Newcastle City Council Management Plan

The cost of housing is very high and under pressure. People are under great pressure and affordable housing is a major issue. To continue to raise rates is not the answer. It hurts pensioners, tenants young home owners, and most households. Residential rates can be cut by 25% by reducing the Councills operating costs by about $12m.  

Community greening, environmental education, stormwater management, ClimateCam and more. Newcastle has a reputation for being at the forefront of environmental management and education. What would you like to see Council achieve in this area over the next 18 months? 

What would you like to see achieved by Newcastle City Council over the next 18 months? 

Council has a budget of $197.4 million to provide and manage our services. Are there any specific changes to expenditure you think Council should consider? 

Newcastle City Council provides dozens of distinctly different services and facilities. What service or facility do you value most and why?  

Newcastle has hundreds of kilometres of roads and footpaths, thousands of kilometres of stormwater drains and over 500 buildings. What would you like to see Council achieve in this area over the next 18 months? 

A flood is when heavy rainfall causes an overflow of a natural and or man made drainage system.
Newcastle drains are constructed to design standards to cope with all but unusual events.
When drains are full of tree roots, pipes are broken, floodgates dont work, leaves block drain entry points and silt and debris chokes the system the resultant "flood" is mismanagement.
The Management Plan must not hide behind the notion of "flood" and get on with ther real task of making the drainage system effective.
 

Judging on the performance of some of the current councillors, Newcastle and its civic administrators would benefit from better informed and educated councillors who are civically minded enough to be involved in all aspects of their job and not just those issues that are important to them. Perhaps all candidates need to be educated in their responsibilities and duties BEFORE they actually run for election to prevent them then turning around and complaining about or participating in poor procedural process/es. 

Newcastle City Council like lots of others in NSW has lost site of its primary function, the provision of quality infrastructure to allow for the development of a viable and dynamic city. Too much ratepayers money is spent on touchy, feely social programs that are not the responsibility of local government. Spend ratepayers money on things that benefit all ratepayers - roads, footpaths, parking facilities, streetscapes, sporting facilities and the like. 

The draft 2008/09 budget is based on the 3.2% increase provided for under the State Government rate cap.
Two options are being considered. One option is increasing the existing base charge while option two is for a return to the land value basis with a minimum.
Option 1. (27.4% base charge) Increases contributions by Strata Units. A uniform increase applies to all ratepayers (ie $27) Narrow range of increase 0.9% to 7.48%
Option 2. ($568.50 minimum) Significant increases for strata units. Large range of impact from 56.81% increase to 11.43% decrease. Redistributes rating burden – rates decrease for land values between $150,000 and average land value. Rates increase significantly for upper and lower ends of the valuation ranges.
Which option do you prefer? 

Most of us like a grog but we do not like our City damaged, violence and left filthy by excessive drinking and unruley behaviour.
Changes to The NCC Management Plan can have a major impact on the position whilst at the same time reducing costs to ratepayers.
In brief the budget could:- xxxxx cut funding to the Liquor Accord, xxxxx make venues pay for the clean up cost xxxxx Make all Newcastle LGA an alcohol free zone xxxxx Help fund residents groups in Court actions.
For those that want to read more please consider the following letter sent to the paper by read more  …

Last year, the State Government brought in new laws allowing for the introduction of a stormwater service charge. This new charge recognised the need for councils to raise funds specifically to tackle the issue of stormwater and drainage infrastructure.
At the time, Council adopted a flat rate of $25 per property for both residential and business ratepayers. This year, Council is looking for community discussion around three options proposing a change to the way the stormwater charge is applied to business.
Option 1 - $25 per 350m2 capped at $5,000. Option 2 - $25 per 350m2 capped at $3,000. Option 3 - $25 per 350m2 capped at $1,000.
The proposed changes will not affect residential ratepayers who will continue to pay the flat $25 rate per property.
The stormwater service charge has provided for a significantly expanded program to maintain,upgrade and improve the city’s stormwater and drainage infrastructure to address the $33 million backlog identified in the 2006 Percy Allan report.
 

Making decisions, developing long term strategic plans, assessing development applications, collecting rates and keeping the community involved are just some of the jobs for the city administration. What would you like to see Council achieve in this area over the next 18 months? 

Last year, Council committed to increasing spending on infrastructure and asset maintenance to catch up on ‘cleaning up the city’. This objective was reflected in pre-draft consultation with many comments calling for a greater focus on infrastructure maintenance and renewal. Council is proposing an increase in infrastructure spending to around $29 million this year. This includes an expanded roads and stormwater program as well as the delivery of new infrastructure using developer contributions.
Do you have any comments on the expanded program? 

Newcastle has a huge range of recreational facilities including over 300 parks, more than a hundred playgrounds and many sporting fields. We enjoy our patrolled beaches and inland pools as well as our libraries and other cultural facilities. What would you like to see Council achieve in this area over the next 18 months? 

At the community consultation workshops there was a major call to clean up the Newcastle LGA especially the CBD. The draft budget shows very little effort or expenditure. Why?  

In 2007/08 Council requested and the Minister approved a special rate increase on the basis that the City's infrastructure needed an extraordinary funding boost to address its deteriorating condition. These rates have been collected for 9 months and there is no apparent change in the level of infrastructure activity going on in the city.
What has been achieved?
Or are the extra funds all going to be re-allocated to pay for the Newcastle Baths blow-out, the investment black hole, the ten new strategic planners etc etc ? 

We need more funding for horse lanes as well as cycleways as an answer to the imminent Global Warming City Flooding catastrophe.
We suggest diverting Ocean Baths funding to this endeavour. 

