deemed Provisions identifies controls related to applications for development approval in ‘Bushfire Prone Areas’. Bushfire prone areas for the purpose of planning decisions are identified through orders made under s18P of the Fire and Emergency Services Act 1998. Orders under s18P similarly identify areas where consideration of bushfire issues is required pursuant to the Building Act. The Deemed Provisions and the building legislation variously incorporate or reference Australian Standard AS3959-2009: Construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas (AS3959).
Key policy guidance is set out in State Planning Policy 3.7: Planning in Bushfire Prone Areas (SPP3.7) and the associated Guidelines for Planning in Bushfire Prone Areas (Guidelines). Prior to the introduction of SPP3.7 and related changes to legislation, the City had a bushfire local planning policy. It was considered that the State framework had made that local planning policy redundant and, as a result, that earlier policy was revoked. As set out in this report, there is now seen to be a need for some local planning policy guidance, albeit more limited and different in scope to what was previously in place.
Whilst there are currently some broader, unresolved policy questions related to both holiday home regulation and management of bushfire risk through the planning and development framework, this report and the proposals set out in it do not seek to address those broader questions. The reasons for that are twofold. Firstly, resolution of those policy questions would likely require action at a State level. Secondly, the State has in fact already established mechanisms that may do so.
In particular, the Legislative Assembly’s Economics and Industry Standing Committee has established an Inquiry in relation to the regulation of short stay accommodation in Western Australia. The Inquiry is due to report in June. The City made a submission to the Inquiry and has indicated that it would be happy to provide further information as required. The City has also indicated that it would like to see the Inquiry conduct hearings in the region. The City’s submission is subject of Parliamentary Privilege, but is available on the State Parliament website.
The approach to regulation of holiday homes in Western Australia recommended in the City’s submission may be summarised as follows –
1. A system that provides for efficient, robust, consistently enforced and credible regulation, which avoids unfair competition with other forms of accommodation, and ensures the integrity of regulatory and taxation regimes;
2. State regulations that allow local governments to ‘opt-in’ to a registration system that is managed by the local government, or if that is not possible, continued State support for a registration system, applied through local government local laws;
3. Deemed planning provisions that allow local governments to identify particular areas where holiday homes are deregulated, regulated or prohibited, or if that is not possible, continued State support for local government planning regulation, either applied through individual local government planning scheme provisions (most likely reflecting model provisions) or optional model provisions;
4. Local government decisions (or positions) pursuant to points 2 and 3 above to be reflected in consolidated State-wide map(s);
5. A requirement for owners, managers, online short-stay letting platforms and any other entity responsible for booking accommodation to ensure that there is a current ‘certificate of local government authority’ (there may be a means of avoiding this in cases where local governments have ‘opted-out’, but there may be a further reason to still require such certificates, linked to State and utility fees and charges, and taxation – see ‘other key issues’ below), which would need to be periodically renewed, and the requirements of that certificate would need to be complied with;
6. The State itself to be responsible for monitoring and enforcing point 5 above with respect to the platforms; and
7. Penalties under the registration system and the platform regulation to be sufficient to support ongoing and sustainable voluntary compliance.
It is also understood that the State is reviewing its current approach to management of bushfire risk through the planning and development framework. The City has already (and fairly regularly) made the State aware of some of its concerns with that framework. The Draft Position Statement does seem to address some, but not all, of the City’s concerns. Submissions are open until 20 March 2019. Whilst the City would not ordinarily require formal Council or Committee consideration to make a submission of this kind, given the relatedness of the issues and the fact that changes to local planning policy require formal consideration, Council is also asked to consider a proposed submission regarding the Draft Position Statement (although the submission is due to be lodged before the Council is able to consider this report, officers intend to lodge an interim submission by the due date, noting that Council consideration will occur shortly after the due date, and that a supplementary submission may follow).
This report reflects Key Goals Area 2 – Places and Spaces and specifically Community Objective 2.1 of the Strategic Community Plan 2017 – ‘planning strategies that foster the development of healthy neighbourhoods that meet our needs as we grow’.
An assessment of the risks associated with the implementation of the officer recommendations has been undertaken using the City’s risk assessment framework. No significant risks have been identified.
Part 2, Division 2 of the Deemed Provisions requires that a local government undertake consultation before adopting or amending a local planning policy (although a minor amendment can be made without consultation). At least 21 days must be allowed for the making of submissions. In this case, it is anticipated that somewhat longer would be provided, and that there would be a particular focus on consultation with bushfire practitioners, with the WAPC and with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES).
There are two related but somewhat different matters requiring consideration – (1) proposed local planning policy changes and (2) the making of a submission regarding the Draft Position Statement.
