Agenda and minutes

There were no Mayoral Announcements for this meeting.

In Favour:   Cr Heenan, Cr Eastham, Cr Higgins, Cr Skelton, Cr Child
and Cr McAllister.

Against:       Nil

In accordance with Chapter 7, Rule 4, of the Governance Rules developed by Council in accordance with section 60 of the Local Government Act 2020.

In accordance with Chapter 7, Rule 4, of the Governance Rules developed by Council in accordance with section 60 of the Local Government Act 2020.

There were no disclosures of conflicts of interest made for this meeting.

In accordance with Chapter 3, Rules 57 and 59, of the Governance Rules developed by Council in accordance with section 60 of the Local Government Act 2020.

In accordance with Chapter 3, Rules 57 and 59, of the Governance Rules developed by Council in accordance with section 60 of the Local Government Act 2020.

QUESTIONS TO COUNCIL

Ian Wheater of Montrose asked;

Does the Council have future plans to install Community Batteries in other suburbs besides Yarra Junction?

Kath McClusky, Director Planning & Sustainable Futures.

Ian, thank you for your question.

At this stage council doesn't have any plans to install community batteries across the municipality. The community battery in Yarra Junction was installed by Indigo Power via a Federal Grant program. Indigo Power is a community owned energy company and will operate the battery as part of their network.

Council is generally supportive of community batteries. This support will differ, depending on specifics of each project. However, Council doesn't manage a dedicated program to roll them out across the municipality. Thank you

The Chief Executive Offer read the following statement;

Our Governance Team received a second Question to Council this morning outside of the cutoff time. As the question relates to an item of significant public interest, I will respond as follows - with further details able to be viewed in a Media Statement issued yesterday.

Given the community interest on the two planning application at Hereford Road Mt Evelyn for a Convenience Restaurant (McDonalds), and Childcare Centre application, I wish to advise that these applications have been refused under officer delegation this week.

Both applications required section 55 referrals to the Department of Transport as a result to changes and impacts proposed, as a result of each application to Hereford Road. The Department of Transport is a determining authority within the Planning Scheme. When a determining authority objects to a planning application, Council is obligated to refuse the application as Council has no rights under the Act to overturn or change a determining authorities decision on an application.  Within Council’s instrument of delegation when a determining authority has objected to the application and Council is bound by that decision, Planning Officers are granted the delegation to decide the application. 

The decisions are available on Council’s website.

SUBMISSIONS TO COUNCIL

There were no Submissions listed on the Agenda for this meeting.

In accordance with Chapter 3, Rule 60, of the Governance Rules developed by Council in accordance with section 60 of the Local Government Act 2020.

In accordance with Chapter 3, Rule 60, of the Governance Rules developed by Council in accordance with section 60 of the Local Government Act 2020.

There were no Petitions received for this meeting.

SUMMARY

On 8 August 2023, Council resolved to adopt a Resource Recovery and Waste Services Policy with an informal review to occur at six months. A key aim of the Policy is to meet State legislated environmental targets, principally related to landfill diversion.

The approach underpinning improving diversion rates is through a combination of increasing waste segregation and recycling options, whilst simultaneously decreasing landfill disposal.

The review commenced in October 2023 to align with changes to service delivery has been informed by six months of data, as well as feedback from the community. Data from the six months was then compiled and reviewed in April/May to inform the review.

To review the outcomes of the new service, Council:

·                Monitored and investigated customer feedback, through requests, complaints, petitions, submissions, presentations to Council and broader sentiment shared on social media.

·                Investigated bin capacity and contamination, including through physical audits of each bin stream.

·                Monitored the volume changes of all waste streams.

The service review is contained in Attachment 1.

In summary, the first six-months of the Yarra Ranges service has shown that:

·                Material progress toward State legislated targets has occurred with diversion of waste from landfill across all collection streams increasing from 46% to 73%, just below the 75% Council target for 2025.

o      Contamination rates of Food Organics and Green Organics (FOGO) bins are 0.49%.

o      Diverting waste from landfill to composting has avoided more than 3,127 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

o      An additional 9,037 tonnes of organic material have been composted into usable products.

·                During the transition period of June 2023 to February 2024, there was significant resistance to the services changes, particularly regarding the shift to fortnightly rubbish collections and the introduction of the universal FOGO bin.

·                There has been no noticeable increase in dumped rubbish activity or increase in volumes within our street and park litterbin collections.

·                The main residual requests following the transition period relate to opting out of the FOGO service and a return to weekly rubbish collection (particularly coming from households with a higher number of occupants as well as households with children in nappies).

·                Other than FOGO liner requests, the average number of customer waste requests has reduced close to pre-transition levels.

·                The service, in its current form and based on evidence of data, is functioning effectively for the large part of the community.

On balance of impact and outcome, this report recommends expanding bin size choice for community and prioritising behaviour change efforts for those facing difficulties in adjusting to the new services.

In addition, it recommends delaying the rollout of a glass service from 1 July 2025 to commence on 1 July 2026 (2026-2027 Financial year), based on:

·                Assisting the community with current cost-of-living pressures.

·                Enabling a stronger focus on the recent service changes (Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) service and reduced rubbish collection frequency).

·                Providing an opportunity to assess the impact of the Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) on the glass collection service.

