Council Meeting: September 24

WAYNE Bedggood was returned as Mayor for another two years unopposed and Cr Maurice Collison was reelected as Deputy Mayor. Other issues raised including whether the Shire should reject any money from coal mines for the community, if a heritage assessment should be avoided on the Murrurundi hospital in case a new design needs to tear it down and an investigation into if millions of rate payers money should be spent on the Scone airport. Voluntary water restrictions will be brought in, along with up to $50,000 to be spent consulting with the community about what else could be added to the drought management plan.

Councillor James Burns was an apology for the meeting. All other Councillors were present: Cr Sue Abbott, Cr Wayne Bedggood, Cr Joshua Brown, Cr Ron Campbell, Cr Maurice Collison, Cr Lorna Driscoll, Cr Kiwa Fisher and Cr Lee Watts

Election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor

Wayne Bedggood was elected Mayor unopposed. Both Sue Abbott and Maurice Collison were nominated for Deputy Mayor, with Cr Collison becoming Deputy Mayor five votes to three. Mayor Wayne Bedggood thanked his fellow Councillors for their support and described the work of the Council as “an exceptional two years of achievements” adding that he looked forward to the next two years of work.

Murrurundi Swimming Pool

Cr Brown said Council should be seeking more financial support for the Murrurundi Swimming pool with extra funding from the Council, from State and Federal government and consider bus transport for Murrurundi residents to Scone pool during the summer. The motion was passed.

Murrurundi Hospital and Scone Airport Terminal

The Heritage Advisory Committee had recommended Council conduct a heritage assessment on the relocation of the Scone Airport Terminal if it was structurally possible and identify costs involved. Cr Fisher wanted to the item removed from the recommendation, however Cr Abbott argued the assessment should be allowed to proceed and a informed decision on the fate of the building once the assessment was complete. The item remained part of the motion and was passed.

Cr Fisher also opposed a heritage assessment being done on the Wilson Memorial Hospital in Murrurundi, stating that the outcome of the assessment could negatively affect the building the proposed Multi-Purpose Services on the site. Cr Abbott argued that an assessment should be done, especially in the lead up to the Centenary of the hospital and that it was unlikely the MPS would be impacted. “The MPS buildings are usually new stand alone buildings, which shouldn’t impact on the exiting older building anyway,” said Cr Abbott. Cr Brown said that he supported the recommendation to have the assessment and he had every confidence any plans for the MPS would take into account the heritage of the hospital building anyway. Cr Watts said Council should ensure the funding body for the MPS was aware, but agreed the investigation for the heritage should go ahead. The motion was passed for the assessment to be conducted.

Cr Abbott also raised her concerns with a MPS saying often they are no replacement for a hospital and while a new building may provide a good photo opportunity, it usually results in less health services for the town. Cr Abbott asked for further information on the MPS. the Mayor said the MPS had been an election promise, but he was “not sure where it was at.” Steve McDonald, general manager of Council said Hunter New England Health Services would be invited to provide a briefing to Council.

Coal Mining Money

The Sustainability Advisory Committee proposed that Council not accept sponsorship from the coal and gas sector. Cr Abbott said the Shire already had a position of not allowing coal mining or gas extraction within Shire and so to accept sponsorship money from them was hypocritical. Cr Watts said the recommendation should be removed from the motion. The recommendation was removed and the motion was passed.

Single-Use Plastic Free

Council voted to support a recommendation that Council develop a policy which would eliminate single-use products at events run by Council and events held on Council land. However, Cr Watts said while she supported the recommendation people would need time to adjust to the new policy. Cr Fisher agreed that the motion should be amended to have an appropriate lead in time. Cr Abbott agreed and said it was important to educate the community and stress that it would be non-punitive.