Proposed local planning policy changes
The Proposed Holiday Homes Policy entirely reflects the fact that the bushfire related content in the Existing Holiday Homes Policy would be redundant if the Proposed Bushfire Policy is adopted. As such, provided that the Council is supportive of the Proposed Bushfire Policy, there is not seen to be a need to further discuss the Proposed Holiday Homes Policy.
The Proposed Bushfire Policy, to a significant extent, reflects provisions of the Existing Holiday Homes Policy, which itself mostly clarifies the City’s application of the relevant State planning framework. The Proposed Bushfire Policy, however, seeks to provide that clarification for all relevant forms of development, rather than being limited to holiday homes.
The Proposed Bushfire Policy also seeks to extend that guidance in one key way, which is by referencing and mapping the State’s proposed definition of ‘Residential Built Out Area’ as per the Draft Position Statement. At present, that term is not defined, but the judgement as to whether development is located in a Residential Built Out Area can have a profound affect on whether the development is approvable.
The proposed definition is set out in the section below, but the Proposed Bushfire Policy includes Appendix One, which is a map applying the proposed definition to land within the City. The affect is that holiday homes and other forms of ‘vulnerable development’ could not be approved in areas like the Commonage, Mt Duckworth, Cape Clairault, Ambergate or Wonnerup, if a site has a Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) rating of BAL-40 or greater. A significant proportion of sites in those areas would have a BAL rating of BAL-40 or greater. Independent of the merit or otherwise of the State’s proposed definition, it is seen as appropriate that a map be included in policy setting out the application of the definition, as it would provide important guidance to landowners, prospective purchasers, bushfire practitioners and City officers.
The Draft Position Statement seeks to address one of the key problems with the current State framework from the City’s perspective, which is the undefined nature of the term ‘Residential Built Out Area’. The Draft Position Statement proposes the following definition -
Residential built out area: refers to a lot that is within close proximity to emergency services, access to reticulated water and is within, or contiguous with, an urban area or town (or similar).
Prior to the release of the Draft Position Statement, officers had developed an earlier iteration of the Proposed Bushfire Policy and, recognising the fundamental nature of the question, had planned to recommend to the Council that it adopt local planning policy setting out the City’s understanding of the term – and what was being considered was, in practical effect, very similar to what the State has now proposed. As such, City officers are broadly supportive of the State’s proposed definition. As noted in the section above, however, it would have a significant impact on the approvability of holiday homes especially in areas like the Commonage.
Whilst the State’s proposed definition could be criticised for being somewhat vague (for instance, what is ‘close proximity to emergency services’?), it is considered that it would not be possible to come up with a specific set of detailed standards that would be appropriate in all cases, and so some scope for discretion is seen as appropriate. What may be useful, however, is a reference in the State framework to local governments preparing and adopting mapping, similar to that included in the Proposed Bushfire Policy.
One element of the Draft Position Statement that officers are quite concerned about is the content related to ‘closure of a tourism facility’. That content notes that ‘closure of a day use facility on any day where the fire danger exceeds a pre-determined trigger point is another possible contingency measure’. Whilst this may be something a responsible operator may want to consider, it is not clear at all how the content relates to decision-making by planning authorities (i.e. local governments in most instances), and what responsibility there would be to apply or enforce conditions reflecting the content. It is considered that this content should be removed.
There are three other key issues that it is considered the City should raise in a submission, both of which are not solely related to the scope of the Draft Position Statement.
The first issue relates to a change of use of an existing building which cannot reasonably be fully upgraded to meet the applicable BAL, but which could be upgraded to improve the overall bushfire safety outcome. The State planning framework allows for discretion and consideration of that possibility. Where difficulties arise, however, is where the works which it is considered could be done would require a building permit. Once a building permit is required, the Building Act requires the full upgrade of the building. As such, decision-makers essentially have three options – (1) do not require any upgrades, (2) only require upgrades to the extent that a building permit is not required, or (3) require full upgrade, noting the result will probably be the development will not proceed, and no upgrades will be undertaken. This conundrum could be resolved by changes to legislation allowing a planning decision to limit the scope of decision-making required at building permit stage, if the planning process has fully considered bushfire issues.
The second issue relates to new development on ‘legacy lots’ in urban areas which are relatively small, but adjoin bush reserves or similar. There are a significant number of such lots in the City, many of which are BAL-40 or BAL-FZ (‘flame zone’) sites, but which may be rendered undevelopable, or very nearly so, by virtue of the current State framework.
In many cases, such sites have access to reticulated water, are within close proximity of emergency services and have multiple means of access and egress. Again, the current State planning framework provides some discretion, but the Building Act does not. Similarly, this conundrum could also be resolved by changes to legislation allowing a planning decision to limit the scope of decision-making required at building permit stage, if the planning process has fully considered bushfire issues. It is considered that the City should raise these issues and the suggested remedy in its submission.
