Council Plan 2013-2017

DRAFT NOT SIGNED OFF

Inside cover

Contact us

This document contains important information about East Gippsland Shire Council. If you do not understand the content or would like further information, please contact us in one of the following ways:

Telephone

Residents information line 1300 555 886Citizen Service Centre: (03) 5153 9500 (open 8.30 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday)

Hearing or speech-impaired customersContact Council through the National Relay Service on 133 677

PostEast Gippsland Shire Council

PO Box 1618

Bairnsdale 3875 Australia

Fax (03) 5153 9576

Web www.eastgippsland.vic.gov.au

Email feedback@egipps.vic.gov.au

Twitter@egsc

Centre locations

Bairnsdale Corporate Centre: 273 Main Street

Lakes Entrance Service Centre: 18 Mechanics Street

Omeo Service Centre: 179 Day Avenue

Orbost Service Centre: 1 Ruskin Street

Paynesville Service Centre: 55 The Esplanade

Outreach Centres

Bendoc Outreach Centre

Buchan Resource Centre

Cann River Community Centre

Legislative requirements

The administrative practices of East Gippsland Shire Council are primarily governed by the Local Government Act 1989 and Local Government (Finance and Reporting) Regulations 2004. Under this legislation, Council is required to prepare and adopt a Council Plan at least every four years.

The Council Plan must provide a strategic direction as well as identify outcomes and strategies in response to local and regional issues.

Adoption by Council

The Council Plan 2013-2017 was adopted by Council at a Special Council meeting on 25 June 2013.

Contents

4Introduction to the Council Plan

5Mayors message

6Chief Executive Officers message

7Our region, our people, our diversity

7Our region

8Our people

9Our diversity

10Significant issues

16Our Council

16The role of Council

17Your Councillors

18Organisation chart

18Vision

19Values

20The process to develop this Council Plan

20The Community Vision and the Council Plan

21Our corporate planning framework

24Our response to Shaping the Future 2030: the Council Plan 2013-2017

25A snapshot of what this Council Plan will deliver between 2013-17

29How to interpret this plan

35What we will deliver in 2013-14

36Key strategic activities

42People

50Place

63Economy

71Stewardship

78Strategic Resource Plan

79What is the Strategic Resource Plan

79Development of the Strategic Resource Plan

80Non-financial resources

80Human resources

80Infrastructure

81Risk management

81Information technology

82Financial resources

82Key Financial Indicators

84Budgeted Standard Statements

85Budgeted Standard Income Statement

86Budgeted Standard Balance Sheet

87Budgeted Standard Cash Flow Statement

89Budgeted Standard Capital Works Statement

< Section 1>

Introduction to the Council Plan

Mayors message

I am pleased to present East Gippsland Shires Council Plan 2013-2017.

This current Council was elected in October 2012 and the development of a new Council Plan was embarked upon later that year and into 2013. This Plan represents Councils response to the matters that the community told us are important during our Long-term Community Vision consultation period. It integrates and focuses Councils resources towards achieving the community goals of Shaping our Future 2030. The structure of the plan, its underlying values and overarching mission of sustainability (of our diverse places and strong communities) mirror those of Shaping our Future 2030.

During the next four years, we will plan and deliver services and manage community assets according to the priorities outlined in these pages. Consider this Plan as a roadmap for navigating the first leg of our journey to a better future for East Gippslands people and places by 2030. Each year we will review our progress, report on our achievements against specified indicators and allocate resources for the following year to build on the gains we have made.

The traditional owners in the East Gippsland Shire have a special place in this Plan and in Shaping our Future 2030. This is reflected in several partnership initiatives we have forged with Aboriginal organisations, like the East Gippsland Reconciliation Action Plan.

Priorities strongly embedded in our Council Plan include:

Delivering services into places in a way that meets actual needs, equitably;

Transforming our economic base and being better connected to the world outside; and

Supporting communities and businesses to adapt to the effects of climate change.

While dealing with these challenges, we will not lose sight of the vital local issues you have told us are important to you, including:

Ongoing management and maintenance of ageing infrastructure;

Protecting, improving and promoting our communitys health and wellbeing;

Dealing with waste in a way thats both cheaper and more environmentally sound;

Building relationships with our communities so we understand each other well; and

Ensuring the ongoing financial sustainability of Council.

Id like to thank residents for their commitment to the engagement process to date and urge you all to keep working with Council to achieve our shared goals. By working together, I have great confidence in the future of East Gippsland.

Cr Dick Ellis

Mayor

Call out - In four years I expect we will be a stronger community - enriched by robust democratic and cultural practices and sustained by a thriving local economy and a diverse and healthy environment.

Chief Executive Officers message

The Council Plan is the key document that drives the strategic direction of Council. It expresses the Councils broad vision for the future development of East Gippsland Shire.

Developing this Council Plan has provided the opportunity for Councillors and Shire staff to pause, take stock and check where we are heading. The document is our strategic plan for the next four years and is a direct response to the community aspirations articulated in the revised Long-term Community Plan Shaping Our Future 2030, adopted by Council in September 2012.

In preparing the Council Plan, we took into account all we know about East Gippsland; the legacies of past civic and community leaders, the opportunities and challenges ahead and the values and views of the people we serve. We considered implications of our legislative framework that governs our work. We reflected on the key strategies, plans and programs already in place, and assessed their relevance against the community plan.

We also looked at issues and trends impacting on East Gippsland from beyond our regional boundaries; from the greater-Gippsland region and further afield to the national and global forces affecting us. Population growth, coastal inundation, environmental sustainability and improved management and maintenance of ageing infrastructure are among the big issues we know we must continue to embrace and work through over the next four years.

We reviewed evidence from leading researchers whose work informs our planning for social, economic and environmental sustainability. We also considered our responsibilities to provide leadership and good governance, sound management of civic assets, and value for money to ratepayers.

In short, a lot of creative and strategic thinking and hard work across many departments within Council has driven the preparation of this Plan and added to the things we already knew from the community input that we received during the development of the Community Plan.

Now the Council Plan has been adopted by Council, our task is to get on and deliver the actions and strategies contained in these pages and to report on our progress each year as we go.

I look forward to reporting progress in a spirit of partnership with local residents and organisations.

Steve Kozlowski

Chief Executive Officer

Our region, our people, our diversity

East Gippsland Shire Council acknowledges the Gunnai Kurnaipeople and the Bidhawal (Bidwell) people as the traditional custodians of this land.

East Gippsland has a beautiful and bountiful environment, an engaged community and an economy that offers many opportunities. As we move into the future, we want to retain all that is special about our region. We want to be informed, effective and responsive to meet the challenges of the future.

Our region

East Gippsland is a major geographic and economic region in eastern Victoria. The Shire stretches from west of Bairnsdale to the New South Wales border, covering more than 21,000 square kilometres or 10% of the state.

The traditional custodians of East Gippsland are the indigenous Gunnai Kurnaipeople, who bordered on the lands of the Bidhawal (Bidwell) people to the east around Cann River and Mallacoota.

European settlement dates from the 1830s, with land used mainly for sheep and cattle grazing and timber. Spurred by gold discoveries, growth took place in the 1850s and 1860s. Substantial growth occurred from the 1880s, as settlement spread into the more marginal forests and hills. Expansion continued during the early 1900s and during the post-war years. The major commercial centre, Bairnsdale, was proclaimed a city in July 1990.

The past 30 years have seen East Gippsland