Clr. Saville provided additional information about this proposal. She reported that her “family and I compiled the nomination for the (b) Eddy/DeVilliers Conservation area. Anyone can submit a heritage nomination. Nominations are then assessed each term of council by heritage consultants, and councillors make decisions based on the advice of the consultants and community feedback.  The heritage architects/consultants report recommended the Eddy DeVilliers Conservation Area proceed as it was consistent with criteria for listing.”

Inter alia from fieldwork the consultants had found that 46 out of 70 houses were highly intact. However, in 2018 an independent local planning panel concluded that the area wasless unified than the consultant’s narrative seems to suggest and the quality of both individual and groups of California Bungalows and other inter-war period homes are not outstanding. The Panel noted that as the area is not exceptional overall, listing may dilute the value of existing heritage conservation areas.

Council hosted a residents meeting and concluded that the overall outcome of the discussion was not in favour of listing.

The Officer’s recommendations to Council was not proceed with the listing to make Eddy Road and De Villiers Avenue a Heritage Conservation Area.

Councillors adopted the Officer’s recommendation.

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Proposals for RNSH

Refer following link: https://www.nsw.gov.au/news/new-vision-for-royal-north-shore-hospital     It states: key features of the transformation include:

• Affordable key worker accommodation (to support the Northern Sydney Local Health District) and ‘build to rent’ apartments
• New commercial office space to support the broader health and education precinct (including office space, retail and short stay accommodation)
• A new educational facility
• 6000m2 additional public domain and open space
• Adaptive re-use of heritage buildings
• Improved connectivity and pedestrian access to public transport
• Additional car parking for commercial, retail and residential uses.

The government will shortly undertake a detailed consultation program. Details of the consultation activities and events will be made available shortly.

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 On the subject of the library and the services it provides, some years back Willoughby Council pulled out of the Shorelink service; the reason given was that this would enable the Library to implement initiatives it could not do while within Shorelink. Could you outline what these were and which ones have been implemented?

Can Willoughby get a click and deliver/collect library service? In addition to the Northern Beaches, Ku-ring-gai now offers a similar service.

As a consequence of the Council withdrawal from Shorelink, I became a member of more libraries and some services/initiatives Willoughby could consider include:

• North Sydney and Ku-ring-gai Libraries will hold (reserve) a book at no cost, provided it is on the shelf. And Ku-ring-gai will send the book to any of its 4 libraries for easy pick up.
• Stanton Library has philosophy discussion groups and marks World Philosophy Day which is pertinent as libraries are about learning/thinking.
• The State Library allows any member, not just students, to book its study rooms.

And finally, I have a question – why is it that Chatswood library does not open for a full day on Sunday?

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Changes to ‘S94’ funds: For decades Councils have been collecting funds for developers for the provision of new community facilities that will be needed because of increased development. This was a long and complex process. Funds could be collected for a variety of facilities such as open space, footpaths, local roads, childcare etc. Council was required to develop a plan for each type of facility. Any development had to be directly identified as requiring a specific facility. Funds collected in one area could not be used in another area.

A big problem was that typically a single development did not generate enough funds to for the building of a specific facility. It takes literally years for enough money to be collected before Council improvements are fully funded and can start. In the interim, the collected funds sit in trust fund accounts (the money cannot be used for any other purpose) collecting interest (sometimes).

The government is reviewing its legislation to make it easier for Councils to spend the monies they have collected. We could see monies collected for a facility in West Ward allocated to a project in Artarmon etc.

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Jack Mundey

A father of the Green Bans movement (Jack Mundey) died recently.

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The state government childcare centre funding to be rolled out shortly.

The Department of Education has been working with local government representatives to ensure the NSW Government’s $82 million funding package for council-run childcare centres is rolled out and payments made efficiently to best meet the needs of service providers.

NSW was the first State to bridge the funding gap for council-run early childhood services.

This new model of funding and its design and therefore delivery will take time. Clarification from the Commonwealth on aspects of the JobKeeper model and how that would impact council childcare centres was also required before finalising the model.

Payments for the first three-month period will be made as a one-off lump sum in June. Payments will be backdated to April 6. This simple and practical solution was worked through with representatives from local government.

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Clr Saville asked a series of questions about The Concourse.