The third issue relates to the recommendation in SPP3.7 that local governments and the WAPC impose conditions of development and subdivision approval on development in bushfire prone areas requiring placement of notifications on title (pursuant to s70a of the Transfer of Land Act 1893 or s165 of the Planning and Development Act 2005) advising prospective future purchasers of the land that the site is in a bushfire prone area. This imposes costs on landowners, often meets resistance for that and other reasons, only provides a means of advising prospective purchasers if the land has actually been subject of an application for subdivision or development approval since bushfire prone areas have been identified, and there is little evidence that prospective purchasers consistently read and understand such notifications. In short, the approach set out in SPP3.7 (and in some other SPPs, for other purposes), is far from satisfactory. In other States, more effective and less expensive means of advising prospective purchasers of matters related to the use and development of land have been developed, with systems developed to provide ‘certificates’ as part of the settlement process. A lot of WA local governments provide certificates of a similar nature currently, but without a clear framework related to regulatory (as opposed to financial) matters. It is considered that the State should move away from requiring notifications to be applied through planning processes. Further, there has been some recent legal uncertainty around the validity of such conditions. It is considered that the City should raise these issues, and recommend a move towards a coordinated approach to addressing regulatory matters through ‘property information certificates’, as has been done in some other States.
It is also envisaged that the City’s submission would identify any more detailed questions or concerns identified by officers.
It is recommended that the Council support the proposed policy changes and submission as described in this report.
The Council could decide to not adopt or amend local planning policy as recommended, or it could choose to modify the proposals before undertaking consultation. The Council could also choose not to support a submission regarding the Draft Position Statement, or choose to make a submission in different terms.
Given the relationship between the proposed policy content and the Draft Position Statement, there will need to be some judgement made as to whether the City should await a ‘Final Position Statement’ (which may be in the form of amendments to SPP3.7 or the Guidelines) before adopting the policy changes in final form. Nevertheless, the policy changes would be ‘seriously entertained’ once adopted as draft by the Council, and should be considered as part of the City’s decision-making immediately.
Implementation of the officer recommendation would involve advertising the policy proposals and making a submission regarding the Draft Position Statement. It is expected the first would occur within one month of the Council decision and the second within one week.
1. Adopt as drafts for consultation proposed new and amended local planning policies as set out at Attachment A and Attachment C; and
2. Support a submission to the WAPC regarding the Draft Position Statement: Tourism land uses within bushfire prone areas in the terms described in the agenda report.
Proposed Bushfire Policy
Existing Holiday Homes Policy
Proposed Holiday Home Policy
Council 92 27 March 2019
Council 94 27 March 2019
15.1 COMMUNITY SPORT & RECREATION FACILITIES FUND - SMALL GRANTS ROUND APPLICATION FEBRUARY 2019
CSRFF 2019
Attachment a CSRFF Application to Sport and Recreation⇩
Small grant applications must be submitted by local government authorities to the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC) by 29 March 2019. The purpose of this report is to meet the CSRFF criteria, by outlining the submissions received for projects within the City for the current funding round and request that Council rates and ranks the applications prior to forwarding to DSR for final consideration.
Administered by DLGSC, the CSRFF program provides financial assistance of up to one third of the total capital cost for the development of well-planned facilities for sport and recreation.
Local government authorities are required to assess, rate and rank small grant applications received within their municipality and make submission to DLGSC by the end of March and August of each year. In 2019/2020 the total project value for the small grant round is $5,000 to $200,000 (excluding GST).
In order to assist with the evaluation of submissions and to ensure projects are viable and appropriate, DLGSC has developed assessment criteria. Accordingly, each submission is to be assessed against those criteria and local government authorities are required to rate and prioritise local submissions using the following guide;
Applications for the current funding round closed on Monday, 28 February 2019 and must be assessed and submitted to the South West Office of Sport and Recreation no later than 29 March 2019.
During April to June, local applications (along with others received throughout the State) will be evaluated and ranked by relevant State Sporting Associations and the CSRFF Assessment Panel, prior to the outcome being announced. Funds for successful applications will become available around July 2019.
One (1) application was received for the February small grants round as follows:
1. Dunsborough Lakes Golf Club – Construction of an all-weather training facility (Lot 9050, Plan 401791, Clubhouse Drive, Dunsborough WA 6281)
There are no key statutory considerations to note in relation to this matter.
A key goal of this City of Busselton’s Social Plan 2015-2025 is to ‘create needed, quality, sustainable recreation and leisure facilities and services for our community.’
The application received from Dunsborough Lakes Golf Club (DLGC) is for the construction of an indoor golf training facility at a total cost of $54,633 (ex GST), one third of which is requested through CSRFF. As part of the project DLGC have requested a City contribution of $18,211, one third of the total project cost. DLGC would fund the balance of the project.
