September 2014
Acknowledgements
This Annual Report was prepared to meet the operational and financial reporting requirements within the Local Government Act 1989 and the Local Government (Finance and Reporting) Regulations 2004. For further information contact Hobsons Bay City Council on 9932 1000 www.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au
Council acknowledges the people of Yalukit Wilum of the Boon Wurrung Country that makes up the Greater Kulin Nation as the traditional owners of these municipal lands.
Table of Contents
Welcome to the Annual Report 2013-14 4
A Word from Our Mayor 5
A Word from Our Chief Executive Officer 7
Performance Summary 9
Financial Summary 32
Hobsons Bay at a Glance 42
Significant Events in the City 44
Council’s Role 45
Our Vision, Mission, Values and Goals 46
Our Performance 47
The Council Plan and Performance 48
GOAL 1: An Inclusive, Resilient and Healthy Community 51
GOAL 2: A Well Planned, Vibrant and Sustainable Place 59
GOAL 3: Quality Community Infrastructure and Public Open Spaces 66
GOAL 4: An Innovative, Proactive and Leading Organisation 73
Our Organisation 82
Our Council 83
Our Staff 87
Our Workplace 95
Corporate Governance 99
Legislative Compliance 105
Statutory Information 106
Allocation of Funds 109
Community Grants 110
Mayoral Program 114
Ward Funds 115
Financials 120
Welcome to the Annual Report 2013-14
Hobsons Bay City Council presents its Annual Report 2013-14 to our community and stakeholders.
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Local government plays an important role in the community.
It has the legislated responsibility to achieve the best outcomes for its local community and as a custodian of public funds. Council is also accountable to the community in the performance of its functions, the exercise of powers and the use of resources.
The Annual Report is the primary means by which Council informs its community about its performance, achievements, challenges and future outlook.
It is also an important part of Council’s commitment to provide accountable, transparent, well-informed governance for the benefit of the community.
The Annual Report 2013-14 provides:
· an overview of the municipality, our Council and the organisation
· an outline of Council's performance against the Council Plan commitments and its strategic indicators
· information on the organisation’s corporate governance and legislative compliance
· the financial report
How to obtain extra copies
Additional copies or a copy of the report in an alternative format are available through the following means:
· Council’s website www.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au
· telephoning Council on (03) 9932 1000
· visiting Hobsons Bay Civic Centre or any of Council’s library branches
· request a soft or hard copy via email to:
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A Word from Our Mayor
On behalf of all Councillors, I am proud to provide an overview of Hobsons Bay City Council’s achievements during the past year.
After the resignation of Councillor Luba Grigorovitch and Councillor Tony Briffa we welcomed two new Councillors to the team. In February, Councillor Carl Marsich was elected to represent Wetlands Ward and Councillor Jason Price was voted in for Cherry Lake Ward in March.
I am pleased to report that 95 per cent of the 73 actions from the 2013-14 action plan have been completed or were progressed during the past 12 months.
The importance of our community’s health and wellbeing is high on our action plan and in this financial year we have increased the number of playgroups across the municipality and opened the Newport Gardens Early Years facility. The centre is co-located with a primary school and provides a comprehensive range of early years services, including maternal and child health, early intervention services for children, kindergarten, 75 childcare places, toy library and playgroups. This was a $5.4 million project which was developed on time and on budget.
Hobsons Bay’s population is diverse with 31 per cent of residents born overseas and just over 29 per cent speaking languages other than English at home. With these numbers in mind Council launched the Hobsons Bay Language Line, which offers recorded information about key Council services in nine of the most common languages in our community. The recorded information covers family, youth and children’s services, aged and disability services, rates, local laws and fines, waste, recycling, town planning and building permits, sport, recreation, and community centres.
Customer service was also front of mind when Council implemented a mobile phone application, Snap Send Solve, as a tool for capturing community issues. The app allows a direct link for a member of the community to take a photo of an issue and send it to our Customer Service officers for action.
Council is committed to working with all levels of government and industry, to identify key issues affecting the city and advocating on its behalf. To enhance that commitment Council launched the Advocacy Strategy. As part of the implementation of the strategy I have met with a number of key business leaders and led delegations to federal and state ministers to discuss the key priorities for Hobsons Bay.
Along with this strategy we developed the Gender Equity Policy Statement supporting Council’s belief in a just, inclusive and fair society for women, men and gender diverse people.
Council has a strong and vibrant arts connection, coming under the umbrella of Arts at Your Doorstep, Art in Public Places, Pixel8 and the growing profile of Woods Street Arts Space in Laverton. It continues to support events and festivals. We have worked in partnership to support and promote destinations such as Scienceworks, The Substation, and Seaworks as key attractions within the city.
Council conducts an annual grants program to support local activities and projects and in this financial year we supported our community needs through the Community Partnerships Networking Grants, the New Equipment Resources Grants, Inclusion Opportunity Grants and the Vibrant Community Project Grants with more than $150,000 going directly to support our community.
Through our Climate Change Adaptation Pan 2013-18 we are able to look in detail at the potential risks associated with the changing climate and the impact that will have on Hobsons Bay’s coastal areas. In addition to identifying these risks, we have partnered with the Australian Government and City West Water on three highly innovative storm water projects which will preserve our sporting grounds and save water.
We have achieved an excellent financial result in difficult economic times. The escalating cost pressure placed on Council has seen us working more efficiently for our community.
