2021-08-16 General Committee Meeting Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                  16 AUGUST 2021


   Council developed a Walking and Cycling Strategy which included High Priority Cycling
    Corridors. The Strategy was the subject of extensive community engagement and was adopted
    by Council in July 2021. Funding has been provided in the 2021/2022 budget to begin
    implementation. Council completed the design of the Noosa Parade corridor upgrade with the
    assistance of Qld Government funding and also received significant funding from the State
    government for delivery in 2021/2022.

Other Initiatives to enable Council to achieve its goal for this theme
   Council adopted a COVID Financial Recovery Plan to mitigate financial sustainability risks as
    part of its 2020/21 budget. This included re-prioritising expenditure and projects, reviewing the
    2020/21 budget assumptions including preparing detailed cash flow modelling and providing
    advice to support effective decision-making by Council. Careful financial management was
    undertaken during the year resulting in a better than expected financial outcome at the end of
    the financial year.
   The Pathways and Boardwalks Asset Management Plan was endorsed which is a blueprint to
    guide the management of the shire’s various footpaths, cycleways and boardwalks networks and
    associated infrastructure assets now and into the future.
   Council let tenders for the Cooroy Noosa Road and Beckmans Road intersection upgrade and
    has secured $9M in funding from the Queensland Government for that project. This is stage 1
    of a long term plan for a Tewantin By-pass.
   As a result of the COVID pandemic, many of the Council Business Continuity Plans were
    reviewed and updated including the ICT Business Continuity Plan.
   Council undertook a second round of community consultation on a proposed local law for the
    management of Short Stay Accommodation properties. This draft local law is designed to
    address how STAs can be better managed to reduce their impact on neighbourhood amenity.

Corporate Plan Theme 5: Excellence as a Council
“The Noosa Shire community is proud of its Council”

Key achievements as we work towards our long term goal include:

Specific Operational Plan Priorities
   The Workforce Planning Strategy was finalised with two pilot projects undertaken.
    Implementation will continue once COVID-19 priorities have diminished.
   Council introduced a new process to seek community feedback on Council’s 2021/22 budget.
    This entailed asking the community how they wish to be engaged, seeking feedback on
    community priorities including the development of an innovative online budget feedback tool and
    having the draft budget available for community comment. Only a handful of councils in
    Queensland undertake this level of community engagement on the development of their annual
    budget.
   Council continues to make progress transitioning to Technology One Ci Anywhere for Council’s
    Enterprise Management System. Highlights include implementing E-recruitment, Procure to Pay
    (stage 2) and the fees and charges module. The CIA request management system is being
    reviewed to identify improvement opportunities for the customer experience.
   Council undertook a restructure of our approximately $22M debt to take advantage of historic
    low interest rates. This resulted in considerable savings for our ratepayers.




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