What you missed- July Council meeting

HIGHLIGHTS from last night’s Council meeting include:

• Council approved a 24-hour highway service centre on Makybe Diva Street, Scone;
• A debate took place over a game meat chiller storage building in Blandford;
• Preliminary works for the Merriwa-Willow Tree Road were approved;
• Council will enter into a Voluntary Planning Agreement (VPA) with MACH Energy, owners of Mt Pleasant Mine;
• Cr Abbott asked how Council will mitigate financial risks of the Warbird Museum plan, which now has lower visitor projections.

All Councillors were in attendance except Cr Burns, who is currently unwell.

Highway service centre at Makybe Diva Street, Scone:

Council received a Development Application (DA) for a highway service centre at Makybe Diva Street Scone with a convenience store and food outlet. The development site has an area of approximately 3,037 metre squared and faces the Scone Bypass northern off-ramp. The service centre’s development will require redesigning the intersection between the New England Highway, Makybe Diva Street and Kelly Street.

The development includes:

• Construction and use of a service station with a convenience store (192 metres squared), fuel canopy and four bowers,
• Underground fuel and storage tanks;
• 24-hour operation;
• Construction and use of a food and drink premises (182 metres squared);
• Shared loading bay and service area;
• Provision of 28 car parking spaces, including two accessible spaces;
• Re-design and construction of the New England Highway-Makybe Diva Street-Kelly Street intersection
• Construction of an additional leg of existing roundabout to gain access to the site;
• Associated landscaping and site signage; and
• Other minor works.

Councillor Abbott objected to the petrol station, saying it was yet another fossil fuel development, adding more carbon emissions. “This will become a stranded asset. It’s not needed in scone. When will the Upper Hunter Shire Council say enough is enough? We need to change our Local Environment Plan (LEP),” said Cr Abbott. Cr Watts said it’s not up to Council to choose what developments go ahead, as long as they meet the guidelines, all applications need to be given a fair go. Cr Campbell said he was disappointed the station was only going to service small vehicles and not heavy vehicles. “This is not the original applicant or discussion that was to be not on this particular site, but a site nearby where heavy vehicles would be able to stay and refuel. My problem with this is there’s enough petrol stations in Scone. That area down there needs a heavier vehicle centre, that will take the heavy vehicles away from Scone and service them away from an area. I’m disappointed in that but I agree that it meets the LEP. For us to decided we don’t like the LEP, is not for us to decide,” said Cr Campbell. Cr Abbott then questioned if Councillors have a say when it comes to the LEP guidelines, which General Manager Greg McDonald replied: “Yes, we do, however the LEP is based on a standard instrument these days, which all Councils throughout the State have to comply with, so I guess it is heavily regulated.” Mayor Collison said the highway service centre is in the ideal spot and he thinks the applicant said it may become a truck stop in future. Council voted and the Makybe Diva petrol station was approved, with only Cr Abbott voting against.

Game meat storage chiller at Salisbury Street, Blandford:

Cr watts declared a disclosure of interest for this matter, as she is married to the applicant. She left the Council chamber during discussion and abstained from voting.

Council received seven submissions regarding a Development Application for a game meat storage chiller, which commenced development without Council’s consent. On November 4, Council received a complaint that a building was being used for the purpose of a game meat storage chiller. A Development Application (DA) was lodged with Council on May 7, seeking to regularise the use of the land. During the period that Council has been aware of the development and received seven complaints from members of the public about the game meat storage chiller being located at the site. Five of the seven submissions were received after surrounding properties were notified of the proposed development between May 19 and June 2. Public objections included: 

“Location of chiller – close proximity to New England Highway. Highly visible to children travelling to and from school (close proximity to bus stop). Children and parents witnessing unloading of slaughtered animals.”

“Slaughtered kangaroos deliver regularly in daylight hours. Locals including children witness carcass delivery. Unit cleaned and waste products hosed out onto the ground. Waste products attract crows. Close vicinity to school bus stop and waiting parents. Location on highway within village. Distressing sight to witnesses.”

“Bus driver utilising bus stop adjacent to site. Inappropriate for young children to witness transfer of carcasses in and out of chiller. Activity should be restricted to outside of school bus hours.”

