State of the Environment Report 2010/2011 - Liverpool City Council

LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL 

ANNUAL REPORT 2010-11

contents 

Purpose of this annual report 5 

The year at a glance 6 

Our vision, mission and values 10 

Message from the Mayor 11 

Message from the General Manager 12 

Part 1 – An overview of the City of Liverpool 13 

Our City 14 

Who we are - a snapshot of Liverpool 14 

Our Council 18 

Our responsibilities 18 

Our role 19 

Elected council 20 

Organisational structure 22 

Our teams and their functions 23 

Our staff 26 

Financial Summary 28 

Our governance 30 

What is governance? 30 

Our legislative framework 31 

Our commitment to ethical conduct 31 

Council meetings 32 

Council committees 33 

Council information 33 

Policies 33 

Risk management 34 

Communication 35 

Consultation 35 

Community Forums 35 

Community donations and sponsorship 36 

Promoting our services and access to services and residents 37 

Caring for our children 40 

Planning for the future 41 

Community Strategic Plan 

Delivery Program and Operating Plan 42 

Resourcing strategy 42 

Measuring our progress 42 

Sustainability 43 

Integrating sustainability 43 

Sustainability principles 44 

Sustainability indicators 46 

Liverpool City Council ANNUAL REPORT

4 PART 1 / Name of Section 

Part 2 – Our Performance 49 

Management plan 50 

The regional city for south west Sydney 53 

Neighbourhood and villages 54 

The land between two rivers, where city and country meet 59 

Community and governments working together 62 

A place for people 64 

Sustainability 67 

Improved organisational management and development 70 

State of our Environment 73 

Environment levy works 85 

Bushfire hazard reduction activities 91 

Condition of public infrastructure 95 

Roads and transport assets 96 

Drainage Assets 97 

Buildings 98 

Condition of Assets 100 

Special infrastructure levy works 

Stormwater management service charge 103 

Special rate variation works 104 

Companion animal activities 106 

Part 3 – Our Statutory Reporting Requirements 107 

Companies in which we had a controlling interest 108 

Competitive neutrality 108 

Contracts awarded 109 

External bodies exercising functions delegated by council 113 

Government Information (Public Access) Act (GIPA Act) 114 

Legal proceedings 116 

Mayor and Councillor remuneration 117 

Policy 117 

Expenses 126 

Occupational heath and safety 129 

Partnership, cooperatives and joint ventures 130 

Planning agreements in force 130 

Senior staff remuneration 131 

Work carried out on private land 131 

Part 4 – Our Financial Statements 

Refer to separate document 


PART 1 / Introduction 

5 

Purpose of this 

Annual Report 

This report documents Liverpool City Council’s 

performance over the 2010-11 financial year 

against planned activities contained in the 

2010-11 Management Plan adopted by Council 

on 21 June 2010. 

The report is in four parts. The first part is an 

overview of the City of Liverpool, the Council 

and its governance; the second part shows 

performance against the Management Plan and 

a summary of the State of the Environment; 

the third part contains the additional legislative 

reporting requirements; and the final part is our 

financial statements. 

Liverpool City Council has also prepared a 

summary version of the annual report. 

Both the full report and the summary are 

available online at www.liverpool.nsw.gov.au. 

The 2010-11 Annual Report meets our 

obligations under Section 428 of the Local 

Government Act (1993). 


6 Year at a Glance 

2010-11 at a glance 

Casula 

Powerhouse 

Arts CentrE 

Thirteen exhibitions and 12 theatre 

shows were held at Casula Powerhouse 

Arts Centre. The Centre attracted 32, 831 

visits during the year of which 1,921 were 

school children attending one of the 218 

education programs that were held. 

Car parking 

Collimore Car Park was upgraded and 

expanded to accommodate 355 cars and 

provide more parking opportunities near 

Liverpool City Centre. 

Streetscape 

New paving, street furniture and 

landscaping improvements were 

completed at Elizabeth Street between 

Macquarie Mall and George Street, 

Liverpool. 

Health 

inspections 

Council officers conducted 1,095 

inspections of high risk premises 

such as restaurants, cafes, bakeries 

and delicatessens (approximately two 

inspections per business each year), 78 

of other types of food premises and 

157 inspections of health and beauty 

premises. 

Parks, gardens 

and lakes 

Nearly $6 million was spent maintaining, 

preserving and restoring parks and 

recreational facilities. Council is 

responsible for 500 open space reserves 

with either regional, district or local status 

covering approximately 1,400 hectares. 

Playgrounds 

Council has 155 playgrounds across the 

Local Government Area of which 13 were 

upgraded during the year at a total cost 

of $573,000. 

Development 

applications 

Council determined 1,355 development 

applications and 657 construction 

certificates. 


Year at a Glance 

7 

Road safety 

Five traffic facilities were upgraded or 

constructed during the year (roundabouts, 

pedestrian refuges and crossings and bus 

bays). Sixty eight schools were provided 

with information on safe parking and 

other road safety issues around schools 

as well as road safety events held by 

Council. 

Six ‘Choose Right Buckle Right’ child 

restraint checking events were held at 

which 184 vehicles and 266 restraints 

were inspected. Twenty five percent of 

all restraints checked were found to be 

unsafe. 

Four ‘Helping Learner Drivers Become 

Safer Drivers’ workshops were held 

with 71 participants (participants are the 

supervising drivers) and eight local streets 

were targeted as part of the ‘Slow Down’ 

campaign. 

Road 

construCtion 

and maintenance 

Council is responsible for a total of 809 

kilometres of roads (an increase of 29 

per cent over the past 15 years). Council 

spent a total of $12.6 million repairing 

and maintaining roads including road 

pavement renewal and rehabilitation works 

to a value of over $9 million on 27 streets 

with a combined length of more than seven 

kilometres. Major intersections at North 

Liverpool Road, Green Valley and Governor 

Macquarie Drive, Chipping Norton were 

reconstructed and widened at a cost of over 

$3 million. Council received 8 kilometres 

of new roads during the year as a result of 

new subdivisions. 

Stormwater 

drainage 

Flood mitigation, creek rehabilitation and 

bank stabilisation works were completed 

along Brickmakers Creek, Liverpool to 

improve flow capacities and mitigate 

flooding within northern parts of the 

city centre. More than 4.5 kilometres of 

the piped drainage system was relined 

and patched. The drainage system was 

upgraded at Clinches Pond to include a 

gross pollutant trap to remove pollutants 

from water entering the pond. 

Street cleaning 

Every street in the Council area was swept 

on an average of once every six weeks, 

removing 2,150 tonnes of waste. 

Footpaths and 

cycleways 

Fifteen kilometres of new paved 

footpaths and cycleways were 

constructed, bringing the total length 

of footpaths and cycleways in the 

Liverpool local government area to 500 

kilometres. 

Sporting fields 

Council managed and maintained 107 

recreational and sporting facilities including 

netball courts, tennis courts, cricket 

nets, skate ramps and aquatic centres, 

enabling the hosting of state, and national 

competitions. 


8 Year at a Glance 

Tree planting 

Council planted more than 70,000 

plants through a variety of initiatives 

including National Tree Day, community 

tree planting days, the Environment 

Restoration Plan, and the Recreation and 

Open Space program. 

Bush restoration 

program 

Council’s Bush Regeneration Team 

maintained 63 bush restoration sites. 

Fifteen new projects were selected for 

Round 4 of the Environment Restoration 

Plan. 

Community 

engagement 

1,221 people participated in the first 

phase of the community engagement 

strategy for Growing Liverpool 2021, the 

community strategic plan for Liverpool. 

About half of these people answered short 

surveys at one of the many engagement 

booths and events across Liverpool. Others 

completed the extended survey online 

or attended a speakout, forum or art 

workshop. 

Council meetings 

Fifteen Council meetings were held 

during the year at which a total of 

494 matters were considered and 83 

members of the community addressed the 

elected Council. 

Community 

forums and 

committees 

Council continued to facilitate community 

forums across the LGA on a regular basis. 

Twenty nine forums were held dealing 

with matters of local and regional interest. 

Council continued to convene 13 

community advisory committees that 

provide advice to Council on a range of 

community matters. These committees 

are made up of community 

representatives, Council staff and at least 

one Councillor and met on a regular basis 

in keeping with guidelines endorsed by 


Community 

centres 

106 permanent hirers utilised community 

centres across the City and offered a great 

range of programs covering dancing, 

language groups, fitness as well as 

family support for all ages. More than 

20 community organisations delivered 

community support programs from Council 

centres. With more than 128 casual 

bookings a year, Council’s community 

centres are the hub of local activity and a 

key meeting point for residents. 

Libraries 

During the year our libraries had 

1,465,443 visits; 1,168,301 were to the 

City Library and 297,142 visits to the four 

branch libraries which resulted in 925, 261 

loans. 

Community events 

More than 9,000 people participated in 

33 events run by Council including Adult 

Learners Week, Law Week, Seniors Week, 

Youth Week, CBD Exposed – youth, NAIDOC 

Week, Sorry Day, Children’s Week, Refugee 

Week, Harmony Day, and International Day 

of People with a Disability. 

Leisure and 

aquatic centres 

Our two leisure centres, Michael Wenden 

in Miller and Whitlam in Liverpool, were 

visited by 473,427 people, with an 

average of 4,890 children enrolled in 

swimming programs on a monthly basis 

Child care 

Council’s six long day care centres and one 

occasional care centre provided care for 

541 children from 462 families. 

Citizenship 

Council held 14 citizenship ceremonies 

at which 980 people of 71 different 

birthplaces became Australian citizens. 


Year at a Glance 

9 

Domestic waste 

services 

Council’s garbage contractors collected 

38,914 tonnes of waste, 16,387 tonnes of 

recyclables and 15,836 tonnes of green 

waste as part of the weekly household 

collection. Of the 76,608 tonnes of waste 

collected by Council (eg household, litter 

bins, cleanup days), 52,907 tonnes (69 per 

cent) were diverted from landfill making 

Liverpool the top performing Sydney 

metropolitan council for its recycling 

efforts. 

Household 

cleanup service 

Council collected an additional 2,229 

tonnes of waste from the six monthly 

booked household cleanup service with 

a further 202 tonnes of whitegoods 

collected for metal recycling. 

Chemical 

collection day 

This annual event collected 27 tonnes 

of toxic and hazardous chemical waste, 

including batteries, gas bottles and paints, 

oils and organochlorine pesticides 

Raising 

community 

awareness 

of environmental 

sustainability 

More than 600 household environmental 

sustainability assessments were completed 

during the year, the Sustaining Liverpool 

newsletter was distributed quarterly and 

eight workshops were held on topics such 

as natural body care, vegetable gardening 

in pots, worm farming and composting. 

Liverpool’s 

community 

strategic 

plan - Growing 

Liverpool 2021 

The 10 year community strategic plan for 

Liverpool City, Growing Liverpool 2021, 

was endorsed by Council at the meeting 

of 18 April after extensive community 

consultation. The 2011-2015 Delivery 

Program and the 2011-2012 Operational 

Plan were endorsed in June. 

Customer service 

During the year, Council’s customer service 

staff received 152,800 calls (average of 

12,730 per month) resulting in 57,600 

customer requests (4,800 per month). 

The after hours service attracted 14,700 

calls (1,225 per month) and a total of 440 

requests were lodged online. Council’s 

customer service staff also dealt with 

46,600 counter visits (3,880 per month). 

Quarterly surveys on Council’s customer 

service were conducted with more 

than 85 per cent of customers surveyed 

considering that they received good/ 

excellent service. 

Improving our 

processes 

Two focus groups were held every three 

months with residents and developers 

to help improve some of Council’s key 

processes. Key policies such as the Code 

of Conduct, Code of Meeting Practice, 

Payment of Expenses and Provision of 

Facilities to Mayor and Councillors and 

Media Representation were reviewed. 

Long term strategic management plans 

for Council’s infrastructure including roads, 

footpaths, parks, and buildings were 

completed. Council’s OHS polices and 

procedures were reviewed and updated 

to meet the requirements of Australian 

Standard 31000 and the National Audit 

Tool. 

Access to 

information 

New legislation dealing with public 

access to information came into force on 

1 July 2010. Council staff attended to 536 

informal and nine formal applications to 

access Council held information and files 

under the new Government Information 

(Public Access) Act 2009. 


10 Our vision, mission 

and values 

Council’s 

vision, mission 

and values 

Council’s vision for Liverpool 

Liverpool, a vibrant historical regional city of growth, prosperity and diversity. 

Council’s mission 

• Guide the City into the next Century. 

• Provide purposeful and visionary leadership whilst 

being consultative, responsive and accessible. 

• Decide on resources required for sustainable growth 

and community expectations for the future of Liverpool. 

• Protect the City’s reputation and align it with the 

perceptions of its residents. 

Council’s values 

At Liverpool City Council we: 

Value staff by working to enable the recognition of staff performance, encouraging and supporting 

career development and providing continuous learning. We also recruit competent staff willing to 

adhere to our values while pro-actively retaining good staff. 

Work together by contributing towards the team goals of the unit as identified in the work plans 

and assisting other team members through cooperative work ethic. We also actively help other units 

and staff across the organisation. 

Respect people by encouraging an honest, courteous, ethical, fair and equitable workplace. 

Understanding cultural diversity issues and valuing the views of other people is also an important 

component. 

Communicate effectively by providing open, accessible and honest communication with all 

stakeholders. We also ensure all stakeholders have necessary information at their disposal. 

Show leadership at all levels by being pro-active in our approach in providing excellent levels of 

internal and external customer service, leading by example and showing initiative and innovation. 


Mayor’s Message 

11 

Message from 

the Mayor 

Like its community, Council has been through an 

extraordinary year and faces a challenging future. 

Natural disasters in our country and overseas were 

on everyone’s mind and locally, our main Council 

building burnt down. Through all that, our staff 

remained a bedrock of strength for the Council and 

the community it serves. 

The multicultural nature of the City continues to be one of our strengths, and 

people from outside our community see this as our strength. We show that many 

different cultures can successfully make one community. 

We are also a family-oriented community. What unites every parent is 

preparedness to work hard for our families and children. As families struggle with 

the financial burdens of raising their children and strives to provide the best for 

their families, so too Council struggles to apply its limited finances to a myriad of 

services and assets that need attention. 

This financial challenge affects local government generally and not just Liverpool. 

While this Council is accommodating pressures to deliver more services, funding 

for the future is a cause of acute concern. Councils are looking to a constitutional 

referendum, hopefully in 2013, to give local government its due recognition 

in our nation’s Constitution so clearer and more specific support for local 

government can be arranged. 

As we look to next year and the near future, Council will continue to give its 

attention to arranging and advocating for the infrastructure needed for our 

growing City. Planning for the South West Growth Centre, affecting Austral and 

Leppington initially, is advancing rapidly. Some existing areas still need further 

work. Our City needs to attract more employment-generating investment to stem 

the very high daily flow of our working people out of Liverpool. The benefit will 

not be solely economic but will help our families by giving more time to see each 

other, see the children‘s teachers, decrease road trauma and decrease car-related 

pollution. 

I commend this annual report to you as a way of gaining an appreciation of the 

work Council completed last year. I look forward to working with our Councillors 

and our community in advancing our goals in the year ahead. 

Wendy Waller 

Mayor 


12 General Manager’s Message 

Message from the 

General Manager 

The year has been one which will long be remembered 

by our community. Whist Council continually faces 

challenges on a daily basis; three events were particularly 

significant in the year just past. I refer to the proposed 

Section 94 contribution cap of $20k; the devastating fire 

that destroyed Council’s Administration Centre; and the 

announcement of the proposed Moorebank Intermodal. 

In June 2010, the previous Minister for 

Planning issued a news release, regarding 

reforms to Local Council Infrastructure 

Charges. In essence, the government set 

a $20k cap on developer contributions 

that would for a growing community like 

Liverpool, have shifted a financial burden 

onto Council in the order of $1 billion. 

As a result of intense lobbying and 

an immediate freeze of processing 

development applications where a 

contribution in excess of $20k cap was 

required, the government finally amended 

its original proposal late in 2010. Actions 

taken on behalf of Council achieved “grand 

fathering” conditions over existing Section 

94 Plans, as well as an increase to the cap 

to greenfield sites. While the changes still 

impose some restrictions on Council, it 

was a massive saving of millions of dollars 

for Liverpool residents. 

On Sunday 15 August 2010, a devastating 

fire demolished all but the Northern 

Wing of Council’s Administration Centre 

at 1 Hoxton Park Road. However, to the 

credit of staff and patience from our local 

community, substantive operations and 

services levels were re-established in an 

amazingly short period of time. Alternate 

accommodation was found immediately 

at Council’s previous Business Growth 

Centre and additional sites occupied in 

the immediate short term. A successful 

transition to 33 Moore Street occurred in 

October/November 2010, the building 

which was later strategically acquired by 

Council in April this year. 

The day of the fire also coincided with 

a protest rally organised by Council 

against the proposed Federal Government 

Intermodal in Moorebank. While coping 

with the dislocation caused by the fire, 

Council was once again representing its 

constituents by visibly and publically 

lobbying and campaigning to have this 

project relocated to a more appropriate 

site. Although the end result is some time 

off, Council is committed to maintain its 

resolve to oppose the proposed intermodal 

that would cause significant damage to 

our local community economically, socially 

and environmentally. 

Despite the unprecedented challenges 

being faced, Council has still been able 

to remain focussed on service delivery. In 

December 2010, Council adopted a new 

organisational structure, strengthening 

Council’s ability to plan strategically while 

continuing to deliver excellent services to 

our community. In the course of the year, 

over $12.8 million was spent upgrading 

road and transport related assets including 

seven km of road pavement renewal and 

rehabilitation and the construction of more 

than 15 km of paved footpaths and shared 

paths in established and older release 

areas of Liverpool and five new traffic 

facilities were built. 

More than $4.5 million was spent on 

preserving, restoring and enhancing 

drainage infrastructure with 4.5 km of 

the piped drainage system relined and 

patched. Major flood mitigation works, 

bank stabilisation and creek rehabilitation 

works in Brickmakers Creek were 

completed along with a critical section of 

the City Centre trunk drainage completed. 

Council spent close to $6 million in 

maintaining, preserving and restoring 

parks and recreational facilities including 

the upgrade of 13 playgrounds at a total 

cost of $573,000 and five local parks 

upgraded. 

During the year Council spent over $5.5 

million in refurbishing its premises 

including the Aquatic Centre roof, Aquatic 

Centre change rooms, gymnasium and 

squash court roof, front entrance paving 

and landscaping, upgrade at main car 

park lighting at Whitlam Leisure Centre, 

renovation and upgrade of Dr Pirie Centre, 

Northumberland Street car park upgrade 

and completion of works resulting from 

fire damage to Council’s Administration 

building. 

Looking to the future, Council conducted 

extensive community consultation 

for the purpose of developing its 

Community Strategic Plans. In June this 

year, it adopted the Strategic Plans 

along with Council’s Delivery Plan and 

Operational Plan including Financial, Asset 

Management and Workforce Management 

plans. 

I would like to congratulate Councillors, 

staff and community volunteers for their 

dedication and effort towards meeting the 

challenges and delivering Council projects 

and services throughout the year. 

Liverpool City Council ANNUAL REPORT 

Farooq Portelli JP 

General Manager

Part 1: 

an 

overview 

of the 

city of 

liverpool

14 PART 1 / Our City 

OUR city 

Where our City 

is and what it 

looks like 

The City of Liverpool has changed since 

its establishment in 1810 by Governor 

Lachlan Macquarie. The traditional 

Aboriginal custodians of the land on which 

Liverpool now sits are the Cabrogal Clan 

of the Dharug Nation. The area was also 

accessed by people of the Dharawal and 

Gandangara Nations. 

Liverpool is situated in South West Sydney, 

a region of about 450,000 people. The 

Liverpool City Centre has been identified 

by the State Government as one of three 

regional cities in metropolitan Sydney. 

Liverpool is Australia’s fourth oldest town 

after Sydney, Parramatta and Hobart. 

Liverpool’s Collingwood House, St Luke’s 

Church and the Liverpool TAFE College 

are buildings that date back to this early 

period of colonial history. 

The Liverpool City Centre is about 30 

kilometres south west of the Sydney CBD 

and about one hour by train. Liverpool 

residents travel to many of the major 

employment, education, recreation and 

entertainment areas of Sydney. 

There are many types of housing in 

Liverpool. There is high density around 

the Liverpool City Centre, such as home 

units. There is low density residential 

in surrounding suburbs that is mainly 

separate houses. There are rural villages in 

our western areas. 

The Liverpool City Council area covers 

305 square kilometres and includes 42 

suburbs. It is one of the largest council 

areas in Sydney. The western portion 

drains to the Nepean River while the 

eastern portion drains to the Georges 

River. The creeks that feed these rivers 

experience flooding from time to time. 

