Home › Meetings › Councillor Briefing and Workshop Session — 2021-09-07
Councillor Briefing and Workshop Session — 2021-09-07
1. Council of Mayors (SEQ) Quarterly Report
1. Council of Mayors (SEQ) Quarterly Report
As part of its membership, the Council of Mayors (SEQ) provides a quarterly update to Ipswich City Council on the latest developments regarding its key regional projects and initiatives.
The quarterly update is presented by the Council of Mayors (SEQ) CEO, Mr Scott Smith.
Attachments
1. Presentation - Council of Mayors (SEQ) Quarterly Report ⇨
Councillors Jacob Madsen and Sheila Ireland arrived at the meeting at 10.10 am.
Mentions: Ipswich
2. Update on Ripley Valley PDA
2. Update on Ripley Valley PDA
The purpose of this workshop is to discuss challenges with the timely delivery of infrastructure in the Ripley Valley Priority Development Area. It has been identified that there is a gap between the infrastructure needs of the PDA and the availability of funds for the delivery of infrastructure.
MATTERS ARISING:
The Planning and Regulatory Services Manager to investigate the formation of a working group or forum for the Ripley Valley PDA that incorporates a terms of reference, and that the working group or forum includes elected representatives from the Ipswich City Council.
Deputy Mayor Nicole Jonic arrived at the meeting at 1.00 pm.
Councillor Paul Tully joined the meeting via audio link 1.00 pm.
3. Councillor Local Office Space
Resolution: Moved by Deputy Mayor Nicole Jonic:
3. Councillor Local Office Space
A Notice of Motion was submitted by Councillor Jonic to the Council Ordinary Meeting of 22 July 2021 as follows:
Moved by Deputy Mayor Nicole Jonic:
Seconded by Councillor Andrew Fechner:
A. That Council establish suitable local office spaces at Springfield Central, Redbank Plains and Rosewood Libraries for use by Councillors to meet with local residents, businesses, and community organisations.
These spaces will be available on a permanent basis:
· To ensure Councillors maintain a presence and are available in the community they represent to hear about local issues important to residents and to make it easier for community members to provide feedback on these issues and the performance of Council;
· To improve access, availability and facilitation of meetings for residents with their elected representatives; and
· To provide increased confidentiality for residents and allow for improved security of personal information to guard against loss, unauthorised access, or other forms of misuse.
B. That Council implement these spaces using existing infrastructure, without additional commercial lease expenditure, to Council by end of August 2021.
C. That appropriate administrative support be made available at these locations as required, utilising existing resource allocations.
D. That section 9.5 of the Councillor Expenses Reimbursement and Administrative Support Policy be amended as follows:
• Remove paragraphs 9.5(ii) and 9.5(iii) and replace with:
(ii) Shared office facilities, located within the Council Administration Building, will be provided for the other Councillors. Dedicated multipurpose office and meeting space will be provided at suitable Council Customer Service Centres and library facilities.
(iii) Access to dedicated Councillor meeting rooms will be provided within the Council Administration Building. In addition, access to dedicated multipurpose office and meeting space will be available at Council's Customer Service Centres and library facilities.
In line with Recommendation B of this motion an update was provided to the Council Ordinary meeting of 19 August 2021.
This update recommended that a workshop be held with councillors to discuss the implications of this decision.
MATTERS ARISING:
The General Manager Community, Cultural and Economic Development to provide revised costings to Councillors which includes partitioning of the booth area in front of the meeting space on Level 2 of the Springfield Central Library.
Councillors raised questions around the Council Liaison Officer’s working offsite, additional travel and insurance etc when working in the community spaces. The General Manager Community, Cultural and Economic Development and the Executive Services Manager to provide this information to the Councillors.
Attachments
1. Cr Offices Options List ⇨
2. Cr Offices Scoping Plans and Images ⇨
Councillor Paul Tully left the meeting at 1.43 pm.
Mentions: Springfield Central · Redbank Plains · Rosewood
4. Sustainable Ipswich - Ipswich's Sustainability Strategy
4. Sustainable Ipswich - Ipswich's Sustainability Strategy
The development of the reinvigorated Sustainability Strategy (Attachment 1) follows the adoption of Council’s Sustainability Policy in November 2020. The Sustainability Strategy defines what sustainability means for the City and creates a strategic direction by emphasising priority action areas and consolidating existing efforts.
