AGENDA - Kingborough Council€¦ · Agenda No. 27 Page 1 17 December 2018 AGENDA of a Special...

Special Meeting of Council

AGENDA

NOTICE is hereby given that a Special Meeting of the

Kingborough Council will be held in the Civic Centre, Kingston on

Monday, 17 December 2018 at 5.30pm

Cr Richard Atkinson, Cr Amanda Midgley, Cr Paula Wriedt, Deputy Mayor Jo Westwood, Mayor Dean Winter, Cr David Grace, Cr Flora Fox, Cr Sue Bastone, Cr Christian Street

Absent: Cr Steve Wass

PUBLIC AGENDA

This Agenda is provided for the

assistance and information of members

of the public.

QUALIFIED PERSONS In accordance with Section 65 of the Local Government Act 1993, I confirm that the reports contained in Special Council Meeting Agenda No. 27 to be held on Monday, 17 December 2018 contain advice, information and recommendations given by a person who has the qualifications or experience necessary to give such advice, information or recommendations.

Gary Arnold GENERAL MANAGER 12 December 2018

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Item Page No.

Open Session

Apologies 1

Declarations of Interest 1

Officers Reports to Council 2

Greater Hobart Bill 2

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Agenda No. 27 Page 1 17 December 2018

AGENDA of a Special Meeting of Council Kingborough Civic Centre, 15 Channel Highway, Kingston

Monday, 17 December 2018 at 5.30pm.

AUDIO RECORDING

The Chairperson is to direct commencement of the recording. The Chairperson will declare the meeting open (time), welcome all in attendance and read:

“All persons in attendance are advised that it is Council policy to record Council Meetings. The audio recording of this meeting will be made available to the public on Council’s website. In accordance with Council Policy, I now ask staff to confirm that the audio recording has commenced.”

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF TRADITIONAL OWNERS

The Chairperson acknowledges the traditional owners of this land and pays respects to them and their customs, and to their elders, past, present and future.

ATTENDEES

Councillors:

Mayor Cr D Winter Deputy Mayor Cr J Westwood Councillor R Atkinson Councillor S Bastone Councillor F Fox Councillor D Grace Councillor A Midgley Councillor C Street Councillor S Wass Councillor P Wriedt Staff:

APOLOGIES

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

In accordance with Regulation 8 of the Local Government (Meeting Procedures) Regulations 2015 and Council’s adopted Code of Conduct, the Mayor requests Councillors to indicate whether they have, or are likely to have, a pecuniary interest (any pecuniary benefits or pecuniary detriment) or conflict of interest in any item on the Agenda.

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OFFICERS REPORTS TO COUNCIL

FILE NO 25.11 DATE 10 DECEMBER 2018 OFFICER GARY ARNOLD - GENERAL MANAGER

GREATER HOBART BILL

1 PURPOSE

Strategic Plan Reference

Future Direction 5 Community leadership

Strategic Outcome 5.2 The community is well represented at regional and State Government levels

Strategy 5.2.2 Further develop and communicate Council’s position on local government reform and in order that it can provide optimum benefits to the Kingborough community

1.1 The purpose of this report is to allow the Council to consider the draft Greater Hobart Bill 2018.

2 BACKGROUND

2.1 On 16 January this year, the Prime Minister and Premier signed a Heads of Agreement for a Hobart City Deal. The Heads of Agreement provided an undertaking by the Commonwealth and Tasmanian Governments to work together to progress a Hobart City Deal.

2.2 The Heads of Agreement calls for all parties to work collaboratively and cooperatively to progress a City Deal for Hobart and includes the establishment of a Greater Hobart Act.

2.3 The Greater Hobart Act will provide a strategic framework for local councils in the region and the State Government to better coordinate, across the Greater Hobart area the efficient use of infrastructure, strategic planning and other actions for the future land use and development in the Greater Hobart area so as to enable the objectives of the Act to be achieved.

2.4 The draft Greater Hobart Bill 2018 has been developed by a working group with representatives from the Australian and Tasmanian Governments and Hobart City, Glenorchy City, Clarence City and Kingborough Council. The working group has met on several occasions to refine the Bill which is presented to the Council for its consideration.