Of all the local creeks, the upper portion 

of Cabramatta Creek suffers most from 

poor water quality. Climate change and 

a growing population mean an increased 

risk of flooding and water pollution. 

Who 

lives here 

Liverpool has grown from 12,600 

people in 1947 to 185,600 in 2010, with 

significant growth occurring in the 1960s 

and 1990s. State Government projections 

suggest a population of about 325,000 by 

2036, which is an increase of more than 

75 per cent on the current population. 

Council is responsible for creating 

suburbs that have necessary services and 

infrastructure for new families moving into 

the area. Council works closely with the 

State Government and developers to make 

this happen. 

A higher percentage of people in the 

Liverpool Local Government Area live in a 

family household with children compared 

with the Sydney metropolitan area. Many 

people in Liverpool live in extended 

families with grandparents and other 

relatives. 

There are approximately 33,000 children 

aged to 11 years and approximately 

32,000 young people aged between 12 

and 24 years. These two groups make up 

close to 40 per cent of Liverpool’s total 

population. As the population grows, 

Liverpool will continue to be a young 

City with many new families with young 

children moving into the area. 

Liverpool is one of the most culturally 

diverse cities in NSW, with one in three 

people born overseas. The largest 

overseas birthplaces are Fiji, Vietnam, Iraq, 

Lebanon, Philippines, United Kingdom, 

Italy, India and New Zealand. Almost half 

of Liverpool’s residents speak a language 

other than English at home. The languages 

most spoken, besides English, are Arabic, 

Vietnamese, Hindi, Italian, Spanish, 

Serbian, Tagalog, Greek, Cantonese and 

Assyrian. 

The people of Liverpool have many 

different religious beliefs. A higher 

percentage of people in the Liverpool 

local government area have a religious 

affiliation with Catholicism, Islam, 

Orthodox, Christianity, Buddhism and 

Hinduism than in many other areas of 

Sydney. 

While internationally Liverpool is a 

young city, the number of older people 

is increasing. In 1996, there were about 

8,500 people aged over 65. Ten years 

later, this grew to 13,500 people. More 

older people live in the established areas 

of Liverpool and many receive the age 

pension. By 2036, it is expected that 

Liverpool will be home to nearly 50,000 

people who are aged over 65. 


PART 1 / Our City 15 

Where we work 

and study 

Almost 50,000 people work in Liverpool. 

The most common industries they work 

in are manufacturing, health care and 

social assistance, retail, education and 

training. Of these, more than 60 per 

cent travel to Liverpool for work, while 

close to 40 per cent come from the 

Liverpool area. More than 60 per cent 

of people who live in Liverpool travel 

outside of the area for work. Many travel 

to Sydney CBD and neighbouring areas like 

Fairfield and Bankstown. 

The unemployment rate in Liverpool in 

December 2009 was just under eight per 

cent. This is higher than other areas of 

Sydney and across Australia generally. 

This means that more people in the 

area are living on income support and 

receiving government assistance. Long 

term unemployment is also very high 

in some areas of Liverpool. Any future 

rises in unemployment are likely to 

impact most on people who are already 

finding it difficult to get a job. The 

decline in the manufacturing industry 

means that opportunities for training and 

skills development will become more 

important. 

There are 53 schools in Liverpool with a 

mix of public and private. The number 

of students in Liverpool staying in school 

has increased, but there are some areas 

in Liverpool where young people are still 

leaving early. There are two TAFE colleges 

in Liverpool, one in the City Centre and 

one in Miller. There is a long tradition 

of active participation in vocational 

education in Liverpool through these 

colleges. 

The closest university to Liverpool is 

the University of Western Sydney with 

campuses in Milperra, Campbelltown, 

Parramatta and Penrith. The University of 

Sydney and the University of NSW have 

local campuses for select veterinary, 

medical and health programs. Most 

universities offer flexible learning 

opportunities, such as online and distance 

education. More people in Liverpool 

are going to university now than ten 

years ago. Since 1996 there has been 

an increase in degree, diploma and 

vocational qualifications in Liverpool. 

However, university attendance is still 

lower than other areas of Sydney. 

Fewer people in Liverpool have home 

access to the internet than in other 

areas of Sydney, especially broadband 

connections. Phone exchanges are 

currently at capacity. Outdated technology 

and congestion at phone exchanges 

severely reduces connection speeds 

Where we live 

Three quarters of homes in Liverpool 

are separate houses compared with the 

Sydney average of around half. There is 

a growing proportion of townhouses and 

home units. The average house price 

in Liverpool in September 2009 was 

$362,000 compared with the Sydney 

average of $531,000. Units, serviced 

apartments, dwellings on top of shops 

and hotels are permitted in higher density 

residential areas. Three in every ten 


16 PART 1 / Our City 

homes in Liverpool are rented, the same 

as the Sydney average. Nearly eight per 

cent of rented homes are public housing, 

compared to the Sydney average of five 

percent. In September 2009, the average 

weekly rent for a three bedroom Liverpool 

house was $400. 

There are more families in mortgage 

and rental stress in Liverpool than in 

other areas of Sydney. People on low 

incomes in the private rental market 

find it most difficult to secure affordable 

housing. Council has rezoned areas for 

more medium and high density housing, 

like apartments and townhouses, so 

that different priced housing is available 

for families in Liverpool. There are also 

people who are homeless in Liverpool. In 

2006, there were 957 people who were 

homeless in the Liverpool-Fairfield area. 

People who are homeless require support 

to obtain and stay in long term housing. 

Crime rates in Liverpool have generally 

decreased or remained stable since 2004. 

However, violence in the home continues 

to be of concern. Although domestic 

violence has decreased, it is still higher in 

Liverpool than in other areas of Sydney. 

Liverpool is safer than many other areas 

and crime rates are decreasing, however 

the community remains concerned about 

safety. 

Where we shop 

and get our 

services 

Liverpool residents have access to the 

normal range of shopping choice expected 

in the Sydney metropolitan area. However, 

unlike older areas of Sydney, most local 

centres in the Liverpool area are ‘shopping 

malls’ rather than ‘main street’ shopping 

centres. Many of these malls are located 

along bus routes making them convenient 

to access. 

High density residential areas near 

Liverpool City Centre are within walking 

distance of a wide range of shops and 

services. However, most Liverpool 

residents are not within walking distance 

of local centres. If the cost of fuel 

increases enough to change car usage, 

there may be changes in shopping 

patterns affecting the longer term success 

of some centres. 

Corner shops located away from busy 

roads struggle to survive and are often 

being replaced by convenience stores 

located adjacent to major roads. There is a 

trend by major stores, service stations and 

take away food stores for longer trading 

hours, even 24-hour trading. 

There will be new retail centres created 

as areas develop in the western parts 

of Liverpool. This will include a major 

town centre at the future Leppington 

Station, just south of Bringelly Road within 

Camden Council. Liverpool City Centre 

will continue to be the Regional Centre of 

South West Sydney. 

In residential suburbs there are child care 

centres, community facilities, schools and 

churches. 

Government services such as Medicare, 

Centrelink and Legal Aid are all available 

in Liverpool. The City Centre houses one of 

the largest medical precincts in Australia, 

centred on Liverpool Hospital. This hospital 

is operated by the Sydney South West 

Area Health Service and offers a range 

of specialist medical practitioners and 

services. 

How we get to 

where we need 

to go 

Liverpool is a city in which more 

households than Sydney generally, own 

two or more vehicles. Residents make an 

average 3.4 trips per person on any given 

weekday. The average travel time for 

residents is 34 minutes. 

Most trips are done in cars and very few 

are done by walking or public transport. In 

2006, 62 per cent of people in Liverpool 

drove to work compared to 54 per cent in 

Sydney. Just over 11 per cent of people in 

Liverpool travelled to work using public 

transport compared to almost 18 per 

cent in Sydney. As such, congestion and 

maintenance of the road system is of 

concern to the community as well as car 

parking, particularly within the City Centre. 

It takes 54 minutes to get to Central from 

Liverpool station by train in peak hour 

compared to 40 minutes from Blacktown 

and 28 minutes from Parramatta. 

Passenger numbers on the Bus Transitway 

to Parramatta have grown considerably 

since 2002. The transitway is now the 

highest frequency, single bus route in the 

South West. 

People with disabilities, young people, 

older people and people in the outer 

areas of Liverpool find it most difficult to 

access adequate transport in Liverpool. In 

the more remote areas of Liverpool Local 

Government Area it is harder to get to 

places without a car as public transport is 

not practical. Public transport infrastructure 

and services in Liverpool need to be better 

linked, affordable and reliable. 

What we like 

to do 

People in Liverpool are involved in their 

community in a wide variety of ways. 

Many people spend time with family and 

friends and attend cultural and religious 

community events. Others participate in 

interest groups or volunteer their time 

for social, environmental or recreation 

activities. One in ten people in Liverpool 

are involved in voluntary work. 

Around 15,000 children and adults play 

an organised sport. More people are 

participating in casual recreation than in 

the past. Activities like walking, cycling 

and skateboarding are becoming more 


PART 1 / Our City 

17 

popular. This can have a positive effect on 

health in the community, such as reducing 

obesity. 

The City Centre is the central entertainment 

area in Liverpool. It offers a range of 

entertainment options, including a cinema 

and a variety of restaurants. Macquarie 

Street Mall is the central retail, dining and 

entertainment strip in the City Centre. It is 

highly valued as a pedestrian walkway. 

Outdoor dining and a high level of day time 

street activity make this an important civic 

and celebratory street. There is potential to 

develop activities which contribute to the 

cultural, recreational and entertainment 

experiences in and around the city. 

Our future 

At the moment there are 57,800 homes in 

Liverpool. During the next 25 years there 

will be up to 45,000 additional homes 

accommodating nearly 140,000 new 

residents. 

suburban centres. This will result in 

some areas experiencing substantial 

‘infill development’ or as it is more 

commonly known, ‘knockdown and 

re-build’ development. This will provide 

more housing and other uses to meet 

community demand. 

Traffic congestion is already experienced 

on major arterial roads during peak 

periods and it is getting worse. The new 

development, to be built west of the 

existing urban areas, is likely to further 

increase traffic in and around Liverpool 

City Centre. 

More capacity is needed on major roads 

and public transport. Liverpool City Centre 

will grow as the population of the region 

grows. Car parking and access to Liverpool 

City Centre is already difficult and may 

become more so as our population grows. 

Services and infrastructure will need to 

be provided for these new residents. This 

includes services for the community, parks, 

community centres, roads, drainage and 

footpaths. 

The State Government has identified areas 

of Liverpool where these homes will be 

built. Most will be in the new suburbs 

planned for the areas west of Austral. There 

will also be major growth around Middleton 

Grange, Elizabeth Hills and Edmondson Park. 

There will also be significant redevelopment 

in the established suburbs, particularly 

around Liverpool City Centre and some 


18 18 PART 11/ 2 / Our Name Management Council of SectionPlan 

our 

responsibilities 

our council 

Liverpool City Council, like 

all NSW councils, operates 

under a Charter specified 

in the Local Government 

Act 1993. The Charter 

empowers Council to 

manage the environment 

of its area; to be a 

custodian and trustee 

of public assets; to raise 

funds for local purposes 

and to provide services 

and facilities, including on 

behalf of other levels of 

government. 

Councils are required to manage their 

work efficiently and effectively, be mindful 

of the long-term or cumulative effect of 

their decisions, facilitate public input into 

local government decisions and keep the 

public informed. The Charter specifically 

requires NSW councils to exercise their 

functions in a way consistent with 

the principles of multiculturalism and 

ecologically sustainable development; to 

provide for the needs of children and to be 

a responsible employer. 

Councils may apply the provisions of the 

Charter in a way consistent with local 

circumstances, so the Charter empowers 

Council to exercise community leadership. 

Council exercises community leadership 

through making choices and decisions 

taking into account the demand for 

services, consistency with past practices, 

affordability and the future. 

Such leadership is about taking care of 

present needs and the needs of future 

generations; bridging local and wider 

considerations; sustainability; managing 

development demands; promoting new 

attractions and preserving the local 

character which attracted current residents 

here. The process of exercising choices 

and making decisions is always changing. 

It is made in many contexts, including 

legislation, social change, policy decisions 

from other levels of government and 

economic circumstances. 


PART 1/ Our Council 19 

These contexts are: 

• Council implements State legislation 

locally as well as responsibilities that 

flow from the Local Government Act 

1993. Some examples include planning 

legislation that obliges Council to 

assess development and environmental 

legislation through which Council 

implements environmental 

conservation or threatened species 

protection. 

• Social and demographic changes 

require constant readjustment of 

policies and services. For example, 

Council was an early entrant into 

childcare provision as more women 

entered the workforce. The rapid 

increase in the proportion of residents 

born overseas brings new skills as 

well as the need to better understand 

the requirements of a more diverse 

community. 

• Policy decisions from other levels 

of government impose demands on 

Council. Creating extensive new urban 

development in Liverpool throughout 

the 1990s and into the future is part 

of a solution to manage Sydney’s 

growth. While there are extensive 

local benefits of such development, 

there are also planning and financial 

demands on the Council and impacts on 

the local environment. 

• Our revenue raising will always struggle 

to meet demand for services. Council’s 

ability to generate revenue is limited by 

legislation. Certain types of revenue 

such as rates and statutory charges 

continue to be regulated by the State 

Government. 

Our role 

Our Councillors 

as part of a 

governing body 

As a member of the governing body of 

the Council, a Councillor’s role is to direct 

and control the affairs of the Council in 

accordance with the Local Government 

Act, allocate the Council’s resources in the 

optimum way to benefit the area, play 

a key role in the creation and review of 

Council’s policies, objectives and criteria 

relating to the exercise of Council’s 

regulatory functions and review the 

performance of Council and its delivery of 

services and the management plans and 

revenue policies of the Council. 

Our Councillors 

as individuals 

As an elected person, a councillor 

represents the interests of ratepayers 

and residents, provides leadership and 

guidance to the community as well as 

facilitates communication between the 

community and Council. 

Our Mayor 

The Mayor has the same responsibilities 

as a Councillor but also exercises urgent 

policy making decisions of the governing 

body of Council between meetings of 

the Council, exercises other functions 

of the Council as determined by the 

Council, presides at the meetings of the 

Council and carries out the civic as well as 

ceremonial functions of the Mayoral office. 

Our General 

Manager 

The General Manager is responsible for 

implementing the decisions of the elected 

Council and is the only member of staff 

selected and appointed by the Council. 

Under the Local Government Act, the 

Council may delegate some of its functions 

to the General Manager who then subdelegates 

these to members of staff. 

The Council may also delegate specific 

functions to external bodies. During 

2010-2011, there were no external bodies 

that exercised functions delegated by the 


Under the Act, the General Manager’s 

responsibilities include the effective 

and efficient operation of the Council 

organisation and day-to-day management. 

The General Manager is able to appoint, 

direct and dismiss staff in accordance with 

an organisation structure and resources 

approved by the Council. 

The link 

between our 

Council and staff 

The General Manager is the link between 

the Mayor, Councillors and Council staff. 

Guidelines for communications between 

the Mayor, Councillors and Council staff 

are contained in our Councillor Access 

to Information and Interaction with 

Staff Policy and our Code of Conduct. 

Requests for information by the Mayor 

and Councillors are to be addressed to the 

General Manager, or the relevant Directors 

and Managers. 

Elected Council 

Council elections are held every four years. 

The last election was held on 13 September 

2008 with the next election scheduled for 

September 2012. For the purpose of Local 

Government elections, our local government 

area is divided into two wards; North and 

South. We have 11 elected members of 

Council composed of 10 councillors (five from 

each ward) and a Mayor that is elected by 

popular vote. 


20 PART 1/ 1 / Our Name Council of Section 

MAYOR Wendy Waller 

Liverpool City Council 

mayorwaller@liverpool.nsw.gov.au 

0414 899 936 (Mobile) 

Representative Councillor on 

Bicentenary Committee 

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre Board 

CBD Committee 

Environment Advisory Committee 

Liverpool Access Committee 

Strategic and Financial Planning Committee 

Street Naming Committee 

Liverpool Youth Council 

North Ward 

Councillor Ali Karnib 

cllrkarnib@liverpool.nsw.gov.au 

0411 844 928 (Mobile) 


Liverpool Migrant Resource Centre Management 

Committee (alternate member) 

Councillor Mazhar Hadid 

cllrhadid@liverpool.nsw.gov.au 

0414 726 273 (Mobile) 


Liverpool Sports Committee 

CBD Committee 


Macarthur / Liverpool Regional Advisory Council 

Order of Liverpool Advisory Committee 

Councillor Anne Stanley 

cllrstanley@liverpool.nsw.gov.au 

0418 163 090 (Mobile) 



CBD Committee 

South West Sydney Academy of Sport 

Councillor Peter Harle 

cllrharle@liverpool.nsw.gov.au 

0412 736 956 (Mobile) 


Aboriginal Consultative Committee 

Georges River Combined Council Committee (GRCCC) 

Floodplain Management Committee 

CBD Committee 


Floodplain Management Authority 

Joint Regional Planning Panel (alternate member) 

Councillor Gary Lucas 

cllrlucas@liverpool.nsw.gov.au 

0417 451 813 (Mobile) 

9755 2557 (Home/Fax) 


WESTPOOL - Risk Management Committee - Board 

Heritage Advisory Committee 

CBD Committee 


Community and Recreation Panel 

Bicentennial Committee 

Floodplain Management Committee 


Floodplain Management Authority 

Georges River Combined Council Committee (GRCCC) 


south Ward 

PART 1/ Our Council 

21 

Councillor Jim McGoldrick 

cllrmcgoldrick@liverpool.nsw.gov.au 

0410 740 399 (Mobile) 


Ethics and Audit Committee 

Councillor Ned Mannoun 

(Deputy Mayor) 

cllrmannoun@liverpool.nsw.gov.au 

0425 252 505 (Mobile) 





CBD Committee 

Liverpool Migrant Resource Centre Management 

Committee 

Liverpool Traffic Committee 

Order of Liverpool Advisory Committee 

Councillor Nadia Napoletano 

cllrnapoletano@liverpool.nsw.gov.au 

0410 540 815 (Mobile) 


Community and Recreation Panel. 

Joint Regional Planning Panel 

Liverpool Access Committee (alternate member) 

Liverpool Youth Council 

Western Sydney Regional Organisation of 

Councils. 

Councillor Ghulam Gillani 

cllrgillani@liverpool.nsw.gov.au 

0450 687 411 (Mobile) 


Nil 

Councillor Tony Hadchiti 

cllrhadchiti@liverpool.nsw.gov.au 

0433 330 554 (Mobile) 

9822 4886 (Fax) 


Joint Regional Planning Panel 

Western Sydney Regional Organisation of 

Councils. 



Note: The above Representative Councillor information is current as at 30 June 2011. 

For the most recent committee membership information, please visit our website at www.liverpool.nsw.gov.au. 

Liverpool’s Wards 

WALLACIA 

GREENDALE 

LUDDENHAM 

BRINGELLY 

BADGERYS CREEK 

ROSSMORE 

KEMPS 

CREEK 

CECIL 

HILLS 

CECIL 

PARK 

GREEN 

VALLEY HECKENBERG MOUNT 

MIDDLETON 

PRITCHARD 

BUSBY 

WARWICK 

GRANGE 

ASHCROFT 

FARM CHIPPING 

SADLIER 

MILLER 

LIVERPOOL 

NORTON 

CARTWRIGHT 

AUSTRAL WEST HOXTON 

HOXTON PARK 

LURNEA 

MOOREBANK 

HORNINGSEA PRESTONS 

PARK 

LEPPINGTON 

EDMONDSON 

PARK 

DENHAM 

COURT INGLEBURN 

CASULA 

WATTLE 

GROVE 

HAMMONDVILLE 

VOYAGER 

POINT 

PLEASURE 

POINT 

HOLSWORTHY 


22 PART 1 / Organisational 

Structure 

Organisational 

structure 

The General Manager is the most senior officer of the Council and is responsible for 

the operation of the Council’s organisation, for implementing decisions of the elected 

Council and its policies as well as the day-to-day management of the organisation. 

