Meeting Report

The agenda for Tuesdays meeting was a modest size and there were only a few items that generated much debate.-A word of explanation here , as a councillor I am not allowed to dissent with council decisions. Its the same principle that applies to cabinet decisions and the rule is there for good reason. Once council has debated and decided on a matter then that is the council position and we all( councillors ) publicly support this , even if we may privately think otherwise. To do otherwise just leads to chaos.- However I may say how I voted for a item and explain my reason. Also a councillor may ask that the names of councillors and how they voted be recorded in the minutes. So back to Tuesdays meeting first off the rank Item 9.1.1 Scheme Amendment Request - Lot 73 Mitchell St. This is a request to rezone 36 Mitchell St. from residential to commercial to extend Thorntons Hardware store. Cr Richardson-Newton moved a motion to refuse the request and this was carried 9/2 . Yours truly voted against this , not because I support the request rather I thought it better to defer as we are in the middle of formulating a new Local Planning Strategy and are scheduled to discuss with planning consultants next month the commercial/industrial component of the LPS. It is my strongly held belief that many of the contentious issues that have bedeviled Denmark in the past stem from inadequate planning and ad hoc decisions. Look at my post below for "How Big?". Past council decisions have given the nod to approximately 3500 new housing lots that will probably lead to the TRIPLING of Denmark's population. It is inevitable that the commercial area will need to expand to cater for this. LPS guide plans will show where this expansion will take place and provide certainty for residents and developers.

Next tricky item was 9.1.3 Kearsley Rd Structure Plan. There was quite a bit of debate and discussion over this. Councillor concerns centered around the adequacy of the fire plan and the preservation of the bush. The officer recommendation to publicly advertise the plan was narrowly passed 6/5 . Again yours truly did not vote in favour.

The last item that precipitated debate was item 11.1 Ward and Representation Review. We decided to leave this till next months meeting . As you may be aware the Minister for Local Government John Castrilli has announced his intention to reform local government . This will include amalgamations and reduction of councillor numbers. The minister is suggesting between 6 to 9 councillors as the optimum number. I will have more to say about this on a separate post , suffice to say it is contentious !

Thats all for now enjoy the sunshine.