2.5 The Minister for Local Government, the Hon. Peter Gutwein MP has now written to the twelve councils is Southern Tasmania seeking comment on the draft Bill. This feedback will be considered in early 2019 and allow for the development of the Greater Hobart Act to progress.

2.6 Council at its meeting held 22 January 2018 considered a report in relation to the SGS Economics & Planning (SGS) Greater Hobart Feasibility Study Final Report.

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2.7 Council resolved to “advise the Minister for Local Government, the Lord Mayor of Hobart and Mayors of Clarence and Glenorchy, that Council supports Option 3 of the SGS Greater Hobart Feasibility Study Final Report and that Council seeks the establishment of a Strategic Alliance of Hobart, Glenorchy, Clarence and Kingborough Councils to oversee an integrated approach to strategic planning for sustainable and competitive urban growth within metropolitan Hobart, underpinned by a Greater Hobart Act” (Minute C48/2 – 18 refers).

3 STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS

3.1 The Greater Hobart Bill 2018 is currently in draft form.

4 DISCUSSION

4.1 As outlined above, the Greater Hobart Act provides a legislative framework to drive collaboration in collective decision making across the four municipal areas.

4.2 The objectives of the Act are:

To encourage and promote strategic planning decisions and decisions around land use, that consider potential benefits and implications across the Greater Hobart area; and

To facilitate the efficient flow of transport in the Greater Hobart area; and

To further the maintenance and accessibility of existing, and the development of new, cultural, sporting, recreational and community facilities that compliment, link to, and contribute to, the cultural experiences able to be provided in, the Greater Hobart area; and

To encourage, promote and provide for urban renewal and affordable housing and the creation, through higher density housing, of community clusters that enhance amenity, liveability, ease of access to places and facilities and the provision of passenger transport; and

To encourage, promote and provide for the development of hubs for specialised purposes such as science, sport, recreation, social activity, economic activity, technology, industry, education or the arts; and

To encourage, promote and provide for, where suitable, the efficient and effective and co-location of the transport infrastructure, cultural, sporting, recreational and community facilities, community clusters, and hubs for specialised purposes, referred to in the other paragraphs of these objectives; and

Any other prescribed objectives.

4.3 The Governance arrangements proposed through the Bill include:

The establishment of a Greater Hobart Committee to be chaired by the Minister responsible for economic development (under the current portfolio arrangements, this will be the Minister for State Growth);

The establishment of a Greater Hobart Advisory Group to be chaired by the Secretary of the Department of State Growth.

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4.4 A work program is to be developed which will identify actions to implement the objectives prescribed in the Act. This work program will sit outside the legislation. The Greater Hobart Advisory Group is to prepare the draft work program as soon as practicable after the Bill comes into effect. Once prepared, the work program is to be referred to the Greater Hobart Committee.

4.5 The Greater Hobart Committee will consider the draft work program and either approve, engage with the Advisory Group to make modifications before approving, or the Committee may resolve the work program is not in a suitable form and not support the draft presented to it. The work program will be reviewed on at least a three yearly basis.

4.6 The Greater Hobart area is defined as capturing the municipal areas of the Clarence, Glenorchy, Hobart and Kingborough Councils, however, the Bill also captures adjunct councils, which provides an opt-in mechanism for any council in the southern region to be invited to be part of the implementation of specific actions in the agreed work program.

4.7 Regulations may be made for the purposes of the Act and may be made in relation to the procedures to be followed by the Greater Hobart Advisory Group of the Greater Hobart Committee or matters that may be required to be included in work programs.

4.8 In reviewing the draft Bill, it is important to note that it provides a framework for the councils to work with the Tasmanian Government collaboratively on key strategic matters.

4.9 In general, the Bill appears acceptable and Council officers have suggested some minor amendments which have been covered in this report or made on the attached draft Bill and clause notes. It is suggested that an amendment be made to the Bill description which names up the requirement that the State Government and councils better collaborate with each other. It is felt that this change places the emphasis on the councils and State Government working together. The other suggested change includes the addition of the words ‘land use planning’ and ‘physical’ in the Bill description.