The structure under which Council operated 

during the year is outlined below 


Internal Audit 

Executive Services 

Media Comm & Events 

COMMUNICATIONS & 

EVENTS 

Director 

City Planning 

Director 

City Services* 

Director 

City assets 

Director 

corporate services 

StraTEgic 

Planning 

Libraries 

& Museum 

Civil 

Construction 

Financial 

Management 

Statutory 

Planning 

Casula Powerhouse 

Arts Centre 

Buildings & 

Open Space 

Information 

Management 

Building 

& Health 

Recreation 

& CBD Maintenance 

Civil Maintenance 

& Depot Management 

Corporate 

GOVERNANCE 

Sustainable 

Environment 

Enforcement 

& Parking 

Technical 

Services 

Customer 

Services 

Economic 

Development 

Community 

Services 

Surveying 

& Design 

Workforce 

Management (OHS)* 

Property 

Services 

* Denotes OHS corporate representatives 

Procurement 

Services 


PART 1 / Organisational 

Structure 

23 

Our teams and 

their functions 

Milan 

Marecic 

Director 


David 

Tuxford 

Director 

City Services 

Farooq 

Portelli 

General 

Manager 

Julie 

Hately 

Director 

Corporate Services 

Jeff 

Organ 

Director 

City Assets 


Internal Audit 

Internal Audit reviews internal controls 

to improve the efficiency of Council 

operations. This includes conducting 

operational, financial and Occupational 

Health and Safety audits and reviews. 

Media, 

Communications 

and Events 

This team provides media relations, 

advertising, publications, signage, 

marketing and a visitor servicing strategy 

to ensure that Council’s activities, services 

and events are clearly, consistently and 

transparently communicated to the 

public. It coordinates and delivers a range 

of events that cater for our culturally 

diverse community. These events include 

Christmas in the Mall, regular citizenship 

ceremonies, Australia Day Awards and the 

Order of Liverpool Awards. 

Executive Services 

This team provides administrative support 

to the Mayor, the Councillors and the 

General Manager. It coordinates the 

conduct of Council meetings, agendas, 

minutes and the implementation of 

Council decisions. 


Strategic Planning 

The Strategic Planning unit is responsible 

for monitoring and updating Council’s 

statutory planning documentation in order 

to accommodate and respond to future 

growth demands across the Liverpool Local 

Government Area. 

Statutory Planning 

This team undertakes the processing of 

development applications, complying 

development certificates and constructions 

certificates for residential development. It 

also coordinates the Independent Hearing 

and Assessment Panel and the Design 

Review Panel as a means of objectively 

and transparently assessing more complex 

proposals. 

Building and Health 

This team issues construction certificates 

and building certificates. This team ensures 

buildings are erected and maintained 

in accordance with the regulatory 

requirements and community expectations 

by undertaking regular inspections for 

fire and pool safety, regulated premises 

(such as food premises, hairdressers and 

skin penetration premises) and conducting 

regular education programs. 

Sustainable 


The unit develops strategies and 

policies and provides advice in the 

areas of sustainability, natural resource 

management and waste management. 

It also undertakes environment 

rehabilitation and conservation programs 

for Council and is responsible for waste 

minimisation strategies. 

Economic 

Development 

Economic Development is responsible for 

developing, implementing and reviewing 

an economic development strategy, 

coordinating marketing and promotion 

that engages with local business, State 

government agencies and private 

companies to invest in the economy of 

Liverpool through a range of sustainable 

business and retail initiatives. 


24 PART 1 / Organisational 

Structure 

City Services 

Libraries and 

Museum 

The Library provides a range of information 

services that inform, educate and provide 

enjoyment including cultural, heritage 

and educational exhibitions, events and 

programs; in addition it collects, organises, 

preserves and makes available heritage 

materials of local historical and cultural 

significance; and provides public spaces 

for community interaction and use. 

The Museum provides exhibitions that 

highlight aspects of Liverpool’s culture 

and heritage as well as programs and 

activities that inform, educate and provide 

enjoyment to Museum visitors. The 

Museum also collects, organises, preserves 

and makes available heritage materials of 

local historical and cultural significance. 

Casula Powerhouse 

Arts Centre 

The Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre is a 

cultural facility of Liverpool City Council. 

The multi faceted Arts Centre comprises 

a 326 seat theatre, nine galleries (which 

includes a climate controlled gallery), a 

state of the art climate controlled storage 

area, a performance studio, a ceramics 

studio, artist studios, an artists residence 

and a cafe/bar. 

Recreation and 

CBD Maintenance 

Recreation and CBD Maintenance provides 

access to recreation, community and 

sporting facilities on an equitable basis 

and oversees the management of our 

aquatic and leisure centres. The team 

undertakes maintenance in the City 

Centre, parks and open space across the 

Local Government Area and is responsible 

for metal, litter household waste 

collections, regular street sweeping as 

well as graffiti removal on public areas. 

Enforcement 

and Parking 

This team delivers a diverse range of 

services including rangers, parking 

education and enforcement, including 

enforcement of on-street parking and 

Council owned car parks, illegal waste 

dumping and other environmental 

pollution incidents investigations and 

enforcement; animal management 

education and enforcement, court 

prosecutions as well as Regional Illegal 

Dumping Squad liaison. The team is also 

responsible for carrying out planning 

enforcement activities relating to land use 

and ensures that development approvals 

comply with relevant legislation 

Community Services 

The Community Services team provides a 

range of programs that build the capacity 

of the community, respond to community 

priorities and improve people’s quality of 

life. Seven early childhood centres are 

provided across Liverpool for families and 

young children. 

The team delivers a community 

development and community engagement 

program that seeks to improve services 

and participation by older people, people 

with disabilities, residents from culturally 

and linguistically diverse backgrounds, 

Aboriginal people, young people and 

children. The team actively engages 

residents through Council Committees, 

networks and specific consultations. 

Assistance is provided to organisations and 

community groups to access financial and 

other resources. The team develops and 

delivers a number of plans - such as the 

Disability Action Plan, LEAPS Multicultural 

Plan and the Recreation Plan - that assist 

Council to take a strategic approach to 

community issues. The team delivers 

specific place based projects in the 

2168 postcode area and in community 

cultural development and public art. They 

respond to community priorities such as 

community safety, graffiti management 

and better access to education. The team 

is responsible for social and recreation 

planning and policy in established and 

new release areas, social research and 

analysis, social impact assessment and 

demographic profiling. 


PART 1 / Our Team 

Structure 

25 

Assets and 

Infrastructure 

Delivery 

Civil Construction 

and Assets 

This unit is responsible for the project 

management of Council and grant funded 

infrastructure capital works programs, 

asset management strategies, policies, 

systems and programs for infrastructure 

assets and floodplain management 

strategies, policies, systems and programs. 

Building and 

Open Space 

This team coordinates the project 

management of Council and grant funded 

infrastructure capital works programs 

and the provision of asset management 

strategies, policies, systems and programs 

for building and park assets. 

Technical Services 

This unit is responsible for the provision 

of engineering advice for subdivision 

development including engineering 

assessment of Development Applications, 

provision of technical support in the 

planning of new infrastructure assets 

and the financial management of s94 

Developer Contributions restricted fund. 

The unit is also responsible for traffic 

management issues 

Civil Maintenance 

and Depot 

Management 

This team is responsible for the 

maintenance of road and drainage 

infrastructure assets, minor construction 

works, plant and fleet management, 

restoration of damaged assets, driveway 

inspections and provision of road opening 

permits, emergency services, maintaining 

operational inventory and provision of 

Councils operational depot. 

Surveying and 

Design 

The core function of this team is to provide 

civil engineering designs, surveying 

services, landscape design and consultant 

management for Council’s capital works 

programs. 

Corporate 

Services 

Financial 

Management 

The financial management team is 

responsible for ensuring Council’s 

financial strategies, policies and processes 

are aligned to achieving Council’s 

corporate objectives. It has specific 

functions in relation to the levying and 

collection of rates income, compiling 

internal management reports and 

external statutory financial reports. The 

finance team is also responsible for the 

management of Council’s financial assets 

(investments) and liabilities (borrowings), 

as well as ensuring timely receipting and 

accounts payable services. 

Information 

Management 

This team supports the organisation 

through the provision and maintenance 

of a variety of software and hardware 

technology. It manages Council’s 

information and central records in 

accordance with statutory requirements as 

well as provides geographical information 

support services. 

Corporate 

Governance 

This team is responsible for the 

development, maintenance and renewal 

of Council policies and procedures and 

provides guidance on ethical decision 

making. It responds to requests for access 

to Council information in accordance 

with the Government Information Pubic 

Access Act. It also compiles and publishes 

Council’s short and long term goals in 

the ten year Community Strategic Plan, 

four year Delivery Program and one 

year Operational Plan. It undertakes a 

regular review of these plans and reports 

on progress in the Annual Report. The 

team also supports the operation of the 

community forum meetings during the 

year. 

Customer Services 

The Customer Service team is made up 

of customer focused professionals who 

provide efficient and effective quality 

service to our customers. The services 

provided are diverse and responsible 

for meeting the day-to-day needs and 

expectations of both internal and external 

customers. Operating as a “one stop 

shop”, customer services satisfy up to 80 

per cent of enquiries without referral. 

Workforce 

Management 

The Workforce Management team is 

responsible for managing industrial 

relations, payroll, learning and 

development, workforce policy 

development and implementation, 

occupational health and safety, recruitment 

and retention, risk management and 

worker’s compensation. 

Property Services 

The Property Services team is responsible 

for the strategic purchase and sale of 

Council’s land assets, management 

of Council’s commercial and heritage 

property portfolio, the preparation of lease 

and licence agreements, the negotiation 

of easements on Council’s land as well 

as providing property advice to Council 

directorates. 

Procurement 

Services 

The core functions of this team are to 

articulate Council’s procurement policy 

and to set the standards for purchasing 

and contracting for outsourced goods 

and services to deliver the required and 

approved amenities for the community. 

Operationally, the team provides support 

to other teams within Council with regard 

to their procurement needs. 


26 PART 1 / Our Staff 

Our staff 

At the end of June 2011 

Council employed 530 

permanent full-time staff, 

84 permanent part-time 

staff and 30 temporary 

staff, of which 335 were 

male and 309 were 

female. We experienced 

a turnover of 11 per cent 

which is a decrease from 

12 per cent last year. 

Supporting our staff 

Liverpool City Council offers an excellent range of 

employment conditions that include flexible work hours, 

paid maternity leave, family leave and study assistance. 

Liverpool City Council supports an Employee Assistance 

Program where staff and their immediate family members 

can access round-the-clock telephone counselling for the cost 

of a local call or face to face counselling by appointment. This 

is a free and confidential service offering professional short 

term counselling to help our staff cope with the often difficult 

challenges that may arise during their lives. 

Did you 

KNOW? 

More than 248 of our 

staff have been with 

Council for over 10 

years, and 35 staff 

have achieved more 

than 25 years of 

service. 

Less then 5 yrs service 

186 

staff 

5 to 10 yrs service 

307 

staff 

56 

staff 


112 

staff 


45 

staff 


35 

staff 

More then 25 yrs service 


PART 1 / Our Staff 

27 

Learning and 

development 

Liverpool City Council acknowledges that 

staff development is an integral element 

of attracting, retaining and developing 

our people. To achieve this, we provide 

employees with a range of professional 

development, education and on-the-job 

training opportunities. 

Learning and Development delivery 

became much more difficult to deliver 

after the fire that destroyed the 

Administration building in 2010. There was 

considerable disruption to the availability 

of venues and sourcing new venues and 

suitable portable equipment became a 

priority. 

A decision was made to concentrate 

effort into the compliance areas and we 

researched and selected an e-learning 

platform that allows employees to 

complete many of the required programs 

without leaving their desk. 

We also concentrated on face-toface 

training in the compliance areas 

recognising that e-learning will become 

a very suitable tool at the introductory 

level and for refresher training and 

complementary to the face-to-face 

sessions in a blended learning approach. 

We managed to deliver 95 separate 

sessions involving approximately 1,500 

attendances despite the logistical issues. 

Our key focus areas were Code of Conduct 

and Bullying and Harassment and training 

was rolled out to all employees on these 

topics. 

Learning and Development also supports a 

series of Training Committees which bring 

expertise from the various Directorates on 

specific training needs in their specialist 

areas. This is where employees can apply 

to attend conferences and seminars or 

particular skills based learning that will 

not be delivered across the board. 

Our Learning and Development Scheme 

supports employees who are pursuing 

qualifications relevant to their career at 

Council by providing partial reimbursement 

to those who have been successful in their 

studies. We are constantly counselling 

employees on this scheme, assisting 

them to find suitable opportunities and 

processing their applications and request 

for reimbursement. 

Equal Employment 

Opportunity 

Council maintains an Equal Employment 

Management Plan in line with the 

requirements of the Local Government 

Act 1993. Our practical application of 

this plan includes communicating our 

policy at induction in particular, ensuring 

the availability of our EEO Policy on the 

intranet and dealing with any issue or 

complaints that may be received. 

A key focus issue area for 2010-11 was 

rolling out training relating to Bullying 

and Harassment for all employees. This 

also incorporated training for all Managers 

and Coordinators in the particular role 

they may be required to play in dealing 

with any complaints that an individual 

may make relating to Bullying and 

Harassment. The training of this group in 

particular provides the foundation of a 

robust complaint handling system. It also 

ensures that training of the upper levels of 

management has occurred and that there 

is a greater level of knowledge of the 

various forms of EEO legislation that has 

been shared across the organisation. 

Our new e-learning system has been 

made available to all staff. It provides a 

basis for consistent communication to all 

employees on all areas of compliance 

including EEO. Our EEO Policy is under 

review currently and will form part of 

e-learning training in EEO which will focus 

initially on new employees as part of 

induction and then to all staff as refresher 

training. 

Social 

responsibility 

The staff of Liverpool City Council are very 

community minded, actively supporting 

numerous charities and two children 

through child sponsorship. The money is 

raised through each staff member paying 

for the privilege of wearing casual clothes 

or mufti to work each Friday. 

Nearly $11,000 was raised during the year 

with $1,032 donated to World Vision for 

Child Sponsorship and $1,000 to each of 

the following charities; 

• Cancer Council NSW 

• Children’s Hospital at Westmead 

• Make a Wish Foundation 

• RSPCA Australia 

• The Salvation Army 

• Beyond Blue 

• World Vision 

• Leukemia Foundation 

Occupational health 

and safety 

Liverpool City Council is committed to 

delivering our Occupational Health and Safety 

(OHS) vision for a safe work environment and 

culture. Compliance with the OHS Act and 

other regulations is required as an employer 

in NSW. As we are also self-insured we must 

comply with the self insurer’s guidelines. This 

has resulted in the OHS team undertaking 

a major of review of our OHS Management 

System and implementing changes to ensure 

that we are able to provide our employees, 

contractors, labour hire and visitors with a 

safe system, a safe work environment and to 

ensure ongoing compliance with the newly 

introduced National Audit Tool. The review 

will continue to ensure ongoing improvement 

of our system. The OHS Management Plan 

was updated to include targets and objectives 

that are relevant to reducing the Injuries that 

occur within Council and to ensure that we can 

provide a safe working environment to our 

employees. 

A newly formed and constituted OHS 

Committee was elected in May 2011 and 

continues to meet on the third Wednesday 

of every month to discuss issues, review 

changes to processes, statistical information 

and the OHS management system in 

accordance with Part 2, Division 2, OH and 

S Act 2000. Chemical inspections for all 

sites were undertaken and a review of 

the chemical registers were completed to 

ensure that all chemicals were recorded and 

stored appropriately for all Council sites. All 

identified hazardous situations were rectified 

and reported to the committee and senior 

management and tracked by our pathway 

corrective action system. An electrical testing 

program at Council was again successfully 

undertaken across all work sites. This program 

is currently up to date and if hazardous 

situations are identified that are rectified, 

reported to the committee and senior 

management, and tracked by our corrective 

actions system. 

A health immunisation program for high 

risk staff has been in place at Council for 

some years. This year we provided influenza 

vaccination for our staff in our childcare 

centres and it is being considered if this 

program can be rolled out over other high risk 

areas in Council. 

A reported incident is an incident that has 

resulted in an injury/illness or an accident. 

This financial year there were 229 reported 

incidents, a decrease of four incidents over 

last year. Employees, contractors, labour hire 

and visitors are required by Council policy and 

legislation (Occupational Health and Safety 

Act 2000, Workers Compensation Act 1987 

and WorkCover Self Insurers Model) to report 

all incidents. Emergency Procedures for all 

sites have been completed except for Moore 

Street, Liverpool building which, at the time of 

writing this report, are under review. Our OHS 

policy can be found on page 129. 

For more information regarding our OHS 

programs please visit our website at 

www.liverpool.nsw.gov.au.

28 PART 1 / Financial 

Summary 

Financial 

Summary 

Council’s financial position as at 30 June 

2011 continues to demonstrate a sound 

and stable position. 

Snapshot 

$195.67 million operating 

budget $75.9 million capital 

expenditure 

Rates and Charges 

comprised $88.9 million 

(45.48%) of the total 

operating budget 

Operating Surplus 

$49.45 million 

Cash reserves increased 

by $9.13 million 

$19 million insurance receipt 

for Council’s Administration 

building destroyed in fire in 

August 2010. 

Income Statement 

The income statement shows how much 

Council earned or lost during the 2010- 

2011 financial year and is calculated using 

the following formula: 

Total revenue – total expenses = net result 

The operating surplus in 2010-2011 was 

$49.79 million. A positive net result does 

not necessarily mean there is a surplus 

of funds that can be used for Council 

operations or future capital expenditure. 

Some of the net result is made up of items 

representing funds which have been set 

aside for a specific purpose or “in kind” 

revenue. For example, during 2010-2011 

these included: 

• $19.92 million of land for roads 

dedicated by developers to Council 

and the value of these assets 

is included as revenue (they do 

not represent funds available for 

Council operations or future capital 

expenditure); and 

• $13.7 million cash contributed 

by developers to fund future 

infrastructure associated with new 

development (Council is restricted as 

to how it may use these funds). 

Sourcing 

our Revenue – 

where our 

money came 

from 

Council received revenue of $195.4 

million in revenue during 2010-11. 

The largest contributions to revenue 

were provided by general rates, 

capital grants and contributions 

and insurance receipt for Council’s 

Administration building. 

Identifying 

our expenses – 

where our 

money was spent 

The primary components of our 

$145 million expenditure are 

employee costs, depreciation, 

materials and contracts, depreciation 

expense and assets written off. 

Total gross expenditure increased 

by approximately 28 per cent over 

the previous year, driven principally 

by increased depreciation expense 

as a result of the revaluation of 

infrastructure assets at the end 

of 2010 financial year and assets 

destroyed in the fire at 1 Hoxton 

Park Road were written off. 


PART 1 / Financial 

Summary 

29 

Balance Sheet 

The balance sheet shows what we own 

(our assets) and what we owe (our 

liabilities) and our net worth. 

Assets – 

what we own 

The major components of our assets 

include: 

• property, plant and equipment 

(land, buildings, roads, stormwater 

drainage) 

• capital works in progress; and 

• cash assets 

Together these asset categories account 

for 98.2 per cent of all our assets. As at 30 

June 2011 Council held assets worth $1.8 

billion. 

Cash reserves 

Council’s cash holdings have increased 

by $9.13 million during 2010-2011 with 

an increase of $11.73 million in external 

restrictions mainly attributable to S94 

developer contributions. 

Capital expenditure 

The level of capital expenditure in 2010- 

2011 strived to deliver on the challenge of 

renewing community assets. $75.9 million 

dollars was spent on capital works and 

acquisitions during the year. This figure 

includes $19.1 million for the acquisition 

of the building at 33 Moore Street funded 

from insurance proceeds, $20.37 million 

for Land Under Roads dedicated to Council 

from developers at West Hoxton, Carnes 

Hill, Middleton Grange, Moorebank, 

Edmondson Park and Voyager Point, $1.9 

million for community land acquisition. To 

assist council in ensuring that adequate 

funding is available to address the backlog 

of works that are required, Council lodged 

an application for a special rate variation 

with the Minister for Local Government 

and was successful in receiving approval 

for an additional 9 per cent increase to 

notional income for a period of five years 

that commenced in 2009-2010. This 

increase provided an additional $5 million 

for capital works throughout the city. 

Reviewing our 

liabilities – 

what we owe 

Council’s liabilities include debt, amounts 

owed to suppliers and amounts owed to 

employees for leave entitlements. Our 

total liabilities of $76.06 million represent 

a decrease of 6.4 per cent from the 

previous year. 

Debt levels 

Council’s single largest liability is its 

debt as a result of its loan borrowing 

program; at 30 June 2011 this liability 

was $49.99 million including $10.25 

million interest free loan. Council did 

not borrow funds during the 2010-2011 

financial year to fund capital works. While 

the notion of being in debt has some 

negative connotations, borrowing to fund 

community infrastructure results in the 

cost being shared by the wider base of 

rate payers in the future. The cost is borne 

by those who will benefit from the use of 

the infrastructure in years to come. 

Council’s debt service ratio at around 

6.01 per cent is well below the industry 

benchmark of 10 per cent. Council’s 

repayments will remain constant until the 

end of 2012 when some of the older loans 

start to mature resulting in a reduced debt 

servicing costs and lower the debt service 

ratio. 