A lot of members of the public have given up on contributing to the NCC Management Plan process this year, after being largely ignored by the Elected Council administration and the Minister last year.
This process of consultation has likewise only attracted a handful of contributors and must be considered a failure and poor value for money.
I know for sure that a number of the contributions under different names come from one person, using logins established under fake names. It was done to test the veracity of the system.
 

Council generates income from a variety of sources including rates, grants, waste income and more. Where do you think council should focus its efforts to increase income? 

From the Service Unit budgets in the Detailed Budget document (a) the net funding requirement has risen 15.5%, (b) the expenditure is up by 14%, (c) income is down by 10%.
How can this be best practice? Last years 10% rate increase was conditional on Council making major savings. Where are the savings? 

The Draft Detailed Budget Document shows that Service Unit staff have risen yet again. Up from 1028 to 1035. At a time when the community called for Council to get its house in order this increse does not seem reasonable.  

The draft Management Plan contains a number of service level variations which are changes to staffing levels of services. The proposed variations include:
• Additional staff to address increased legislative requirements. For example; OH&S,integrated planning and consultation, • Additional staff to support the expanded infrastructure improvement program, • Self-funded and income producing positions,and, • Staff previously attached to projects nowproviding ongoing services.
Do you have any comments on these proposed service level variations?  

What I really dislike and should not be funded in the Management Plan process is the items and activities that are a gross waste of money and scarse resources. To me items of waste should be cut from the Management Plan in order to make Council operations more efficient and cost effective. 

The domestic waste management service charge for 2008/09 is proposed to increase from $226.03 to $234.33 including the $40.35 per tonne State Government waste levy.
Do you have any comments to make in relation to the rating options proposed? 

The domestic waste management charge is to be $234.33. It is compulsory to all residential property.
The Charge to businesses is $133.08 and they can choose to have the service.
Lets make the charge user pays and you choose the number and frequency of the service and only pay for what you require.
Kerbside green waste collection is of very little use to a large number of households and should also be user pays.
Bins in parks and public places are very expensive to maintain. Reducing these to a bare minimum will cut costs considerably. Rangers need to actively fine people who litter.  

The best way for Councillors, the DLG, the Minister and the Local Government Ombudsman and external observers to assess the effectiveness of the Community Consultation process could be to examine any amendments to the 2008/09 Budget Parameters guideline.
The logic is that, if Council has taken into account community feedback on issues such as “belt-tightening” there will changes to the budget guidelines. If not, then the Ratepayers and the Minister are entitled to ask questions as to whether the Consultation process met its stated aims.
The original budget parameters, published on Council's website, (6.2 Budget Parameters) are in my view "soft" and reflect the Senior Management Teams lack of interest in belt tightening. It is more reflective of an organisation without any competition, keen on extracting Monopoly Rents from a disempowered Public.  

To save on costs, local goverment should start utilising the Work For The Dole Schemes, as you will find that would be a huge savings on costs of projects ( not at tradesmen prices), ie: restoration of Town Hall for one, this would slash the costs of the Projects, the people would get hands on experinces, and be involved with things that have a history as well as a future in this city... Like the old Merewether Club house, that could be a community project as it should of been years ago, as a WFTD scheme, once the youth get read more  …

Funds allocated for Art in this Management Plan should be distributed equitably across all forms of Art by the establishment of an Art Grants Fund.
Points to consider o The NRAG is only one provider of art in the Newcastle LGA however receives most of the funds and provision. o Competition between Art forms and art providers would raise the standard of art in this city. o All Art grants should have a major component of self funding with NCC grants used as “seed funding” or “top up.” o The NRAG redevelopment and expansion be totally abandoned. o The NRAG building should not be used as a storage warehouse. The building should be for display items only. o The NRAG rebuilding funds should be diverted to the Newcastle baths redevelopment project as stated above. o The total funds for Art should be reduced by 50% in the next budget period. o All art funds grants should encourage a minimum of 50% self funding.  

It is good to see that council will continue to support the Kooragang Wetlands. Previous funding has provided the community with great recreational areas allowing us to picnic or fish along the river banks, and birdwatch, walk or cycle within the wonderful and various areas of Ash Island. Such places freely available to the residents of Newcastle are an important and treasured asset. Thankyou Newcastle Council 

The new management plan and budget should incorporate funds to implement a massive improvement in the appearance of the LGA and in particular the City. We all know if you want to sell your house the first thing is a big clean up and some spit and polish. We need to sell this city to visitors, investors and create a positive attitude.
Points to consider o Setting targets for all staff employed by NCC to clean up their area of the workplace and the public areas of their responsibility o Setting targets for all work staff employed by NCC to report items of graffiti, vandalism and neglect to a Council database. o 1000 items fixed each day is 5000 a week and 260,000 a year. o Notification of all items of vandalism and graffiti to the Police (as required by council’s policies). o Prompt scheduling of necessary repairs and rectification. o All outside work crews be set targets for the removal of graffiti, repair of vandalism and presentation of street signs and furniture. o Presentation should be a key focus of all staff activities o This activity should be funded from existing budgets.  

The New Management Plna should incorporate a reduction of residential rates by 25%.
Points to consider o The ability of residential rate payers to pay rates has diminished greatly over the last few years. This has been caused by increases in land values, increases in mortgage values, increases in interest rates, increases in first home owners and other similar factors. o Pressures placed on affordable housing. o The low benefit of the pensioner rebate to pensioners. o Rapidly rising residential rents. (Remember it is a breach of the Residential Tenancies Act to attempt to pass on to tenants rate increases). o The use of residential rate funds to fund council activities that are not directly related to households. o A shift away from user pays principles. o Flood damage and impacts cost Newcastle residents dearly. o This activity should be funded by increasing user fees and charges, cutting non core activities,and adjusting staff. o New funding streams could include a Honeysuckle levy, POPE fee and increased fine collection (by using more rangers).