Media Reponses (June)

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Published
11th July 2022

Gympie Times: 1 June – Sporting club

QUESTION:

I'm doing a story today on the Gympie sporting budget being cut since the flooding events, and I'm hoping I can have a chat with Glen about it to get the perspective on why it's happened, what led to this decision etc.

ANSWER:

Its important for the community to know that the sporting fabric of our region is very much dependent on external funding as well as council setting aside money to assist these often entirely volunteer based community groups (sporting clubs).

 

What I can say in relation to this issue is council resolved to move the allocated funds to a future budget knowing we were not in a position to deliver.

 

I understand there is a great deal of narrative in the community at the moment around local sporting facilities. This is something which has been on Council’s radar for some time now. We understand its coming to a head and we are motivated to resolve it.  

 

The need to implement more strategy in the sporting space has been a focus for this council.

 

However it’s important to note the issue which many sporting clubs in our region face have not arisen overnight.

 

We are indeed committed to  working with our sporting groups to make sure we have viable and equitable outcomes across the board.

Mayor Glen Hartwig

 

Gympie Times: 15 June – Waste

QUESTION:

  1. I understand Council was considering expanding the Bonnick Rd dump in March 2021. Shane Gray said at the time a "full review of the region’s waste services" was underway. What was the outcome of that review?
  2. Is council still considering expanding the dump? If so, will this be included in the upcoming budget?
  3. If the expansion is going ahead, is there any gauge on how much this will cost? 
  4. I understand council was also reviewing a new waste transfer station at Laurenceson Rd; is this still in the pipeline?
  5. If it's a no to both, is there a plan C?
  6. I understand a load of recycling was sent to landfill due to contamination with soft plastics, so I just had a couple of questions regarding this:
  7. Is the issue of contaminated recycling a new problem, or has this been ongoing for some time?

 

ANSWER:

  1. Council has not yet finalised this ongoing review however have  considered a number of options for the region’s waste services.

Council  are participating in a Wide Bay regional group looking at resource recovery , transfer station and landfill options for Gympie and surrounding LGAs. This work has been sponsored by Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) and Department of Environment and Science (DES) funding and is looking at 7 stations plus Bonnick Rd operations to consider efficiencies and value for money for rate payers. This is a significant project and is taking time. The recent series of weather events has also contributed to the complexity of this project and created some project time delays.  

 

  1. The creation of an additional cell at the Bonnick Road landfill is one of a number of options being considered although council will not expand the current site footprint. Council has allocated draft budget to undertake this work for the upcoming financial years Council has not yet formally adopted the FY 22/23 budget.

 

  1. Project costing is still being confirmed.

 

 

  1. This location is still being considered. There are lots of positives to this location but also some constraints that Council are working through with design and capacity and site conditions.  Ultimately Council wants to deliver the best cost effective facility for the long term befit of rate payers and the community

 

  1. yes council is also looking at its longer term strategy for landfill and resource recovery.

 

 

  1. Out of the 14500 tonnes Council diverts from landfill, an approximate 3500 tonnes per annum is from our recycling bins alone. (1/3)

 

  1. Contamination has been an ongoing issue and Council’s waste team are continuously looking into new ways to engage with the community to reduce contamination in our recycling and improve resource recovery for the region.

 

Adrian Burns Directory, Community Sustainability

 

Gympie Times: 21 June – Staff wage rise

QUESTION:

The Services Union has issued the following release re: its negotiations for a staff wage rise.

https://www.theservicesunion.com.au/news-campaigns/local-authorities/gympie-regional-council-time-to-get-real/

Among the comments are that the council's offer is "unconscionably lowball" and well below the level secured by other councils.

Does the CEO and Mayor have any response to this claim? Why is the offer so low, given the much publicised high rates of inflation?

Will any pay rise, once agreed to by staff and the council, be passed on by the council through rate rises? If not, how will the council balance such an increase to keep rate rises down? Will services be cut?

ANSWER:

Council met with the Unions last week in the hopes of finalising the Certified Agreement’s clauses, so that negotiations for a wage increase(s) could commence.  Unfortunately, with some unions not being able to attend some of the most recent negotiation meetings, we were unable to agree and confirm the clauses pertinent to the agreement. 

These Clauses are important as until we know the dollar value of the entire agreement, we cannot confirm our final position on the percentage wage increase(s). It is about the total agreement. 
We need to understand the cost to Council to ensure that adopted budgets are able to accommodate envisaged percentage pay increases.

Our current certified agreement remains in place until the negotiation of the new agreement.  We are continuing to work with unions to progress this as soon as possible and we have no intention of delaying this process. 

At this stage, we will wait for the collective unions to come back to the table, so that we can continue our negotiations.

Dave Lewis, Acting CEO Gympie Regional Council