Conclusion 

Council is continuing to work to ensure it 

is in a strong financial position to provide 

for the present and future needs of our 

growing community. The keys to achieving 

this goal are long term planning. Council 

is finalising its Long Term Financial Plan 

and Asset Management Plan to assist in 

informing stakeholders what is required 

to ensure a financially sustainable position 

into the future. 


30 PART 1 / Governance 

Our Governance 

Governance is the system by which an 

organisation is controlled and operates, and 

the mechanisms by which it, and its people, 

are held to account. Ethics, risk management, 

legislative compliance and administration are 

all elements of governance. 

Governance is an aid to making the right 

decisions. Faced with a decision, all officers in 

an organisation must ask themselves: what 

would ordinary, right-thinking members of the 

community, knowing all relevant facts, believe 

to be an appropriate exercise of stewardship 

in these circumstances? 

It is here that we see the link between 

governance and trust, as decision-making 

within this context will encourage the trust of 

all stakeholders. 

Governance has four essential elements: 

Transparency 

Being clear and unambiguous about the organisation’s structure, 

operations and performance, both externally and internally, and 

maintaining a genuine dialogue with, and providing insight to, 

legitimate stakeholders as well as the market generally. 

Accountability 

Ensuring that there is clarity of decision-making within the 

organisation, with processes in place to ensure that the right 

people have the right authority for the organisation to make 

effective and efficient decisions, with appropriate consequences 

delivered for failures to follow those processes. 

Stewardship 

Developing and maintaining an enterprise wide recognition that 

the organisation is managed for the benefit of its community, 

taking reasonable account of the interests of other legitimate 

stakeholders. 

Integrity 

Developing and maintaining a corporate culture committed to 

ethical behaviour and compliance with the law. 


PART 1 / Governance 

31 

Our legislative 

framework 

Our commitment 

to ethical conduct 

Councils work within the laws established 

by the NSW Parliament. The Local 

Government Act 1993 (the Act) provides 

a legislative framework reflecting modern 

community expectations and gives 

councils broad powers to plan for and 

provide local community services and 

facilities. The Act is administered by the 

Minister for Local Government through the 

Division of Local Government. 

Liverpool City Council is committed to 

conducting its activities in a manner which 

is open and ethical. To support this, Council 

uses a range of approaches. All new staff 

attend compulsory training on Council’s 

Code of Conduct and its related polices, an 

Ethics and Audit Committee and a Fraud 

and Corruption Prevention Policy and Plan 

are also in place. 

As well as the Act there are a number of 

other laws which councils are responsible Code of conduct 

for implementing. For example, councils 

have responsibilities for animal control Liverpool City Council has in place a Code 

under both the Companion Animals Act of Conduct for Councillors and staff based Conflicts of 

1998 and the Impounding Act 1993; on the Model Code of Conduct issued by 

interest 

for building and development controls the Division of Local Government. It is 

under the Environmental Planning and framed around the principles of integrity, If the Mayor, a c ouncillor or staff member 

Assessment Act 1979; for environmental leadership, selflessness, accountability, has a personal interest in a matter to 

protection under the Protection of the openness, honesty and respect. The Code be considered by Council, the Local 

Environment Operations Act 1997; for was reviewed on 18 April 2011 followed Government Act 1993 requires that this 

the control of noxious weeds under the by an extensive training program for staff. must be disclosed before taking part 

Noxious Weeds Act 1993, and for the 

in consideration of the matter. These 

provision, maintenance and management Section 12.33 of the Code requires that interests can be pecuniary (financial) or 

of roads under the Roads Act 1993. the General Manager reports annually to non-pecuniary (generally arising from 

Council on the number of Code of Conduct family, or personal relationships, or 

Councils are both constrained and enabled complaints. During the financial year there involvement in sporting, social or other 

by this legislative framework. Although were three complaints lodged. 

cultural groups and associations). 

the Local Government Act 1993 provides 

councils with broad service powers, if a 

Pecuniary interests are regulated by 

council takes action or makes a decision 

Chapter 14, Part 2 of the Act which 

without the necessary legislative authority, 

requires that: 

it may be held by a court of law to be 

acting beyond its power. If a council’s 

• councillors and designated staff 

power is not exercised in the manner 

lodge an initial and an annual 

prescribed by Parliament, it may be 

written disclosure of interests that 

deemed not to have been exercised at all. 2 

could potentially be in conflict with 

their public or professional duties, 

and 

• councillors and members of council 

committees disclose an interest 

and the nature of that interest at a 

meeting, leave the meeting and be 

out of sight of the meeting and not 

participate in discussions or voting 

on the matter. 

Councillors and staff are expected to take 

necessary actions to avoid situations 

where a conflict of interest may occur. 

During 2010-2011 there were 11 

pecuniary interest and 18 non-pecuniary 

interests declared in relation to Council 

meetings. 

2 

Department of Local Government “Councillor Guide” 


32 PART 1 / Council Meetings 

Ethics and 

Audit Committee 

Council has had an Ethics Committee since 

September 1999, which later merged with 

this Audit Committee in October 2000 

to form the Ethics and Audit Committee. 

This committee operates under a charter 

adopted by Council; the membership and 

conduct if which is in accordance with 

specific guidelines developed by the 

Division of Local Government. 

The membership of the Committee at the 

end of the financial year consisted of Mr 

Michael Sewell (Independent Chairperson), 

Mr Nicholas Smolonogov (Independent), 

Ned Mannoun (Deputy Mayor), Councillor 

Jim McGoldrick and Councillor Hadchiti 

with Farooq Portelli (General Manager), 

Julie Hately (Director Corporate Services), 

Dennis Banicevic (PricewaterhouseCoopers 

as Council’s External Auditor) and Carmelo 

Villalobos (Internal Auditor) as observers. 

The Committee met four times during the 

year. 

Fraud and corruption 

prevention 

Council’s Fraud and Corruption Prevention 

Policy and Plan were adopted in 

November 2000 and most recently 

reviewed in March 2008. The plan was 

developed to document and assign 

responsibility for the implementation 

of strategies to detect and mitigate 

the opportunity for and incidence of 

unethical conduct. Council acknowledges 

that, despite these best intentions and 

measures, there can be no guarantee that 

unethical conduct will not occur. 

Public interest 

disclosures 

Members of the public and Council staff 

are encouraged to report unethical conduct 

by contacting Council’s Manager of 

Internal Audit on 9821 9589 or e-mailing 

miaudit@liverpool.sw.gov.au. The 

provisions of the Public Interest Disclosures 

Act 1994 mean members of the public 

and Council staff can report misconduct 

without fear of reprisal. 

Council meetings 

Councils are expected to meet at least 10 

times each year, each time in a different 

month. Our council meetings are held on 

Monday nights and commence at 7pm. 

The dates are set by Council resolution and 

advertised in advance in local papers and 

on Council’s website. 

Council meetings are open to all members 

of the public. However under the 

provisions of the Local Government Act 

1993, some sections of a meeting may 

be closed to discuss issues such as legal 

proceedings and commercial in confidence 

matters. 

All Council meeting agendas, reports 

and decisions recorded in the minutes 

are freely available to all members of 

the public at Level 2, 33 Moore Street, 

Liverpool or Liverpool City Library, 170 

George Street, Liverpool or via our website 

www.liverpool.nsw.gov.au. 

Fifteen Council meetings were held during 

the year at which a total of 494 matters 

were considered and 83 members of the 

community addressed the elected Council. 

Council 

committees 

Council has established a number of 

community advisory committees that 

provide advice to Council on a range of 

community matters. These committees are 

made up of community representatives, 

Council staff and at least one Councillor 

and meet on a regular basis in keeping 

with guidelines endorsed by Council. 

The committees in operation during the 

year were: 

• Aboriginal Consultative Committee 

• Casula Powerhouse Board of 

Management 

• City Centre Committee 

• Community and Recreation Panel 

• Environmental Advisory Committee 

• Ethics and Audit Committee 

• Floodplain Management Committee 

• Heritage Advisory Committee 

• Liverpool Access Committee 

• Liverpool City Bicentenary 2010 

Committee 

• Liverpool Sports Committee 

• Liverpool Youth Council 

• Street Naming Committee 

Council staff and Councillors were 

also involved in a number of external 

committees that deal with a range 

of issues that impact on our local 

government area. These committees meet 

regularly (either monthly, bi-monthly or 

quarterly) and are: 

• Westpool 

• Western Sydney Regional 

Organisation of Councils (WSROC) 

• Georges River Combined Councils 

Committee (GRCCC) 

• The South West Sydney Academy of 

Sport 

• Liverpool Migrant Resource 

Committee 

• Floodplain Management Authorities 


PART 1 / Governance 

33 


information 

1 July 2010 marked the implementation 

of what has been described as “the 

largest reform to access to Government 

Information in twenty years.” 1 July 2010 

was the commencement date of the 

Government Information (Public Access) 

Act 2009 and its regulations. This act 

replaced the Freedom of Information 

Act 1989 (in its entirety) together 

with Sections 12 and 13 of the Local 

Government Act 1993. 

In this, the first reporting year, Council has 

invested significant time and resources 

into ensuring that it operates within the 

ideology of the new access to information 

scheme. Prior to the commencement of 

the Act on 1 July 2010: Council provided 

extensive internal training programs to 

ensure that all Council officers were aware 

of, and understood their responsibilities 

regarding, the new scheme. This training 

continued during the reporting year. 

Council officers from varied departments 

across Council, attended educational and 

awareness programs (such as the Office 

of the Information Commissioner (OIC) 

Right to Information Roadshow). This 

continued during the reporting year. 

Council adopted a Publication Guide 

and lodged it in December 2010 (i.e. in 

compliance with the mandatory timeframe 

in Section 21 of the Act.) Regarding it, the 

Office of the Information Commissioner 

specifically sought Council’s consent to 

(in their words)”use your wonderfully 

prepared publication guide as a model 

for other councils”. Council’s Customer 

Liaison Officers have received training on 

the receiving and recording of informal 

requests for information and do this on a 

daily basis. 

During the reporting year Council created 

a permanent full time position, Access 

to Information Officer. The principal 

functions and responsibilities of this role 

involve administering Council’s obligations 

under the new scheme. Recruitment 

for the role has been finalised and an 

internal applicant with ten years customer 

service experience (and an extensive 

understanding of Council’s broad range of 

functions and responsibilities) secured the 

role and has now settled into the position. 

Council’s Access to Information Officer 

receives extensive support and guidance. 

All formal access applications (and nonroutine 

requests) are determined by 

Council’s Legal Services Coordinator. 

During the reporting year Council 

processed 566 informal requests for 

information (compared to only nine formal 

access applications) with an average turn 

around time (including where information 

has been retrieved from archives) of four 

working days. 

Council’s proactive 

release program 

Council has an extensive proactive release 

program as required by Section 7 (3). 

Council’s webpage is comprehensive and 

contains extensive information about the 

functions and responsibilities of all areas 

within Council’s organisational structure. 

Council’s webpage has individual sections 

(such as “Public Notices”, “Latest News”, 

“What’s On” and “On Exhibition”) 

containing extensive information about 

current and topical issues. Council’s 

webpage also contains more than 70 of 

Council’s polices and procedures. 

However, understanding that not all of 

its residents and ratepayers have the 

capacity or desire to access information 

electronically, Council ensures that it 

administers its release program in an 

inclusive manner by doing things such as: 

• ensuring that all information can be 

accessed in several ways (in person 

and the Administration Centre and 

libraries etc) and 

• providing an interpreter service. 

Council received nine access applications 

during the reporting year and Council 

refused one access application (in full) 

because the information applied for 

was contained in Schedule 1 of the Act 

(conclusive presumption of overriding 

public interest against disclosure.) 

Policies 

Clear policies and procedures are integral 

to the smooth and efficient running of an 

organisation. They provide a clear series 

of guidelines within which strategies 

can be framed and activities can take 

place. Policies help to provide employees 

with a series of normative and practical 

guidelines through which councils can be 

assessed and held accountable for their 

actions by their communities. They confer 

predictability on the activities of councils. 

Effective policies need to be regularly 

reviewed to ensure they reflect current 

information and requirements. Council 

recognises the importance of this and, in 

February 2004, adopted a protocol for the 

development of policies and procedures. 

This protocol was reviewed by Council 

in June 2010 to reinforce a clearer, more 

structured process in the development of 

policies and procedures, their approval and 

ongoing review. It also provided templates 

and forms to ensure consistency in form 

and content. 


34 PART 1 /Risk Management 

Risk management 

Council identifies and addresses risk based 

on risk assessments, risk registers, claim 

trends and emerging risk factors. Asset 

inspections are undertaken based on set 

criteria and time frames. Council manages 

known risk factors within allocated funding 

and available resources. Maintenance 

of roads and associated infrastructure is 

one of the many challenges with funding 

never meeting that required to maintain 

those assets. Council has as part of its Self 

Insurance Program a comprehensive Risk 

Assessment Program for OHS Risks. It has 

previously had an informal program for 

identifying other risks. It is in the process 

of implementing an Enterprise Risk 

Management Program which will provide 

a corporate risk register to map identified 

risks Council wide. 

Council has a critical incident response 

plan to respond to any major event or 

infrastructure loss to enable continuity in 

the provision of services to the community. 

This was unfortunately tested in 2010 

with Councils’ Administration Centre 

at 1 Hoxton Park Road Liverpool being 

destroyed by fire on 15 August 2010, the 

critical incident and business recovery 

processes worked well with Council 

reviewing its plans to reflect the lessons 

learnt from that recovery process. 

Key project delivered include: 

• Full implementation of Council 

Critical Incident and Business 

Continuity Plans subsequent to the 

2010 fire, with relocation to and 

subsequent purchase of 33 Moore 

Street, Liverpool 

• 183 public liability investigations 

were conducted 

• 45 risk assessments in public places 

were completed 

• A review of the Critical Incident 

Response Plan has been completed 

in draft form 

• New security systems installed for 

33 Moore Street, Liverpool 

• New security card and electronic 

key system introduced for Council 

Officers. 

Workers Compensation 

Liverpool City Council is a Self Insurer for 

workers compensation purposes, licensed 

to manage its own claims by WorkCover 

NSW under NSW legislation, Council has 

held this licence for 26 years. 

Workcover undertook a claims 

management audit in May 2010 and an 

OHS Systems Management audit in June 

2010. WorkCover found that Liverpool City 

Council was performing at a level better 

than the specified minimum performance 

level and will remain on a three yearly 

audit cycle. Council received 26 workers 

compensation claims from 1 July 2010 to 

30 June 2011 compared to 35 claims for 

the same period last year. 

Westpool – United 

Independent Pools 

Liverpool is a founding member of 

Westpool Group of Councils. This group 

was established to help stabilise 

insurance premium costs and has 

achieved significant cost savings and 

long term benefits for member councils 

through effective risk management. The 

organisation was established in 1988 by 

Liverpool, Fairfield, Blacktown, Penrith, 

Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains Councils. 

Parramatta joined in 2002, Wollongong 

in 2010 and Shellharbour in 2011. The 

nine member councils work together to 

manage their risk and secure all their 

required insurance cover. 

Westpool also works closely with 

Metropool which is made up of seven 

inner city councils to form the United 

Independent Pools (UIP) to combine the 

buying power and enhance the services 

to both pools, their member Council 

and communities. Council financial 

contributions to the pool are based on 

the relative size of each council and 

incorporate a proportion of underlying 

claims experience so as to reflect risk 

exposure. 

Westpool is owned, governed and 

administered by elected and appointed 

delegates from each member Council, 

with the assistance of professional staff 

and service providers. Types of insurances 

purchased by the councils of Westpool/ 

UIP include; public liability, professional 

liability, property, motor vehicle, 

councillors and officers, statutory liability, 

fidelity, artworks and transit, volunteers 

and other insurances. 


PART 1 / Communication 

35 

Consultation 

CommunicaTion 

Communication between Council and our 

community is of paramount importance 

in maintaining a relationship based on 

mutual trust. Council engages in a range 

of activities that help keep our community 

informed. Council information is published 

weekly in the Liverpool Leader and 

the South Western Rural Advertiser. 

Our website www.liverpool.nsw.gov. 

au contains comprehensive information 

regarding Council’s plans, policies and 

activities. We publish and mail a quarterly 

newsletter to all landowners and are also 

active within the community through 

a wide range of advisory committees, 

community forums and community groups 

that help us keep in touch with our 

residents. 

Council regularly undertakes customer 

satisfaction surveys to obtain feedback 

from the community on their perception 

of the Council’s delivery of community 

outcomes as well as the delivery of 

regular services. The most recent survey 

was conducted in February 2011. 

The Community Engagement Toolkit, 

a framework for public consultation 

activities, was adopted by Council in 

June 2006. The toolkit was developed to 

enable the Liverpool community to be 

more actively involved in Council decision 

making and activities and to provide a 

comprehensive and transparent approach 

to consultation. It assists Council staff in 

identifying and implementing a range of 

strategies to inform, consult and, where 

appropriate, to gain active participation 

from the community in Council projects 

and issues. It aims to improve Council 

processes so we can better engage with 

Liverpool’s stakeholders. 

Community Forums 

To help inform the community about what 

is happening within each local community 

and share information with other local 

residents and Council staff, Liverpool City 

Council supports three forums across the 

Liverpool area. Each forum meets monthly 

between February and November and 

covers the following suburbs; 

Rural Forum 

Austral, Badgerys Creek, Bringelly, 

Greendale, Rossmore, Wallacia, Kemps 

Creek and Luddenham. 

Eastern Forum 

Chipping Norton, Hammondville, 

Holsworthy, Moorebank, Pleasure Point, 

Voyager Point and Wattle Grove. 

Central Forum 

Ashcroft, Busby, Cartwright, Casula, 

Cecil Hills, Cecil Park, Denham Court, 

Edmondson Park. Green Valley, 

Heckenberg, Hinchinbrook, Hoxton Park, 

Ingleburn, Liverpool, Lurnea, Middleton 

Grange, Miller, Mount Pritchard, Prestons, 

Sadlier, Warwick Farm and West Hoxton. 

The format and operation of the 

community forums will be reviewed in 

2011-2012 


36 

PART 1 / Donations and 

Sponsorship 

Community donations 

and sponsorship 

Assistance to the following recipients was provided in accordance with Section 356 of 

the Local Government Act 1993: 

Community donations 

Liverpool Districts Neighbourhood Centres Association $6,378 

City of Liverpool Meals on Wheels $3,000 

Kari Aboriginal Resources $5,000 

Liverpool District Combined Senior Citizen’s Progress Association $5,040 

Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors $5,000 

Liverpool City Brass Band $2,500 

Liverpool Migrant Resource Centre $30,000 

The Junction Works Ltd, Wattle Grove Neighbourhood Centre $1,398 

Total: $58,316 

Youth donations 

Natasha Lay – International UN Youth Conference on Climate Change $500 

Total: $500 

School donations 

John Edmondson High School $100 

Lurnea High School $100 

Lawrence Hargrave SSP $100 

James Busby High School $100 

William Carey Christian School $100 

Hoxton Park High School $100 

Ashcroft High School $100 

Moorebank High School $100 

Miller Technology High School $100 

Christadelphian Heritage College Sydney $100 

All Saints Catholic Girls College $100 

Bellfield College $100 

Thomas Hassall Anglican College $100 

St Mark’s Coptic Orthodox College $100 

All Saints Catholic Senior College $100 

Total: $1,500 

Sports donations 

Total: $4,000 

Corporate Sponsorship 

Liverpool City BMX Club $5,000 

Southern Districts Soccer Football Association Inc. $5,000 

Precedent Productions $2,500 

TAFE NSW South Western Institute $2,000 

Vedic Festival Inc $2,000 

Combined Missions Inc $2,000 

Police Officer of the year $1,000 

Total: $19,500 

Donations Annual Total: $83,816 


PART 1 / Promoting 

Services 

37 

How we promote our services and 

access to services to residents 

A diverse range of activities and events were undertaken by Council during the 

year to promote access and equity for residents, including those from a Culturally 

and Linguistically Diverse background (CALD). This is consistent with the principle of 

supporting diversity in the Liverpool Local Government Area and assists in meeting the 

needs of the community. 

Council continued to employ a full-time Community Development Worker (CALD) to work 

across Council and with the community on issues affecting people from culturally and 

linguistically diverse backgrounds. 

Local Equity and Access Policy Statement (LEAPS) initiatives were undertaken. These 

included quarterly meetings of the LEAPS Taskforce, the monitoring, reporting on and 

review of Council’s LEAPS Multicultural Plan 2010-2014 and Action Plan 2010-2011 and 

the development of the Action Plan 2011-2012. 

