Community Engagement

Hi Lucas,

I assume you are referring to the plans for the recently acquired Suffolk Park sports field area? 

The Plan of Management for the Suffolk Park Sports fields park is in progress and likely to be finalised within the next six months. 

The draft concept does include a nature play area, however the plans are yet to be finalised and there have been no specific budget allocations put forward at this stage. Development may be dependant on Council winning external grant funding to assist.

The draft POM will go on public exhibition when completed so you'll have plenty of opportunity to have your say then. Stay tuned.

At 30 June 2018, Byron Shire Council had outstanding loans to banks amounting to $59.239million.  Council is expecting to repay $2.750million in 2018/2019. 

Council subject to confirmation at the 28 February 2019 Ordinary Council Meeting will borrow $7.669million in 2018/2019, leaving total loans outstanding at 30 June 2019 at approx. $64.158million. 

A significant portion of debt was borrowed to fund capital works in the Sewerage Fund.

The works are scheduled to commence in the second half of this year (July/August).

It is exciting! 

Hi Rowena,

Council is about to release details of a new strategy to deal with A Frames. More details will be on our website soon.

Thanks,

Amy

Hi Benita Martin - Council will be discussing this issue at their first Ordinary Meeting - Feb 28. Stay tuned.

Hi Benita Martin - Council will be discussing this issue at their first Ordinary Meeting - Feb 28. Stay tuned.

There are three Crown owned public toilets in Brunswick Heads.

-  Torakina Park

-  Banner Park

-  The Terrace Park

NSW Crown Holiday Parks (Reflections Holiday Parks) are responsible for the capital management of these parks.

Council provides a cleaning service for all three toilets, as part of a long standing agreement with Crown Holiday parks.

To enquire about improvements to these three toilets, visit the link below:

https://reflectionsholidayparks.com.au/about-us/board/

In accordance with our current customer service charter, staff will provide full and final responses to general correspondence (letters and emails) within 10 days.

Where that is not possible due to the need to obtain information from external parties, staff will provide an initial acknowledgement letter within 5 days, setting out the contact details for the officer who will respond and providing an estimated timeframe for the detailed response.

For other types of written communications such as submission, applications, expressions of interest or tenders etc, full and final responses will be provided in accordance with the particular project timelines.

Emails will be acknowledged immediately, with initial advice including advising of officer and time frames in less than 7 days. 

This issue has been identified in the Byron Shire Council PAMP and Bike Plan, however it is not currently funded.  Once the PAMP and Bike Plan are complete and endorsed by Council (around August), we will be able to apply for grant funding.

However, there are other projects in South Golden Beachthat are of higher priority at this stage which include connecting Redgate Rd to Kolora Way. We'll continue to investigate funding opportunities to enable us to complete more of these projects.

Council is currently preparing a Dogs in Public Spaces strategy. There will be more information coming out on this soon. We will be reviewing our current off-leash exercise areas and consulting with the community on this too. 

For more information til then- check out the campaign we launched last year:

https://www.byron.nsw.gov.au/Projects-and-initiatives/Dog-friendly-Byron-Shire

Hi Lesley Kafoops - excellent question. One of the first I asked when starting work here at council. We actually use a sophisticated asset management database - which stores data on the condition of all our roads and other assets around the Shire. We use this modelling to prioritise and make good practice decisions on managing these assets. Watch this video we prepared and let me know if that answers in enough detail for you. https://www.byron.nsw.gov.au/.../Mana.../Repairing-our-roads (first video on this page)

Information regarding our Capital Works program can be found here. While the Capital Works plan is developed with a 10 year forecast in mind - annual budgets are decided on by Council in June prior to that financial year. Therefore the factors that can impact road repairs outside of what is strategically put forward by staff include Council resolutions, and community requests.

Let me know how useful you find this information - it is absolutely something we are wanting to clearly communicate with the community! :)

There are currently no plans to remove the annual parking fee for ratepayers.

Rates do not raise enough money to pay for the services and infrastructure that community asks for.

Only about 1/3^rd of Council’s income comes from rates, the rest comes from grants (38%), user fees and charges (29%) and interest and other minor income (5%).

