2014-03-25 Infrastructure & Services Committee Agenda

INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICES COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                   25 MARCH 2014


There are also some positions within both the Civil Operations maintenance and Conservation
Areas which are currently being back-filled with existing staff in order to maintain service levels. It
is envisaged that the adoption of the permanent structure will resolve these issues although there
will be a rebuilding phase in terms of our capacity to deliver capital work via Council’s internal
workforce which will need to be taken into account when determining what projects can be
delivered in the next financial year.

2.    Updating Policies, Guidelines and Standard Drawings

As an outcome of de-amalgamation, all the policies, guidelines and standards drawings in use by
the Sunshine Coast Regional Council (SCRC) were deemed under legislation to apply to the new
Noosa Council effective from 1 January 2014. A number of these guiding documents do not
provide the outcomes that are expected by Council and the Community within the Noosa Shire
area, and the Department is currently undertaking a review of these documents. Examples
include over-design of infrastructure resulting in additional costs or inappropriate design for the
Noosa ‘look and feel’.

As these documents are identified, it is intended that they will be brought before Council to seek
feedback and direction on them before adoption, either directly by Council or under the Planning
Scheme Amendment process currently being facilitated by the Community and Development
Department.

Operational project bids for 2014/15 are being prepared for consideration by Council during
budget setting to undertake a review of the Noosa Design Manual and carry out an updated
Traffic Study in order to inform developments in this area.

3.    Systems and Data

The department has been able to operate from 1 January 2014 using the business applications
and ICT support put in place. There have been issues associated with the transfer of data from
SCRC and upload of that data into the business systems which have impeded staff from working
as effectively as they could. Workarounds have been put in place where needed, and systems
functionality is being improved on an ongoing basis. Although road condition data has been
relatively easily retained through the SMEC Pavement Management System, asset condition
data has not been readily available for all asset classes, this will require more work to ensure we
have a good understanding of the state of the infrastructure.

Limited access to data has presented some problems in being able to respond as quickly as we
would have liked to some enquiries from the Community and Councillors. I apologise on behalf of
my teams for this, however please be assured that staff are working hard throughout Council in
order to improve. Despite these obstacles, I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge
the support our teams are receiving from the Community through the many positive e-mails and
comments we are receiving on the improved levels of service delivery and would like to
recognise and thank all staff for their professional and customer-focussed work.

4.    Disaster Management

Capacity building within the department for Disaster Management preparedness is ongoing
through the establishment of an Emergency Operations Team which is chaired by the Interim
Director Community Infrastructure. The department provides substantial field based staffing and
machinery resources in the event of an emergency situation therefore it is essential that
preparations are tried and tested. Additionally, Disaster Management system training has been
recently undertaken, with changes to procedures being made resulting in more effective handling
of incoming requests during emergency situations. A desktop training exercise is being held on
21 March 2014 to further build knowledge and capacity throughout the organisation.


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