MCC LOCAL COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS EVENING May 9, 2019

Held at the Baptist Church Hall in Tea Gardens.

Council staff members in attendance:
-          General Manager – Adrian Panuccio
-          Director Community Spaces and Services and Acting Director of Planning and Natural Systems – Paul De Szell
-          Director Engineering and Infrastructure and Acting Director of Water Services – Robert Scott
-          Director Corporate and Business Systems – Steve Embry
-          Supported by members of Council’s engagement team

Councillors in attendance:
-          Mayor – David West
-          Troy Fowler
-          Claire Pontin
-          Len Roberts

“We want to know what’s important to you and your community, and what you want to know more about.

Sessions will be facilitated by Council staff so everyone can take part in the conversation

Share your concerns, questions and feedback

Tell us what you would like Council to be doing in your area
Register a question or an area of interest beforehand (click below) – common themes will be addressed when we visit your local community
Each forum will run for around 2 hours, and will include light refreshments

Come along and be part of these important conversations that will see us working together achieve more in your community.”

So, people came. Lots of people came. In fact, so many people came they could barely all fit in the hall. This was the last of meetings in the series of twelve in the program and there were twice as many as at any of the other meetings.

Council representatives were a bit non-plussed by the turn out and had to do some quick organisational rethinking to get through the session on time.

The meeting was organised as a brainstorming session where we were invited to sit at one of several tables around the hall. We were then asked to construct a list of what we considered to be the main issues, concerns and needs of our community. These were then prioritised and the top five were submitted to be taken back to HQ by the council staff.

Six residents from North Arm Cove were in attendance – just one from our resident’s association executive committee.

Before we started, I tried to point out to the GM that these six good folks were not necessarily a fair representation of our community and its views, to be told that, if others had wanted to have a say, they could have come.

It was all a bit of a rush but the NAC group scrambled together the following list:

• Environment – to include a conservation plan for the future, and issues like dumping in our bush, non-native animal controls including feral cats and roaming dogs, waterfront degradation.
• Maintenance of facilities – storm water drainage, help with our parks (grass cutting and toilet).
• Roads – safety (speed control, lane widths and cycle safety), lighting, signage.
• Compliance – enforcement of regulations regarding illegal structures (containers, caravans), illegal tree removal, illegal release of sewage.
• Fame Cove – recognition and appropriate treatment of any state significant development proposals, regular liaison with our community, a commitment to ensuring any development will be fully conforming and environmentally sustaining.

The session finished with an open forum of questions and concerns put to the council staff.

We at NAC have been through this kind of process many times before for very little gain. But we are told this time things are different. "A new council with new people who have come to listen."

The council staff promised to collate and respond to all issues raised and to return in six months with a report on:

• what has already been achieved from our top priorities
• what is planned in order to address the remainder.

We wish them luck and trust they have plenty of resources at hand because they left with one big heap of stuff to think about.

Tony Hann