Lane Cove Council July 2022 Meeting

    By
    Jacky Barker
    -

    The Lane Cove Council July 2022 Meeting will be held on Thursday, 21 July 2022.

    Listed below are the agenda items for the meeting.

    Have Your Say – Be Part of the Process

    Residents can write to Councillors on any agenda item or issue. The email address that will reach all Councillors is: [email protected]

    Members of the public are invited to attend the public forum of the meeting in-person or online, commencing at 7:00 pm.
    If you would like to speak at the Council meeting (in-person or online), register via this online form no later than midnight on 20 July 2022.

    A Zoom meeting link will be emailed to the provided email address.

    A time limit of three (3) minutes per public forum address applies.

    Council meetings are live-streamed and viewable via the webcast on this website.

    Notices of Motion

    Notice of Motion – Unoccupied Dwellings in Lane Cove 

    Councillor Rochelle Flood is moving a notice of motion that Lane Cove Council write to the Minister for Local Government and Minister for Planning and Homes to investigate ways to identify and to provide a financial incentive for property owners to ensure their investment property holdings are being utilised for permanent residential accommodation purpose.

    In the 2021 Census over 1 million homes throughout Australia were unoccupied.  Demographer, Dr Allen was quoted in an article on the ABC website stating policy change was needed to discourage properties from being left vacant.

    “The policy settings support housing as a wealth creation and for people to own multiple properties,” she said.

    “There’s a lot of theoretical considerations when it comes to the taxation of properties that are left vacant … the issue is that we have so many homes that are being left vacant while so many are in need of homes and secure housing.”

    Councillor Rochelle Flood is a member of the Greens and they have the following policies relating to Local councils and housing availablility:

    All local councils in NSW should have the ability to progress initiatives that increase the supply of affordable housing in local government areas through initiatives such as inclusionary zoning and an Empty Homes Levy.

    Inclusionary zoning can be used to create significant quantities of affordable housing. It has been used to great effect in the UK – boosting affordable housing supply by 43% – and in more than 500 US cities. It has also been used in South Australia, achieving 5,485 affordable homes, which represented 17% of the state’s total housing supply between 2005 and 2015. There is great potential for inclusionary zoning in NSW.

    An Empty Homes Levy is an another option that would increase the number of rental properties and stop the practice of keeping properties vacant to ‘play the market’ while leaving people in NSW without a home.

    Introducing an Empty Homes Levy on properties left vacant for more than six months in a calendar year – with exemptions for specific circumstances – will provide funds that may be used to provide housing for the most vulnerable in our community. It would also free up more rental properties in a market that is in short supply.

    Read the entire policy here.

    Notice of Motion – Address Reported Bushland Encroachments by Private Users on Public C2 Land and Identify Education Opportunities

    Councillors Bridget Kennedy and Kathy Bryla are proposing that Council investigate developing a public education program to ensure the community, particularly those living adjacent to bushland, understands that bushland encroachment is unlawful and damaging, and to assist them in appreciating the values of their adjacent bushland in its natural state.

    The Lane Cove Bushland and Conservation Society’s positon is as follows:

    The encroachment of private property into land zoned Conservation 2 (C2) which contains Lane Cove’s precious bushland, is of vital concern. It is not only the loss of public land, but encroachment breaks the continuum of vegetation and wildlife corridors. It may be due to ignorance of property owners or poor surveys, but one encroachment then seems to lead to many.
    A motion is before the Lane Cove Council meeting on Thursday 21 July to address bushland encroachments by private users. Please support this motion by writing to Council and speaking at the Council meeting.

    Officers’s Reports

    Traffic Modelling Possible Closure of Canberra Avenue

    Report to Council about traffic modelling undertaken to understand the impacts of the proposed closure of Canberra Ave.

     

    Sports Ground Usage Recommendation

    Lane Cove Council resolved in January to request a report on the sports field usage patterns across all seven sports fields in the Lane Cove Council Area.

    The report identifies winter bookings are higher than summer season bookings, in particular December – January.

    The summer season is predominately utilised by cricket and the winter season is dominated by soccer.

    The synthetic fields are being utilised to the full capacity.

    Natural grass fields with lighting for training are being used to capacity, while sports fields without lights have potential future capacity if they are upgraded.

    If you are involved in sport in Lane Cove you should read this report.

    Councillor Training Attendance Request – Local Government NSW Executive Certificate for Elected Members

    Local Government NSW has opened another round of registrations for the Executive Certificate for Elected Members training program. Earlier this year, Councillor Kennedy, Councillor Bryla and Councillor Roenfeldt were all endorsed by Council at its Ordinary Council Meeting of 21 February 2022 to participate in the last round of this training program.

    Councillors are now being asked to endorse a motion that Councillor Southwood undertake the Local Government NSW Executive Certificate for Elected Members training program.

    Officer Reports for InformationThe Canopy International Award – Best Ceiling in Architizer A+Awards Recommendation

    The Canopy has recently been awarded some prestigious international awards. ​The mirrored ‘periscope’ ceiling at The Canopy has recently won two Awards at the prestigious International Architizer A+Awards. Australian firms supermanoeuvre and Scott Carver were in the winner’s circle at the Architizer A+ Awards, taking out the Jury Winner and Popular Choice Winner in the Architecture + Ceiling categories for their Periscope Canopy project.

    Read more here.

    Council Snapshot June 2022

    Lane Cove Council publishes a snapshot every month which sets out what has been happening over the month from development applications, parking fines, waste and landfill reduction reports, and reports on upcoming footpath maintenance.

    Below are some of the stats of interest for June 2022.

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