Charging users who get the benefit from particular services user fees is the most equitable way to fund providing the service. The ‘user pays’ approach is applied across many different types of services and infrastructure, eg:

-  childcare services  -  swimming pools

-  sports facilities  -  community halls

In relation to paid parking resident permits, not every resident drives a car or has a need to park in the paid parking area. A fair approach is to charge people that use the resident permit scheme for that service just like the other user-pays examples in the Shire.

At 2019, the annual fee is $55 for rate payers. 

• FREE if you are a Byron Shire Resident and hold a valid Centrelink issued pensioner (Blue) card. 
• FREE if you have a Mobility Parking Permit.

Following numerous complaints from local residents over an extended period about parking activities impacting access for emergency and essential services and access to residential properties, Council installed “No Stopping” and “Parallel Parking” signs at The Esplanade on 13 Dec 2018. This was done in accordance with reports and recommendations from Police and the RMS via the Local Traffic Committee. The aim is to  reinforce parking rules and to manage parking, traffic and access to private property issues generally as a consequence of the ongoing random nature of parking by visitors to the area.

Despite the concerted effort and cost that goes into implementing signs, enforcement and maintenance of parking management signage, it was clear to Council, Police and RMS that the problems in this area would have continued without intervention.

Council is basically reinforcing the road rules requiring drivers  to park parallel to the kerb and in the direction of flow unless sign posted otherwise. There is insufficient width in the roadway to comply with standard dimensions for 90 degree parking plus traffic lanes as required for a 2 way street.

The new parking signs reinforce the requirements for parallel parking in that street particularly as angled parking obstructs 2 way traffic movement and will control other inappropriate parking and stopping with the Esplanade.

On 22 November 2018  Council also resolved to consider the provision of a budget of $20,000 as part of the 2019/20 budget process to advance further investigation and concept design preparation of parking options and associated indicative costs in the New Brighton beach area generally. 

You can report potholes at the following link:https://www.byron.nsw.gov.au/Report-It-Form 

The schedule for pothole repairs is here: https://www.byron.nsw.gov.au/.../Pothole-patching-Urban (for town) or here (for rural) https://www.byron.nsw.gov.au/.../Pothole-patching-Rural

For any insurance claims involving Council, please email full details to council@byron.nsw.gov.au and ATT to Insurance Officer.

I will pass on your feedback regarding a more streamlined process.

Byron Shire Council allows residents to hold a garage sale at their property, within their fence line, twice annually.

To hold a garage sale on Council property, for example the footpath you must apply for development consent. Stall holders must have public liability insurance.

Footpath markets create other hazards for our community members, including compromising pedestrian access and safety, impacting on road traffic, creating parking issues and more.

Our recommendations were endorsed by the JRRP this week. The matter will now go to the Land & Environment Court.

Thanks Gerry Bertoli for this feedback. I would encourage you to report issues like this via our online reporting system. Link below. https://eservices.byron.nsw.gov.au/eservice/crm/selectCategory.do?key_num=2419&nodeNum=80242

Council is currently working on a Byron Shire Pedestrian Access & Mobility Plan - that will help inform our infrastructure planning for the next ten years when it comes to these issues. The crossing you mention is listed as a priority in this plan and was raised at our stakeholder engagement sessions late last year. The formal plan known as the 'PAMP' will be released this year. This document will be used by Council to lobby for State & Federal funding to complete projects like this over the next decade. 

Why are we paying rates and still have to pay parking permits?

Rates do not raise enough money to pay for the services and infrastructure that community asks for.

Only about 1/3^rd of Council’s income comes from rates, the rest comes from grants (38%), user fees and charges (29%) and interest and other minor income (5%).

Charging users who get the benefit from particular services user fees is the most equitable way to fund providing the service. The ‘user pays’ approach is applied across many different types of services and infrastructure, eg:

-  childcare services  -  swimming pools

-  sports facilities  -  community halls

In relation to paid parking resident permits, not every resident drives a car or has a need to park in the paid parking area. A fair approach is to charge people that use the resident permit scheme for that service just like the other user-pays examples in the Shire.