We are proud of the progress Council has made over the past 12 months and look forward to the achievements in the next financial year, building on what we have put in place this year.
Finally, I would like to thank my fellow Councillors for their dedication to our City, and to our community leaders and volunteers for their tireless work in making Hobsons Bay a great place to live, play, visit and work. A very big thank you also to our Chief Executive Officer Chris Eddy and his staff for their commitment to the people of Hobsons Bay.
A Word from Our Chief Executive Officer
The 2013-14 financial year began with a new organisational structure aligning with our Council Plan 2013-17. The restructure followed an extensive review involving all staff and was governed by three objectives: to grow our commitment to being a highly customer focused organisation, to grow our opportunities to improve cross organisational cooperation, and to be more streamlined and efficient with available resources.
The 2014-15 budget, adopted in July 2014, has built on this with a targeted focus on efficiency of resources. For the first time, we are moving towards a 10 year financial plan and a long term view of our capital works which will help underpin our activities in the years to come.
It has not been an easy task, given the increasing pressures on rates and external funding sources. We have tightened our belts and contained increases in operational costs, and will be delivering our largest program of capital works. Through the Community Health and Wellbeing Plan, we have consulted and listened to the people and businesses in our community and they will see a strong focus on priority asset renewal tasks, such as road and footpath maintenance and construction, drainage and sporting facilities, as well as the delivery of major capital works projects.
A number of economic challenges are ahead of us including the closure of Toyota’s manufacturing plant in 2017. Long-term planning and collaboration are the key tools in meeting these challenges and we are developing practical strategies to deal with them. We have been instrumental in developing Melbourne’s West Economic Response Taskforce with LeadWest and other western region councils. We established an Economic Development Unit to increase engagement with local businesses to enable us to gain a better understanding of the local economic climate, maximise opportunities for business, and influence our future planning. With the Mayor and Councillors we participated in two western region delegations to Parliament House to seek information and to advocate on measures to assist our community and local workers in adjusting to changes in the manufacturing sector.
Important strategic objectives include integrated transport and advocacy. The Integrated Transport Strategy will address a number of issues including connectivity, affordability and increased universal access. Integrated transport is challenging and requires collaborative action. It forms an important part of our Advocacy Strategy which identifies and builds on shared regional priorities and networks. We have advocated on a number of important issues relevant to our community including affordable housing, major hazard facilities, integrated transport, and youth mental health services.
A high priority for Council is engaging with the community and this requires multiple customer service tools. We launched Live Chat, an online instant messaging application in November which is proving increasingly popular with our residents. Snap Send Solve, a mobile phone application, is also being used as a means for people to report issues or incidents ‘on the spot.’
We have an increased social media use with a 100 per cent growth in Facebook and Twitter followers, a new Lost Pets page, a LinkedIn business networking group, and the preparation of a new online community engagement tool, ‘Participate Hobsons Bay’ containing project information, forums, discussion boards and videos.
Servicing a community where almost a third of residents speak a language other than English at home requires different channels for delivering information. In August 2013 we launched the Hobsons Bay Language Line, a dedicated telephone line for residents, offering interpreter assistance or information in their own language. Our customer satisfaction ratings have achieved positive results for our services to young people, seniors and people with a disability, however there is always room to improve.
State Government legislation is also impacting on local government. From July 2014 we are required to report on key services, which include governance, statutory planning, economic development, roads, libraries, waste collection, animal management, food safety, and finance. Results from this reporting will be part of an interactive state government website and used to compare councils across the state. I am pleased to say we are well placed to meet these challenges given the recent restructuring of the organisation, the focus on long-term planning, and our commitment to customer service.
Many thanks go to my staff who have worked hard implementing and working within the new structure, and the Councillors, who have been dedicated and committed to bringing a high level of service to the communities they represent.
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Performance Summary
Below is a snapshot of Council's achievements and performance during 2013-14. The full performance report can be found in the ‘Our Performance’ section of the Annual Report.
The Community Health and Wellbeing Plan 2013-17 and the Council Plan 2013-17 are structured around four key goals, which describe how Council will serve the community to deliver on the community’s vision for Hobsons Bay. Each goal area identifies strategic objectives that, as an organisation, we will work towards achieving from 2013-17. The Council Plan Annual Action Plan 2013-14 identifies the Key Strategic Activities (KSAs) and additional actions that will be delivered in that period to work towards meeting the overall goals and objectives.
Overall
The Council Plan Annual Action Plan 2013-14 consisted of 73 actions and 21 KSAs. As shown in the graph below, by 30 June 2014, 95 per cent of actions and 95 per cent of KSAs were completed or progressing.
Actions / KSAsAll Council departments have responsibility for the delivery of the Council Plan and the Annual Action Plans.
Actions
Key Strategic Activities
Three different sets of indicators have been used to measure the various components of Council’s performance during 2013-14. These include Council Plan Strategic Indicators, Best Value Indicators and Community Satisfaction Indicators. Council Plan Strategic Indicators monitor achievement of the strategic objectives. In 2013-14, there were a total of 59 Council Plan strategic indicators. As shown in the graph below, 66 per cent of Council Plan Strategic Indicators were met. Best Value Indicators are based on the Best Value Principles which aim to ensure services are accessible, responsive to community needs, meet quality and cost standards and community consultation regarding services achieve continuous improvement. In 2013-14 there were a total of 77 Best Value Indicators. As shown in the graphs below, 44 per cent of the Best Value Indicators were met and 29 per cent were exceeded.