26 August 2014

Full Council Meeting: 25th August 2014

This was to have been the last Council meeting before we go into caretaker mode.  However, there will now be a meeting on the 8th of September when the updated report on Brown Hill creek will be received and debated. This means Council will not be able to make any major decisions for the 2 months following and the new Council meets in December.
There are a couple of petitions this month, one regarding Unley Oval and the other the recently consulted Development Plan Amendment. This brings me to consider what the value of petitions is. I wrote a blog on this some time ago. Both are timely as the matters to which they relate are to be debated at the same meeting.
Items to be debated are;

  • The Development Strategy and Policy Committee minutes; these are the minutes that contain information about recommended changes to the proposed DPA. I think it now reflects what most of you told us you wanted. I just have to ensure that it passes. PASSED. The recommended changes will be worked on by staff and then put back to consultation early 2015.
  • Lease of 41 Oxford Tce to Kirinari School; this is  an existing lease to be renewed for one year. I still have concerns about the so called shared use when the gate is always locked!! PASSED. Hopefully the gate will be unlocked sometime soon so the area is available for Community use.
  • Public Lighting Audit: this would give consent to staff to start investigations options to demonstrate possible savings. PASSED
  • Unley Oval Picket Fence: This mater has been a difficult one as there are tightly held views on each side of the debate.Of the just over 400 respondents to the consultation nearly half do not reside in or own property in Unley. Of the remainder  a slim majority favour a fence. I am about to go to Council to read the comments made by people to make my own view on what value each comment has to the debate. I know that many feel that the erection of an internal fence will make it safer; this may be so when football is being played (but a fence is already constructed for match days both on the edge of the field and on the perimeter of the oval) but I fail to see how this can be the case at any other time. PASSED after a debate that lasted nearly 2 hours.
  • Closure of the Malvern Police Station; It is rumoured that the station  in Malvern will soon be closed to make operational savings. The motion from Cr Salaman asks that Council reiterate its position that a station is necessary to meet local demand and that Council write to the Minister for Police to clearly state  council's view on behalf of residents. PASSED
The full agenda can be found here

3 comments:


  1. Hi Jennie and to your readers, 66% of Unley residents who responded are in favor of a fence, 33% are against. It will help add clarify to your comments about the numbers of supporters and detractors for a fence by looking at the numbers from the report: In summary, 420 responses were received. Of these, 305 responses supported the installation of a picket fence, 108 were opposed and 7 did not provide a firm view either way. From the total number of responses, (420), 228 were identified as being residents in the City of Unley. Of these, 137 responses supported the proposal while 91 were against the proposal. on

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    1. The debate has now been had and the picket fence has been approved pending funding from Sturt, grants and Council. However, my reading of the responses from people saw the numbers a little differently.

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  2. Jennie, regarding the picket fence, there is a solid majority for a fence even within the Unley ratepayer responses as part of the consultation process. I believe the Council really has to progress this work now and put the issue to bed. It's in the budget and i imagine there would need to be a compelling reason to vote against the consultation findings. All the best.

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