Officers recommend that the City’s contribution is funded from the City’s 2019/20 community bids program. With a proposed budget of approximately $238k, the next funding round for the program opens in April 2019, however the CSRFF application must be submitted prior to this and total funding contributions must be confirmed at the date of submission. Should CSRFF funding application be unsuccessful, or the full amount of the funding request be reduced, the Club will fund the shortfall. Based on this the proposed funding contribution is as follows:
Applicant Cash (including in kind)
City – Community Bids Budget
The Community Bids Program is included in the long term financial plan.
This matter aligns with the City of Busselton Strategic Community Plan 2017 and principally with the following Key Goal Area and community objectives:
Key Goal Area 1: Community – Welcoming, friendly and healthy
It further links to Council Strategy: e. Create sport and recreation hubs to service local and regional communities.
Consultation has taken place with the DLGC and DLGSC - South West Office.
DLGC has indicated the need of an all-weather training facility to increase participation across user groups with special emphasis on juniors, ladies and all abilities groups, capitalising on the skills of a coach employed to train people with disabilities.
DLGC has grown from 365 members in 2016/17 to a current membership of 465, with a target of 500 by the 2019 season which opens in March 2019. Through their strategic plan, DLGC has set a growth membership target of 15% and a retention target of 90%.
DLGC has a range of clinics and programs proposed to utilise the new training facility targeting existing members, new members, juniors and women. In addition DLGC will introduce community activities such as the Stay on Your Feet program and other low impact activities such as yoga and pilates.
At a total cost of $54,633 (ex GST), DLGC propose to contribute one third of the cost with the City and CSRFF contributing one third each. Should the CSRFF application not be successful, DLGC will fund the shortfall to ensure the project proceeds.
Officers are confident that DLGC members and broader community will benefit from this facility as it will be available for other user groups. As such officers recommend the project be assessed as a ‘high’ priority, rated (B) as it is well planned and needed by the applicant, and ranked number one (1) as it is the only application received.
The application received for the 2019/20 CSRFF small grants funding round presents sound reasoning and justification. It is recommended that this project be assessed as a ‘high’ priority and that it is a (B) well planned and needed by the applicant and a number one (1) priority for consideration in this round.
Council could decide not to support the DLGC’s application or determine an alternate rating and rank.
DLGSC - South West Office staff will be advised in writing of Council’s decision prior to the end of March 2019, when the application is submitted.
1. Allocates $18,211 towards the Dunsborough Lakes Golf Club all weather training facility, to be funded from the 2019/20 community bids budget;
2. Submits the Dunsborough Lakes Golf Club all weather training facility funding application to the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries Community Sport and Recreation Facilities Fund and rates the application as a priority ‘B’ project, rank number 1;
CSRFF Application to Sport and Recreation
Council 140 27 March 2019
Council 142 27 March 2019
• The insurance claim has been finalised and pending finalising negotiations, the CEO will enter into a contract with the preferred tenderer.
· The preferred tenderer’s submission for replacement of all 3 jetties is less than $500,000. It is expected a contract will be awarded to the preferred tenderer under delegation by the CEO in March 2019.
· It is anticipated that the tender phase for acceptable tenderers will commence in March 2019.
17.1.2 Donations Contributions and Subsidies Fund – February 2019
Three applications were supported in February 2019, totalling $1,300.00 as outlined in the table below:
50/1819
WA Rovers Owners Club South West Branch
Seeking funds to assist with covering the cost of promoting the British Auto Classic being held at Signal Park on 6 April 2019. Over 100 cars will be displayed, therefore the event will bring over 200 visitors to Busselton. Members of the public are welcome to attend the event. Funds provided as a contribution towards the purchase of two new banners and printing of promotional materials for the event.
The Busselton Old Time Dance Inc.
Seeking funds to assist with covering the cost of hosting the South West Dance Festival being held at the High St Hall on 5 April 2019. Funds provided as a Contribution towards the cost of venue hire & DJ music. The event attracts over 200 attendees from throughout the South West region and beyond.
52/1819
Selected to represent WA as part of the U17 WA State team competing at the Netball Australia National Netball Championships being held in Brisbane QLD. Funds to assist with associated travel expenses.
At the end of February 2019, expenditure from the Donations, Contributions and Subsidies Fund for the current financial year totalled $17,921.00 leaving a balance of $12,079.00.
17.1.3 Capes Region Organisation of Councils Minutes
Attachment A shows the minutes of the CapeROC meeting held on 8 February 2019. Please note there are no actions arising from this meeting.
· 17.1.2 Donations Contributions and Subsidies Fund – February 2019
· 17.1.3 Capes Region Organisation of Councils Minutes
Council 145 27 March 2019