2021-09-13 General Committee Meeting Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                              13 SEPTEMBER 2021


13       JOINING THE COUNCIL OF MAYORS (SEQ)

Author            Chief Executive Officer, Brett de Chastel
                  CEO’s Office

Index             ECM/ Subject/27.61 – Council of Mayors

Attachments       Nil

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Not applicable.

RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Chief Executive Officer to the General Committee Meeting dated
13 September 2021 and
A.   Agree to make application to the Council of Mayors (SEQ) for membership of that Regional
     Organisation of Councils;
B.   Note that the annual subscription will be advised by the Council of Mayors (SEQ) if our
     application for membership is successful and that funding for the annual subscription would be
     referred to Budget Review 2 for consideration.

REPORT
1.   Opportunity to Join the Council of Mayors (SEQ).
With the recent awarding of the Olympic Games to Brisbane, there is an opportunity to revisit our
membership of the Council of Mayors (SEQ). This organisation is the Regional Organisation of
Councils for south-east Queensland.
Our Council was a member in 2014 but we withdrew from membership at that time due to a perceived
lack of value and lack of common interest issues with other member Councils. Many of the issues
at that time were focused on city based transport issues rather than broader regional issues.
The current members of the Council of Mayors (SEQ) are:-
    Brisbane City Council
    Ipswich City Council
    Logan City Council
    Redland Shire Council
    Moreton Bay Regional Council
    Sunshine Coast Regional Council
    Scenic Rim Regional Council
    Lockyer Valley Regional Council
    Somerset Regional Council
    Toowoomba Regional Council.
Gold Coast City Council is not currently a member of the Council of Mayors (SEQ) but has been a
member in the past.
The Council of Mayors (SEQ) meets on a regular basis in Brisbane and addresses issues affecting
south-east Queensland. It is an opportunity for the Mayors of those member councils to work
together to advocate to other levels of government on SEQ Council needs. It is a very effective
lobbying voice given that it represents “1 in 7 Australians”. The Council of Mayors (SEQ) is supported
by a number of staff who are employed to give effect to decisions and to undertake work on behalf
of the organisation.

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