Under the Local Government Act, council has to review its operational plan each quarter.
The review shows that year to date (YTD) operating result (EXcluding capital grants and contributions) is showing an actual surplus of $169.5M compared to a budget surplus of $150.6M.
The year to date (YTD) operating result (INcluding capital grants and contributions) is showing an actual surplus of $194.0M compared to a budget surplus of $183.9M.
“The financial crisis is behind us, and total gross debt is now lower than what was outstanding at the merger of former Gosford and Wyong Council’s in 2016. Council remains committed and focused on financial sustainability with guidelines in place to keep on track,” the review states.
Below are a mere handful of highlights from the second quarter, October to December 2022.
# 100% of scheduled public litter bin collection services completed on the scheduled day.
# 99.95% of domestic waste bin collection services completed on the scheduled day.
# Implementation of Site Management Plans has commenced at 35 reserves to rehabilitate degraded bushland and coastal ecosystems.
# Flood information tool for Tuggerah Lakes and Lagoons available online by 30 June 2023: Council says Project planning is underway. It is iInvestigating appropriate disclaimers to clarify distinction between flood information and emergency alerts.
# 96% of parks and reserves scheduled services completed YTD.
Council says that is an increase in completion rate driven by favourable weather conditions and additional staff resources.
“High frequency of services undertaken at 55 sites due to the increase in capacity,” the report states.
# 94% of sporting facilities services completed YTD.
Didn’t meet their targets
# Customer Service
The target was for 70% of Customer requests to be responded to within 5 working days.
Quarterly response rate within 5 days was 51% in October, 50% in November and improved to 59.4% in December 2022.
# Development Applications
Council has a target of getting 30 per cent of residential housing Development Applications (DAs) processed within 40 days.
Last quarter, 16% of residential development applications were determined within 40 calendar days.
And for all development applications, not just houses, the target was to process them in less than 80 days.
The time had blown out to 122 days in Q2.
Delayed until next financial year
# Swift Parrot and Squirrel Glider Species Management Plans (SMPs) in progress, with field surveys complete and modelling for each underway.
Due to resources needing to focus on other priorities, the SMPs will be completed in FY23.
# Currently undertaking Stage 2 studies for all Coastal Management Plans and working towards accelerating the Stage 3 and 4 program for the Open Coast Coastal Management Plan.
Council is still awaiting advice on whether it has been successful with its grant application for Stage 3 and 4 which has the potential to accelerate the program.
The completion of Stage 2 and 3 of the Hawkesbury Nepean, Coastal Lagoons and Tuggerah Lakes Coastal Management Plans are likely to take longer and, in some cases, will extend beyond June 2023.
# A Central Coast Heritage Review which was due to be completed by the end of this financial year has been deferred to next financial year.
# Peninsula and West Brisbane Water District Place Plan is unable to be delivered with available resources in FY23. “To be rescoped for FY24”, the Q2 report states.
# Same as above for a new Local Strategic Planning Statement.
