Annual Report 2014-15

Corporate Plan Priority 4 – Focus on community assets
The Council’s focus will be on maintaining and renewing existing assets rather than building new
assets. In the short term, there will be a strong focus on undertaking condition assessments and
developing long term asset management plans.
Key achievements include:
   The rollout of the 2014/15 Capital Works Program took longer to establish than planned. There were
    initial delays in finalising detailed designs after the capital program was adopted as part of the 2014/15
    budget. This was probably not unexpected given that we were only 6 months old at the time with no
    historic designs / plans available but it did take some time to gather traction in the delivery of the 2014/15
    Capital Works Program.
   By year end, when taking into account completed capital works and committals, the Capital Works
    Program was 68% complete or, if three major projects carried over into 2015/16 are excluded as they
    are carried forward into 2015/16, then the completion rate was 82%.
   Some of the significant Capital Works projects achieved in 2014/15 included:
    o   reseal of Walter Hay Drive;
    o   work on the Daintree Estate, Tewantin flood mitigation project (substantially underway);
    o   bus stop design and stage 1 rollout;
    o   other road reseals including Gibson Road, Noosaville and David Low Way, Sunrise Beach; and
    o   Cooran sports field lights.
   Council has developed a plant and fleet program to enable it to better plan and manage its future
    requirements. This plan includes a three year injection of funding to bring Council’s fleet and plant up to
    standard following the transfer of older items of plant following the de-amalgamation. Innovation was
    also evident in November 2015 when Council was able to secure a good quality second hand John
    Deere 670 GP Grader by being able to move quickly to secure this item of plant with significant saving to
    Council. Other significant items of plant have also been replaced including a new beach cleaner.
   Council has adopted a number of policies and actions to assist in better managing community assets.
    These include:
    o   Asset Management Policy; and
    o   Community Purpose Land and Infrastructure Tenure Policy.



Corporate Plan Priority 5 – Establishing new policies and strategies
As a Council, we will need to develop a range of policies and strategies that set the path for future
Councils There are a number of strategies and policies to be reviewed and developed that will set
the strategic direction for the future.
Key achievements include:
   Council established a new set of local laws and subordinate local laws after undertaking an extensive
    community consultation campaign. The new local laws came into effect on 1 July 2015 with a smooth
    transition.
   The vast majority of policies required to be reviewed following the de-amalgamation process have been
    completed during 2014/15. Many of these were governance type policies which are important from a
    governance and compliance perspective. These include
    o   Public Interest Disclosure Policy;
    o   Contact with Lobbyists Policy; and
    o   Public Officials Complaints Policy.
    At the same time, all of Council’s delegations were reviewed and updated.




Noosa Council Annual Report 2014/15                                                                       Page 7