Decision details

It is resolved that:

(A)        Council endorse the suite of Integrated Planning and Reporting documents for public exhibition for a period of 28 days, including:

(i)          the draft Delivery Program 2022 - 2026 as shown at Attachment A to the subject report;

(ii)         the draft Operational Plan 2022/23 as shown at Attachment B to the subject report; and

(iii)        the draft Resourcing Strategy 2022 as shown at Attachment C to the subject report;

(B)        Council endorse the draft Operating and Capital Budget, and future years’ forward estimates, as reflected in the Operational Plan 2022/2023 and draft Resourcing Strategy (2022) including:

(i)          Operating income of $651.1M, operating expenditure before depreciation of $530.1M for an Operating Result of $121.0M, and a Net Surplus of $77.1M after allowing for interest, depreciation and capital contributions;

(ii)         Capital Works expenditure of $202.1M and a capital works contingency of $10.0M;

(iii)        Plant and Assets net expenditure of $19.9M including Information Technology Capital Works of $7.0M; and

(iv)       Net Property Acquisitions of $147.8M;

(C)       Council note that the main financial schedules presented as part of the Long Term Financial Plan (LTFP), included in the Resourcing Strategy, assume that the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) will grant the City a permanent general rates increase of 2.5 per cent for 2022/23 and future years;

(D)       Council note that the additional financial schedules presented in the Long Term Financial Plan include an alternate scenario showing the impact of an temporary one year increase of 2.5 per cent just for 2022/23, and a further alternate scenario showing the impact of no increase above the 1.4 per cent increase initially determined by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) for 2022/23;

(E)        Council note that all fees associated with footway dining are proposed to be set at zero dollars for the 2022/23 financial year;

(F)        authority be delegated to the Chief Executive Officer to extend the temporary provisions of the Outdoor Dining Guidelines, noting a full update to the Outdoor Dining Policy, Outdoor Dining Guidelines and Display of Goods on the Footway Local Approvals Policy will be reported for public exhibition;

(G)       authority be delegated to the Chief Executive Officer to extend existing footway approvals to cover the notification and assessment period where the operator has lodged a new footway application prior to 30 June 2022;

(H)       Council endorse Domestic Waste Management Charges, Stormwater Charges and User Fees and Charges discussed within the subject report and included within the draft Operational Plan 2022/23;

(I)          authority be delegated to the Chief Executive Officer to approve any minor editorial corrections prior to publication for public exhibition and authorise the relevant staff to implement any such corrections;

(J)         Council note that:

(i)          the City is providing a $5.7 million expanded renovation of the Pyrmont Community Centre that was initially costed at $3.03 million but subsequently expanded at the request of the Pyrmont Community, which is anticipated to take approximately 18 months to complete;

(ii)         City staff will continue to work in consultation with the community to ensure that current programs and activities delivered at Pyrmont Community Centre, with the exception of the Pyrmont Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) service, can be accommodated at Maybanke and Ultimo Community Centres during the upgrade;

(iii)        City staff who currently work at Pyrmont Community Centre, including the Pyrmont Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) service, will be temporarily relocated to Maybanke and Ultimo Community Centres, as well as other community centres where required during the renovation period. No staff will be stood down. The City has an ongoing commitment to continue to provide high quality programming and services from the significantly improved space when it reopens;

(iv)       Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) services can only be provided at a site approved to operate under the Education and Care Services National Regulations and therefore, the Pyrmont Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) service must relocate to the Ultimo Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) service at Ultimo Community Centre, or families may choose to use the on-site Outside School Hours Care Service (OSHC) at Ultimo Primary School for the duration of the upgrade;

(v)         the City will consider providing a bus from Pyrmont to Ultimo Community Centre on an as needs basis to cater for members of the community who find it difficult to access the centre by walking or using public transport, noting that bus and light rail services are available from John Street Square, approximately 90 metres, or a one-minute walk, from Pyrmont Community Centre;

(vi)       during the Pyrmont Community Centre temporary closure, the City will continue to monitor community service needs in the area, work to address any additional requirements, and will consider hiring additional spaces in Pyrmont if available and necessary;

(vii)      such hire would be through contingency funding, as it has not been included in the draft 2022/23 budget; and

(viii)     should such hire go beyond what would be considered reasonable for contingency funding, a report to Council will be required.

Carried unanimously.

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