Why are the curbs in the Mullum and Byron industrial estate so dangerously full of parked cars … where are the footpaths & why isn’t there stricter parking requirements on new builds?

Things change over time. In an industrial estate 40 years ago you’d mostly see forklifts, skip bins, cars and trucks – not a lot of people walking or driving around and little need for footpaths or parking.

Now estates are focused more on art and creative industries, people are living alongside their creative spaces, many create sell bespoke and boutique products from the ‘workshop door’ and a lot of the over 2 million visitors each year want to experience that vibrant arts and creative industry culture. These social and economic changes have driven increased need for pedestrian, bicycle and parking management in the Mullumbimby and Byron Arts and Industry Estates.

Council can’t change historical decisions or but Council is looking at what actions might be available to help support the continued social and economic evolution of these estates.

Council is about to partner with community to develop a Precinct Plan for the Byron Arts and Industry Estate and addressing issues like pedestrian and vehicular movement are high on the priority list.

New builds in the Mullumbimby and Byron Arts and Industry Estates do have to comply with modern standards, including for parking and traffic movement. 

I see lots of support for visiting tourists in Byron Bay - how are you supporting ratepayers eg you have not touched my ‘stormwater drain’ in over 10 years?

Most regional councils spend significant amounts of ratepayer funds on trying to attract more tourists to their towns to create jobs and economic prosperity for locals. Byron Shire doesn’t have to do that.   In 2016/2017 tourism and hospitality generated:

-  23% of Byron’s jobs - 3,506 full time equivalent jobs;

-  14.1% of output/sales ($463M) ie community economic benefit.

While visitors bring much needed investment and vitality to the community’s economy, Council also hears from our community and acknowledges concerns about some negative impacts from tourism eg potholes in our roads, congestion and the general wear and tear on our parks, beaches and public amenities.

So, in 2019 Council will be engaging with the entire community on a Byron Shire Sustainable Visitation Strategy (SVS) . More details to come on this one! 

Where is the decent public transport to counteract the heavy build up of traffic, up pacific highway, of local workers trying to enter Byron bay for work …?

Providing public transport is the responsibility of the NSW State Government. 

For a good, locally produced, guide on what public transport is available in the Shire and region see the Going Places website.

Why is there not enough roads, parking, sewerage, maintenance, public transport... to sustain such a high density influx of tourist numbers?

Council does not have the money to maintain some infrastructure to the level expected by the community eg local roads, stormwater assets and buildings. Providing public transport is the responsibility of the NSW State Government.

The NSW State Government has not supported Byron Shire’s request to introduce a ‘bed tax’ or a tourism business levy (like in the Gold Coast or Noosa).

Instead, in 2016/2017 Council introduced Pay Parking. It is an effective tool to seek increased contributions from visitors with the majority of pay parking revenue of more than $3million in 2017/2018 being paid by tourists and visitors.

In 2018 Council held “Big Ideas” workshops so community members could share their thoughts on how Council should raise money for infrastructure. Information about the ideas is available on Council’s website and if you have other ideas please do share them with us.

From 2019 Council has also introduced its own Byron Shire Visitor Fund to allow accommodation providers and festivals to voluntarily pay set amounts from visitors to help raise funds for community projects.

It is important to note that providing public transport is the responsibility of the NSW State Government. 

For a good, locally produced, guide on what public transport is available in the Shire and region see the Going Places website.

Council's vision for transport as outlined in our Transport Policy is to:

To develop and support an effective, convenient, efficient, equitable and integrated shirewide transport network and management approach that improves mobility, accessibility and choice for all users, especially the transport disadvantaged, while reducing use of non-renewable energy and improving sustainability, amenity and opportunities for individual, community and environmental health, wellbeing and interaction. This will be achieved by delivering an integrated and partnership approach of developing, managing, constructing and/or maintaining all facets of the multi-modal transport mix to meet the above objectives; the attainment, responsibility and measurement of which will be subject to the transport strategy and its subsequent actions.

