IT IS WAY PAST TIME THAT THIS COUNCIL WAS GONE!

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Council and others should be expecting to face charges

Outside State Parliament councillors were warned that they may have to show cause why they should not be sacked.

Crime and Corruption advocate says charges should be laid and investigations into councils in Tasmania are well and truly overdue.

Citizens want to see more charges to the way local government works. In some cases, to see some elected represented work at all would be a change.

An activist said that she was not going to discuss details but she could tell the public that investigations are going on and have been for some considerable time. They look like they are nearing completion so far as the investigation into codes of conduct breaches go it seems.

She said that so far there were 196 conduct complaints but she was not prepared to discuss what they involve.

Meanwhile in Queensland the Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe sacked Mr Loft in February for misconduct. Mr Loft said he was disappointed by the ruling.

Mr Loft said "I can put my hand on my heart and say that everything I've done was with the best of intentions and for the ultimate benefit of the community that elected me and that I've been proud to serve as well as the staff on the council who were hurting," he said.

"With the benefit of hindsight, some of the decisions I've made have perhaps been naive."

Wouldn't it be wonderful if some councillors in Tasmania could fess-up to being naive.

The icing on the cake here is this vacuous agenda. Take note and think about what is not being discussed in open council.

COUNCIL AGENDA COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY 7 MAY 2018 1.00pm City of Launceston COUNCIL AGENDA Monday 7 May 2018 Notice is hereby given that the Ordinary Meeting of the City of Launceston Council will be held at the Council Chambers, Town Hall, St John Street, Launceston: Date: 7 May 2018 Time: 1.00pm Section 65 Certificate of Qualified Advice Background Section 65 of the Local Government Act 1993 requires the General Manager to certify that any advice, information or recommendation given to Council is provided by a person with appropriate qualifications or experience. Declaration I certify that persons with appropriate qualifications and experience have provided the advice, information and recommendations given to Council in the Agenda Items for this Meeting. Michael Stretton General Manager City of Launceston COUNCIL AGENDA Monday 7 May 2018 27 April 2018 Mr Michael Stretton General Manager City of Launceston PO Box 396 LAUNCESTON TAS 7250 Dear Michael COUNCIL MEETING In accordance with regulation 4 of the Local Government (Meeting Regulations) 2015 which states: 4. Convening meeting of council (1) The mayor of a council may convene council meeting. I request that you make the necessary arrangements for the next Ordinary Meeting of Council to be convened on Monday, 7 May 2018 commencing at 1.00pm in the City of Launceston Council Chambers, Town Hall, St John Street, Launceston. Yours sincerely Alderman A M van Zetten MAYOR City of Launceston COUNCIL AGENDA Monday 7 May 2018 ORDER OF BUSINESS Item No Item Page No 1 OPENING OF MEETING - ATTENDANCE AND APOLOGIES 1 2 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST 1 3 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES 1 4 DEPUTATIONS 1 No Deputations have been identified as part of this Agenda 1 5 PETITIONS 1 No Petitions have been identified as part of this Agenda 1 6 COMMUNITY REPORTS 2 No Community Reports have been registered with Council as part of this Agenda 2 7 PUBLIC QUESTION TIME 2 7.1 Public Questions on Notice 2 7.1.1 Public Questions on Notice - Mr Basil Fitch - Council Meeting - 7 May 2018 3 7.2 Public Questions without Notice 4 8 PLANNING AUTHORITY 5 No Development Applications have been identified as part of this Agenda 5 9 ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE MAYOR 6 9.1 Mayor's Announcements 6 City of Launceston COUNCIL AGENDA Monday 7 May 2018 Item No Item Page No 10 ALDERMEN'S REPORTS 7 11 QUESTIONS BY ALDERMEN 7 11.1 Questions on Notice 7 No Aldermen's Questions on Notice have been identified as part of this Agenda 7 11.2 Questions without Notice 7 12 COMMITTEE REPORTS 8 12.1 Pedestrian and Bike Committee Meeting - 27 March 2018 8 12.2 Tender Review Committee Meeting - 23 April 2018 10 13 COUNCIL WORKSHOPS 12 14 NOTICES OF MOTION 12 No Notices of Motion have been identified as part of this Agenda 12 15 DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DIRECTORATE ITEMS 13 15.1 CBD Promotional Service Agreement 2018-2022 13 16 FACILITIES MANAGEMENT DIRECTORATE ITEMS 17 No Items have been identified as part of this Agenda 17 17 QUEEN VICTORIA MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY DIRECTORATE ITEMS 17 No Items have been identified as part of this Agenda 17 18 INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES DIRECTORATE ITEMS 18 18.1 Lease - Lilydale Football Club 18 18.2 Lease - Ravenswood Over 50's Club Association Inc 22 City of Launceston COUNCIL AGENDA Monday 7 May 2018 Item No Item Page No 19 MAJOR PROJECTS DIRECTORATE ITEMS 26 No Items have been identified as part of this Agenda 26 20 CORPORATE SERVICES DIRECTORATE ITEMS 27 20.1 Budget Amendments (for Council) 27 21 GENERAL MANAGER'S DIRECTORATE ITEMS 32 No Items have been identified as part of this Agenda 32 22 URGENT BUSINESS 32 23 CLOSED COUNCIL No Items have been identified as part of this Agenda 32 32 24 MEETING CLOSURE