“Building located within metres of New England Highway directly next to school bus stop. Site is unsuitable for development, travellers and school children witness disturbing site of slaughtered kangaroos hanging on utes and being unloaded into chiller. ”

Cr Campbell amended the motion to approve the storage chiller operation hours. It will be used  between the hours of 7am and 6:30am the following day from Monday to Saturday and 8am to 8am on Sundays and Public Holidays. Cr Abbott objected to the game meat storage chiller, calling it a “game meat field depo.” She questioned if the storage chiller had a food authority licence, if it met food standards and if the New South Wales Food Authority had checked the building. “Also, I want to object that we are decimating the Kangaroo population. We love them by day and by night we just shoot them. Over 1.5 million kangaroos have been slaughtered this year. Basically, we are just profiting. I’m worried about the food hygiene standards. Will this vehicle or this depo be sanitised?” asked Cr Abbott. Cr Campbell and Cr Collison defended the operation, saying all the shooters are licenced and properly trained in their roles. “I’m sure their vehicles are sanitised. I’m sure farmers have a licence to cull and tag. Today I came to town and saw two pigs on the road where someone’s dropped them. I’d rather them be brought to a chiller,” said Cr Collison. Council’s Director of Environmental and Community Services, Matthew Pringle confirmed the food and hygiene side is regulated and inspected by the Food Authority, not by Council. Cr Abbott attempted to speak further on the matter, but was refused by Cr Collison who said she had already had three chances at speaking. Cr Abbott was appearing via Zoom link and appeared to have some connectivity issues and missed out on the vote. Council approved the DA to regularise the use of the land for the meat game storage chiller at Blandford. Cr Abbott returned to screen and noted that she objected to the chiller’s approval, which was noted by Council.

Parliamentary inquiry into social housing:

Council endorsed the submission to the parliamentary inquiry, which will look into options to improve access to existing and alternate accommodation to address the social housing shortage in New South Wales. The inquiry’s terms of reference include:

• Options to better support temporary accommodation support and its current major planning barriers;
• Options to improve access to existing accommodation to provide community housing;
• Options for crisis, key-worker and other short term accommodation models;
• Barriers to additional supply across New South Wales, including for smaller non-CHP housing providers; and
• Support for and accountability of registered community housing providers.

Cr Watts and Cr Abbott were very pleased with Council’s motion to support the inquiry, by submitting their own information to the panel. “Thank you for taking my suggestion and putting forward this report. Council’s input into NSW Government inquiry, submits the future findings and resources that the government will give to smaller areas by being a part of this and letting people know what we need. It also makes government accountable in supporting projects on a local level. If we are putting forward what we need, the NSW Government might take little notice on what we need, because I don’t think well be the only council supporting this,” said Cr Watts. “I’ve raised this, as has Cr Watts, many times before. It would certainly help alleviate many mental health issues and be able to provide people with forever homes,” said Cr Abbott. The motion was carried unanimously.

Requests for donations:

Council approved the following donations:

1. $200 to Blandford Public School to assist in the cost of their 150 year celebrations;
2. $100 to Merriwa Pony Club to assist with the publication of their 75 Year Pony Club Book.

Merriwa Heritage Conservation area:

Proposed changes to the boundaries of the Merriwa Heritage Conservation Area were placed on public exhibition from July 23 to August 20, 2020. The changes were proposed to take out any areas that are not of heritage significance. One submission was received from the Merriwa District Progress Association acknowledging the significant reduction in the size of the conservation area and recommending a further reduction to remove areas that do not hold any heritage value. The submission also requested Council to delete the listing of the former Astros Theatre as a heritage item in the Upper Hunter LEP 2013, as the building no longer exists. Cr Campbell said he was “really struggled” with the motion to approve the new heritage area. “Some of the buildings they’re proposing really have no heritage significance at all. I’m really struggled for this. I don’t feel comfortable taking this one in because so much of the open area has paddocks,” said Cr Campbell. Council moved to adopt the following changes:

•  Remove the Merriwa south-eastern precinct from the LEP map;
• List those potential items (identified in images) in the LEP;
• Retain the recreation area, railway precinct and silos and a section of King George V Avenue as a conservation area in the LEP;
• Remove some areas to the west of Merriwa identified as including non-contributory buildings. 

