QUESTIONS TO COUNCIL

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Question 1

Re: Wyndham Annual Community Satisfaction Survey 2023-24 - based on 1200 surveys in the community Of the respondents who have raised issues, the most important issues to address and those issues that influence the greatest dissatisfaction with Council’s overall performance, have remained relatively consistent since the ACSS commenced in 2013/2014.

These issues included:

* traffic management (e.g., commuting times, congestion, related issues) (20% down from 22%)

* road maintenance and repairs including roadworks (e.g., potholes, road condition, and road work related issues) (8% down from 14%)

* parks, gardens, and open space related issues (7% up from 6%)

* parking (both availability and enforcement) (7% up from 6%)

If these issues have been consistent since 2013 – why have the Council not addressed them in any meaningful way???? How can you possibly say that community satisfaction is good on the one hand and then say but we have had the same complaints since 2013? I have seen the same complaints come up in the community again and again where residents have shown public dissatisfaction and the same issues remain 10 years later. This shows that the reporting and action taken by Council is woefully inadequate. What is being done about it?

Response: The purpose of the Annual Community Satisfaction Survey is primarily to seek respondent’s levels of satisfaction with the delivery of Council’s services. A secondary purpose is to get insights into the wide range of issues that affect the quality of life of residents by asking “Can you please list what you consider to be the three most important issues for the City of Wyndham at the moment?” The provider that Council uses to conduct the survey ensures that they speak to 1200 respondents. Other providers only speak to 400. In addition we also reintroduced face-to-face surveys. This year, just 56 per cent of respondents raised an issue, (compared to 70 per cent last year), and this correlates with the increased satisfaction with the performance of Council achieved this year. In addition, when looking at the services Council delivers that relate to the three main issues identified, respondents have indicated good (and increasing) levels of satisfaction with Council’s performance.

Council uses the results of this survey to continually improve its services. However, it needs to be acknowledged that the City is growing at a rapid pace, and whilst these are consistent themes, they are broad areas that are consistent with growing pains, which require complex and often longer-term solutions, some of which are reliant on other tiers of Government. Given this, the job is never done, however, Council will continue to improve the way in which we deliver services and infrastructure to our fast-growing community, and the results achieved this year demonstrate we are doing just that.

Question 2

I have yet to date to receive a satisfactory answer regarding the rationale for recommending new policies such as the Draft Electric Vehicle Policy. This report where the council states the majority of residents want this policy, when in reality only 115 submissions were received out of a city of over 320,000 people. This is a running theme through all of the policies put forward. Please explain how council can state that an overwhelming majority of residents (wording used in many community engagement reports) when what they really mean is the overwhelming majority of the 115 submissions. I submit yet again that council should be truthful and transparent with their reporting and add in the exact numbers of the "majority" you are talking about. Instead of making it seem that the whole community is behind the decision.

What will the council be doing about this oversight? Please explain what the council will do to improve upon community engagement moving forward?

Response: The community engagement function of Council continues to try and reach more people through promotion and outreach of opportunities to participate in community engagement. Moving forward, Council will be clearer in their wording as to how many people have responded to the public exhibition of policies and how many of those are supportive. 

Question 1

Can you please explain how after 20years you came across $36million, who does your accounting? 

Question 2

What will you spend this $36 Million plus the other $11million on?

Response for both questions: The $36 million was never lost, I can assure you of that. The $36million has well and truly been accounted for in this organisation. It has been audited multiple times each year and we have been generating interest on the $36million for a number of years now. The money is the result of a developer contribution plan, so it is money received from developers. Developer contribution plans is a mechanism by which Council generates revenue from developers to invest in infrastructure that supports the development of our growing suburbs. This particular $36million relates to a developer contributions plan for Point Cook. Council has obligations to deliver infrastructure under a developer contributions plan and after 20 years of the life of the developer contribution's plan, Council had met all of its obligations to deliver the infrastructure as a result of the plan and was left with $36million of unspent funds. In the last couple of years, Council has sought legal advice on how it can allocate those funds and the $36million I am really pleased to say can be spent on other infrastructure within the Point Cook precinct. So the funds were certainly not lost, have been accounted for and audited every year and I want to acknowledge finance team who are very good accountants. 

Question 3

If Council funds and or contributes to groups to have events e.g the latest Indian event held Saturday 23rd March at Presidents Park, why will Council not fund the installation of lights promised to the local baseball team operating at Presidents Park?