IS THERE REAL CHANGE IN THE AIR?

Ms Hickey's address on Tuesday tonight indicates she may not be relied on to always serve government interests.

The road ahead for the Hodgman Government has taken a sudden turn into the unknown, after new Speaker Sue Hickey declared she would vote independently on government bills. ...................... The former Hobart lord mayor became Tasmania's new Speaker today after a shock move which stunned her Liberal colleagues. ...................... This evening she addressed the House of Assembly, saying she would not be sitting in Liberal Party meetings and would vote on each bill on its merits. ...................... Ms Hickey was elected with Labor and Green support ahead of former minister Rene Hidding in a move that blindsided a government whose power rests on a one-seat majority. \

Key points: 

• Rene Hidding was to be voted Speaker with the support of all 13 Liberal MPs 
• Liberal colleague Sue Hickey was nominated by Labor leader Rebecca White 
• Hickey, with the support of Labor and Greens, won 13 votes to Hidding's 12

The speakership is a prestigious parliamentary position that the Liberal Party had set aside for Mr Hidding. ...................... He gave up his ministerial portfolios in readiness to take on the role, after Premier Will Hodgman announced him as the Government's nominee for the position in March. ...................... Ms Hickey is a recent addition to the Liberal team, winning the seat of Denison at the March 3 state election. ...................... In a departure from the expected script, Labor Opposition Leader Rebecca White nominated Ms Hickey for Speaker, a move backed by the Parliament's two Greens MPs. ...................... The election was conducted via a secret ballot, but with Labor and the Greens making up 12 votes in the chamber, one Liberal vote would have been needed to elect Ms Hickey. ...................... When the result was announced, Ms Hickey had 13 votes to Mr Hidding's 12. ...................... Sitting in the chamber, Mr Hidding looked less than impressed with his Liberal colleague. ...................... In March, Mr Hidding was talking up his credentials for becoming Speaker, and said his 22 years in Parliament would put him in good stead for the role. ...................... Outside Parliament, he accepted the outcome by saying "that's democracy". ...................... "In democracy, there are uncertain outcomes and I'm OK with that, and I wish Speaker Hickey all the best." ...................... Mr Hidding said he said he was not surprised by the move. ...................... "In politics, if it's possible it can be probable," he said. ...................... Speakership move not planned, says Hickey ...................... Rebecca White ...................... Thrilled an all women delegation was able to present our new Speaker to the Governor. With an independent Speaker, Tasmania will have a parliament that reflects the will of the people and acts in the best interest of the public May 1, 2018 ...................... Outside Parliament Sue Hickey said she had not betrayed her Liberal colleagues. ...................... "I've had a vote of confidence from the Parliament," she said. ...................... At lunchtime, Ms Hickey said she was still a member of the Liberal party but was not sure if she would be by the end of the day. ...................... "Not certain, there's a few people a bit grumpy," she said. ...................... Ms Hickey said the speakership was not her idea. ...................... "I don't think you would call it planned at all," she said. ...................... "I'm in shock, I'm very thrilled but I'm still digesting it all." ...................... Ms Hickey also denied she had accepted the nomination because she was grumpy about not being given a portfolio in Will Hodgman's Government. ...................... "No, this is politics," she said. 'Hickey will support Government': Hodgman As Labor leader Rebecca White exited Parliament, she said she had nominated Sue Hickey because she wanted "a parliament that reflects the will of the people". ...................... Ms White tweeted her pleasure as Ms Hickey's election: "Thrilled an all-women delegation was able to present our new speaker to the Governor. With an independent speaker, Tasmania will have a parliament that reflects the will of the people and acts in the best interest of the public." ...................... Premier Will Hodgman issued a statement to congratulate Ms Hickey and to say she would not disrupt the Government's agenda. ...................... "The Speaker of the House continues to be a member of the Liberal Party, as such, Madam Speaker has provided a guarantee of supply and confidence to my Majority Hodgman Liberal Government," he said.

