Unley Council 25-Aug-2014

The Council Meeting last night became quite heated during debate on whether or not to have a picket fence around Unley Oval. A lot was said that shouldn't have been said.

The decision was Yes with a vote of 8 vs. 4 (against).

For the record, I voted in favour of the fence.

Having gates every 50m helped to convince me.

I believe that based on the submissions received, it was the right decision.

Another major decision was endorsing the Development Plan Amendment (DPA2) proposal which caters for the population growth required by the State Government (and its 30 year plan).

Following recent consultation, significant changes were made to reduce the impact on the local amenity eg. in Everard Park, Forestville and Black Forest.

As a member of the Development Strategy and Policy Committee, I ensured that there will be further consultation in 2015 after the endorsed changes have been finalised.

The changes we made saved 100 houses from the dreaded 4-storey zone.

The next round of consultation must be city wide.

The Mayor supported a motion to have a special public holiday declared on 11 November (during 2015-2018) to recognise Remembrance Day and the anniversary of World War One. I opposed it on the grounds of lost productivity across the State. I also noted that there is insufficient lead time to get the idea before the SA Government and to have the extra holiday declared.

This motion was carried 11 vs. 1 (me).

The outcome is that Unley Council will now work with the Local Government Association to lobby the State Government.

I argued that the idea should have been floated 6 months ago to have a chance of success.

I do support the idea in spirit, but being a realist, it won’t happen.

Quite simply, it has been left too late.