Meeting Minutes

The accuracy and process of minutes from Council committees was again a bone of contention, with many matters not properly recorded to be reflective of the meetings, arguments about when agenda items can be contributed to meetings and the timely distribution of minutes for proper review and approval. Cr Fisher said some meetings were being “frittered away on individual agendas” and it was the reason he had resigned from the Sustainability Committee. Cr Abbott said she had raised her concerns with meeting minutes and agendas with the general manager, Steven McDonald. Mr McDonald acknowledged Cr Abbott’s concerns and said steps were being taken to address the matters. Cr Abbott also stated she had resigned from the Aberdeen Revitalisation Committee for reasons she had stated in her resignation letter to Council. Previously Cr Abbott had raised concerns about a development for Jefferson Park which had not come through the committee and was a project worth millions of dollars of rate payer money, for which there was no information.

Emergency Housing

The Council passed a motion to establish a group home to provide emergency/transitional housing at 7 Surman Street in Scone in partnership with the Upper Hunter Homeless Support and submit a development application for the use of the property as a group home. Cr Brown further added to the motion that Council should investigate uses for the property at 145 Liverpool Street, Scone. Cr Watts said she was pleased the initiative had was moved so quickly citing an increased need for housing for women and children escaping domestic violence and homeless in the area. Cr Campbell said while he supported the initiative he had concerns that people from out of town may use the facilities. Cr Watts explained there were guidelines for who could access the accommodation.

Voluntary Water Restrictions

Council voted to implement voluntary non-enforcable water conservation rules in the Shire, as recently adopted in the Muswellbrook Shire. They also approved up to $50,000 to investigate through community consultation how the Drought Management Plan could be improved.

Harmony Day

Cr Abbott said she would like to see Council lend more support to Harmony Day which was currently run by the Scone Neighbourhood Centre. She further noted the Live, Work, Invest promotion showed no diversity and other towns who had made the same mistake withdrew their campaigns. The matter was taken on notice.

Vodafone Network

The Council voted to affix the common seal to the lease agreement between Vodafone and the Shire. Cr Abbott asked if Councillors would see the lease agreement before it progressed and was told they would.

Scone Regional Airport

Council voted to conduct a review of the plans for the Scone airport. Cr Abbott said she was very concerned with the millions of dollars of rate payers money that was proposed to be spent on the airport. The Mayor said he shared Cr Abbott’s concerns and hence the review would occur.

Christmas Tree

Cr Watts enquired about progress with the Christmas Tree for Merriwa. Council staff confirmed they were looking into which tree would be ordered. Cr Campbell said he supported a tree for the town, but said he did not want to see too much money spent on the tree. Mayor Bedggood joked that he wanted the trees in each town to be comparable as he didn’t want to manage  inter-town “tree envy”.

Scone Lagoon

Cr Abbott said in her historical research on Scone she read about the Scone Lagoon and questioned if the Roads and Maritime Services understood they were building a bypass over the Scone Lagoon. The general manager said the RMS were required to complete a Review of Environmental Factors for all works which included soil testing and water course reviews. Cr Abbott said she would follow up concerns raised with her, with the RMS.

Wind Sock Issues

Cr Abbott said the assertion by Council that the wind sock was too close to the terminal building, therefore the building had to be demolished was nonsensical. Previously Cr Abbott has drawn comparisons to other regional airports where the wind socks are in closer proximity and said if the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) had an issue with the windsock that was so serious “surely they would have already shut the airport down”. Her comments were taken on notice.

Horses on Small Blocks

Cr Abbott said some residents had raised their concerns with her about too many horses being kept on small in-town blocks and questioned if there was a limit to the number of livestock which could be kept on small blocks. Her question was takenon notice.

Safety at Murrurundi Public Shcool

Cr Brown said residents had ongoing concerns with the speed limit outside the school not being adhered to and questioned if Council could write to the state member and RMS for options to reduce traffic speeds and perhaps consider a pedestrian crossing with flashing lights. The general manager said he would also speak with the local police and the local traffic committee about the concerns.

Praise for the Mayor

The Deputy Mayor, Cr Maurice Collison did not have a question, but wanted to go on record in his praise of the Mayor and the good work he had done over the last two years and thanked the other Councillors for returning him to the position of Deputy Mayor.