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All on the never never.

In reference to the culture among the Board of the Commonwealth Bank and their failure to do anything about the entrenched misconduct among the bank's employees and executives, a report by someone on the banking royal commission talked used the term "dulling of the senses" and "wilful ignorance". (ABC radio 2 May'18)

Same applies to Launceston City Council - they are so entrenched in the culture of borrowing to fund wasteful projects, or projects of dubious value while so many other things need fixing. The aldermen have had their senses dulled by all the hype around these unnecessary and expensive alterations.

Many of the aldermen seem to think they don't have to do any due diligence. Well, actually they do - it's in their code of conduct. 

So the aldermen need to check that out and start moving their eyelids and wake up to what they are doing. Paving stones from WA! 

Huge amounts of land to an already existing university based on outlandish statements! and now a crazy traffic 'plan' intended to deal with a chaos of their own making! 

LCC aldermen and management all suffering a severe dulling of the senses!

IN LAUNCESTON – The Public Space Without Bothersome Public Consultation

All this on money borrowed, $millions upon $millions, on the ratepayers behalf, on the ratepayers' credit card, on the strength of no due diligence, in order that ratepayers can keep on paying for something they have absolutely no say in. 

ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS!!

The decisions are taken by management somewhere well away from the light and the aldermen just look the other way it seems.  Maybe they are just left out. However, ratepayers in Launceston get to pay a $500pa rate premium to be burdened with and unwisely. 

And they get slugged with unjustified rate rises!!

Management makes decisions like ordering and shipping paving stones from Western Australia at great expense and the Mayor and his merry band of aldermen look on without lifting a finger, all the time collecting their ratepayer funded aldermens allowances.

WHEN IS ENOUGH ACTUALLY ENOUGH?? 

Who is doing the numbers at Launceston Town Hall?

Just who is doing the numbers at Launceston Town Hall?

With two chartered accountants on Council Ald Finlay probably feels that she needn’t do the numbers. If she were more inclined to do a bit of adding up and taking away every now and then well she could claim to be some kind of critic. Apparently, she is not inclined. 

Spruiking ‘The Hawks’ as she does, and is doing now with a Hawks’ win in Launceston, she obviously feels that she can make a lot of noise without delivering on the substance. 

Saul Eslake tells us for every dollar spent on 'The Hawks' there is a $7.50 return to Launceston. If this is true then it will be the Airbnb proprietors, the hoteliers, the restaurateurs, a few retailers and the car hire firms who’ll be raking that in. It will not be distributed all that well throughout the community – at least not within the municipality. 

However, when we take into account the fact that Launceston's rates are set to rise by 2.8% to cover this council’s excesses, this alone makes nonsense of the Ald. Finlay spruiked ‘Hawkes Benefits’ and her prioritising. 

Then again, Ald. Finlay doesn’t do numbers as it seems that yet again she leaves that to the chartered accountants while she plays with the 'nice bits'. 

Someone must be benefiting from the capital expenditure going on at UTAS Stadium. The numbers there are starting to be quite impressive. With $1.62Million capital expenditure being spent at UTAS Stadium in total, that is $660K spent on lighting at UTAS Stadium, and $430 spent on a state of the art score board, and $280K being spent on a drop-in cricket pitch, and $250K spent on a turf farm to grow grass for UTAS Stadium, none of this is chicken feed. 