Council continued to resource and support the Liverpool Refugee and Migrant 

Interagency and e-group, as well as the Liverpool Migrant Resource Centre Management 

Committee. 

Council included CALD demographics and information in key planning documents such 

as the LEAPS Multicultural Plan 2010-2014, Community Safety and Crime Prevention Plan 

2009-2012 and a number of plans of management. 

Council consulted with CALD communities on the development of Growing Liverpool 

2021: (Community Strategic Plan), the LEAPS Multicultural Plan 2010-2014, cultural and 

community events and environmental programs and initiatives. 

Council staff continued to be supported in their work at Council through cultural 

awareness training in the EEO program, maintaining a resource pool, including 

statistical information and ethnic media contacts, maintaining the training resources for 

organisations to download, collecting EEO data from new employees to identify diversity 

trends and issues, sharing information about the Translating and Interpreting Service 

(TIS) and Council’s Language Aide Program during staff induction processes and Customer 

Service Strategy training. 

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre presented an innovative approach to creative practices 

and cross cultural engagement, inclusive of people of all cultures. Casula Powerhouse 

Arts Centre initiated and developed creative content to inspire and open spaces for 

cultural dialogue through the presentation of critically rigorous cross art form, visual and 

performing arts programs. 

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre sought to increase cultural capacity, participation and 

enjoyment through a focused program that reflects and includes the very diverse 

interests, needs and issues of the area. The five underlying principles of the Casula 

Powerhouse Arts Centre programming are: 

• The continuation and development of partnerships with local artists, writers, 

academics and the various community groups; which include, Aboriginal and Torres 

Strait Islander (ATSI) and CALD communities, youth and children, residents, people 

with disabilities, non-government organisations, education institutions, regional 

and national networks. 

• A continuous expansion on programs to allow for new cultural outcomes to be 

informed from a wide spectrum of social, cultural and creative practices. 

• The support and nurturing of local artistic practice as part of the growth of the 

Western Sydney creative industry. 

• The integration of exhibition and presentation planning, public events and 

education programming in consultation with a range of stakeholders and partners 

to inform future relevance and direction. 

• The delivery of a multidisciplinary program that encompasses a variety of art 

productions and public outcomes in line with our commitment to inspire, engage 

and stimulate local, regional and national audiences. 

Made on the Kitchen Table project was a 

major activity for Casula Powerhouse Arts 

Centre in 2010-11. Its goal was to provide 

cultural workshops for isolated Koori 

women and aimed to bring Koori women 

together who wish to explore sustainable 

cultural and economic opportunities 

through arts and craft activities. The 

project aimed to provide a safe and 

nurturing environment to exchange 

cultural and emotional wellbeing for its 

participants while developing partnerships 

between South West Sydney Koori 

women’s service providers. The workshops 

utilised various art and craft mediums, 

styles and expertise to undertake and 

deliver an intensive skills and capacity 

building project for its participants. The 

project culminated in the development of 

a Koori Women’s Arts Co-operative and 

a major exhibition at Casula Powerhouse 

Arts Centre. This project was funded 

by Department of Community Services 

(WSAAS). 

The Australian Muslim Women’s Arts 

Project a national arts engagement, was 

funded by the Human Rights Commission 

and Australia Council for the Arts. The 

project commenced in June 2010 and will 

continue throughout 2011 and 2012. The 

project targeted Muslim women artists, 

artisans, curators, writers and cultural 

producers from around Australia to create 

artwork with their communities. The 

process for working with the selected 

Muslim women (of various cultural 

backgrounds) is through laboratories 

and workshops over an eighteen month 

period. The project is supported by 

specialist facilitators, curators and artists to 

develop and work towards a major Casula 

Powerhouse Arts Centre exhibition in May 

2012. 

The partnership between Pacific 

communities, Casula Powerhouse Arts 

Centre and stakeholders continued to 

develop in 2011. The partnership aims 

to encourage Australian Pacific Islander 

artistic creation and innovation in the 

areas of traditional and contemporary art 

making which will span genres, mediums 

and practices. This partnership project 

will include; a visual arts exhibition, 

performance, food and market festival, 

NRL players making creative content, 

NRL community engagement with Pacific 

Islander communities and other CALD 

communities and an education and public 

program that will be continue throughout 

the duration of the project. 


38 


Services 

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre 2010-11 Community Cultural Engagement projects and 

partnerships included the following: 

• Liverpool Migrant Resource Centre ongoing collaborations including various ethno 

and community projects, workshops and events such as CALD artist talks, CALD 

service forums, multicultural play groups, CALD children’s art activities and cultural 

celebrations. 

• Memory Bank digital media cultural institution whose fundamental purpose is 

to capture knowledge and memories from local ageing pioneering residents, 

before it is lost. Through extensive oral history and photography with residents, 

Memory Bank presents the real story of migration and our ageing pioneers who 

built and fed the nation from Western Sydney. Currently, the South West Sydney 

region provides the nation with a snapshot of migration history and these stories 

will be presented at Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre in the form of exhibitions, 

performance, lectures and film. 

• The 2011 Sydney Latin American Film Festival which aims to inspire, educate and 

entertain audiences with feature films, documentaries and shorts from and about 

the Latin American region, while raising funds and awareness for a number of vital 

community projects through their Community Support Program. 

• Pinchpot, clay house workshops delivered regular weekly classes for disabled 

participants. 

• Tree of Life worked with young refugees from South West Sydney to tell their 

stories in an interactive performance theater piece. 

• Koori Aboriginal Resources Incorporated (KARI), as part of their Cultural Enrichment 

Program, continued to present the VIP (Voice Identification Program) at Casula 

Powerhouse Arts Centre. KARI’s Cultural Enrichment Programs infuse the community 

with Indigenous culture and history and are an important tool for promoting 

community and cultural pride and connectedness and harmony of all Indigenous 

young people. 

All areas of Casula Powerhouse Arts 

Centre are wheelchair accessible. Casula 

Powerhouse is often frequented by 

disability groups and organisations. Aside 

from offering access tours in Auslan, 

audio-description, and for visitors with 

intellectual disabilities, the Powerhouse 

has also been expanding its Access 

Program. This program, to be launched in 

2012, will provide digital Access programs 

and art classes for people with intellectual 

disabilities. 

Council’s Library Service continued to 



Services 

39 

deliver a variety of programs and initiatives for residents from culturally and linguistically 

diverse communities. These included 

• Maintaining the West South West Community Language Collection co-operative, 

which is a rotating collection of Arabic, Chinese, and Vietnamese items circulating 

across five local government areas in Sydney 

• Increasing the number of books and DVDs in Arabic, Chinese, Serbian, Hindi and 

Vietnamese and Spanish languages by more than 2,000 items 

• Purchasing new books and resources in various community languages including 

Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Spanish, Polish, Hindi, and 

French 

• Increasing a collection of African DVDs; organising book and DVD selection for five 

community groups: Arabic, Chinese, Hindi Serbian/Croatian and Spanish. 

• Delivering English Conversation Classes in three levels on weekly basis, attended 

by approximately 1,433 people 

• Implementing the EasyReads program attended by 343 people 

• Holding a new computer class for seniors from diverse cultural backgrounds that 

was attended by approximately 592 people. 

Council’s Sustainable Environment Team delivered various initiatives, including translated 

information at the Chemical Cleanup Day, worm farming and composting workshops and 

translated the new Waste Services flyer in community languages. 

Discovery Tours of Liverpool and Library Tours for newly arrived CALD residents were 

continued. In 2010-2011 Council delivered four tours for newly arrived community groups 

including students at Miller High School Intensive English Centre, Mandaean Women’s 

Group and students from Liverpool Library English Conversation Class. A total of 43 

people participated 

Council continued the implementation of the Language Aide Program with 20 Language 

Aide staff assisting local residents in 13 community languages. 

Council coordinated the 2011 Refugee Week and Harmony Day events in partnership 

with local government and non-government organisations. The Refugee Week Street 

Festival was attended by approximately 1,000 people including local members 

of parliament, representatives from various government and non-government 

organisations, community groups and residents. The event featured multicultural 

performances, a community art project, drumming workshop and children’s activities. It 

also included the Annual Liverpool Refugee Week Award Ceremony recognising four local 

residents from refugee backgrounds for their outstanding achievements and contribution 

to the Liverpool community. As part of Refugee Week celebrations a Refugee Forum 

was held to promote dialogue between service providers and the community on ways 

to increase service delivery provisions for 

CALD communities in Liverpool. 

A community event was held in March 

to celebrate National Harmony Day in 

Liverpool and to promote cultural diversity 

and harmony. The event included cultural 

performances and fun family activities. 

Following on from the previous year, 

the ‘Liverpool Declaration on Cultural 

Harmony’ was promoted and local 

government, non-government agencies 

and residents were invited to sign the 

declaration on the day. 

Liverpool residents from CALD backgrounds 

continued to participate in advisory bodies 

and were involved in various Council 

Committees including the Youth Council, 

Community and Recreation Panel and 

the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre and 

Regional Museum Board of Management. 

Council utilised ethnic media to promote 

various Council activities, such as Refugee 

Week, Harmony Day and the Child 

Restraint Safety Checks. 

Council’s Leisure Centres continued to 

provide programs that allow for culturally 

appropriate activities, such as Fitness and 

Learn to Swim programs, and developed 

translated fact sheets. 

In addition to translations, Council’s 

website is now powered by Google 

Translate which provides content 

translation in up to 56 languages. 


40 PART 1 / Caring for 

Children 

Caring for our 

children 

Council operated six long day care centres 

and one pre-school during the past twelve 

months. During the year, these centres 

provided care for 860 children from 824 

families. 

Children’s Services organised a range of 

community activities, including a transition 

to school information evening to educate 

and support families, and working in 

partnership with local playgroups to 

develop service links for families within 

Liverpool. Promotional activities, such 

as letter box drops, were undertaken in 

October to better promote local services 

to the community. Staff also maintained a 

presence within local shopping centres. 

During the past year it was identified 

that the community had a need for a 

government funded preschool in the 

Hinchinbrook area which resulted in a 

partnership being developed the Preschool 

Growth program. This has supported the 

establishment of a new local preschool as 

part of the Hinchinbrook Child Care Centre. 

Council actively worked with government 

and non-government agencies in South 

West Sydney to improve programs 

for children aged 9 - 12 years. Staff 

participated in the Liverpool Family and 

Children Services Interagency and worked 

alongside the Fairfield and Bankstown 

Family and Children Services Interagencies 

to deliver a forum aimed at improving 

the social and emotional development 

outcomes of children in the Liverpool area. 

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre developed 

targeted programming as well as ongoing 

provision of facilities for families and 

children. The Kid’s Studio was open 10am– 

5pm every day and provided a space with 

art and craft materials, free of charge, for 

the community to use at their leisure. This 

space was often used by families and preschool 

groups. 

In terms of workshops (ticketed and 

free), Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre 

provided after school ceramic workshops 

through the Clayhouse as well as school 

holiday workshops in a variety of visual 

arts, writing and performance disciplines. 

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre also had 

a dedicated gallery space for kids aged 

under-12. This exhibition space provided 

exhibition programming where children 

could engage with works produced by 

their peers. Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre 

also ran an array of family oriented events 

including weekend exhibition launches, 

performances and festivals. 

The total number of school students at 

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre programs 

from January to June 2011 was 934. 


PART 1 / Planning for 

the future 

41 

Planning 

for our 

future 

Community Strategic 

Plan 10 year 

The Planning and 

Reporting Guidelines for 

Local Government issued 

by the State Government 

known as the integrated 

planning framework 

require that the Council 

produce an integrated 

set of documents. 

Delivery Program 

4 years 

operational plan 

1 year 

annual report 

resourcing 

strategy 

perpetual 

monitoring 

and 

review 

framework 

These are as follows: 

• A Community 

Strategic Plan 

(covering a 10 year period) 

• A 4 year 

Delivery Program 

• A 1 year 

Operational Plan 

• A detailed 

Resourcing Strategy 


42 PART 1 / Planning for the 

future 

Growing 

Liverpool 2021, 

the community 

strategic plan 

for the City 

of Liverpool 

Growing Liverpool 2021, the community 

strategic plan for the Liverpool Local 

Government Area outlines what the 

people of Liverpool have said is important 

for their area. It is a plan for the whole 

city, not just the Council. Council is a leader 

and custodian of the plan and is one of 

the parties responsible for its delivery. 

Strategic directions for Liverpool were 

initially identified in a plan called Liverpool 

Directions which was developed from 

2004 to 2006. Liverpool Directions served 

as a starting point for this document and 

was updated on the basis of a recent 

community engagement program. 

Growing Liverpool 2021 is the Council’s 

highest level plan. It identifies the 

community’s key objectives for the 

area as collected from our community 

engagement processes. It also includes 

strategies on how to achieve those 

objectives. To put it simply, it is a broad 

look at where we want to go and how to 

get there. The plan is aimed at addressing 

the key challenges that Liverpool 

faces as well as addressing its unique 

characteristics during the next 10 years. 

2011-15 Delivery 

Program 

and 2010-11 

Operational Plan 

Liverpool’s Delivery Program and 

Operational Plan follow on from, and are 

closely aligned with Growing Liverpool 

2021 which is our Community Strategic 

Plan. The strategies listed in Growing 

Liverpool 2021 set the framework for the 

development of our Delivery Program and 

Operational Plan. As a community plan 

Growing Liverpool 2021 will involve State 

and Federal agencies in delivery as well 

as elements of the community itself. The 

Delivery Program and Operational Plan 

outline Council’s role in delivery. 

The Delivery Program runs for a period 

of four years and details the principal 

activities that will deliver on the Growing 

Liverpool 2021 strategies. Where 

appropriate each principal activity has 

a corresponding detailed activity for 

the 2011-12 year. This is our annual 

Operational Plan. For simplicity our 

Delivery Program and Operational Plan are 

presented as a single document. 

Resourcing 

Strategy 

The Resourcing Strategy projects the 

resources needed to achieve the 

objectives in Growing Liverpool 2021 

that are the role of Council. It is made 

up of a Long Term Financial Plan, an 

Asset Management Plan and a Workforce 

Management Plan. These both inform and 

are informed by the Growing Liverpool 

2021 and the Delivery Program and 

Operational Plan. 

Our funds – the long 

term financial plan 

The Long Term Financial Plan is an 

important part of Council’s strategic 

planning process. This is the point 

where long term community aspirations 

and goals are tested against financial 

realities. The Long Term Financial Plan 

contains a set of financial projections and 

assumptions covering a period of 10 years. 

The assumptions and projections are 

based on current operational issues, future 

service demands and infrastructure needs 

as expected by the community. 

Our assets – the asset 

management plan 

Liverpool Council’s infrastructure assets 

represent a significant investment that has 

been built up progressively over a long 

time. These assets are used to provide 

a range of services that improve social, 

environmental and economic outcomes for 

the community of Liverpool. The level of 

service delivered by these assets is largely 

determined by the manner in which 

they are maintained and managed. The 

complete Asset Management Plan includes 

an Asset Management Policy, Strategy, 

a consolidated Asset Management Plan 

and individual plans relating to each asset 

class, being roads and transport, drainage 

and floodplain, buildings, and parks and 

open space. The Resourcing Strategy 

Summary provides an overview of the 

Asset Management Plan. 

Our people – 

the workforce 

management plan 

Workforce planning is an important 

management tool. It assists to plan for 

and predict workforce needs to ensure 

Council has the capacity to lead and 

provide services to the community. It 

prepares Council to manage generational 

change taking place in the workforce in 

coming decades, labour market supply 

and demand factors, work and family 

considerations, and equity and diversity 

issues. The Workforce Management Plan 

describes the makeup of the current 

workforce, outline workforce needs and 

priorities, and summarise Council’s key 

directions for strengthening and managing 

its workforce. 

Measuring 

our progress 

Progress on Growing Liverpool 2021 will 

be reported to Council at the last Council 

meeting before the 2012 election and 

thereafter every four years. It will be first 

reviewed by June 2013 and thereafter 

every four years. Progress on the Delivery 

Program and Operational Plan will be 

reported on quarterly. Initially the Delivery 

Program will be reviewed annually 

along with the development of a new 

Operational Plan. 


PART 1 / Sustainability 

43 

sustainability 

Integrating sustainability 

into our planning 

Following work undertaken in the 

last few years to prepare a corporate 

environmental sustainability framework, 

Liverpool has continued its sustainability 

journey by participation in the ICLEI 

Sustainability Services triple bottom line 

governance project (ICLEI was formerly 

known as the International Council for 

Local Environmental Initiatives). Work 

on the project has allowed development 

of a practical way forward tailored to 

Liverpool’s circumstances as well as to the 

proposed integrated planning system of 

the State Government. 

Practical actions that the Council can 

now take to move further along the 

sustainability journey are the adoption 

of a definition of sustainability and 

accompanying sustainability principles and 

indicators. 


44 PART 1 / Sustainability 

Definitions of sustainability or sustainable 

development abound with at least as 

many definitions as there are councils. 

What is important is that a council 

has a definition that is meaningful to 

its community. To this end Liverpool 

City Council has drafted the following 

definition: 

Sustainability means 

a change in approach 

to civic leadership and 

decision making whereby 

environmental, economic 

and social-cultural 

considerations are equally 

embraced for the well 

being of present and 

future generations. 

This definition reflects both a triple bottom 

line and quadruple bottom line in that 

“governance”, the fourth bottom line 

in the State Government’s integrated 

planning model, is covered by the opening 

words in the definition involving civic 

leadership and decision making. Similarly, 

the expanded words social and cultural 

may still be seen as the single social 

bottom line. 

The definition only provides a minor 

clarification on what the Council means 

by sustainability. Further explanation 

is provided by a set of sustainability 

principles that form the basis of the 

Community Strategic Plan as required 

under the integrated planning system. 

These principles are explained below. 

Sustainability 

principles 

Create a long term vision 

of a sustainable city that 

reflects community values 

to guide decision making 

by the Council and the 

community 

A shared vision or shared aspirations are 

needed to guide the journey towards 

sustainability. In essence this is a 

translation of our currently held values 

into a future picture. Liverpool has already 

made a step forward in creating this 

vision in the form of Liverpool Directions 

which includes a theme on sustainability. 

Other themes have sustainability concepts 

in them also. The key element of this 

principle is that the vision guides decision 

making by the Council and within the 

community. 

Take a systems approach 

to decision making that 

takes account of the 

Quadruple Bottom Line 

This means using the four bottom lines of 

environment, social (including cultural), 

economic and governance as perspectives 

to view the ramifications of our actions 

and decisions. The concept suggests that 

all four bottom lines receive attention, 

if not equal attention, when considering 

the ramifications of a decision. In doing 

this we are also recognising that the 

bottom lines represent interconnected 

systems and that all decisions will have 

implications in all four systems whether or 

not explicitly considered. 

Foster community 

participation in 

decision making and 

implementation and 

develop collaborative 

networks with and within 

the community 

Governance is part of the quadruple 

bottom line. From a sustainability 

perspective, improving governance 

is about improving the community’s 

engagement with the Council. This 

recognises that many of the changes 

needed for sustainability will need to 

happen within the community and can 

only be achieved with its commitment and 

involvement. Most will also require some 

collective action that will only come from 

improved networks and social cohesion. 

Recognise and build on 

the cultural, historic and 

natural characteristics of 

the city 

Social cohesion and social sustainability 

come from a having a strong sense 

of place. The community’s values and 

aspirations come from our history 

and culture. Cohesion does not mean 

uniformity but instead embracing diversity. 

On the natural side, Liverpool is a City 

built on the floodplains of two large 

river systems, the Georges and Nepean 

Rivers, their creeks and other tributaries. 

The health of these river systems is 

socially important. Liverpool also has a 

long history of Aboriginal occupation and 

European settlement as well as recent 

waves of immigration covering a wide 

diversity of ethnic groups. Collectively 

these attributes create Liverpool’s unique 

identity. 



45 

Recognise the value of 

our natural ecosystems 

to our well being and 

protect and restore them 

It is easy to take the natural environment 

for granted, yet our long term physical 

and emotional health relies on residing 

within healthy and fully functional natural 

ecosystems. Natural ecosystems are the 

basis for all life. All urban systems rely 

heavily on natural ecosystems that go well 

beyond their administrative borders. We 

must protect and restore those ecosystems 

directly within our influence if we are to 

protect our well being. 

Achieve long term 

economic and social 

security 

The emphasis here is on the long term. 

Long term economic security for example 

relies on the long term renewal of the 

natural assets on which it is based as 

well as the long term health of society. 

Another common way of looking at this is 

to think of this as the preservation of our 

natural and social capital. The financial 

sustainability of Council is a necessary 

part of economic and social security of the 

community. 