Response: Presidents Park is a popular regional park used for a range of community activities, sport, active and passive recreation and community events. Yes, Council does provide grants to a lot of community events which are run within this city. A Master Plan for the site was adopted in 2020 and recommends a series of improvements to be made across the park over time. The breadth of these improvements span the range of ways that our community use the park. It is a big property so there are a lot of enhancements that can happen in that property. Specific to Werribee Baseball Club, the Master Plan identified the future need for; • An upgrade to the baseball pavilion • Renewed netting to the baseball diamonds • Additional undercover viewing areas • Renewed training standard lighting to Diamond 1 and future proof for an upgrade to competition standard that would include a club contribution • Installation of training standard lighting to Diamond 2 Improvements to open space areas, which will benefit a wide range of community events held at the park include: • Sealing the southern internal road and installing speed control devices • Widening internal paths to provide a stable event management / setup route • Additional planting to define event spaces and parking areas • Providing flexible gathering points with three phase power and water for events. Council is aware of Werribee Baseball Club’s desire to have competition standard lighting at Presidents Park. Council is keen to work with the Club to understand the scope and cost of this project and highlight funding sources that the Club may consider such as the Federal Government’s Play Our Way grant program, which was recently launched and we are more than happy to work with the Club to try and get an application together for that. 

Question 4

Given that Council has admitted to keeping the secret of purchasing the Cash Convertors building in Station Place, Werribee, how many other secrets are Council keeping from residents and what gives Council the right to do so?

Response: It is true that at times Council does need to make decisions in a confidential setting particularly when there are contractual matters or commercial in confidence matters at play. Wyndham City Council prides itself on transparency and certainly once the decision was made and implemented, Council as soon as the property had settled, released information to the general public. It is only at times when Council does not want to diminish its ability to negotiate confidentially on matters or to diminish a commercial outcome or advantage that it is really important that these sorts of decisions are considered in a confidential setting.

Question 5

 Item 8 – Policy/Advocacy on the meeting agenda Item No: 8.1 Wyndham Advocacy Strategy 2024 – 2026 Engagement Report Wyndham City is actively advocating for: Improved investment in transport infrastructure Improved access to health care Better public transport – buses and trains One of the priorities is: - Road upgrades: investment in the upgrade of existing arterial roads and highways, and the construction of new road connections to ease congestion.  

Q - It is a well-known fact that residents feel the roads are a major priority and Council has not even mentioned this in the recent request. The priorities are ranked by the CEO and the Councils Executive Leadership Team. Does this include feedback provided from Councillors that are directly from residents about the roads issue? Or is it just about whether council can get funding so it does not impact on councils financial sustainability? From what I can see the priorities of residents are not even mentioned. Why not? 

Response: Yes. Our advocacy is centred around partnering with the State and Federal Government to see investment in the services and infrastructure to support our fast-growing community. Council has a range of ways in which we hear from residents and also the Councillors sitting around this table are the biggest advocates for their constituents in this ctiy. Council hears from residents through multiple processes and forums, and the feedback is captured and reflected in a range of reports, plans, strategies and policies. I agree with you that roads are so important in a growing city likes ours and we are feeling growing pains because the road network is not keeping up with the level of development. Advocacy priorities are reflective of initiatives or ideas raised by residents across multiple platforms, and also initiatives that demonstrate need based on data or evidence. Council takes seriously its role as the tier of government closest to the community.  

Question 6

 Q - Please explain why as of the last budget only 5% was allocated to roads and traffic congestion. It is clear that there is a disconnect between what residents want and what council are seeking. Why? I understand that funding is required for roads that are not covered by council. However, traffic congestion is a long term problem and it is difficult to see how council is promoting it as a priority. Especially since we are growing so fast as a city, it should be one of the top priorities. It currently takes 20 minutes to drive from one suburb to the next.Watton Street in Werribee becomes a parking lot at times. What is council doing about it right NOW? R

Response: I agree with you. Traffic congestion is the number one issue in this city and we hear about it constantly from our ratepayers and residents. In this year’s current Budget alone, we have allocated $33.2million of our $167million capital program for road construction, upgrades and renewals. A further $5m was allocated to our active transport network and footpath renewal. Council is actively engaged in the development of the draft Budget for next financial year and we hopefully will be releasing that for public feedback within the next month. There are a range of roads that are not Council's responsibility and we certainly advocate to the State Government to ensure their investment in roads in Wyndham is keeping up with the growth that is happening within the city. 

Question 7

Regarding SMART city plan, council needs to upgrade the bus shelters and provide seats in the shelters. The glass partition which was used proved to be the targets of vandalism previously. Old fashioned wood built shelter like Europe is more sensible. Will council builds the shelters for each bus stop to implement Wyndham Plan?

