Full Council Meeting; 29th January

It's been nearly 6 weeks since we last had a meeting, while I have been on holiday most of this time I don't think I've ever been busier with Council duties.This month's agenda covered the following items;

• Petition regarding the placing of the culvert in Forestville Reserve; this has to some extent been resolved by moving the culvert further south to be closer to the tram line. New plans will be consulted with those who expressed and interest and then to all nearby residents.
• Koala Crossing in Highgate St; this asked for additional funds for the crossing near Highgate PS and that these come from another project that was funded but not viable  The result will be  a safer crossing for students at the school.PASSED
• Review of the Natural Resources Management (NRM) Joint Action Group;Council collected nearly one million dollars in funds from rate payers in 2011/12 on behalf of the NRM; the report lists the contribution that they have made to Unley projects in the last 12 months. These include funds toward stormwater harvesting and management as well as training of staff into water course erosion management.PASSED
• Nominations for LGA President and State Executive; Lachlan was nominated again for the executive.This nomination will now go to election by all SA Councils.PASSED
• Endorsement of the Community Plan;This has been extensively consulted. Take the time to read this one.PASSED
• Elector Representation Review; this is the subject of a couple of earlier blogs. Goodwood South might get a new name that more closely reflects the community and Kings Park is likely to return to GS.This item took hours to debate and the matter of exact ward boundaries will be debated again at the next Council meeting as a consensus was not able to be reached. However,  we did agree to rename GS as Clarence Park ward to better reflect the location. When finalized this must again go back to consultation, so if you don't like the idea of this you need to let us know.
• Budget Revue for the Second Quarter. PASSED
• Brownhill Creek Stormwater Management Project-Goodwood Junction;This called on the government to fund at least 50% of the capital costs currently being spent on the diversion at Goodwood. Unley's share of the cost  is 21% of the remainder, other Councils will carry their agreed share if approved.This is likely to be $525,000. PASSED
• Brownhill Creek Stormwater Management Project;Funding for Ridge Park Dam; This is to  funded with federal money that must be spent this year. However, the timing of projects means that Unley needs to move ahead on this without a a guarantee of some reimbursement by the SMA. PASSED
• Residential Parking Policy Modifications; This is a complex issue although not for Goodwood South  However, this change will result in having to pay for parking in some locations.PASSED
• Reference Groups; I have also written a separate blog on this one although it was some time ago.PASSED but after much debate and little consensus.
• Appointment of Independent Members to the New Section 41 Committees.(Confidential until all applicants have been notified). 

 The full agenda can be found at; http://www.unley.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Council%20Agenda%20January%202013.pdf