4.10 In reviewing the draft Bill, it is important to note that it provides a framework for the councils to work with the Tasmanian Government collaboratively on key strategic matters.

Comments on the Draft Bill

4.11 A Partnership Approach to the Infrastructure and Planning of Metropolitan Hobart

The Bill would create a structured opportunity to increase and formalise cooperation among and between the Greater Hobart area councils and the State Government around planning and infrastructure for the Hobart metropolitan area.

The importance of such a potential partnership cannot be understated because the metropolitan area is shaped by infrastructure created or managed by both tiers of government – and hence, the metropolitan area would itself be more effectively managed by both tiers of government working in concert.

This is a significant step forward from past legislative approaches such as the Southern Metropolitan Planning Authority and the Southern Metropolitan Master Planning Authority which foundered in the 1970s and 80s because of their voluntary nature.

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4.12 Potential for Improved Access to Federal Funding

While the Commonwealth would not be a party to a Greater Hobart Act, history suggests that funding proposals to the Federal Government which are supported within and between tiers of government are more likely to be successful.

4.13 Maintenance of the Southern Tasmanian Regional Land Use Strategy

The Southern Tasmanian Regional Land Use Strategy was largely created through the co-operative endeavours of the STCA and the Southern councils and carries statutory weight. The Regional Strategy is not a “point in time” document and there is a statutory obligation to keep it under “regular and periodic review”.

Since its creation, the Southern Tasmanian Regional Land Use Strategy has not been significantly reviewed.

The work program created under a Greater Hobart Act would provide a mechanism and impetus for the critical task of maintaining the Strategy.

4.14 Influence

It needs to be recognised that local government would be in the minority on both the Greater Hobart Committee and the Greater Hobart Advisory Group. There is scope for the State Government to impose its will upon local government through the mechanisms in the Act. Therefore, for local government interests to be effectively advanced, there will be a need for effective advocacy from the Greater Hobart area councils.

In addition, the secretariat function would lie with the Department of State Growth under the Bill. It is considered that there would be a need for a dedicated local government role to ensure the momentum for advancement of local government interests are adequately advanced in the formulation and implementation of work plans. This could be achieved through a contribution from the Greater Hobart area councils.

4.15 Scope of the Act in relation to Infrastructure

While “infrastructure” has not been precisely defined in the Bill, most, if not all references in the draft Bill focus on social, transport and economic infrastructure.

For example, in the citation, the reference is only to:

the making of decisions that will affect provision of transport, cultural, sporting, recreational, economic and social infrastructure.

It is critical for the scope of the Act to be clarified to include basic physical infrastructure because urban growth is most profoundly shaped, in the first instance by the availability of water and sewerage infrastructure, in addition to transport infrastructure before higher order social infrastructure comes into play.

Without this clarification of scope, the efficacy of the Act in achieving its purported objectives would be greatly diminished.

4.16 Onus on Councils Alone in Some Provisions

In the citation of the draft Bill and in clause 8(2), it is the Greater Hobart area councils who are the subject of the provision - and who therefore bear the onus.

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This is not, of itself, a concern. The concern is that, in those provisions, the Bill as drafted places the sole onus upon local government.

This runs counter to the Heads of Agreement between the Prime Minister and the Premiers signed on 16 January 2018 which sought to, among other things:

Establish a Greater Hobart Act, to provide a strategic framework for local councils in the region and the State Government to work together to implement the objectives of the Hobart City Deal and complementary land use planning outcomes.

It is important that the draft Bill reflects the shared onus between local government and State Government which is an object of the original heads of agreement.

The citation should be amended in that respect as follows:

An Act to require councils in the Greater Hobart area and the State Government to better collaborate with each other and the State Government in the making of decisions that …

Clause 8 sets out the contents of a work program.