For the 'number crunchers' who pay rates, that looks like a $55 per ratepayer subsidy on capital expenditure at UTAS's York Park egged on by managerially inspired aldermanic enthusiasms. 

So, we well might ask Ald. Finlay in whose laps is all this largess might be falling? We could even ask if she is asking and when she will be letting us in on her questioning? Given that she is a Hawks spruiker and that she ranks this football team above the Launceston General Hospital and The Gorge, surely she will be able to share the news with her constituency. 

The UTAS Stadium cum York Park council operation is a cost centre that's being budgeted to generate a $2.8 million loss. That's getting close to being $100 per rateable property – every last one! The city's ratepayers cop it again. 

It is being claimed that every attendee at UTAS Stadium is being subsidised but ask the council and they wont tell you by how much. Ratepayers are stumping up this money but the numbers are a mystery for some reason. If it isn’t the case, then Ald Finlay will surely have the numbers to put all to right for us. If she doesn’t have them, well she will be able to prevail upon the chartered accountants on council to give them to her – perhaps. 

As likely as not the numbers will come to her in a closed council meeting, or even at one of those cutting and drying 'workshops' – the ones held between formal council meetings to work things out. 

Launceston’s ratepayers have not got much to worry about as council divides up the spoils and spreads ratepayers’ money about in the hope that something will get better soon. However, it would be good to get some reassurances. 

Yes, yes, it is very good for the Hawks and other clubs to be playing some of their games in Launceston. It is also very good for them to be bringing their supporters to the city to spend some money. The players and their supporters are all very welcome as Launceston transitions into a 'tourism centre'. 

However, let's have a bit of truth telling, some equitable distribution of costs and benefits and then some reality checking thrown in for good measure. Launceston's ratepayers cannot be carrying the can for the whole region all the time as Launceston is not the centre of the universe even if this bunch of aldermen deems it to be so.

CULTURE AND PUBLIC MONEY

Musing around with a basketry workshop going on across town the conversation turned to Launceston’s proposed Cultural Unit. Some assumptions and some scribbling on the back of an envelope suggests that ‘the initiative’ is likely to cost somewhere between $100K & $200K recurrently – possibly more in time. 

Despite Launceston Council’s cargo cult mentality, money just doesn’t drop in like a food drop in a crisis zone – say in New Guinea during WW2. The cost here is to Launceston’s ratepayers as we’ve come to learn that when money does drop in … it’s a loan that’s to be paid back. 

First up, there are some assumptions here relative to the Cultural Unit and under the ‘confidentiality rules’ enshrined in SECTION 62 of the Local Govt. Act Tas 1993 that’s all they can be – assumptions. Nonetheless if you’ve been around the block a few times those numbers – $100K to $200K – feel OK if we are talking about: 

• A position for an intelligent person, their salary and on-costs; 

• Some part-time or intermittent support; • Infrastructure and equipment; 

• Travel, transport and related costs etc. 

Thus far all the indicators seem to be suggesting this. Always remembering that many of these costs are hidden and often go unacknowledged. It is a political imperative. 

Recalling the 1970s when there was a flush of Arts Funding and many opportunities were wasted on such initiatives – that’s an opinion. So far as it was politically tolerated direct funding to ‘producers’ delivered impressive ‘key performance indicators’ in quick smart time. 

BTW: Direct Funding = Targeted Grant For Target Outcome. 

Moving right along, TGTO[Grants] of $20K (Cultural Unit cost $200K) in a year would deliver: 

• 10 quite generous cultural projects in the community across say 5 disciplines – performance outcomes, art in public places, touring exhibitions etc; 

• Almost unprecedented opportunities to grow ’the cultural sector’ in Launceston or on the Tamar if adjoining Councils could be encouraged to participate in such a program; 

• 10 more generous cultural projects in the community IF the grants attracted complementary funding, sponsorships or say PhD, Masters, whatever, scholarships; and 

• If some were $10K and one say $30K, perhaps a lot more cultural activity still. This kind of expenditure would have a direct economic impact in the community IF it was a requirement that the project took place in the community and carried out by someone currently living in the community. 