Council also acknowledge:

That core community concerns requiring consideration of specific actions in the development of a low carbon polluting transport network as part of a financially, ecologically and socially sustainable transport strategy include: 

a) a reduction in road traffic levels and congestion through the expansion of an alternative transport network throughout the shire 

b) improved safety and residential amenity resulting from reduced road traffic 

c) improved public transport services that connect with regional public transport networks 

d) expansion of alternative and public transport network to hinterland areas to ensure that rural and village amenity are enhanced.

To summarise, public transport improvements are absolutely considerations of Council. Implementing these actions requires prioritising and funding. Our Transport & Infrastructure Advisory Committee are involved in helping this policy/strategy come to life. One of their key responsibilities is to:

1. advise on opportunities or concerns regarding transport services and infrastructure to Council as required, including but not limited to, funding opportunities, government policy, practice or guidelines, safety, accessibility, mobility and other such relevant transport issues. 

Concept designs have been developed and costed. They are currently (over the next 2 months) being incorporated into a broader "Sandhills Precinct" plan which includes connective pathways, additional parking and amenities. This precinct plan will then be used to pitch for State and Federal funding for the project.

Pothole filling works are a temporary solution, they are carried out to ensure the road is safe for users. Pothole filling does not repair the defects or the reasons why the potholes formed in the first place.

The repair of the defects that would stop a pothole re-occurring in the same location involve:

-digging out the poor quality road pavement through heavy patching if the potholes are limited in area

- or renewal of a complete section of roadway if the potholes are more numerous and the road pavement is in poor condition.

Potholes are filled by two main methods that use either a dedicated machine, such as our jet master, or use asphalt concrete material in a Flowcon truck (with manual handling, using limited compaction equipment).

Typically the jet master is used predominantly in our rural area and on other bitumen sealed roads. The asphalt concrete method is used in town centres and other urban roads that have an asphalt concrete surface.

Council does not have the budget to provide two dedicated crews of Council staff and equipment consisting of the jet master and the Flowcon. We use our jet master 10 days per fortnight as a minimum and engage contractors using a Flowcon approximately 3 to 4 days a fortnight. This is the amount of work that can be undertaken using the budgets provided for pothole filling works.

In the past, Council has owned a Flowcon truck, we made a strategic decision to replace it with a jet master machine.

The cost of servicing the visitor economy is estimated at $23 million per year. Council has been tackling the imbalance of 2 million plus visitors versus around 15,000 ratepayers for some time. Our community has concerns about lack of public transport, potholes in our roads, the general wear and tear on our parks, beaches and public amenities.

Community Infrastructure includes much of the Shire’s critical infrastructure and essential services which are provided and maintained by Council. They include water, sewerage, waste, roads, pathways drainage, open space and buildings and are used every day by homes and business alike. In some areas, Council does not have the resources to maintain assets at the level expected by the community. This includes roads, stormwater assets and buildings.

NSW Councils have rate pegging, unlike Noosa who can raise rates to cover increased costs. 

The NSW State Government has not supported Byron Shire’s request to introduce a ‘bed tax’ or a business levy (like in the Gold Coast or Noosa). Council has developed its own Byron Shire Visitor Fund.  The Fund plans to collect set amounts from accommodation providers, as well as major festivals. The fund is up and running from January 2019 and the contributions have started to roll in. The Fund is a voluntary scheme for organisations and it’s based on a simple idea: that if every visitor left an additional dollar or two, millions could be raised for community projects.

We're also about to embark on developing a Sustainable Visitation Strategy. Be sure to check our Facebook and this engagement page for more details soon.

The cost of servicing the visitor economy is estimated at $23 million per year. Council has been tackling the imbalance of 2 million plus visitors versus around 15,000 ratepayers for some time. Our community has concerns about lack of public transport, potholes in our roads, the general wear and tear on our parks, beaches and public amenities.

The NSW State Government has not supported Byron Shire’s request to introduce a ‘bed tax’ or a business levy (like in the Gold Coast or Noosa). Council has developed its own Byron Shire Visitor Fund.  The Fund plans to collect set amounts from accommodation providers, as well as major festivals. The fund is up and running from January 2019 and the contributions have started to roll in. The Fund is a voluntary scheme for organisations and it’s based on a simple idea: that if every visitor left an additional dollar or two, millions could be raised for community projects.

