Late Items Agenda of Council - Monday, 13 February 2023

Council 13 February 2023 Item 15.1

QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE

ITEM NUMBER 15.1

SUBJECT Questions Taken on Notice - 12 December 2022 Council Meeting

REFERENCE F2022/00105 - D08808968

REPORT OF Governance Manager

QUESTIONS TAKEN ON NOTICE FROM THE COUNCIL MEETING OF 12 DECEMBER 2022

Item	Subject	Councillor	Question
12.1	Item 12.1 - Fish Kill and Reducing Organic Matter in Waterways – Update	Garrard	Council to take on notice that staff spend time on reports and therefore cost money regardless of whether it is from the existing budget. What are these reports worth, so Councillors are aware of the cost of extra work to the organisation?
Item 12.2	Item 12.2 – Workforce Diversity	Prociv	Have staff looked into partnering with the University of Western Sydney for working students and creating Sandwich Courses with them?
12.4	Item 12.4 - Annual Code of Conduct Complaint Statistics Returned to the Office of Local Government	Garrard	Why are we getting the report in the last meeting of the year when the report is only to 31 August?
12.4	Item 12.4 - Annual Code of Conduct Complaint Statistics Returned to the Office of Local Government	Valjak	There are three complaints and three finalised matters in the report, can the Internal Ombudsman provide information on how the complaints were dealt with?
13.12	Item 13.2 Minutes of the Traffic Engineering Advisory Group meeting held on 9 November 2022	Garrard	Staff to keep the signs indicating that the City of Parramatta Council does not support the development of Telopea.
13.13	Item 13.13 - DEFFERED ITEM: Exhibition Outcomes - Draft Planning Proposal, Draft Site-Specific DCP and Draft Planning Agreement - Holdmark Sites (Melrose Park South) (Deferred from 5 December 2022 Council Meeting)	Bradley	Did the developer pay for the TMAP?
14.1	Item 14.1 - Play Equipment	Wearne	Although Council owns part of the strata title, were there any restrictions on Council when it acquired the strata title and would the body corporate need to agree to the development of a playground?

BACKGROUND

1. Paragraph 9.23 of Council’s Code of Meeting Practice states:

“Where a councillor or council employee to whom a question is put is unable to respond to the question at the meeting at which it is put, they may take it on notice and report the response to the next meeting of the Council.”

STAFF RESPONSE

Item 12.1 - Fish Kill and Reducing Organic Matter in Waterways – Update

During discussion on Item 12.1 Fish Kill and Reducing Organic Matter in Waterways – Update, Councillor Garrard asked the following question:

Council to take on notice that staff spend time on reports and therefore cost money regardless of whether it is from the existing budget. What are these reports worth, so Councillors are aware of the cost of extra work to the organisation?

Executive Director City Assets & Operations

In relation the cost for Council staff time to produce the Fish Kill and Reducing Organic Matter in Waterways Report it is estimated at $3,000. In relation to this report significant time was spend by the Parramatta River Catchment Group Stormwater Subcommittee, the representatives of this subcommittee are not Council staff, so their costs have not been included.

Item 12.2 – Workforce Diversity

During discussion on Item 12.2 – Workforce Diversity, Councillor Prociv asked the following question:

Have staff looked into partnering with the University of Western Sydney for working students and creating Sandwich Courses with them?

Executive Director People, Culture and Workplace

There are multiple definitions of “sandwich courses” including:

· Formal degree designed and established between an employer and a tertiary education provider which featured rotational FT study and FT work placement.

· Formal internship placements during study breaks (winter and summer) for students in their penultimate year of university.

Council is exploring formal internships and have identified several potential partner organisations including Western Sydney University. As part of the 2023, Council is committed to piloting formal Internships early as part of the early careers framework that is currently being scoped and designed.

A further update will be provided as part of the Workforce Diversity Report Update scheduled in April.

Item 12.4 - Annual Code of Conduct Complaint Statistics Returned to the Office of Local Government

During discussion on Item 12.4 - Annual Code of Conduct Complaint Statistics Returned to the Office of Local Government, Councillor Garrard asked the following question:

Why are we getting the report in the last meeting of the year when the report is only to 31 August?

Internal Ombudsman Shared Services:

The Office of Local Government issued the request for statistics on 22 November 2022. As the deadline for Council papers for the 12 December 2021 Council meeting was 25 November 2022, this report was submitted to the next available Council meeting. The reporting timeframe of 1 September 2021 to 31 August 2022 is set by the Office of Local Government.

Item 12.4 - Annual Code of Conduct Complaint Statistics Returned to the Office of Local Government

During discussion on Item 12.4 - Annual Code of Conduct Complaint Statistics Returned to the Office of Local Government, Councillor Valjak asked the following question:

There are three complaints and three finalised matters in the report, can the Internal Ombudsman provide information on how the complaints were dealt with?

Internal Ombudsman Shared Services:

As outlined in the report, the three complaints received were referred to another agency. The relevant agencies advised the complaints were closed and all three were recorded as finalised.

Item 13.13 - DEFFERED ITEM: Exhibition Outcomes - Draft Planning Proposal, Draft Site-Specific DCP and Draft Planning Agreement - Holdmark Sites (Melrose Park South) (Deferred from 5 December 2022 Council Meeting)

During discussion on Item 13.5 DEFFERED ITEM: Exhibition Outcomes - Draft Planning Proposal, Draft Site-Specific DCP and Draft Planning Agreement - Holdmark Sites (Melrose Park South) Councillor Bradley asked the following question:

Did the developer pay for the TMAP?

Executive Director City Planning and Design:

The preparation of the Melrose Park Transport Management and Accessibility Plan (TMAP) was a requirement of the Gateway determination issued by the Department of Planning and Environment in 2016 for the Melrose Park North Planning Proposal. The TMAP was commissioned by Payce as the major landholder in the Northern Precinct. This is normal practice for Planning Proposals initiated by the landowner as it would be unreasonable to expect Council or the State Government to fund studies that are required to support private development.

To ensure transparency and that all issues of concerns were properly addressed, a clear governance structure was established to ensure the TMAP scope and methodology was suitable to properly identify what traffic and transport improvements would be required to support the land use changes proposed for the entire precinct. To this end, a Steering Group was formed with representatives from City of Parramatta Council, Department of Planning and Environment, Transport for NSW, the former Roads and Maritime Service, Payce, Goodman and Holdmark to ensure that issues raised and matters that needed to be discussed and agreed between relevant stakeholders were addressed. The Steering Group concluded that all members were satisfied that the TMAP conclusions were accurate and based upon agreed inputs.

Item 14.1 - Play Equipment

During discussion on Item 14.1 Play Equipment, Councillor Wearne asked the following question:

Although Council owns part of the strata title, were there any restrictions on Council when it acquired the strata title and would the body corporate need to agree to the development of a playground?

Executive Director Property and Place

The Wentworth Point Library forecourt is Lot 28 in Community Plan DP 270778. Any structure proposed to be erected on the land would require:

a. Building management committee approval (similar to strata body corporate approval);

b. Removal of a range of easements that burden the land, in particular easement for public access, easement for emergency egress, easement for services, easement for support and shelter.

Bryan Hynes

Acting Chief Executive Officer

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