Clause 8(2) provides for actions to allow for better co-ordination between Greater Hobart area councils but does not provide for such actions to also enable better co-ordination between those councils and the State Government. The following change is recommended:

Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), a work program may include actions to enable the better coordination between Greater Hobart area councils and the State Government of decisions about infrastructure, strategic planning decisions, and decisions about land use.

4.17 Powers of the Chairperson of the Greater Hobart Committee

The Chairperson is the Minister with primary responsibility for economic development.

Clause 10(2) allows the Chairperson to amend a work program after it has been approved by the Greater Hobart Committee.

In the event that the decision of the Committee is not unanimous, the Chairperson has the power under 10(2)(b) to amend an approved work plan, following consultation with the Greater Hobart area councils “as he or she thinks fit”. This provision may well be a measure intended to enable the Chairperson to tweak the work program to satisfy unhappy councils. However, as drafted, it would permit the unintended effect of allowing the Chairperson to amend the work program without constraint.

It is considered the provision ought to be modified to provide for amendments to be subject to the agreement of a minimum of 3 of the 4 member councils on the Greater Hobart Committee.

Clause 13(3) provides for the Chairperson to give a notice to the Planning Minister if the Chairperson is of the opinion that amendments to the Southern Tasmanian Regional Land Use Strategy are required to ensure consistency with the Greater Hobart Objectives as implemented through the work program.

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It is considered that service of the notice to the Planning Minister ought to be triggered by the majority view of the Greater Hobart Committee rather than being solely based upon the opinion of the Chairperson.

4.18 In general, the Bill appears acceptable and Council officers have suggested some minor amendments which have been made on the attached draft Bill and clause notes or covered in this report.

5 FINANCE

5.1 The are no direct financial implications with this report.

6 ENVIRONMENT

6.1 There are no environmental implications with this report.

7 COMMUNICATION AND CONSULTATION

7.1 Should the recommendation in this report be supported it is proposed that the Mayor provides a media release and Council communicate the decision widely.

8 RISK

8.1 There are no apparent risks identified with support of the draft Bill.

9 CONCLUSION

9.1 The Greater Hobart Act will provide a strategic framework for local councils in the region and the State Government to better coordinate, across the Greater Hobart area the efficient use of infrastructure and strategic planning and other actions for the future land use and development in the Greater Hobart area so as to enable the objectives of the Act to be achieved.

9.2 The draft Greater Hobart Bill 2018 is provided to the Council for its consideration.

9.3 In general, the Bill appears acceptable and Council officers have suggested some minor amendments which, if approved, by the Council will be forwarded to the Department of State Growth.

10 RECOMMENDATION

MOVED SECONDED

That Council: 1 Support the draft Greater Hobart Bill 2018 as amended.

2 Write to the Minister of State Growth making comment on the draft Bill in the

terms set out in this report.

For Against For Against

Cr Atkinson Cr Street

Cr Bastone Cr Wass

Cr Fox Cr Westwood

Cr Grace Cr Winter

Cr Midgley Cr Wriedt

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CONFIRMATION OF ITEMS TO BE DEALT WITH IN CLOSED SESSION

MOVED SECONDED That in accordance with Regulation 15 of the Local Government (Meeting Procedures) Regulations 2015 Council, by absolute majority, move into closed session to consider the following items:

Item Regulation

Greater Hobart City Deal 15(2)(g)



Cr Bastone Cr Wass

Cr Fox Cr Westwood

Cr Grace Cr Winter


In accordance with the Kingborough Council Meetings Audio Recording Guidelines Policy, recording of the open session of the meeting will now cease. Open Session of Council adjourned at

OPEN SESSION ADJOURNS

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OPEN SESSION RESUMES Open Session of Council resumed at MOVED SECONDED The Closed Session of Council having met and dealt with its business resolves to report that it has determined the following:

Item Decision

Greater Hobart City Deal



Cr Bastone Cr Wass

Cr Fox Cr Westwood

Cr Grace Cr Winter


CLOSURE

There being no further business, the Chairperson declared the meeting closed at

…………………………………… …………………………………… (Confirmed) (Date)

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