DRAFT MINUTES
GREATER SYDNEY LOCAL LAND SERVICES
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADVISORY GROUP
MEETING No 3 HELD ON
WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH 2015
Hosted by The Hills Shire Council
Meeting commenced at 1.00 pm
Acting Chair: Cr Alan Haselden, The Hills Shire Council
Participants:
1. Cr Alan Haselden, The Hills Shire Council2. Cr Christiane Berlioz, Ku-ring-gai Council
3. Cr Anton Von Schulenburg, Blue Mountains City Council
4. Cr Jeff Strickson, Gosford City Council
5. Cr Kevin Crameri, Penrith City Council
6. Cr Mary Lyons-Buckett, Hawkesbury City Council
7. Cr Kate Terry, Wollondilly Shire Council
8. Cr Bob Porter, Hawkesbury River County Council
9. David Walker, General Manager, Hills Shire Council
10. Danielle Dickson, Gosford City Council / 11. Neville Davis, Parramatta City Council
12. Jennifer Pang, Pittwater Council
13. Cherie Blackburn, Bankstown City Council
14. Bernadette Mackinnon, Camden Council
15. Greg White, Ku-ring-gai Council
16. Rob Stevenson, Canada Bay Council
17. Suzanne Stuart, Hawkesbury City Council
18. Svetlana Kotevska, GRCCC
19. David Henry, Wollondilly Shire Council
20. Geoffrey Smith, BMCC
21. David Hogan, General Manager GS LLS
22. Robert Adam GS LLS
23. Bill Dixon GS LLS
24. Koshy Varghese GS LLS
Apologies:
1. Cr Doug Eaton, Mayor, Wyong Shire Council2. Cr Lawrie McKinna, Mayor, Gosford City Council
3. Cr Ian White, Pittwater council
4. Cr Selena Griffith, Pittwater Council
5. Cr Marcus Cornish, Penrith City Council
6. Cr Lynne Saville, Willoughby Council
7. Chris Dewhurst, Hawkesbury River County Council / 8. Ross McPherson, Hornsby Council
9. Paul Anderson, CEO, Gosford City Council
10. Bruce Thom, Sydney Coastal Councils Group
11. Shari Hussein, Hawkesbury City Council
12. Brad Staggs, Wollondilly Council
13. Alex Stengle, Wollondilly Council
14. Antony Price, Penrith City Council
Welcome and apologies
Chair welcomed participants to the meeting and noted apologies.
No pecuniary interests declared.
Business arising from previous meeting
Resolved:
· Revised Terms of Reference accepted
· Minutes of previous meeting accepted as a true and accurate record of the meeting of 26 November 2014.
Introduction
Chair introduced the GS LLS General Manager, Mr David Hogan.
Mr Hogan affirmed the commitment of the GS LLS Board to engage with local government, as this is regarded as critical to success. He also conveyed a response from the Board to the motion from the previous meeting that the GS LLS board has open public meetings with appropriate advance notice, and a request that Board members attend LGAG meetings.
Noted:
· The GS LLS Board advised (via the General Manager) that because of the rules and legal obligations under which the Board operates it is not appropriate to have open Board meetings, and that the Boards representation on LGAG is via our General Manager and management team. A written response was requested by the acting Chair.
· Future LGAG meeting dates will be set to facilitate more rapid reporting of issues to the GS Board.
Funding opportunity:
Community Landcare Grants from $5000 to $50,000 to Landcare and community groups were announced. Funding is available each year over a period of five years for additional projects. Details at the link: http://greatersydney.lls.nsw.gov.au/our-region/financial-assistance/community-landcare-grants
Discussion:
Apple of Sodom and fireweed were noted as emerging weeds and the importance of education in effective control was highlighted.
Noted:
Cr Crameri reported that DPI requires a $50 fee to identify ant specimens as part of the Red Fire Ants incursion.
Greater Sydney LLS Strategic planning
An outline of the LLS Strategic Planning process and GS Local Strategic Plan preparation was given.
Workshop Session
A round table session was held, with comments made individually by each Council present on the extent to which the draft plan recognises the areas of interaction and partnership between Council and GS LLS. Comments are recorded in the attached appendix.
Noted:
Further comments by e-mail will be accepted.
Concluding remarks
Chair thanked the group for their active participation and contributions to the Strategic Plan. Comments from the group will be used to develop the plan.
Noted:
Polystyrene pollution has been an issue in waterways and does not come under the administration of EPA.
Resolved:
LGAG to make a declaration in support of draft strategic plan Objective of healthy harbour and waterways.
The group requested that this motion be passed to the GS LLS Board, with a recommendation that it be conveyed to the Minister and government at all reasonable opportunities.
Noted:
· Next meeting to set aside 10 or 15 minutes for councils to talk about topics of their interest.