In accordance with Governance Rule 29.1, Cr  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.1

SUMMARY

Council endorsed the current Community Engagement Policy (the Policy) on 27 April 2021.

Since adopting the Policy, Council has planned and delivered over 240 formal community engagement projects, aligning with the Policy. The lessons learned from these projects, feedback from the community, internal focus groups and consultation with advisory groups, have informed the revised Community Engagement Policy.

Council approved the release of the Draft Revised Community Engagement Policy (the Draft) for public engagement on 26 March 2024. The draft was open for feedback between 27 March and 5 May 2024. Feedback was considered and changes were made where relevant.

Council officers are now seeking consideration by Council to approve and adopt the revised Community Engagement Policy.

In accordance with Governance Rule 29.1, Cr Skelton, Cr Child and Cr Heenan spoke to the Motion.

In Favour:   Cr Heenan, Cr Eastham, Cr Higgins, Cr Skelton, Cr Child and
Cr McAllister.

Against:       Nil

SUMMARY

The purpose of this report is to:

·                provide an update on implementation of the Yarra Strategic Plan (Burndap Birrarung burndap umarkoo) and the Birrarung Valley Walk proposal, and

·                seek endorsement to enter a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Birrarung Valley Walk Inc. to support the Birrarung Valley Walk project.

Council, as one of 15 Responsible Public Entities (RPE), endorsed the Yarra Strategic Plan at its ordinary meeting on 11 May 2021.

The Minister for Water (the Minister) approved and publicly released the Yarra Strategic Plan on 11 February 2022.

In addition to being an active participant in the Yarra Collaborative Committee (YCC) alongside the other RPEs, Council has completed or is progressing a number of projects along the Birrarung that contribute to the Yarra Strategic Plan.

The Birrarung Valley Walk Inc., an Incorporated Association, is seeking to link existing walking tracks and paths from the mouth of the Birrarung (Yarra River) to the Upper Yarra Reservoir for the purpose of protecting, enhancing and promoting the natural environment and First Nations culture of the Birrarung Valley. This is the first “whole of river” project to be endorsed by the Yarra Collaboration Committee.

Birrarung Valley Walk Inc. is asking each of the RPEs to enter a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly progress and support the Project.

No financial commitment is required to enter the MoU. Birrarung Valley Walk Inc. will be using the signed MoUs to seek philanthropic support for the project.

Some in kind support from Council officers will be required to assist in planning the trail alignment and scoping the implementation.

In accordance with Governance Rule 29.1, Cr Skelton and Cr Child spoke to the Motion.

In Favour:   Cr Heenan, Cr Eastham, Cr Higgins, Cr Skelton, Cr Child and
Cr McAllister.

Against:       Nil

In accordance with Chapter 3, Division 4, of the Governance Rules developed by Council in accordance with section 60 of the Local Government Act 2020.

In accordance with Chapter 3, Division 4, of the Governance Rules developed by Council in accordance with section 60 of the Local Government Act 2020.

There were no Councillor motions listed on the agenda for this meeting.

12.1    Planning Application - YR-2023/920 Hereford Road, Mt Evelyn

Cr Heenan noted the Chief Executive Officer's statement regarding the Notice of Refusal to Grant a Planning Application YR-2023/920. Cr Heenan spoke to the Notice of Refusal to Grant a Planning Application and thanked the community for input throughout the application process.

12.2    Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round - Football and Netball

Cr Child praised all football and netball participants who took part in the Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round held at the Mac Sparke Oval in Warburton. Cr Child noted Mr Aaron Violi MP conducted a presentation with both clubs lining up and a gift exchange conducted prior to the game beginning. Cr Child thanked all the clubs that participated and for showing the true spirit of Reconciliation on the day.

Cr Skelton

-           Attended the Indigenous Advisory Committee held on 2 July 2024 at the Yarra Ranges Council Civic Centre.

Cr Child

-           Advised Councillors that the process for selecting a new Chief Executive Officer for Your Library will commence next week.

-           Advised Councillors that the Meet the Author event to be held at the Belgrave Library at 10:30am on 20 July 2024, will feature Cr Eastham and his book "Shooting the Black Dog".

Cr Eastham

-           Attended the Rural Advisory Committee held on 9 July 2024 at the Yarra Ranges Council Civic Centre.

In accordance with Clause 87 of the Meeting Procedures and Use of Common Seal Local Law 2015, as prescribed by Section 14(2)(c) of the Local Government Act 2020.

In accordance with Clause 87 of the Meeting Procedures and Use of Common Seal Local Law 2015, as prescribed by Section 14(2)(c) of the Local Government Act 2020.

There were no Documents for Signing and Sealing received for this meeting.</AI24><AI25>

In Favour:   Cr Heenan, Cr Eastham, Cr Higgins, Cr Skelton, Cr Child and
Cr McAllister.

Against:       Nil

In accordance with Chapter 3 Rule 24 of the Governance Rules developed by Council in accordance with section 60 of the Local Government Act 2020.

There were no Urgent Business listed on the agenda for this meeting.

In accordance with section 66(2)(a) of the Local Government Act 2020.

In accordance with section 66(2)(a) of the Local Government Act 2020.

There were no Confidential Items listed on the agenda for this meeting.