October 2018 – President Peter Clee

Purpose of Report

To Inform Council and community of activities and to provide the community at large with information that is important and noteworthy.

What’s been happening……

The LGANT Annual General Meeting was held recently. Minister Gerry McCarthy recognised long service awards at that meeting. A big congratulations to Denise Arratta for the recognition of her 12 years of service to Local Government as a councillor and President of the Cox Peninsula Community Government Council.

I attended the NT Australian of the Year presentations recently representing Wagait Beach community.

Nominations for the Wagait Beach Australia Day awards will open in the next week or so and I encourage nominations for the local Awards. The awards will be presented on Australia Day.

The council by-election for the 2 vacant council positions was held on 22 September. I congratulate and welcome the two new councillors Tom Dyer and Graham Drake. They have hit the ground running with Tom being elected as Council Vice President

This community was very pleased when an options paper was published on the proposed upgrade or replacement of the Mandorah Jetty structure. The Jetty has been subject to a patchwork of maintenance over the last few years but its days as a commercial jetty servicing the Mandorah / Darwin ferry service are limited. There is a major issue in so far as there is no disabled access to alight the ferry. Also, the jetty is open to the ocean making it dangerous for the offloading of passengers in bad weather. Option 2 of the options paper was promulgated as the preferred option and was embraced by the communities on the Peninsula.

We first asked the Department of Infrastructure for a briefing and update in relation to the Mandorah Jetty and Ferry Terminal, last January. The briefing was subsequently deferred and postponed several times.

I was recently advised that the Executive Director, Transport Planning DIPL would be providing a confidential briefing to councillors. This is a great opportunity to understand better “where things are at” and ask questions, but it should not be restricted to just 5 councillors only. The department needs to be seen to be open and transparent.

It is reassuring to see that the project is featured (page 60) in the 10 YEAR INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN 2018 – 2027 as being a project in the 2023/27 outlook

Much has happened since January and whilst a briefing earlier this year was appropriate, I now believe that a confidential briefing for councillors is no longer appropriate. The briefing needs to be open to the public generally. I have written to the Minister expressing those views.

The Wagait Shire Council, five-year Strategic Plan has now well and truly expired. A meeting was held in the community centre this month and was very well attended. A vision for the next five years will assist the council to develop the 2019 -24 Strategic Plan.

The Strategic Planning Workshop expresses much disquiet over the quality of the Council Minutes. I agree with the community demands for the minutes to be more informative. The argument that the Agenda should be read in conjunction with the minutes does not hold weight with me. The agenda is not an important document, whereas the minutes are the long-term record of the decisions of council and the reasons behind those decisions. Council is meant to be open and transparent, but the brevity of the current minutes over the last 6 months is unacceptable to me.

Where have I been ….

24th Oct                                ABC Grass Roots 26th Oct                                  Meeting with local member 31st Oct                                  Attend NT Parliament House 5th Nov                                   Meeting with Employsure @ Wagait Beach 7th Nov                                   Mayors and Presidents Forum 7th Nov                                   NT Australian of the Year Awards Ceremony 8th Nov                                   LGANT General meeting 8th Nov                                   LGANT Networking Dinner 9th Nov                                   LGANT Annual General meeting 10th Nov                                 WSC Strategic Planning Workshop 11th Nov                                 Remembrance Day commemoration 15th Nov                                 TOPROC meeting at Palmerston 20th Nov                                 DIPL Briefing on Mandorah jetty 20th Nov                                 WSC Ordinary meeting 21st Nov                                 ABC Grass Roots

I wish everyone all the best for the Christmas and New Year, be safe.