· Next meeting to include an item on actions and outcomes from the GS LLS Local Strategic Plan, to illustrate how the Plan will be implemented.
Meeting closed at 3.20 pm
Next meeting: 3 June 2015
Host: Penrith City Council
Minutes: Koshy Varghese
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Appendix
Comments on GS LLS draft Strategic Plan during LGAG workshop session:
NAME / COUNCIL / COMMENTSDavid Walker / The Hills Shire Council / • Strategic plan objectives need to have time frames, benchmarks and measures of success. Set an example at the next meeting to show how it cascades into a measurable outcome.
• Set targets to achieve rather than saying “promote”.
• Avoid too many layers and go from “objectives” to “activities”.
Kevin Crameri / Penrith City Council / • Have good community education, eg on issues such as weeds in ponds and the effect of run off to waterways.
• Observe the political campaign and adopt a communication strategy that works.
• Use Councils to help deliver, eg. Put out press releases for Councils to release
• Engage HRCC and Sydney Weeds Committee.
Jennifer Pang / Pittwater Council / • Clarify that the plan is for five years.
• Need to include the links with other agencies and plans
• Should issues such as groundwater, environmental flows and contaminated lands be included in the plan?
• Recognise the impact on groundwater in addition to improving waterway.
• Minimise peri-urban development (administer Native Veg Act)
Cr Jeff Strickson & Danielle Dickson / Gosford City Council / • The plan needs to make a distinction between “projects” and “business as usual”. Business as usual is what LLS does every year, while projects are time bound. This will help with allocation of resources.
• Need to recognise Councils as a land owner as well as a regulator.
• The plan should recognise opportunities to partner with Local Government to control noxious weeds and feral animals.
• The plan should recognise the need to work with Local Government to provide support for agriculture in the peri-urban areas.
Mary Lyons-Buckett / Hawkesbury City Council / • Three areas of concern to Council – these are agriculture, waterways and emergency management.
• Agree with previous comments
• The plan needs to integrate with other agencies.
• Nothing really missing from the plan.
Bernadette Mackinnon / Camden Council / • There is a need for biodiversity asset based management and prioritisation. The plan should recognise working in collaboration to achieve this.
• The plan should have targets and measures. This will assist council with allocation of resources. Regional targets will support council’s efforts to help allocate resources biodiversity protection.
Cherie Blackburn / Bankstown City Council / • Some actions in the plan have already been done, eg. Identifying priority waterways. This needs to be recognised.
• Reference to Alliances in the plan.
• Other areas and plans such as Botany Bay Management Plan and George’s River Catchment should be included along with Sydney Harbour.
Greg White / Ku-ring-gai Council / • A major omission form the plan is that it does not mention that service delivery should be through working in partnership.
• No other omissions in the plan.
Neville Davis / Parramatta City Council / • Could include mention the Urban Feral Animal Action Group and working with this group on rabbit and fox control.
• The plan could recognise that illegal dumping and contamination on public lands is an issue, especially in the Parramatta River catchment, and that LLS can work in partnership with councils and Aboriginal Land Councils on this.
• Urban issues well covered
Robert Stevenson / Canada Bay Council / • The plan should recognise the importance of small areas of urban bushland, and the importance of groups such as the Volunteer Coordinator Network, Sydney Weeds Committee and the Parramatta River Catchment Group in managing them, including issues of endangered species and fox baiting programs.
• Include measurable actions and outcomes, and examples.
• Connect the plan with council strategic plans.
Svetlana Kotevska / Georges River Catchment Coordinating Committee / • Four of the “objectives” are consistent with the GRCCC Strategic Plan.
• The plan needs an increased focus on salt marsh community and birds etc. Concerned that the main focus is on Sydney Harbour, but others such as Georges River and Towra Point are omitted.
Geoffrey Smith / Blue Mountains City Council / • Council had a long standing and valued partnership with HNCMA. Are now in the final year of the Environmental Levy which is now at risk.
• Major issues are wild dogs, pigs and peri urban foxes.
• Climate change can supersede everything.
• Objectives very effective at implementation level.
Cr Kate Terry & David Henry / Wollondilly Shire Council / • The “objectives” are supported by council.
• There are competing pressures on agriculture and natural resources in Wollondilly Shire.
• Propose adding a new strategy to the objective “Promote healthy harbour etc” of “Manage threats to water sources”. LLS could have a coordinating role in this with local government and other stakeholders.
• The plan could use words such as “advocate” and “protect” in relation to agriculture and biodiversity.
• Mining and urban development are issues, with impacts on ground water.
• Review of Native Veg Act has high impact on Councils.
Alan Haselden, Chair / The Hills Shire Council / • Give an example of how each of the plans tie together in the next meeting. Have a diagram to show this.
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