Perhaps, it would be an audacious initiative but Tasmania, with the opening of MONA, has witnessed the fruits of serial audacity being planted.    

Such grants are relatively easy to administer, and accountably, on the scale suggested here and they could, ideally should, be devolved to a trustworthy incorporated arts organisations, university, etc with expert peer assessment panels advising them. The important task being to remove the politics from the decision making. There might well be an arms-length trust set up to attract complementary donations and sponsorships. 

Anyway, there’s that thinking and it’s “out of the bag” as they say. 

Then again, the announcement in Sydney to do with the Powerhouse is as one would expect, political and pragmatic! The lack of a ‘business case’ resonates fairly loudly here in Launceston with UTAS in mind. 

Nonetheless, the players on the ground in Sydney seem to be saying that there is more to be played out in all this yet with ex-Premier Baird yet to front up to ‘the inquiry’. 

Many of the ‘players’ and protagonists that remain are there as advocates for the status quo despite the evidence telling many of us that the “quo has lost its status” in a 21st Century context. 

Interestingly, all the ‘branding’ seems to be projecting that the quo in regard to the Powerhouses’ governance looks like being ‘politically preserved’ (bureaucratically fossilised) rather than renewed. 

There are good arguments for renewal in musingplaces and not just at the Powerhouse. The purpose of musingplaces is simultaneously becoming more focused while being opened up to new possibilities and opportunities. It is especially so in the digital environment.

Along with the lack of a business case the press releases (apparently) seem to be saying precious little about the operation’s/institution’s purpose. A purposeful business case looks like as if it might be unlikely. 

However, there is a full set of unmeasurable aspirations (aspirational political smoodging) in the full colour, jazzed-up strategic plan that looks every bit like it remains dedicated to the status quo albeit with a new set of clothes [LINK]  

In both Launceston and Sydney it looks like it’s a bridge too far to have anything that’s measurable in any kind of credible accountability process. Nonetheless, it is somewhat reassuring that the ‘acknowledgement of country’ is there up front and centre in the Powerhouse’s strategic plan. 

\With the numbers being bandied about in NSW, $645 million, it is quite likely that the costs will blow out just as soon as the first sod has been turned. Curiously, accountability is not high on anyone’s agenda albeit that a sense of ‘purposefulness’ almost certainly could deliver and politically even. 

It does help to know what you’re there to do and why – a quaint idea it seems.

Ray Norman April 2018

Ignorance At Town Hall!

Click here to watch the video

MEDIA RELEASE: Launceston's Traffic Management Plan Now Available

The City of Launceston finally released the confidential Traffic Management Plan commissioned from STREETS CONSULT. 

An Alderman, who didn't want to be named, said "this plan is a thing of beauty and ratepayers would be astounded if they were to ever discover its cost." 

STREET CONSULT and the City of Launceston team engaged with the community at every level of the plan's development. 

Feedback is welcomed 

Please address all emails to the Mayor: mayor@launceston.tas.gov.au

CALL FOR CANDIDATES

CANDIDATES READY TO STAND FOR 

LAUNCESTON COUNCIL

• Must be ready to start campaigning NOW!

• Candidates should represent the diversity of the Launceston community!

• Ideally you will have a general working knowledge of council affairs – but nut essential

• Launceston Council meets every two weeks on a Monday 

                                      BUT newly elected aldermen can change that

• Council Workshops held every alternate Monday 

                                    BUT newly elected aldermen can change that

• Currently Council Workshops are closed to residents and ratepayers 

                                   BUT newly elected aldermen can change that

• Candidate need to attend Council meeting regularly to get understand how Council is        working

• Candidates need to be prepared to keep Council business free of party politics!

• Candidates need to be prepared to put residents’ and ratepayers’ interests 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd

• Candidates need to be prepared to develop and present their personal profiles from the day they decide to stand – right now ideally

• If you are a member of any community organisations, charity groups, whatever – be prepared to promote that!

• If you are a member of any professional groups or organisations – be prepared to promote that!

• Candidates must be prepared to work towards Launceston being a better and safer place to live!

• You must be your own person!

• Mentor team available to assist you in your candidacy!

Please contact Basil Fitch as soon as you make your decision

(PH) 6344 2688      eMAIL: fitchbasil2@gmail.com