Reduce the ecological 

footprint of our 

community 

The ecological footprint is both a metaphor 

and a technical calculation. The footprint 

is a measure of how lightly or heavily we 

tread upon the earth. Technically it is the 

area of land that is needed to support our 

City in terms of both our inputs (resources 

used) and outputs (our waste). An 

ecological footprint can show the amount 

of land required to support the lifestyle of 

an individual, region, community, nation 

or an industry. The ecological footprint of 

an average consumer in a country such 

as Australia is about four times that of 

an average consumer in the developing 

world. Our average size footprint is 10 

hectares. The average for all people on 

the planet now is about 2.5 hectares. Our 

footprint is not an easy thing to measure 

or monitor or compare. On the other hand, 

it is often easy to identify steps or actions 

that will reduce our footprint and respond 

accordingly. 




indicators 

Corporate sustainability 

indicators 

There is a wide range of sustainability 

indicators in use in local government. 

These cover corporate sustainability 

indicators as well as ‘community’ or 

‘state of the city’ type indicators. In 

general, Councils appear to have selected 

indicators in a variety of ways from a 

variety of sources. Taking this experience 

into account along with the primary 

consideration that data for the indicators 

is obtainable within a reasonable time 

frame and at low cost, has led to the 

consideration of the following indicators. 

Although all the indicators will be reported 

on annually, some are based on annual 

data as indicated, while others rely on 

data available on a more limited basis 

such as the Census which is taken every 

five years. 

These indicators were adopted by Council 

on 29 June 2009 as part of the 2009-10 

Management Plan. This year is the second 

year of reporting. 


Indicator 2009-10 2010-11 

Total annual water consumption 

by source (Kilolitres). Initially only 

potable water purchases will be 

204,470 Kilolitres 127,685 gigajoules 

reported. 

Total annual energy consumption 

by energy source (Gigajoules). To 

be based on electricity, gas and 

fuel consumption only. 

27,685 gigajoules 11,573 gigajoules 

Total annual waste (Tonnes) 

collected disaggregated by type. 

Total waste diverted from landfill 

(Tonnes). 

Overall resident satisfaction with 

the performance of Council. 

3,115.89 m3 Data not available 

302.69m3 or 9.7% Data not available 

62% satisfied 

27% neutral 

11% dissatisfied 

62% satisfied 

27% neutral 

13% dissatisfied 

Total workforce at June 30. 614 people (FTE) 613 people (FTE) 

Total annual rate of turnover. 12% 11% 

Average hours of training per 

employee per year. 

Unrestricted ratio of current assets 

to liabilities. 

10.74 hours 9.77 hours 

1.70:1 1.81: 1 

economic 

Debt service ratio. 7.04% 6.01% 

Rate coverage ratio. 46.86% 45.54% 

Rates outstanding ratio. 5.06% 5.54% 



47 


Total annual water consumption by source (Megalitres). 

Initially only potable water purchases will be reported 

18,048,654,000 litres 17,355,303 litres 

Level of resident satisfaction that river and creeks are healthy. 

80% 

Source: Micromex Community 

Satisfaction Survey 2010 

80% 




Total annual waste (Tonnes) collected disaggregated by type. 

Total 69,101t 

Residual Waste 

(Red Bin) 38,687t 

Recycling 

(Yellow Bin) 16,310t 

Organic Waste 

(Green Bin) 14,104t 

Total 71,138t 

38,914 

16,387 

15,836 

Total annual waste (Tonnes) diverted from landfill. 46, 781t (67.7%) 52, 907t (69%) 

Cumulative area of land restored and maintained as native plant 

ecosystems by the Council. 

526,408 m2 632,272 m2 

Level of resident satisfaction with their access to the services they need. 

Annual rate of volunteering with Council- proportion of volunteers to adult 

population. 

Ratio of applications for advertised Council committee positions to 

positions. 

79% 



9.5% of people 

aged 15 yrs and 

over participated in 

voluntary work 

Source: ABS Census 2006 

2.3 applications per 

position 

83% 



Same as 

previous year 

2.6 applications 

per position 

social 

Annual use of translation services as a proportion of total customer 

contacts. 

270/237,200 483/199,400 

Annual use of language aides proportion of total customer contacts. 270/237,200 150/199,400 

Proportion of residents who feel safe using their local park. 53% 

Not surveyed 

this year 

Rate (per 1000) of non-domestic assaults committed in Liverpool 

Proportion of people who participate in physical activity. 

Rate per 1,000 

population - 4.642 

(2009) Source: NSW BOCSAR 

47.2% 

Source: Liverpool Health Profile 

May 2010 extracted from NSW 

Population Health Survey 2005 

– 2006 Report on Adult Health, 

Liverpool Division of General 

Practice 

Rate per 1,000 

population - 4.8 

51.3% 

Source: New South Wales 

Population Health Survey 

2009 (Summary Report on 

Adult Health) 

Number of bus stop shelters installed per year. 1 10 

Level of resident satisfaction with access to the public transport they 

require. 

86% 



8o% 






Proportion of residents who have a high quality park within 1km walk of 

their property. 

55% 



Not surveyed 

this year 

social 

Proportion of residents satisfied with the level of access to the community 

facilities they require. 

84% 


Satisfaction Survey 2010. 

87% 



Increase in the number of local residents working within Liverpool. 

28.1% (2006) 

Source: Liverpool Community 

Profile 

Same as 

previous year 

Growth in office and commercial space in the City Centre 

Data not 

yet available 

Data not 

yet available 

Labour force participation rate. 

83,565 

Source: Small Area Labour Market 

Data report March 2010 

84,674 

Source: Small Area Labour 

Market Data report March 

2011 

economic 

Proportion of people receiving government benefits. 

11.7%(19,310) 

June 2010 

Source: Centrelink Administrative 

Data 

10.5% (19,393) 

Source: Centrelink 

Administrative Data March 

2011, based on estimated 

resident population of 

185,481 in June 2010 (ABS) 

Employment rate. 

Unemployment rate – 

7% as of March 2010 

Source: Small Area Labour Market 

data report 

Unemployment rate – 

6% as of March 2011 

Source: Small Area Labour 

Market Data report 

School retention rates - People attending school as proportion of under 18s 

and proportion of 15-19s that did not complete year 12 

65.1% in 2006 

Source: Department of Education 

and Training 

58,486 (35.5%) did 

not complete year 12 

(2006) 

Source: Liverpool Community 

Same as 

previous year 

Proportion of young people participating in post school education - 15-24s 

attending as a proportion of 15-24s. 

20.5% 

Source: ABS Census 2006 

Same as 

previous year 


Part 2: 

Our 

PERFORMANCE 


50 PART 12 / Name Management of SectionPlan 

2010-2011 

management 

plan 


PART 2 / Management Plan 

51 

Our Management 

Plan 

The Management Plan is the primary 

document by which Council communicates 

to the community its future plans and 

finances. It sets out what Council proposes 

to achieve over the coming four years, 

more specifically the tasks and projects to 

be achieved and services to be delivered 

over the coming year and the means by 

which these will be funded. It has been 

designed to meet the requirements set 

out in the Local Government Act and will 

provide the basis for Council’s annual 

report. The Planning and Reporting 

Guidelines for Local Government issued 

by the State Government are known as 

the integrated planning and reporting 

framework means that 2010-2011 is the 

last year council will operate under the 

management plan system. 

It is made up of three key components: 

the Corporate Plan, the Budget (including 

the Capital Works Program) and Revenue 

Pricing Policy (presented in a separate 

volume). The Corporate Plan summarises 

the key activities and services that will be 

undertaken during 2010-2011, the Budget 

shows how these activities, services and 

capital works will be funded and the 

Revenue Pricing Policy explains the basis 

on which particular fees and charges are 

levied. 

Council’s corporate planning process is 

designed so that Liverpool Directions is 

kept at the forefront of management 

decisions through the strategies by which 

the long term outcomes are to be pursued. 

Liverpool Directions, the community’s 

long-term vision for the future, was 

the starting point for our planning for 

Liverpool’s future. The community views 

in Liverpool Directions were gathered from 

the involvement of over 1,700 Liverpool 

residents, students and workers during 

late 2004 to mid 2006. 

The outcomes contained in Liverpool 

Directions describe how the community 

would like to see Liverpool in 2016. In 

working towards this vision, Council has 

a key role to play but it does not have 

sole responsibility. The responsibility 

for delivering these outcomes is shared 

between Council, the NSW State 

Government and the Federal Government 

as well as local community groups and 

service providers. It is only through 

ongoing partnerships that these long term 

goals will be achieved. 

We have taken care to ensure that ‘line of 

sight’ exists from this long-term strategic 

vision of Liverpool Directions, through the 

planning and budgeting process to the 

management plan down to the individual 

business plans and tasks of staff. The 

corporate plan and budget both have midterm 

commitments of three to four years 

as well as annual commitments. All of 

these are reviewed annually. 

The management plan is divided into the 

following themes: 

• The regional city for South West 

Sydney 

• Neighbourhoods and villages 

• The land between two rivers where 

city and country meet 

• A place for people 

• Communities and governments 

working together 

• Sustainability 

• Improved organisational 

management and development. 

Each theme is divided into outcomes, 

strategies and actions. 

Outcomes: 

The community’s 

aspirations for the 

long-term 

These are the outcomes toward which 

Council is working over the next 10 

years, and are derived from extensive 

community consultation conducted by 

Council between 2004 and 2006, as 

part of the Partnership Project which 

resulted in the establishment of Liverpool 

Directions. These outcomes are grouped 

under seven themes. 

Strategies: 

How Council will 

achieve these outcomes 

These are the strategies or approaches 

Council will implement to achieve the 

outcomes that are the responsibility of 

Council. They generally cover a four-year 

time period and are subject to review on 

an annual basis as part of our corporate 

planning process. 

Actions for 


These are highlights of the specific actions 

that Council said it will complete in the 

2008-2009 financial year to implement 

the strategies. The actions listed in this 

section are our performance indicators 

and are reported quarterly to Council in 

accordance with the requirements of the 

Local Government Act 1993. 

Council’s regular 

services to the 

community 

Liverpool City Council provides the 

Liverpool community daily with a wide 

range of services, many of which are 

routine or unchanging. These services 

and other work of the Council, in turn, 

are supported by a wide range of internal 

services. They are mainly those that relate 

to the resources necessary for the delivery 

of actions in the Corporate Plan, improve 

the efficiency of Council operations or are 

otherwise required by State legislation or 

policy. Collectively all these services absorb 

the majority of Council staff and financial 

resources. 

Our performance 

review process 

The Local Government Act 1993 requires 

that the General Manager reports to 

Council on a quarterly basis regarding 

the organisation’s progress against its 

projected activities and budget for the 

year. Council also prepares the Annual 

Report as a comprehensive overview of 

Council’s performance for the financial year 

against the activities in the Management 

Plan. To support both of these documents, 

Council produces a quarterly newsletter 

that is sent to all landowners that provides 

the community with an update on our 

recent activities. 

New legislation for the way Councils plan 

has been implemented which means that 

the 2010-2011 Management Plan is the 

final plan that Council will prepare. For 

more information, please refer to page 41 

of this documen 


52 52 PART 12 / Name Management of SectionPlan 

The regional 

city for 

South West 

Sydney 

The community’s long term vision 

• The City Centre will offer a variety of places which foster an active social and 

cultural life for all age groups 

• Strong regional-level precincts and activities will emerge over time; a major 

medical centre and health precinct centred on Liverpool Hospital; a commercial 

centre employing more people in the business and financial services; an education 

precinct of tertiary and secondary education; tourist activities highlighting heritage 

buildings and precincts; more street-front retail; and civic and other events utilising 

suitable indoor and outdoor public spaces 

• Access will be opened in the City Centre to the Georges River extending to the 

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre 

• The southern part of the City Centre will experience increased economic activity 

and development 

• The City Centre will be highly convenient and accessible to all: safe, pedestrian 

friendly, well signposted, with good public transport, free-flowing roads and 

convenient parking 

• The City’s transport services and assets will be designed around the needs of 

people 

• Better integrated and user-friendly public transport will attract more passengers 

• Roads and a convenient public transport system will be supported by funding from 

the State and Federal Governments 



53 

How Council 

worked towards 

this vision 

during 2010-11 

Improve the economic viability, public 

amenity, parking and accessibility of the 

City Centre 

Commence the implementation 

of the CBD Parking Strategy 

(Strategic Planning) 

Project continuing. Implementation 

commenced with refurbishment work 

on the Northumberland Street Car Park. 

Painting and lighting repairs completed. 

Solar lighting on Bathurst Street car 

park has been repaired. 

A contract for the flood lighting of the 

Collimore Car Park (southern section) has 

been let. 

Planning for installation of metered 

parking underway, with approvals sought 

and specifications prepared. Installation to 

be carried out in 2011-12. 

Carry out streetscape enhancement 

(paving and landscaping) in Scott Street 

and Macquarie Street (Civil Construction 

and Assets) 

Project deferred. Works deferred by 

Council pending review and adoption 

of 10 year program. Works in Scott and 

Macquarie Streets to be completed in 


Investigate the potential of providing 

recycling bins in public spaces following 

the findings of the trial period 

(Sustainable Environment) 

Project complete. Implementation 

of public place recycling bins will be 

undertaken in 2011-12. 

Develop the river system as a 

community asset 

Finalise the Master Plan and commence 

works to provide new access and 

improvements to the Georges River at 

Casula (Buildings and Open Space) 

Project complete. Masterplan finalised 

with work started on shared paths from 

Glenfield to Casula with detailed parkland 

design to be completed in 2011-12. 

Consider sites along the Georges River 

Corridor as part of the Environment 

Restoration Plan 


Project continuing. Council has 

resolved to appoint a contractor to 

undertake the $170,000 grant funded 

works along the Georges River in Casula 

parklands. 

Strengthen Liverpool’s role as the 

regional city for south west Sydney 

Run a workshop for the development 

industry on specific topics of interest, 

outlining and demonstrating key 

assessment criteria and planning 

considerations (Statutory Planning) 

Project complete. Workshop held in 

September quarter. 

Utilise and showcase the Liverpool 

City Centre 3D model to industry and 

community representatives, and other 

relevant stakeholders 

(Statutory Planning) 

Project delayed. The software used to 

generate the 3D models, was destroyed 

in the administration building fire. Council 

officers are in the process of securing a 

new software package. 

Promote the Liverpool City Centre 

through discussions with developers 

and industry representatives 



met with Transport NSW to develop 

a coordinated transport strategy, a 

workshop was held in November with 

representatives of various transport 

providers and stakeholders and meetings 

were also held with a number of 

developers to discuss development 

proposals of various size and impact. 

Increase community activities and events 

in Liverpool 

Provide a comprehensive program of 

community events to be held in the City 

Centre, including Australia Day, 

CBD Exposed (youth music event), 

Refugee Week Street Festival, 

NAIDOC street march and 

flag raising and Harmony Day 

(Community Services, 

Communications and Events) 

Project complete. A range of successful 

events were held in the City Centre 

including NAIDOC Week, Children’s Week, 

Harmony Day, CBD Exposed (youth music 

event), Youth Week and Refugee Week, 

catering for many diverse groups and 

helping to create a dynamic community 

atmosphere in the mall and providing 

information and entertainment to many 

thousands of people. 

Deliver a variety of exhibitions, 

education and theatre programs which 

appeal to the residents of Liverpool and 

South West Sydney 

(Casula Powerhouse) 

Project complete. Delivered four 

exhibitions, 17 education programs, 21 

guided tours, four theatre shows and 11 

external hires. 



Neighbourhoods 

and villages 


• Neighbourhoods and villages will be safe, clean, well-landscaped and well-lit 

• Housing, community facilities and neighbourhoods will meet the needs of young 

families 

• Each of the many neighbourhoods and villages will become more self-sufficient 

and have adequate local services (such as shops, medical services, schools and 

parks) 

• People of all ages, levels of interest and skill levels will be able to find activities 

and venues for their sporting, recreation, leisure and community interests 

• Infrastructure will be provided as new urban areas are settled 

• There will be many ways of getting around neighbourhoods and villages, including 

cycle ways and walkways that people regularly use 

• Neighbourhoods and village centres will be part of an integrated transport system 

linked with major centres 

• The character and heritage of existing suburbs, villages and semi-rural areas will 

guide new development 

• Commercial and residential high-rise will ideally be located in major centres near 

transport interchanges, complemented by open space and landscaped areas 



55 



this vision 


Upgrade existing and deliver new 

community assets such as parks, 

open spaces, community centres, 

roundabouts and roads, that 

minimise long-term operational 

and maintenance costs and take 

into account the needs of our 

community 

Implement Road Safety Action Plan 

(Technical Services) 

 

Project complete. 

Six ‘Choose Right Buckle Right’ child 

restraint checking events were held with 

184 vehicles and 266 restraints inspected. 

25 per cent of all restraints checked were 

found to be unsafe. 

Four ‘Helping Learner Drivers Become 

Safer Drivers’ workshops held with 

71 participants (participants are the 

supervising drivers) 

‘Slow Down’ program delivered with 

eight local streets targeted. 

Acquire land and commence the staged 

construction of Kurrajong Road between 

Kookaburra Road and Sarah Hollands 

Drive (Technical Services) 

Project continuing. Land 

acquisitions commenced, however delays 

occurred due to the need to resolve 

adjustments and clearance to major 

electrical transmission lines with Transgrid 

and Endeavour Energy, which impacted 

on determination of road alignment. Site 

works to commence in late 2011. 

Acquire land and complete the 

construction of the road works and 

culvert on Strzelecki Drive, Horningsea 

Park (Technical Services) 

Project continuing. Land 

acquired with works to be undertaken by 

adjoining developer as part of subdivision 

construction. Works by developer 

underway. 

Commence the construction of the 

bridge over Cabramatta creek, 

Kurrajong Road (Technical Services) 

Project continuing. Design work 

underway with site works to start in 

2011-12 in conjunction with extension of 

Kurrajong Rd between Kookaburra Road 

and Sarah Hollands Drive. Delayed due to 

need to finalise approvals and works on 

transmission line adjustments. 

Commence construction of the 

extension of Ingham Drive to the Hume 

Highway (Technical Services) 

Project continuing. Approvals 

for road closure of Pine Road (to enable 

new road to be constructed) being sought 

and Voluntary Planning Agreement being 

finalised with developer. Delayed pending 

approval for road closure. 

Commence construction of the upgrade 

works of Bernera Road between 

Kurrajong Road and Camden Valley Way 


Project continuing. Necessary 

investigation, design and construction 

planning is underway and site works 

to start in 2011-12. Delays to planned 

commencement have been caused by 

several factors, including additional design 

and utility adjustment investigations. 

Construct the bridge over the drainage 

corridor, Pacific Palms Drive, Prestons 


Project continuing. Project is 

developer constructed works. 

Commence construction of the drainage 

basin at Jardine Drive, Edmondson Park 


Project continuing. Construction 

delayed due to need to carry out 

compulsory acquisition. 

Land acquisition process has 

commenced and progressing with an 

anticipated target date of December 2011. 

Construction works to start January 2012. 

Approval sought and received from State 

Government for extension to project time. 

Purchase additional properties affected 

by severe flood risk from Georges River 

at Moorebank (Civil Construction and 

Assets) 

Project delayed. Following 

valuation and negotiations with two 

property owners, Council has been 

unsuccessful in acquiring any properties 

due to competition from the private 

market. Negotiations are now underway 

to pursue acquisition of other properties. 

Carry out drainage rehabilitation and 

renewal of drainage systems (Civil 

Construction and Assets) 

Project complete. Over $2.3M has 

been spent on: 

- Extensive renewal and rehabilitation 

of over 4.5km piped stormwater 

drainage systems 

- Investigation and design of major 

flood mitigation projects to alleviate 

flooding within and around the city 

centre 

- Enhanced maintenance of piped 

drainage systems involving a 

structured inspection program, high 

pressure cleaning, removal of root 

intrusions and minor maintenance 

- Completion of piping of an existing 

drainage channel along Heathcote Rd 

adjoining Clinches Pond 

- Installation of telemetry flood 

warning systems at flood detention 

basins for improved monitoring, 

reporting and emergency response 

to potential flood alerts. 

