Media Reponses (July)

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Published
8th September 2022

Gympie Times: 6 July – Staff pay

QUESTION:

The Services Union has released a statement (attached below for convenience) regarding staff's call to engage in industrial action as a result of the ongoing EB negotiations.

Does acting CEO David Lewis have any response to this?

Is he concerned about the potential for union member to walk off the job, even for an hour, over these negotiations, especially in light of ongoing internal criticism and the latest staff survey results?

Will the council be increasing its 1.5% offer to try in an effort to try and smooth these problems over, especially given the 2.5-3%-plus deals secured by staff in other Qld councils this year?

 ANSWER:

Council’s position has not changed.

We look forward to the continuation of the negotiations to finalise the Certified Agreement’s clauses, so that negotiations for a wage increase(s) can continue.  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 are waiting for the collective unions to come back to the table, so that we can continue our negotiations.

Dave Lewis, Acting CEO Gympie Regional Council

 

Media Enquiry: 29 July – Flooding impact

QUESTION:

  1. Approximately how many homes and businesses in Gympie's Council boundaries have been built on land severely impacted by recent flooding??
  2. Given most Councils gave permission to developers to build houses on floodplains within state government planning laws, how many homes and businesses does Gympie Council believe these buildings now need to be to a moved to higher ground or paid compensation for the destruction of these properties the value of their land presumably by the State government or in conjunction with the Federal government?
  3. Has Gympie Council contacted the State government regarding the State government paying for damage to flood damaged or destroyed homes or businesses beyond repair, or needing to be relocated onto higher ground or to the land value on which they were built?.
  4. Has either the State or Federal government indicated any intention of paying damage for flood damaged or destroyed homes or businesses beyond repair, or needing to be relocated onto higher ground or to purchase the land on which they were built?

 

ANSWER:

  1. Qld Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) undertook an initial damage assessment in early March 2022 to assess damage from the February 2022 Extreme Rainfall event.  They determined that 112 homes and 94 commercial/industrial properties were severely damaged. QFES classify “severe damage” for flood/cyclone/storm damage as:

·        more than 1m of water above living space flooring of dwellings or operational areas of non-residential structures from a flood event

·        roof structure significantly damaged, including damage to roof trusses

·        walls and ceilings collapsed/unstable

·        structural damage that requires major repairs

·        structure is not usable or habitable and cannot be secured

 

  1. The Queensland Government is administering the Resilient Homes Fund which provides financial assistance to home owners whose properties have been impacted by recent flooding. Businesses are also able to seek financial support through the Disaster Funding packages provided through joint funding of the State and Federal Government.

 

  1. The Commonwealth and State Government are jointly funding a range of measures to assist residential and commercial property owners whose property has been impacted by the floods. Through the Local Disaster Management Group and the Disaster Recovery Group, Gympie Regional Council is working in collaboration with the State Government in regard to Community Recovery.  Individual property owners are required to register their request for financial assistance with the relevant funding bodies

 

 

  1. This is best directed to the State Government – QRA.  Council notes that the Resilient Homes Fund administered by the State Government has three components as below:

·        Resilient retrofit program: Funding to homeowners to repair (enhancing resilience) or retrofit their homes to incorporate flood resilient design and materials in liveable rooms or areas.

·        Home raising program: Funding to homeowners to raise their home to reduce the impacts of future flood events by elevating liveable rooms or areas. This may also include moving the home on the same parcel of land—for example, moving it to higher ground.

·        Voluntary home buy-back program: Funding for councils to buy-back homes, in certain cases. Buy-backs will be considered on a case-by-case basis and are voluntary.

 

Further information can be found at: Resilient Homes Fund | Homes and housing | Queensland Government (www.qld.gov.au)

 

Adrian Burns Directory, Community Sustainability

 

Gympie Times: 29 July – Waste

QUESTION:

  1. How much space is left at Bonnick Rd?
  2. Does the council have approval yet to build the proposed expansion at Bonnick Rd's easter section (as outlined in the budget)? If not, when is that approval expected to be given and work expected to start?
  3. Is it true the waste transfer station proposed at Monkland (at Laurenceson Rd) is no longer going ahead? If not, how far along is it? What was the $1.2m funded by the State under the W4Q program in 2020 used for?
  4. There were discussions in 2021 about some of the region's waste being taken to the Fraser Coast Council area; is any of the Gympie's waste being shipped out of the region?
  5. Is there any other comment the council would like to make about the state of the region's waste services and available space at its dumps, which was described as a "crisis" by councillor Fredman at Wednesday's meeting?

ANSWER:

There is approximately 70000m3 of space left in the current cell at Bonnick Road. Under normal filling conditions this is almost 12 – 18 months of space if increased resource recovery efficiencies apply.

 Councils concern has been the spike in flood waste and that it shortened the void space and the team are nervous about the impact of any further flood impacts in the next 12 months.  

 Council does not have approval from the State regulator to commence the Eastern cell at Bonnick Road, Council is currently finalising the design and associated documentation, and  will be submitting this proposal to the Department of Environment and Science in the coming weeks. The ideal situation will be to get the eastern cell ready so that operations can move to that, and rehab can commence on the current cell. This will improve the overall environmental performance of the site. Additional gas extraction is proposed to be installed.  

 Domestic recycling currently goes to Cleanaway’s MRF located in Fraser Coast, cardboard, Tyres and e-waste already go outside of the LGA for processing. Domestic waste from Cleanaway goes to Bonnick Road as do all the transfer station domestic waste bins. Currently none of this domestic  or commercial waste component (municipal solid waste) is trucked out of area. This would only be considered  if council could not utilise its landfill options.

Councils waste team are working on solutions for Bonnick Road as well as longer term options. Council recently received a grant to investigate the feasibility of a new landfill.  Council also resolved yesterday to participate in a joint regional project with North Burnett, South Burnette, Bundaberg and Fraser Coast to investigate the medium and long term options for resource recovery across the region, this study will look at the circular economy, innovations, economies of scale in the waste streams.

 Gympie RC is in good position to be able to work with our western, northern and southern neighbouring Councils. The team hopes  to find solutions that increase resource recovery, and explore potential cost sharing options that will bring jobs, and keep the cost of waste disposal low as well see an increased diversion form landfill, reuse of materials and improved environmental outcomes for the region

Adrian Burns Directory, Community Sustainability