MACH Energy, Mt Pleasant VPA:

Council will enter into a Voluntary Planning Agreement (VPA) with MACH Energy, owners of Mt Pleasant Mine, which will see the mining operation provide funding to Aberdeen. Cr Abbott had concerns about the VPA, due to Councils opposition to the mine.”Obviously were opposed to Mt Pleasant, can you please explain why we need to do this VPA or why we need to enter into one?” asked Cr Abbott. Mr McDonald explained Council does not have to enter into the VPA. “The offer is being made by the developer or the applicant, to enter into a VPA and provide these significant contributions to the Aberdeen community. It’s completely separate to the DA process itself. This is a seperate VPA between Council and the proponent and it’s very clear that Council still objects to the proposal,” he said. Cr Abbott confirmed if entering the VPA would dilute Councils objection towards the mine. “Given this development is not in our Shire, should we be entering VPAs for mines not in our shire? Does it still maintain our objections to this development?” she asked. Mr McDonald confirmed the VPA would not affect Councils position. “The nexus is, there are potential impacts on our Shire as a result of the development,” he said. The motion was carried.

Recognition length of service:

Mayor Collison recognised Bradley Adams for his 20 years of service to Council.

Brad commenced with Council in July 2001 as a casual Field Officer, working with Mick McBain on the Bridge Crew and filling in with other crews including the Concrete Crew with Cedric Hawkins. Brad also operated the roller on Grader Crews when needed. Brad became permanent in January 2003 working between the Bridge Crew and Concrete Crew before starting in the role of Team Leader in 2007 doing various concrete works. During this time he also operated a backhoe and excavator. Currently, Brad is Team Leader of Construction, for which he has held this role since March 2015.

Waste management strategy 2021-2031:

Council adopted the Waste Management Strategy 2021-31, which was put on public exhibition at the end of May. The strategy includes diminishing landfill void space, environmental compliance obligations at existing facilities and a stated desire by Council to reduce its Greenhouse Gas emissions. During the public exhibition period, a number of face-to-face community meetings were conducted at Aberdeen, Scone, Merriwa, Murrurundi, Cassilis and Moonan.  No major changes were made to the Draft Strategy, only minor amendments were made subsequent to consideration of feedback received during the public exhibition period. Cr Abbott expressed reservations about the strategy and said she was disappointed the landfill would be extended at Aberdeen. Mr McDonald said Council is only looking at expanding the Aberdeen facility at this stage and confirmed it would be takinging Crown land and native title claims into consideration if or when the option is further explored.

Merriwa-Willow Tree Road earthworks:

Council will not call tenders for a section of preliminary earthworks on the Merriwa-Willow Tree Road, as inviting tenders “would not achieve a satisfactory result due to the urgency of works being required to protect the environment and the road from further slips.” Instead, Council will enter into an hourly rates contract with available plant hirers, so earthworks can take place as soon as possible and material can be removed before it becomes unrecoverable. This means the material may be able to be mixed with new material and reused, reducing both costs and risks for the construction works to follow, while addressing the issues identified by Douglas Partners. Cr Fisher asked if Douglas Partners and the project control group had been made aware of this motion. “Have they respond and what there thoughts are on this?” he asked. It was confirmed the motion was tabled at the most recent project control group meeting and was favoured by all parties. Cr Abbott asked when Council will be receiving the results of the Office of Local Government Investigation into the Merriwa-Willow Tree Road failure. General Manager Greg McDonald said Council was supposed to receive the OLG report by the end of June, then the end of July, but have not received an update in two weeks.”It’s in their hands. They haven’t given us an update for the last couple of weeks. As soon as we receive it, we will circulate it. We have no control over the State Government,” said Mr McDonald. Cr Abbott then asked if Councillors were interviewed as part of the investigation. Mr Pringle said the OLG indicated that prior to issuing the final report, representative will be talking to Council. “I imagine that will be in a group meeting,” replied Cr Collison.

 

Merriwa cycle and walkway:

The Merriwa Economic Development and Tourism Committee will be used as the primary method for obtaining community feedback and input to the final design and delivery of the Merriwa Cycle and Walkway project. Upper Hunter Shire Council has secured $922,674 for the project under Stage 2 of the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund.

Questions with notice

Cr Abbott submitted the following question: How are we going to mitigate the financial risk to the Upper Hunter Shire community that the current Warbird Museum plan poses bearing in mind current projections are grim? Council staff responded prior to the July meeting stating: “The independent feasibility study from Morrison Low Consultants indicated a positive long term operational result and a very strong boost to the local economy.” Cr Abbott told Council that didn’t answer her question and pressed Council on how its loan repayments will be made now that the projected visitor numbers have been downgraded. “Is  Council confident we’re going to be meeting all of our loan repayments?” questioned Cr Abbott. Mr McDonald said: “Yes, the repayments will be met under the long-term financial plans and estimated income projections.”