MINUTES OF EXTRAORDINARY COUNCIL MEETING21 MAY 2013

Extraordinary Council Meeting

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF BURWOODheld at the Council Chamber, Suite 1, Level 2, 1-17 Elsie Street, Burwood on Tuesday, 21 May 2013 commencing at5.35pm.

ATTENDANCECouncillor Tony Doueihi

Councillor John Faker(Mayor)

Councillor George Mannah

Councillor Ernest Wong(Deputy Mayor)

Mr M McMahon, General Manager

Ms V Lee, Deputy General Manager Corporate, Governance & Community

Mr B Macdonnell, Deputy General ManagerLand, Infrastructure & Environment

Mr T Briscese, Executive Manager

Mr B Mortimer, Manager Organisational Development

Ms P Viney, Governance Co-ordinator

Ms Y Tome, Governance Officer

OPENING OF MEETING BY THE MAYOR

The Mayor opened the meeting with a prayer.

Apologies
67/13 / RESOLVED(Carried Unanimously)
Thatan apology be granted to Councillor Lesley Furneaux-Cook and Councillor Justin Taunton and a leave of absence granted to Councillor Sally Deans.
(Moved Deputy Mayor Ernest Wong/Seconded Councillor Tony Doueihi)

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interests by Councillors.

MAYORAL MINUTE

(ITEM MM1/13) Local Councils Against Amalgamations
File No: 13/17647
Summary
On 24 April 2013 the Local Government Independent Review Panel released its final discussion paper “Future Directions for NSW Local Government: Twenty Essential Steps”.
The paper includes a number of findings originating from recent studies undertaken by T-Corp and other entities, and outlines a series of recommendations to be implemented in order to maintain Local Government’s long term sustainability, with the most prominent one being the possible amalgamation of Local Councils into regional clusters.
While the Independent Review Panel mentions mergers as a possible option for the sector, the Minister for Local Government has reiterated the State Government’s view of “no forced amalgamations”, opening the door, however, to voluntary amalgamations.
I, together with my fellow Councillors, and with us many other Councillors and Mayors across the State, have welcomed the Minister’s confirmation that there will be no forced amalgamations, but at the same time, I do not believe voluntary mergers will be a positive option for Burwood and many other Local Government Areas.
Recently I had the opportunity to meet with the Mayors and General Managers of CanadaBay, Ashfield and Strathfield Councils and we have confirmed that we are opposed to voluntary amalgamations as they do not serve our communities of interest and offer no real advantages to the local areas.
At that meeting we agreed that all four Mayors will be preparing a joint submission to the Independent Review Panel, containing shared views, as well as particular issues relevant to each individual Council.
In summary, all four Councils have expressed their willingness to investigate opportunities for increased and improved resource sharing, either through SSROC or other co-ordinated frameworks.
I also feel our community needs to be aware of the proposed reforms for Local Government and should be encouraged to participate in the final round of consultation by the Independent Review Panel on 13 June 2013 at Ashfield Council.
68/13 / RESOLVED(Carried Unanimously)
1.Burwood Council’s position against amalgamations of any form is included in a joint submission to the Local Government Independent Review Panel, together with Ashfield Council, Canada Bay Council and Strathfield Council.
2.Council inform the Community through mayoral columns, newsletters and the website, of the discussion paper released by the Independent Review Panel and encourage residents and stakeholders to submit comments and feedback to the Panel.
3.Council inform the Community through mayoral columns, newsletters and the website, of the upcoming community consultation session scheduled by the Independent Review Panel for 13 June 2013, 6pm-8pm, at Ashfield Council and encourage residents to participate in the session.
4.Council create a common website known as “saveourlocalarea.com” and share all written, electronic and other media for use by all four Councils.

General Business

(ITEM 36/13) Mayor's Request for Overseas Trip - Ordination of Fr Antoine Taraby - Lebanon
File No: 13/17432
Summary
The Mayor, Cr John Faker, has been invited to attend the Ordination of Fr Antoine Tarabay of the MaroniteChurch in Lebanon and is seeking approval for his attendance from Council.
69/13 / RESOLVED(Carried Unanimously)
1.Councilapprove the attendance of the Mayor to the Ordination of Fr Antoine Tarabay in Lebanon from Thursday, 23 May 2013 for approximately 7 days.
2.Council approve the use of funds from the Mayor’s budget to meet the costs of the accommodation to the value of $600 and four days of expenses as per the Australian Taxation OfficeTravel Allowance for Lebanon.
(Moved Councillor Tony Doueihi/Seconded Deputy Mayor Ernest Wong)

This concluded the business of the meeting and Council rose at 5.50pm.

Confirmed this 28th Day of May 2013.

MAYORGENERAL MANAGER

This is page 1 of the Minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting of Burwood Councilheld on 21 May 2013