Thanks so much for your ideas.

The cost of servicing the visitor economy is estimated at $23 million per year. Council has been tackling the imbalance of 2 million plus visitors versus around 15,000 ratepayers for some time. Our community has concerns about lack of public transport, potholes in our roads, the general wear and tear on our parks, beaches and public amenities.

NSW Councils have rate pegging, unlike Noosa (Queensland) who can raise rates to cover increased costs. 

The NSW State Government has not supported Byron Shire’s request to introduce a ‘bed tax’ or a business levy (like in the Gold Coast or Noosa). Council has developed its own Byron Shire Visitor Fund.  The Fund plans to collect set amounts from accommodation providers, as well as major festivals. The fund is up and running from January 2019 and the contributions have started to roll in. The Fund is a voluntary scheme for organisations and it’s based on a simple idea: that if every visitor left an additional dollar or two, millions could be raised for community projects.

Hi Jane,

Thanks for your question. In September 2018, Cr Paul Spooner put the following Notice of Motion before Council.

Notice of Motion No. 9.1  Anti-Vaccination Groups

File No: I2018/1699

I move: 1.  Does not accept bookings at any council facility from anti-vaccination groups or individuals, and in particular the Australian Vaccination Risks Network, formerly known as the Australian Vaccination Skeptics Network for the purposes of promoting an anti- vaccination message. 2.  Applies this restriction while ever the Public Warning issued by the Health Care Complaints Commission is in place.

Signed:  Cr Paul Spooner

The outcome was as follows: 

Notice of Motion No. 9.1  Anti-Vaccination Groups File No: I2018/1699

Moved: That Council: 1.  Does not accept bookings at any council facility from anti-vaccination groups or individuals, and in particular the Australian Vaccination Risks Network, formerly known as the Australian Vaccination Skeptics Network for the purposes of promoting an anti- vaccination message. 2.  Applies this restriction while ever the Public Warning issued by the Health Care Complaints Commission is in place. (Spooner/Hackett) The motion was put to the vote and declared lost. Crs Cameron, Richardson, Ndiaye, Lyon, and Martin voted against the motion.

To get an understanding of each Councillor's stance on this issue you could contact them to discuss at the link below:

https://www.byron.nsw.gov.au/Council/Mayor-and-councillors/Meet-our-Mayor-and-Councillors

To listen to the debate from the discussion click the link below:

https://soundcloud.com/byron-shire-council/part-1-ordinary-meeting-20-september-2018

Thanks,

Amy

Byron Shire Council is currently responsible for 508 km of sealed roads and 96 km of unsealed roads. 

The cost of reconstructing a road is in the order of $100-$250 per square metre, versus about $10 per square metre to reseal a road with a single layer of bitumen. 

This highlights the importance of undertaking a reseal program each year before roads deteriorate to the point requiring full reconstruction.

41% of our sealed roads are in 'poor condition'. The current backlog to return these roads to 'satisfactory standard' is $24 million. 

You can read more about this in our Transport Asset Management Plan 2018-2028 at the link below...

https://www.byron.nsw.gov.au/files/assets/public/hptrim/information-technology-data-management-co-ordination-support-recovery-asset-management-systems/e2018-30888-draft-transport-asset-management-plan-final-pdf-for-public-exhibition.pdf

Byron Shire Council acknowledges that much of our road network is in poor condition and we are no stranger to potholes. Please exercise appropriate caution, particularly on our rural hinterland roads and after significant rain events. Whether or not potholes will improve individual driver skills is outside of the scope of my knowledge. :)

Hi Satya - it's certainly been a busy time for keeping up with doggy bag supply! If you notice areas that are low - please report the issue and location through our online reporting system. The link is here - https://eservices.byron.nsw.gov.au/eservice/crm/selectCategory.do?key_num=2415&nodeNum=80240

Thanks so much, Amy