 ANSWERS

1. All 12 tenancies at The Concourse are tenanted.
2. In the past 12 months only one tenant (Terrazza) has left upon the expiry of their lease. The tenancy has been re-leased.
3. The income for The Concourse has been affected by vacancies; rent free periods associated with incentives for new tenants and more recently the Covid-19 pandemic. The reduction of income compared to the original 2019/2020 estimates is approximately $933k. The $933k is comprised of:

3.1. First quarter adjustment – $587k. This was reported to Council as part of the Quarter 1 budget review at its 11 November 2019 meeting. This amount is a combination of vacancies at that time and rent free period for shop 2. Council was advised of the rent free period for Shop 2 at its meeting on 10 February 2020.

3.2. Third quarter adjustment – Covid-19 rental waivers – $258k. This was reported to Council at its extraordinary meeting of the 30 March 2020, and forms part of Council’s Business Support Plan.

3.3. Third quarter adjustment – rent free periods for Shops 1 and 2 – $88k. Council was advised of the rent free period for Shop 2 at its meeting of the 10 February 2020. The adjustment will be be incorporated into the third quarterly budget review report for Council’s consideration.

4. The adjustment of The Concourse income was reported to Council in the First Quarterly

Budget Review report tabled at the Council meeting held on 11 November 2019. The

extraordinary Council meeting on 30 March 2020 also foreshadowed estimates of the income loss due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

5. There is currently one tenancy at The Concourse in arrears that Council is pursuing under legal means.

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Casual staff: Clr. Coppock asked a question about the impact of COVID-19 on Council’s casual staff workforce.

The answer provided was:

1. Casual staff at closed sites were provided with a letter setting out that due to the closure of their site or service, as a result of Government directed closures, Willoughby Council was unable to provide any shifts at the current time and that when this changed we hoped they would re-join Willoughby. A two week special payment based on average shifts was also provided to them at the discretion of the CEO. The letter extended access to Council’s Employee Assistance Program and provided links to financial and job support packages.

Council is not an eligible employer for JobKeeper subsidies.

2. No staff have been terminated due to COVID-19. 156 casual staff were issued with a no shifts letter.

3. The following is the list of location and number of casuals provided no shift letters

• Willoughby Leisure Centre 86
• Library 27
• Dougherty Centre 12
• Media, Marketing and Events 11
• Willoughby Park Centre 7
• Youth Services 7
• Environment/Open Space 4
• Zenith Theatre 2

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Extend Chatswood Mall to Archer St: Clr. Wright has moved the following motion –

 That Council receive a report from officers for the July Council meeting of a strategy, including budget impacts, by which Council could look at extending the Chatswood Mall from Anderson St to Archer St.

 Officer’s comments: Extending the pedestrian Mall in Victoria Avenue between Anderson and Archer Streets requires consideration of a number of factors. These include the impacts of the proposed Mall upon traffic flows through the CDB and beyond, including public transport, emergency vehicles and pedestrians; the capacity for the CBD to accommodate further expansion of food premises in the near future and desired urban design outcomes. It is not possible to meet the request within the Notice of Motion by July as the project is more complex than a simple road closure and is unfunded in 2019/20. Officers are also trying to ascertain the impact of government closures on Council’s revenues and 2020/21 budget; the subject of future briefings to Council. Another consideration is that this section of Victoria Avenue is currently being consulted upon in the Draft Integrated Transport Strategy. It would be appropriate to finalise and receive that consultation prior to proceeding with any further concepts or projects.

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Clr. Saville proposed the following motion:

That Willoughby City Council officers bring back a report to council to discuss feasibility of introducing ‘cultural burns’ as part of bushfire management within the LGA. The report should include discussion regarding relevance, risks and potential benefits from introduction of cultural burns to the LGA.

It should also outline funding, training and resources required to implement these practices locally.

Background – ‘Cultural burning’ as distinct from ‘ hazard reduction’ ‘back burning’. Cultural burning: much of this fire was lit by Indigenous Australians who lit small fires as they moved around. This helped them hunt for food, clear pathways and regenerate the bush.

Officer’s comments – Council has been planning and implementing ecological burning practices in conjunction with hazard reduction prescribed burning in bushland reserves for many years. Based on the principle of burning relatively small areas in a mosaic pattern and carefully considering and optimizing vegetation and landform, this work shares many of the principles of ‘cultural burning’. Council’s work conforms to the Regional Bush Fire Management Plan and is co-ordinated by Fire and Rescue NSW.

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