Response: The provision of bus shelters is the responsibility of the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP), so it is not a Council function. We understand that if glass shelters are repeatedly vandalised, DTP replace the glass with metal mesh screens. Council continues to advocate to the State Government for the provision of better public transport infrastructure and services for the people of Wyndham. 

Question 8

 Wyndham culture center does not provide enough parking space for the aged and frail residents who use walkers. They have to park a long distance in order to get to the center to see the show . The evidence is Mozart Night on the 8th of March. Culture center reserved VIP parking space but no space for the aged residents. VIP have legs and these old people could hardly walk. If council wants to build an inclusive community as you claimed then you must respect the older generation. After all they give their lives to build Australia. A little consideration is the least you can do. Will council include the older residents in the future events regarding parking?

Response: The evening of March 8 witnessed a confluence of significant events within central Werribee, including the MSO performance at the Wyndham Cultural Centre and the opening of the LIT event at Wyndham Park. To facilitate the attendance of councillors at these diverse events, five parking spaces were designated in the Wyndham Cultural Centre car park. Currently, the Wyndham Cultural Centre car park provides a total of 83 parking spaces, including two designated accessibility parks. Additionally, there is street parking available surrounding the centre. Council values the accessibility and inclusivity of our community events, and understand the importance of accommodating the needs of all residents, especially those who may require additional assistance. I agree that when we have such big events happening at the one time, some more thought was probably required in that case and hopefully we can do better next time.  

Question 1

According to the Councillor Expense Report 1 July 2023 to 30 September 2023 - one councillor spent a large amount above all other councillors. What was the $5,839.00 used for? And what was the other category for $125.00 regarding? As this was not listed in the report what the expense was for.

Response: The amount of $5,839.00 incurred by Cr Adele Hegedich under the category of Councillor Development /Conferences and Training relates to the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) course (registration for self-paced online version) and AICD annual membership fee. Cr Hegedich chose to complete the course via the self-paced online option which is several thousand dollars cheaper than the face-to- face course format. 

The $125 reimbursement amount noted for Councillors Hill, Szatkowski, Ramesh and McIntyre is the cost of a ticket to a special Aged Care Event attended by those councillors in their capacity as councillors.

Question 2

In the same report - Council operating revenue increased by 7.7million dollars that was not budgeted for due to increased interest rates for term deposits from banking institutions and some unbudgeted operating grants received. Then total operating expenses was lower by 3.9 million. Where did this extra 11.6 million dollars go towards? Council cried poor and are now delaying capital works projects.

Response: The additional revenue and the reduced expenditure mentioned in your query will be used as follows: 

The increased revenue from investment interest relates to funding Council has received or collected in advance and kept in reserves for future capital projects related to new development areas. This interest is applied to the reserve balances that the interest is earnt from, and is intended to partially offset the impact of inflation from now to when the project can be undertaken.

• The additional grants received will be required to fund the specific projects or services related to the purpose of the grant.

• The $3.6M in lower (YTD) expenses is a timing variance, which means Council is still expecting the service or the good to be received and expended in this financial year. Please note that 23/24 budget already considers the funding and the funding sources needed for the capital works projects (Page 45-48 of the 23/24 Annual Plan & Budget). However, sometimes there are delays of which Council does not have full control (because of the size of the project, changes in the cost of projects or delays in external approvals and steps) and are not related to a lack of available funding for the originally planned project.  

Question 3

 What is Council doing about the lake at Presidents Park now that it has been drained and left with unsightly rubbish such as old tyres, rusting metal, and rubbish bins?

Response: The lake at Presidents Park was emptied in 2023 as a result of reoccurring algae growth. The Presidents Park Master Plan identifies opportunities to enhance the lake and surrounds, including developing the circuit path and improving water quality. This component of the Master Plan is part of a package of design works currently funded and being delivered by Council. Council is in consultation with Melbourne Water concerning future inflows into the lake. The design is expected to be completed in 2024, with construction subject to funding. In the meantime, Council has a schedule for removing litter and waste from the lake, as well as dumped rubbish.

Question 4

 Why have trees been left to die along the pathway walk along the back of the IGA supermarket in Honour Ave?

Response: A number of trees were recently damaged during the storm event on Tuesday 13 February 2024. As a result, Council is currently working through a backlog of requests that were received reporting tree damage, including the trees at the rear of the IGA in Honour Avenue. The trees that are visibly unhealthy or have been structurally compromised will be removed unfortunately over the coming weeks, and replanted in the latter half of this years planting season, which is between June and September.