5 March 2024

Councils well represented at Coastal Water Safety Roundtable

I was pleased to have councils represented at the Coastal Water Safety Roundtable by Mayor of Waverley Cr Paula Masselos, and LGNSW Chief Executive David Reynolds.

The roundtable was chaired by Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib MP to consider evidence-informed approaches to improve coastal safety.

NSW has more than 700 beaches and 370 public pools. Across these, councils provide a range of water safety services to the community, including paid lifeguard services, signage, parking, amenities, regulatory compliance (including for rock fishing), school education programs, support for research, and asset ownership of associated infrastructure.

It’s important that the role of local government in water safety be acknowledged and fairly funded, and that local government be included in any future roundtables or forums on water safety.

Delayed and cancelled road infrastructure projects

As NSW continues to seek solutions to the housing and homelessness crisis impacting our State, there has been a disproportionate focus on the role of the planning system.

However, we are all acutely aware that the housing delivery shortfall in NSW has multiple causes beyond the control of councils and the planning system.

One key barrier to greater housing delivery occurs where State road infrastructure projects have been delayed, deferred or cancelled by the NSW Government and its agencies or where planned business cases are not progressed or completed.

This can also include projects where funding has not been allocated for the road infrastructure, where less funding than expected has been allocated or where business cases have been delayed.

Investment in infrastructure is essential to enable the housing supply needed to meet the NSW Government’s commitments under the National Housing Accord.

On Thursday, I emailed all councils seeking examples of road infrastructure projects for which the NSW Government has delayed, deferred, cancelled or cut funding, to support our ongoing advocacy on this matter.

Please email any examples to [email protected].

Asbestos

I continue to attend regular meetings of the new NSW Asbestos Taskforce and remind you that any council concerns you would like escalated through this forum may be emailed to LGNSW Project Manager – Asbestos Policy Daniel Adler at [email protected].

Members of the public and businesses concerned about contamination in mulch they have received or on-sold should contact the EPA Environment Line on 131 555 or email [email protected]. 

Review of LG financial model – comment on draft TOR

A reminder that submissions on the draft terms of reference (TOR) for the Review of the NSW Council Financial Model will close on 15 March 2024.

The review, to be conducted by IPART, delivers on the Government’s election commitment to undertake this review to address financial sustainability concerns.

This consultation is primarily a question of whether anything should be added to, or deleted from, the draft Terms of Reference.

While LGNSW welcomed the review, I am concerned the draft Terms of Reference contain some gaps, including consideration of external cost drivers such as cost shifting and the wide differences in revenue-raising capacity between councils.

Thank you for the councils that have already shared their feedback with LGNSW.

In addition to making your own submissions to IPART, we would welcome your comments to Shaun McBride, LGNSW Chief Economist ([email protected]) by 8 March 2024.

Applications now open - Housing Australia Future Fund

A reminder that applications for funding under the Housing Australia Future Fund Facility and National Housing Accord Facility are now open, aiming to collectively support the delivery of 20,000 new social and 20,000 new affordable homes across Australia over five years.

Councils are encouraged to apply before the deadline of 2pm on 22 March 2024. Further information, including a calendar of information sessions and the application portal, is available online.

Webinar #2 Net Zero Fleet | Tuesday 9 April

This Net Zero Fleet webinar will discuss fleet management guidelines and tools that have been developed by ChargeWorks on behalf of Sustainable Councils, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW).

The webinar will provide detailed insights into the guidelines, as well as case studies from councils in regional NSW.

Download program

Sincerely,

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