February Council Meeting - Round Up

Published on 28 February 2025

This month's Council Meeting covered many important topics - from the Long Rail Gully Service Centre to Anzac Day, Golf and Financial Sustainability. Here’s the quick rundown of what you need to know:

Pictured: Pastors Keith Todd and Luke Collings open the February meeting with blessing and prayers.  

The meeting started with an Open Forum, and Council was delighted to hear from eight community members who spoke up about issues including the Long Rail Gully Service Centre, Springfield RFS Shed, RSL support, and prayers at Council meetings.

Some of the key items discussed were:

Long Rail Gully Highway Service Centre

There was significant community interest in the proposed DA for the Long Rail Gully Highway Service Centre on the Barton Highway at Murrumbateman. After hearing from community members both for and against the project, Council considered the service centre being located in the area, but agreed to defer the decision on determining the DA to seek further safety advice from Transport for NSW on the safety principles required for a Heavy Vehicle Rest Area and whether the impact of fog requires any additional safety measures.

Financial Sustainability 

Jason McGuire, CFO, presented to Council the Second Quarter Budget Review Statement showing an improved picture for the 2024-25 financial year. Council is now forecasting a budget deficit of $2.3 million for the 2024-25 financial year, compared to the budgeted deficit of $4.8 million that was presented to Council in December 2024. This improvement is due to a reduction in the forecasted deficit by $2.5 million. This was possible due to some additional income being identified and some expenditure reductions - primarily from more in-depth review and analysis of the accounts, the deferral of some projects to next year, grants received, vacant employee positions, and savings in some material costs.

As Council works to improve its accounting processes and reporting, a lot of in-depth work went into producing the detailed Monthly Financial Reports up to December 2024 - these are available in the attachments section online.

Binalong

Council presented the results of the community consultation and agreed to adopt the Binalong Recreation Ground Masterplan. Council also agreed to provide sponsorship and in-kind assistance to the upcoming 2025 World Sand Greens Women’s Championship in March and was delighted to hear of the increase in visitors to Binalong Golf Course throughout the year as a result of the event.

Yass RSL

Council agreed to provide continuing support to the Anzac Day community events led by Yass RSL, which will this year include a parade, commemorative service, wreath-laying, and BBQ in Banjo Paterson Park.

Council also agreed to open up the Soldier’s Memorial Hall for the fortnightly Yass Veterans Hub, with the intent of making both the Hub and the Hall more accessible to a wider audience.

Yass Valley Community Strategic Plan (CSP)

Council agreed to place on exhibition the Draft CSP 2042, which identifies the main priorities and aspirations for Yass Valley Council for the next 18 years. This is the Council’s highest-level planning document and informs the strategic direction of the Council’s integrated planning and reporting framework.

It is now available for public comment until 31 March 2025 and can be viewed online, at the library, and at the Visitor’s Information Centre. Have a look through and have your say.

South East and Tablelands Strategic Regional Integrated Transport Plan (SRITP)

Transport for NSW has prepared a draft Transport Plan for the region and asked Council for feedback. Council agreed not to support the plan in its current form, and will be actively lobbying Federal and State Government to address shortfalls in the plan. Council agreed the plan fails to:

Find out more

There were many more items discussed including procedural matters, DAs, and other routine business, all of which can be found in the meeting minutes available online soonest. You can also listen again to the Council Meeting on our livestream link.