The strategy defines five sustainability action areas , of which there are two (2) priority action areas that represent strategic and service delivery gaps. These gaps were identified by benchmarking, are: ‘Sustainable Council’ and ‘Climate Adaptation’ . Topics for discussion include climate change, renewable energy and carbon reduction and these will be discussed in relation to global, national, and local contexts.
At the global level, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its sixth assessment report in August 2021, where overwhelming consensus and scientific evidence has made it clear that we are experiencing human-induced climate change and action is required urgently to maintain our current way of life. At the national level, the Federal Government has released a paper outlining the responsibilities for all tiers of government and has indicated that it will fulfill their Paris Agreement greenhouse gas reduction commitments. At a local level, there are several South-East Queensland councils that are striving towards sustainability by responding to climate change via carbon reduction or net-zero carbon commitments and the installation of renewable energy.
The purpose of the workshop is to explore Council’s proposed Sustainability Strategy and potential targets before undertaking the community engagement work and formal finalisation.
MATTERS ARISING:
Councillors suggested the following changes to the draft strategy:
Page 5 – include reference that this is part of Council’s iFuture Plan
Page 7 – include reference that Ipswich City Council is the fastest growing local government in Queensland
Page 8 – ‘Sustainability Strategy’ to be noted before ‘Sustainability Policy’, and ‘Waste Directive’ is changed to the correct name of ‘Waste Transformation’
Page 10 – ‘Our Vision’ needs to align with Council’s corporate plan
Page 17 – add what Council is already doing including the FOGO trial
Page 26 – Councillors questioned if e-scooters should be listed as there is not an e-scooter policy as yet
Page 27 – Councillors questioned what our goals and actions are, and commented that hard infrastructure is listed, however they would like to see more active transport education in the community space.
Page 28 – include Urban Utilities (purified recycle water)
Page 29 – include reference to Council’s Enviroplan
Page 32 – include FOGO trial
DISCUSSION:
Mayor Harding commented that Council is doing a tremendously good job, together with partner and industry everyone has their role to play.
Deputy Mayor Nicole Jonic commented on urban heat and suggested greenery on bus shelters as a possible solution.
Attachments
1. Presentation - Sustainable Ipswich - Ipswich's Sustainability Strategy ⇨
Mentions: Ipswich
5. Ipswich Integrated Catchment Plan
5. Ipswich Integrated Catchment Plan
The Ipswich Integrated Catchment Plan (The Plan) is the culmination of over two (2) years of work across multiple departments and is the most detailed and comprehensive flood study ever undertaken by council. The Plan is intended to ensure the Ipswich community is ready, informed, and resilient ahead of the next flood event.
The Plan looks at flooding and flood risk through the lens of Council’s roles within catchment management and community impacts. The outcome of the plan is in depth and detailed technical evidence report supporting six chapters of work across: land use and planning; physical mitigation; community awareness and resilience; emergency management; property specific actions; current and future flood risk. Each chapter is connected and yet each is focused on addressing a different aspect of floodplain management.
It is presently a national exemplar for integrated planning and generating interest from other regional state and industry.
The Plan includes an actions list/investment strategy with 72 recommendations.
The Plan was scoped and began prior to the appointment of the new Council however Councillor and community engagement has been significant and ongoing.
This workshop will be looking to ascertain the support of Council in adopting the plan and guidance around a way forwards for the recommendations in the context of future resourcing priorities and funding. It is noted that the actual allocation of funding will utilise the capital business case project and the annual operational expenditure budget process.
MATTERS ARISING:
Councillors suggested that the ‘Sustainability Strategy’ is included to page 10 of the draft Ipswich Integrated Catchment Plan.
PROCEDURAL MOTIONS AND FORMAL MATTERS
The meeting commenced at 9.13 am.
The meeting closed at 4.36 pm.
Mentions: Ipswich
Source: Ipswich City Council meeting minutes (CC BY 4.0).