Construct a new roundabout at 

intersection of Pine and Box Roads 

(Civil Construction and Assets) 


Complete staged reconstruction of 

Governor Macquarie Drive, Chipping 

Norton between Georges River and 

Munday Street (Civil Construction and 

Assets) 

 


Construct a roundabout at Governor 

Macquarie Drive and Barry Road (Civil 



Reconstruct and widen North Liverpool 

Road, Green Valley between Whitford 

Road and St Johns Road, a joint 

venture with Fairfield City Council (Civil 





Rehabilitate and resurface over 18 local 

and regional roads to restore pavement 

service life and improve riding 

conditions (Civil Construction 

and Assets) 

Project complete. Works to a 

value of over $9 million were completed 

on 27 streets across the Local Government 

Area (Adaminaby Street, Heckenberg; 

Barham Street, Heckenberg; Belfield 

Avenue, Rossmore; Browne Parade, 

Liverpool; Bull Street, Warwick Farm; 

Cartwright Avenue, Cartwright; Denham 

Court Road, Denham Court; Edmondson 

Avenue, Austral; Fifteenth Avenue, Austral; 

Graham Avenue, Lurnea; Green Valley 

Road, Green Valley; Guthega Crescent, 

Heckenberg; Kelvin Park Drive, Bringelly; 

Kilmorey Street, Busby; Lachlan Street, 

Liverpool; McMillan Street, Heckenberg; 

National Street, Warwick Farm; Newcomb 

Place, Lurnea; North Liverpool Road, Green 

Valley; Renton Avenue, Moorebank; Ross 

Street, Chipping Norton; Snowy Place, 

Heckenberg; Twelfth Avenue, Austral; 

West Street, Lurnea; Western Road, Kemps 

Creek; Whitford Road, Hinchinbrook; 

Wonga Road, Lurnea. 

Complete pavement resurfacing and 

preventative treatments on 20 local 

roads (Civil Construction and Assets) 

Project complete Treatments 

and works completed on over 20 roads 

including 

Completed patching and 

resurfacing of Kelvin Park Road, Medich 

Place, The Retreat, Mandina Place and 

Thomas Laycock Place Bringelly covering 

an area of over 43,000sqm 

Completed surface rejuvenating 

treatments in Hinchinbrook/Green Valley 

area with more than 42,000sqm of 

pavement surface treated. 

Heavy patching works were 

completed at on Devonshire Road, Kemps 

Creek - Exeter to Cross, Devonshire Road, 

Rossmore - King to 12th, Sandringham 

Drive/Windsor Road, Cecil Hills, Braidwood 

Drive, Prestons - Bugong to Concettina, 

Jamison Street, Luddenham - Adams to 

Ethan, Box Road/Myall Road, Casula. 

Install a shade structure over the 

outdoor pool at the Whitlam Leisure 

Centre (Buildings and Open Space) 

Project continuing. Contract 

awarded. Project completion expected 

October 2011. 

Replace seven playgrounds across the 

city (Buildings and Open Space) 

Project complete. Eight 

playgrounds replaced (Gandangara, 

Aubrey Keech, Dunumbral, Briggs, Edwin 

Wheeler, Cordelia, Alex Grimson, and 

Aston). 

Upgrade three parks across the city 

(Buildings and Open Space) 

Project complete. Park in 

Alamein, Woodside and Green Valley 

Reserve completed. 

Renovate Stanwell Oval (Buildings and 

Open Space) 


Upgrade floodlighting at sports fields 

(Buildings and Open Space) 

Project complete. Floodlighting 

upgraded at Riverside Park, Stanwell Oval 

and Ireland Park. 

Work closely with the relevant State 

Government agencies to: 

• Deliver development of land as 

set out in the State Government’s 

Metropolitan Strategy 

• Deliver Smart Growth 

communities 

• Seek the provision of adequate 

essential services and 

infrastructure as required 

Seek the provision of essential services 

with appropriate state agencies to 

facilitate new development (Strategic 

Planning) 

Project continuing. Council is 

liaising with Transport NSW with a view to 

developing a Regional Transport Strategy. 

Improve Council’s processing 

of applications and E-Planning 

capabilities 

Develop a fact-sheet in relation to 

complying development focusing on 

the NSW Housing Code and distribute 

to industry stakeholders (Statutory 

Planning) 

Project delayed. Complying 

development fact-sheet not achieved 

to staff turnover and high volume of 

applications during the period. Review of 

fact sheets and website content will be 

undertaken in 2011-12. 

Promote e-planning capabilities and 

online access, specifically in relation to 

complying development for dwellings 

(Statutory Planning) 


been working with the Department of 

Planning on the e-planning project and 

it is anticipated it will be available on 

Council’s webpage by end of 2011. 



57 

Increase opportunities for 

participation in community activities 

and programs 

Implement the Community 2168 Small 

Grants Program to support grass roots 

initiatives (Community Services) 

Project complete. Community 

2168 Small Grants program finalised in 

September quarter. 

Work with the local agencies to deliver 

a program of murals across Liverpool 

(Community Services) 

Project continuing. Mural in 

Warwick Farm completed and grant 

application submitted for Ashcroft area. 

Additional murals are planned for later in 

2011. 

Increase access to employment and 

training services in response to 

changing economic conditions 

Deliver an Employment Expo in 2168 

area in partnership with other agencies 


Project complete. Employment 

Expo held 9 September with 

approximately 500 people attending. 

Discussions held with key stakeholders to 

deliver another Employment Expo in 

2011-12. 

Increase access to healthy 

and nutritious food 

Deliver a Food 4 Life co-operative in 

partnership with the Salvation Army 

in the 2168 area to address the issue 

of food insecurity, similar to the one 

that has been set up in Warwick Farm 


Project continuing. Continued 

support provided to the Salvation Army 

who are the delivery agency towards 

provision of the Food 4 Life cooperative 

in the 2168 area. The co-op is likely to 

be launched in late 2011, subject to DA 

approval. 

Enhance the physical amenity of 

Liverpool’s public and open spaces 

Deliver community art projects in 2168 

area via Living Streets, including the 

John Dwyer Bridge and Family and 

Children’s Puppet Theatre (Community 

Services) 

Project continuing. Due to 

unanticipated delays caused by concerns 

about project design, the funding body 

has given approval to carry these projects 

over to 2011-12. 

Commence Brown’s Farm Reserve 

Hoxton Park and Peter Miller Reserve 

Preston’s community parks (Buildings 

and Open Space) 

Project continuing. Brownes 

Farm: following decision to reject tenders 

and enter into direct negotiations with 

contractor, negotiation now completed and 

being reported to July meeting of Council. 

Peter Miller Reserve: work commenced 

with completion anticipated in late 2011. 

Improve community sense of safety in 

public spaces relating to alcohol, drugs, 

graffiti and group violence 

Undertake community safety audits 

in conjunction with local police and 

program the implementation of the 

recommendations contained in the audits 


Project complete. Liverpool CBD 

safety audit report has been completed by 

the Liverpool Local Area Command and will be 

submitted to Council during the first quarter of 


Undertake a community education 

awareness campaign to minimise the 

number of thefts from motor vehicles 


Project complete. Liverpool Safety 

Expo held on 19 May 2011. Educational 

materials relating to the prevention of stealing 

from motor vehicles and motor vehicle theft 

were promoted at the event. 

Develop new projects under the Interim 

Graffiti Management Strategy/Policy 2009- 

2011 (Community Services) 

Project complete. As part of the 

registration system for the Casula Powerhouse 

Art Walls, a group booking system has been 

developed to better manage school class and 

youth groups who utilise the facility under the 

guidance of a responsible adult. 

Work commenced on developing 

a memorandum of understanding with the 

department of Juvenile Justice regarding 

the placement of under 18 year old graffiti 

offenders with Council’s graffiti removal team. 

The changes to graffiti laws 

contained in the Graffiti Control Amendment 

Regulation 2010 have been examined. They 

will not impact Council since they relate 

solely to the power of the courts in recovering 

the full cost of fines associated with graffiti 

offences through orders of graffiti clean up 

work. 



Hold a community safety event to 

provide information and raise public 

awareness about crime and safety 

issues in Liverpool 


Project complete. Liverpool 

Safety Expo was held on 19 May 2011. 

A wide range of community education 

information was distributed by NRMA, 

NSW Police, Fire and Rescue NSW, 

Ambulance NSW, Health, Community Drug 

Team and other local agencies. 

Distribute car immobilisers to reduce 

car theft, as part of Operation Bounce 

Back program (Community Services) 

Project complete. Over 100 

vouchers for free car immobilisers, 

supplied by the National Motor Vehicle 

Theft Reduction Council, were distributed 

to residents of Liverpool to help reduce car 

theft within Liverpool. 

Support delivery of local infrastructure 

and services in areas of urban 

development 

Plan for the community and recreation 

facilities, open space and community 

development strategies required in the 

South West Growth Centre (Community 

Services) 

Project continuing. Significant 

input was provided throughout the year 

with current plans reflecting the needs of 

the Liverpool community. This work will 

continue into 2011-12. 

Support the delivery of new and 

upgraded community and recreation 

facilities in new and recently 

established areas (Community Services) 

Project continuing. Significant 

planning was undertaken with respect to 

the Carnes Hill Recreation and Community 

Precinct. This is a massive project and 

the planning work will continue for the 

next 12 months. Recreation Planning was 

undertaken in relation to the delivery of 

new sports grounds at Carnes Hill and 

other potential locations. This work will 

also continue into 2011-12. 

Provide access to sporting, recreational 

and community facilities through 

the implementation of license and 

hire agreements (Recreation and CBD 

Maintenance) 

Project complete. All winter 

allocations were finalised in late March, 

concluding allocations for the 2010-11 

financial year. Summer allocations for 

the 2011-12 period will commence in 

September 2011. 

Improve informal recreation and leisure 

opportunities that cater for families 

Develop a city-wide action plan for 

the next five years that prioritises 

recreation projects across Liverpool 


Project continuing. Consultation 

has begun with the internal working 

group, with a draft document currently 

being completed. Plan to be completed in 


Improve walking and cycling 

infrastructure 

Complete the master plan for a shared 

pathway in Pye Hill, Cecil Hills and seek 

funding for construction of priority 

works (Community Services) 

Project continuing. The planning, 

documentation and tendering process 

took longer than anticipated however, 

the tender has now been awarded, 

and contract signed. Timeline has been 

finalised and the project is expected to be 

completed by the end of 2011. 



59 

The land between 

two rivers, 

where city and 

country meet 


• Liverpool’s natural areas, in particular waterways such as the Georges River, 

Nepean River and the Cabramatta Creek system, will be cleaner, healthier and 

more widely and more responsibly enjoyed as places for recreation 

• Some of the rural character of Liverpool will be maintained as significant urban 

development takes place 

• Agricultural land, open space and protected bushland will be part of an inviting 

and attractive mix of land uses 


60 PART 2 / Management Plan 



this vision 


Support the environment and 

environmental projects and groups 

Complete Council approved 

environmental restoration projects 

across the Council area (Sustainable 

Environment) 

Project continuing. Restoration 

projects funded by environment levy 

run for 18 months. During the year, 13 

projects that commenced in 2009-10 were 

completed, the remaining 10 are nearing 

completion, contracted maintenance 

was undertaken on seven sites, work 

commenced on new project at Lieutenant 

Cantello Reserve and a vegetation 

survey of Elouera Bushland Reserve was 

completed. 

Support local activities for National Tree 

Day (Sustainable Environment) 

Project complete. National Tree 

Day was held on Sunday 1 August 2010 

at South Park Chipping Norton at which 

120 volunteers planted 2000 trees and 

activities such as plants were given away, 

a Council information stall, Riverkeeper 

display, face painting, free BBQ provided 

by the Lions Club and Australian Native 

Animal Wildlife Display were available. 

Twenty nine council staff planted 

300 plants at the rear of the Council 

Administration building. Planning is in 

progress for the 2011 event which will 

be held on Sunday 31 July 2011 at Lake 

Francis. 

Complete maintenance of the 

Environmental Restoration Sites 

(Recreation and CBD Maintenance) 

Project complete. Forty sites 

were maintained on a monthly basis. 

Deliver a comprehensive program to 

control noxious and aquatic weeds in 

accordance with legislation (Recreation 

and CBD Maintenance) 

Project complete. The spraying 

program for blackberry, Mother of 

Millions, Salvinia and Alligator weeds 

was completed. Council worked closely 

with the Georges River Combined Council 

Committee Riverkeeper Program to 

remove noxious and aquatic weeds 

from the catchment areas. Lantana was 

removed from a number of sites in the 

Chipping Norton Lakes area and olive trees 

from the roadside along Greendale Road, 

Bringelly. 

Encourage community participation 

through environment activities 

including monthly tree planting 

activities and environment group 

activities (Sustainable Environment) 

Project complete. Council 

supported the nine Environment groups 

with monthly weekend bush regeneration 

activities. 

Develop a generic plan of management 

for natural areas, as required by the 

Local Government Act (Community 

Services) 


resourcing issues the project was initiated 

but not completed. Meetings were held 

with internal stakeholders with the 

feedback under consideration. Plan to be 

completed during 2011-12. 

Protect and enhance natural assets 

including parks and reserves through 

provision of planning, advice, regulation 

and education programs 

Identify key rural features within areas 

identified for future development and 

investigate ways to have appropriate 

areas retained and interpreted 


Project continuing. Council is 

continuing to assess the draft planning 

policy in which rural features for Austral 

and Leppington were considered prior to 

public exhibition in 2011-12 by the State 

Government. 

Deliver a range of education resources 

such as brochures, e-newsletters and 

workshops to help improve community 

and staff understanding of biodiversity 

management issues and actions 


Project complete. Eight 

environment workshops were held as part 

of Sustainability Blitz workshop series, six 

bi-monthly environment activity flyers 

were distributed and four editions of 

Councils quarterly environment newsletter 

“Sustaining Liverpool” produced and 

distributed. 

Develop and conduct an audit 

program targeting the provision 

and maintenance of landscaping 

relating to a random sample of 

approved commercial and residential 

development (Enforcement and Parking 

– transferred from Statutory Planning) 

Project delayed. Audit program 

will be established during the 2011-12 

financial year and regular updates will 

be provided to Council. Resource issues 

prevented this for occurring 

during 2010-11. 

Run a community awareness program 

regarding the environmental and 

health impacts associated with 

overgrown properties (Enforcement and 

Parking) 

Project complete. Council officers 

achieved 99 per cent compliance with 

overgrown properties. 

Reduce the impact of flooding 

Commence construction of the drainage 

basin adjacent to Cowpasture Road and 

Lascelles Street, Cecil Hills (Technical 

Services) 

Project deferred. Project 

deferred following completion of Basin 

Strategy (Flooding) review, which 

identified no requirement for basin to be 

constructed at this time. 



61 

Complete construction of the flood 

detention basin in Strzelecki Drive, 

Horningsea Park (Technical Services) 


Carry out overland flow path studies 

across the Local Government Area 

to identify extent of flooding from 

overland flows (Civil Construction and 

Assets) 

Project continuing. Due to the 

nature of the studies, the project will 

extend over 12 months. 

Investigate and design drainage and 

flood mitigation works in the City 

Centre and Brickmakers Creek (Civil 


Project continuing. 

Investigations and designs for the 

continuation of trunk drainage works for 

City Centre underway and designs are 

being finalised for Brickmakers Creek - 

Amalfi Park flood detention basin. 

Reduce water pollution by conducting 

compliance inspections and education 

programs 

Carry out a random environmental 

audit for rural industries for activities 

that may affect the environment such 

as market gardens, poultry sheds and 

igloos (Building and Health) 

Project delayed. Audit program 

will be established during the 2011-12 

financial year. Limited staffing resources 

have been concentrated on auditing fire 

safety and septic systems. 


62 62 PART 12 / Name A Place of for Section People 

Communities and 

governments 

working together 


• Council decision-making on Liverpool will be visible, open to participation and 

accompanied by practical steps enabling everyone’s involvement 

• The community will be encouraged to engage in Council initiatives and actions 

• Information will be available on Council services, actions and future proposals 


PART 2 / A Place for People 

63 



this vision 


Improve community information, 

engagement and consultation 

Coordinate and deliver a community 

engagement strategy under the 

Integrated Planning and Reporting 

framework (Community Services) 

Project complete. More than 

1200 residents were engaged through a 

range of strategies to provide the basis for 

Growing Liverpool 2021, the community 

strategic plan for the City of Liverpool. 

Utilise the Environment Advisory 

Committee, Environment Group Sub 

Committee and Environment Groups 

to contribute to the monitoring and 

review of environmental programs 



worked closely with the environment 

groups to seek feedback from the 

members to improve environment 

programs. 

Respond to road safety and capacity 

issues through Liverpool Local Traffic 

Committee (LTC) (Technical Services) 

Project complete. Systems 

are in place to identify road safety and 

relevant road capacity issues and make 

appropriate recommendations to the LTC 

and implement the LTC recommendations, 

subject to the approval of the elected 


Engage community in development and 

implementation of energy, water and 

greenhouse gas reduction initiatives 



600 household sustainability assessments 

were completed by the participants during 

the course of the program. 

Strengthen community and civic 

leadership 

Support and resource the Committees 

of Council (Community and Recreation 

Panel, Aboriginal Consultative 

Committee, Access Committee, Youth 

Council, Heritage Advisory Committee, 

Street Naming Committee) (Community 

Services, Sustainable Environment, 

Strategic Planning) 

Project complete. All council 

committees continued to meet regularly, 

the minutes of which were reported to 


Continue to work towards the 

establishment of a multicultural 

advisory process for Council (Community 

Services) 

Work continuing. Further 

discussion to establish a Community 

Leaders forum will take place with the 

Migrant Resource Centre in early 2011-12. 

Collect data on social indicators to 

monitor progress on community wellbeing 

and provide annual progress 

reports (Community Services) 

Project complete. Progress 

report to be presented to Council early in 


Strengthen Council’s corporate 

communications program 

Provide newsletters to residents on a 

quarterly basis (Communications and 

Events) 

Project complete. Newsletters 

are distributed through the quarterly 

rates notices. Due the fire in August, the 

October edition of the newsletter was not 

published. 

Introduce the use of message boards on 

main roads across the Local Government 

Area to promote coming events 

(Communications and Events) 


regularly used message board for 

campaigns such as Australia Day and Open 

Air Cinemas and will continue to do so. 

Use signage at each of our six location 

gateway entry locations to better 

communicate information to residents 


Project complete. Council used 

signage at Liverpool’s gateway entry 

locations to promote the Bicentennial 

celebrations and is currently investigating 

the option of using LED signs at each 

location. 

Upgrade Council’s website to make 

it more user friendly (Information 

Management) 

have been made to home page language 

translator and podcast information. Videos 

and photo galleries have been included on 

the Casula Powerhouse web page. 

Introduce online surveys to encourage 

resident feedback (Communications 

and Events) 

Project complete. Online surveys 

were conducted for Moorebank Intermodal 

and the Library strategy. 

Organise and host visits to the Council 

Chambers for children (Executive 

Services) 

Project complete. Two 

school visits were undertaken this year 

(Holsworthy Public School and Warwick 

Farm Public School). 

Improve the capacity of people that 

are culturally and linguistically diverse 

to participate as citizens (Local Ethnic 

Affairs Policy Statement) 

Deliver the Language Aide Program 

(Community Services, Customer 

Services) 

Project complete. 150 instances 

of support were provided by council’s 

language aide officers. 

Acknowledge and reward citizens for 

their contribution to the community 

through a Council program of awards 

Provide recognition for members of 

the community that devote their time 

to help others through Australia Day, 

Order of Liverpool Awards programs, 

Environment Volunteer Recognition 

Awards and the Garden competition 

(Communication and Events, 

Sustainable Environment, Recreation 

and CBD Maintenance) 

Project complete. Garden 

Competition was held on 23 November 

2010, Environment Recognition awards on 

10 December 2010, the Order of Liverpool 

Awards on 2 December at the Casula 

Powerhouse Arts Centre and Australia Day 

Awards on 26 January. Plans for the 2011- 

12 events are underway. 

 

Project complete. Improvements 


64 64 PART 12 / Name A Place of for Section People 

A place for people 


• Liverpool’s people will continue to value the diversity of Liverpool 

• Liverpool’s people will celebrate the City’s rich variety of cultures, through events based on 

the City’s cultural diversity and creativity 

• Liverpool will be an integrated community with strong social networks and connections that 

will be strengthened by working together, promoting harmony and celebrating the City’s unity 

• Liverpool’s people will care for and support others in the City, particularly those who are 

disadvantaged. Practical help and support will come from community organisations and 

volunteering, as well as programs offered or funded by government 

• Liverpool’s history and the City’s unique places will be used to better guide current action and 

plans for the future 

• Enjoyment of culture and the arts as well as participation in artistic production will be catered 

for by cultural centres offering an increased variety of exhibitions, performances and education 

• State and Federal Government resources will support the rapidly growing and changing City 

• People will know what’s available in Liverpool and where to get support because the City’s 

main attractions, local services and facilities will be promoted and signposted 


PART 2 / A Place for People 

65 



this vision 


Promote the wealth of local history 

material held by Council and encourage 

the community to share stories and 

materials from Liverpool’s history 

Hold an exhibition to celebrate the 

Bicentenary of Collingwood (Libraries 

and Museum) 

Project complete. An exhibition 

titled, the Jewel of Liverpool was held 

at the Liverpool Regional Museum to 

celebrate the Bicentenary of Collingwood. 

Hold an exhibition to celebrate the 

life and times of Governor Lachlan 

Macquarie (Libraries and Museum) 

Project complete. Liverpool 

City Library was the only Sydney library 

to host the NSW State Library’s travelling 

exhibition, The Governor: Lachlan 

Macquarie 1810 to 1821 celebrated the 

200th anniversary of Lachlan Macquarie’s 

governorship. 

Provide a vibrant exhibitions program 

that celebrates Liverpool’s historical 

and cultural heritage (Libraries and 

Museum) 

Project complete. A range 

of programs were delivered including 

The Governor: Lachlan Macquarie 1810 

to 1821, Jewel of Liverpool, Symbols 

of Australia, a travelling exhibition 

of the National Museum of Australia, 

Built for the Bush, a NSW Communities 

Travelling exhibition developed by the 

Historic Houses Trust of NSW, ‘The care 

of the Museum’s collection’ highlighting 

the progress made on managing the 

Museum’s collection and the annual 

Liverpool City Antiques and Collectables 

Fair held in September 2011 at the 

Liverpool Regional Museum 

Continue to develop a collection that 

values and reflects Liverpool’s historical 

and cultural heritage, including digital 

collections and resources that support 

the collection (Libraries and Museum) 

Project complete. The Library 

continued to encourage donation of 

materials for the collection and has run 

seminars and mounts exhibitions to 

raise awareness in the community of the 

value of heritage, highlights of which 

include digitising of The Liverpool Herald, 

the oldest of Liverpool’s newspapers 

and the Nepean Shire Minutes. The 

Museum’s Collection is comprised of 

fifteen significant sub collections reflecting 

military, social, industrial and commercial 

histories of the Liverpool region; some of 

which have State or National significance. 

Increase community activities and events 

in Liverpool 

Deliver a comprehensive program 

of community events of local and 

national significance including: NAIDOC, 

Children’s Week, Seniors Concert, 

International Day of People with a 

Disability, Youth Week, Seniors Week, 

Sorry Day, Refugee Week (Community 

Services) 

Project complete. Thirty three 

events celebrating a range of activities 

and groups were held attended by more 

than 9,200 people. 

Celebrate Liverpool’s Bicentenary 

through a range of community events 


Project complete. A range 

of activities were held culminating in 

December with the Bicentenary Ball and 

Bicentenary Family Fun Day, Pioneer 

Park Reopening, Bicentenary Essay 

Competition, Bicentenary Photographic 

Competition and the burial of the 

Bicentenary Time Capsule. 

Provide a program of activities to 

celebrate Liverpool’s historical and 

cultural heritage (Libraries and 

Museum) 

Project complete. Of note 

was Symbols of Australia, a travelling 

exhibition of the National Museum of 

Australia on display in the Liverpool 

Heritage Library and a display representing 

some of the symbols of Liverpool together 

with a competition for people to nominate 

their symbol of Liverpool. 

Investigate providing access to tourist 

information through the Liverpool 

Regional Museum (Libraries and 

Museum) 

Project complete. For 

accreditation as tourist information centre, 

the Museum needs to open seven days 

with a greater span of hours; as such it is 

not feasible at this time. 

Develop and present public art 

programs, theatre shows, music events, 

film festivals, outdoor markets and 

community engagement programs 


Project complete. Produced and 

presented innovative exhibitions, 8 theatre 

performances (including external hires), 

and a number of community engagement 

programs including Made on the Kitchen 

Table Workshops (cultural workshops for 

isolated Koori Women), the Australian 

Muslim Women’s Arts Project conducted 

the 1st Artist Lab for the Muslim Women 

at CPAC and individual participant projects 

have commenced, Refugee Week Film 

Festival support for CPAC presentation, 

Tree of Life project with Refugee Youth in 

South West Sydney, development of five 

projects being Wild Stories, Comedian in 

Residence, The Art of Karaoke, Pacific Niu 

Warrior and Cross Art Residency Video 

Program. Also conducted arts programs 

for people with disability such as FRANS, 

Pinchpot and Junction Workshops. 

Deliver a variety of exhibitions, 

education and theatre programs which 

appeal to the residents of Liverpool 

and South West Sydney (Casula 

Powerhouse) 

Project complete. Delivered 

a variety of exhibitions including No.1 

Fan, Exclamation of Wonder, Made on 

the Kitchen Table, Strong Women Strong 

Painting Strong Culture, education and 

theatre programs which appeal to the 

residents of Liverpool and South West 

Sydney which included Kid’s Art Studio 

Activities, Pinchpot, Ceramic Classes for 

Adults and Kids, Aboriginal NRL Players 

Day and performances such as Forever 

Diamond and Breast Wishes. 

Develop and present multi-disciplinary 

exhibitions and performance projects 

that integrate contemporary art, 

community, environment and heritage 


Project complete. Developed 

and presented multi disciplinary 

exhibitions and performance projects that 

integrate contemporary art, community, 

environment and heritage comprising of 

community events such as Exclamation of 

Wonder, Made on the Kitchen Table, Strong 

Women Strong Painting Strong Culture, 

Refugee Film Festival and also Citizenship 

Ceremonies. 

Increase resources and funding for 


66 PART 2 / A Place for People 

community services particularly in areas 

of population growth and for children, 

families, young people, older people and 

new and emerging migrant communities 

Deliver funding programs for 

community projects: Community 

Development Support Expenditure 

(CDSE) and Council’s Community 

Donations Program (Community 

Services) 

Project complete. Nearly 

$600,000 was distributed to the 

community through CDSE and the 

donations program to support a range 

of important community well being 

initiatives. 

Support consultation and services for 

Aboriginal people 

Run the ‘Young, Black and Deadlys’ 

event in Liverpool in partnership with 

Koori Radio (Community Services) 

Project complete. Koori Radio 

broadcasted their live program during the 

NAIDOC community event on 2 July 2010. 

Support information, services, activities 

and accommodation for an ageing 

population 

Undertake a study of the impact of 

an ageing population on Liverpool 

and develop an Ageing Strategy 



resourcing issues, the project was initiated 

but not completed. Background work 

has been undertaken. Strategy will be 

completed in 2011-12. 

Improve access to internet and 

particularly broadband connection 

Work with local organisations to 

provide computer and internet 

services for the Liverpool community 



Implementation of computers provided by 

Centre for Health Equity Training Research 

and Evaluation (CHETRE) will be completed 

once the new branch library for Miller has 

been reopened. This project was nearing 

completion prior to the closure of Miller 

Branch Library. 

Improve support, services and access for 

people with a disability and their carers 

Implement non-infrastructure actions 

from the Disability Action Plan 2010- 

2011 to assist in making the City of 

Liverpool more accessible for people 

with a disability (Community Services) 

Project complete. Convened 

Liverpool Access Committee. 

Research and development of 

a mobility for the City Centre undertaken. 

Review of Disability Action Plan 

undertaken and audits of four community 

buildings completed. 

Support delivery of local infrastructure 

and services in areas of urban 

development 

Develop a Social Impact Assessment 

policy and procedures (Community 

Services) 

Project continuing. Draft policy 

and procedures completed and will be 

reported to Council in 2011-12. 

Increase affordable housing options for 

purchase and rent 

Develop a policy that describes the 

current issues in housing affordability 

in the Liverpool Local Government 

Area and document Council’s efforts to 

increase the availability of affordable 

housing (Community Services) 

Project continuing. Council 

officers participated in the Western Sydney 

Housing Coalition to advocate on housing 

affordability issues with the ‘Dream or 

Reality?’ Housing Affordability Forum held 

in August 2010 and an affordable housing 

issues briefing paper has been prepared 

which will be presented, together with a 

presentation for Affordable Community 

Housing, to Councillors in 2011-12. 

Support the community services sector 

in delivering coordinated programs and 

services 

Deliver a series of workshops to 

enhance capacity and address key 

issues which will continue to strengthen 

and support the community services 

sector in Liverpool (Community 

Services) 

Project complete. A community 

conference was held in October with more 

than 90 local community services workers 

in attendance. Conference included nine 

workshops on a variety of community 

services themes, from nationwide to local. 

Planning is under way for a follow up 

series of workshops to be held in 2011-12. 

Improve support and services for people 

that are homeless 

Update Council’s policy on 

homelessness (Community Services) 

Project continuing. An update to 

Council’s Homelessness Policy was drafted, 

research into the extent of homelessness 

in Liverpool has been conducted and 

analysed, and Council became a member 

of the newly formed working party for the 

South West Sydney Homelessness Sector 

Facilitation Project which seeks to respond 

to homelessness at a regional level. 



67 



• Increased Council, community and business awareness, learning and action that 

will make Liverpool more sustainable 

• Reduced waste, pollution and water usage will be the major noticeable results of 

future actions for sustainability 

• There will be local, or easily accessed, education and training for all ages, 

supported by well-equipped and convenient libraries 

• Workers living in Liverpool will have increased access to local employment and jobs 

diversity 

• Liverpool will be a competitive city with good business opportunities 





this vision 


Raise community awareness of 

sustainability and environmental 

issues through education programs 

Conduct a sustainability education 

program that includes the ‘Sustaining 

Liverpool’ newsletter and environment 

workshops (Sustainable Environment) 

Project complete. Eight schools 

participated in School Waste Minimisation 

Program, eight environment workshops 

held, four editions of ‘Sustaining Liverpool’ 

published. 

Promote ways the community can 

minimise their energy consumption, 

water consumption and greenhouse gas 

emissions (Sustainable Environment) 


600 household sustainability assessments 

were completed by the participants during 

the course of the program. 

Work with retailers to reduce 

abandonment of shopping trolleys 

(Enforcement and Parking) 


participated in bi monthly meetings with 

retailers and response times of Trolley 

Trackers in retrieving abandoned shopping 

trolleys monitored. 

Work with the Department of 

Environment, Climate Change (DECCW) 

and Water and the Western Sydney 

Regional Illegal Dumping Squad 

(RID) to reduce illegally dumped 

rubbish in highly transient multi-unit 

dwelling areas and prosecute dumpers 


Project continuing. Inspections 

and meetings held with the RID 

representatives. The Office of Environment 

and Heritage (DECCW) approved all 

outstanding claims for asbestos removed 

by Council for the financial year. 

Run education programs aimed at 

reducing waste dumping (Enforcement 

and Parking) 

Project completed. Brochure 

distributed to all residents of the Local 

Government Area and letters sent to ‘hot 

spot’ areas advising residents of their 

responsibilities. 

Provide recycling and decrease landfill 

through better public education and 

management of waste and resources 

Evaluate the use of residential garbage, 

recycling and green waste bins to 

determine the effectiveness of the new 

domestic waste system (Sustainable 

Environment) 

Project complete. Audit 

undertaken of resident waste. New 

education program is under development 

and will be implemented in the 2011- 

12 financial year targeting areas with 

high contamination in green waste and 

recycling. 

Develop and deliver an education 

program to the community to improve 

recycling and reduce contamination 


Project complete. Four random 

bin inspections programs were conducted 

and awards given to households with bins 

without contamination. 

Conduct site inspections and educate/ 

enforce offenders for illegal landfill 


Project complete. Regular 

inspections conducted. Notices, orders and 

fines issued to offenders as required. 

Support economic development and 

access to local employment opportunities 

Develop social enterprise projects in the 

2168 community (Community Services) 

Project completed. The Youth 

Fashion Enterprise Project was developed 

in 2168. Young people have been 

consulted on further activities to be 

delivered. Workshops including Fashion 

Making and Fashion Photography are 

being planned and will be delivered 

in 2011-12 with the aim of exposing 

young people to other dimensions of the 

fashion industry. A Fashion Photography 

Competition will be held in 2011 with the 

aim to exhibit/launch entries during a 

youth event. 

The People’s Shed Social 

Enterprise Hub has been developed and 

has held two planning meetings attended 

by residents and partner agencies. The 

plan to renovate and construct the shed 

has been finalised and will be submitted 

to Council. Residents have been consulted 

on projects they want to undertake, 

training needs and tools they would 

require. The timeframe to open the Food 

For Life Project and the People’s Shed has 

been re-assessed and moved to August 

2012. 

Provide child care services to enable 

working parents to access high quality 

programs that support their families and 

career choices 

Deliver quality care and education 

programs through our five long day care 

centres, one multi purpose centre and 

one pre-school (Community Services) 

Project complete. Council’s 

centres provided care for 854 children 

from 822 families. Changes to the 

curriculum to reflect the Early Years 

Learning Framework and the National 

Quality Framework (which will replace the 

current Accreditation system) have been 

undertaken. 



69 

Integrate sustainability across Council 

Improve resource recovery from waste 

within Council facilities by introducing 

appropriate recycling in Council’s 

facilities (Sustainable Environment) 

Project complete. Recycling 

bins introduced in all Council’s child 

care centres and review of the waste 

collection and management of council’s 

new building in Moore Street, Liverpool. 

Additional opportunities to improve 

Council’s waste management will be 

explored in 2011-12. 

Review existing practices and 

incorporate the principles of sustainable 

development in design briefs and 

standards (Buildings and Open Space) 

Project continuing. Principles 

incorporated into new and renewal 

building and open space projects on an 

ongoing basis. 

Integrate new construction technology, 

solar passive design principles and 

energy and water efficiencies to 

minimise embodied energy and carbon 

footprint in new and refurbishment 

projects (Buildings and Open Space) 

Project continuing. Water 

efficiencies integrated into the new 

shade structure over grandstand to collect 

and reuse roof water for pool water 

replacement and site irrigation and new 

energy efficient air conditioning units 

installed at the Whitlam Leisure Centre 

over the gym aerobic area. 

Provide a sustainable Library service that 

meets the needs the people of Liverpool 

Redevelop customer service desks in 

the City Library (Libraries and Museum) 

Project complete. New customer 

service desks on first and top floors of the 

City Library installed and three remote 

service points on each floor have also 

been installed. 

Develop a plan to improve customer 

service (Libraries and Museum) 

Project complete. Customers 

now have the facility to borrow eBooks 

following the launch of the OverDrive 

eBook service through the Library’s 

website, full implementation of the 

floor-walking strategy to customer service 

at the City Library and the continuing 

improvement of services that support 

customers with their laptops who want 

to connect through the Library’s Internet 

wireless service. Improvements to the 

Library’s Internet connectivity at the City 

Library and through the branch libraries 

will be made in 2011-12. 

Investigate and cost an automated 

returns system (Libraries and Museum) 

Project complete. An automated 

returns system has been investigated and 

costed. It is not feasible to implement this 

system until all of the collection has been 

tagged with RFID tags. Work commenced 

to tag the collection; funding options will 

be considered when tagging is completed. 


70 

PART 2 / Improved Organisational 

Management And Development 

Improved 

organisational 

management 

and development 


The people of Liverpool will have a Council that: 

• Provides the traditional range of local government services 

• Has services that are highly customer focused 

• Demonstrates good governance and sound financial management 

• Has sustainable operations, and 

• Is a safe, healthy and productive workplace 




71 



this vision 


Integrate planning across the 

organisation according to the new 

Integrated Planning and Reporting 

requirements 

Prepare and deliver the Community 

Strategic Plan and the Delivery Program 

for use from July 2011 (Corporate 

Support) 

Project completed. “Growing 

Liverpool 2021” the Community Strategic 

Plan for Liverpool and 2011-2015 Delivery 

Program and the 2011-2012 Operational 

Plan were endorsed by Council after public 

exhibition. 

Develop long term strategic asset 

management plans for Council’s 

infrastructure assets (Civil construction 

and Assets, Buildings and Open Space) 

Project completed. Asset 

Management Policy, Asset Management 

Strategy and Asset Management Plans 

finalised. 

Develop a long-term (10 years) 

financial plan (Financial Management) 


Review Council’s existing financial 

planning system and integrate with 

the Asset Management Plan and 

other corporate planning documents 

(Financial Management) 

Project continuing. Review 

completed, tender for Asset Management 

software called, with assessment 

underway. 

Develop a property development 

strategy (Property Services) 

 


Develop a Workforce Plan in 

consultation with managers and 

staff (Workforce Management) 


Provide staff with the necessary skills 

and resources to improve Council’s 

business systems and customer service 

Develop cultural awareness training 

and implement across Council, in 

conjunction with other training courses 

(Workforce Management) 

Project continuing. Cultural 

awareness training scheduled for July- 

December 2011. Project delayed due 

to business disruption caused by fire at 

Council’s Administration Centre 

Research and offer new ‘Existing Worker 

Traineeships’ opportunities to Council 


Project complete. Several staff 

enrolled to participate in Diploma for 

Project Management. Other opportunities 

regularly researched and offered. 

Review and implement Council’s 

Training and Development Policy 



Translate face-to-face training into 

e-learning solutions (Workforce 

Management) 

Project continuing. E-Learning 

software implemented launched with 

induction program under design. 

Research and pursue relevant grants 

as an alternative means of funding 

priority actions 

Identify grant funding opportunities 

and submit grant applications to help 

deliver key infrastructure programs, 

community safety projects, events, 

arts and cultural projects and services 

for the community (Buildings and 

Open Space, Sustainable Environment, 

Community Services, Enforcement and 

Parking, Libraries and Museum) 

Project completed. Council 

received more than $7 million in grant 

funding (excluding Federal Assistance 

Grant) to deliver a range of projects and 

services across the LGA 

Investigate practical options to 

drive business improvement and 

organisational efficiency 

Improve governance processes by 

undertaking the Governance Health 

Check assessment (Corporate Support) 


endorsed the tender for the provision of 

legal services; Community forum charter 

reviewed; new Conflicts of Interest Policy 

and Policy for Reduction or Waiver of 

Council Fees and Charges were prepared 

and endorsed by Council; summaries of 

the Code of Conduct were prepared for 

different audiences (overall public version, 

for members of Council committees and 

for contractors and suppliers). 

Conduct quarterly customer survey 

to obtain community feedback on 

the services provided at the counter 

(Customer Services) 


116 Counter Surveys were received with 

85-90 per cent showing excellent/good 

Service in all aspects of counter service. 

Conduct quarterly customer survey to 

obtain community feedback on the 

services provided by the contact centre 



240 surveys were conducted on service 

relative to the Contact Centre with 85-90 

per cent showing excellent/good service 

in all aspects of Contact Centre service. 

Introduce Council financial comparative 

information (Financial Management) 

Project continuing. Financial 

reporting is continuously reviewed with 

comparative information/financial ratio to 

industry benchmark reported in the Long 

Term Financial Plan and annual Financial 

Statements. 

Review staff position descriptions 


Project continuing. Any new 

positions that are advertised or require 

job evaluation are being converted to the 

new format. 



72 72 PART 1 / Name of Section 


Review and improve processes and 

resources that support the operations of 


Implement a program of operational, 

financial and compliance audits and 

advisory services (Internal Audit) 

Project complete. The 

total number of audit projects and 

investigations that were conducted and 

completed during the year far exceeded 

the number of specific projects that 

were planned. Unplanned investigations 

accounted for a substantial number of the 

completed audit projects. 

Automate manual processes and extend 

the use of electronic forms including 

human resources leave forms and 

online job applications (Information 

Management) 

Project continuing. Electronic 

forms process has been completed with 

further improvements planned for the 

next financial year. 

Meet the requirements for public access 

to Council-held information as a result 

of new legislation (Corporate Support) 

Project complete. Requirements 

of the legislation are met in full. 

Revise and update key Council codes 

(such as Code of Conduct, Code of 

Meeting Practice) and raise public 

awareness of Council decision making 

(Corporate Support) 


endorsed reviews of the Code of Conduct, 

Code of Meeting Practice, Payment of 

Expenses and Provision of Facilities to 

Mayor and Councillors Policy and the 

Media Representation Policy. 

Provide training to Councillors and 

staff on key Council codes and policies 

(Corporate Support) 

Project complete. Training on 

the Code of Conduct was provided to staff 

during the quarter. 

Conduct quarterly focus groups with 

the general community, and with 

developers, to enable continuous 

improvement to Council processes 

through information and consultation 



Improve the way Counciluses technology 

Review and update Council’s 

Information Management Strategy 

(Information Management) 

Project continuing. Review 

undertaken on a consultative basis with 

all areas of Council, project delayed as 

a result of Information Technology staff 

diverted to restoring business operations 

following the fire at the Administration 

Centre. 

Implement and regularly review 

an Information Technology 10 Year 

Capital Funding Plan (Information 

Management) 

Project completed. 

Consolidate and integrate existing 

corporate systems including the 

integration of the records management 

system with the rates, regulatory 

and requests system (Information 

Management) 

Project continuing. Agreed 

system upgrades have been completed. 

Further Trim to pathway integration is 

planned and it has been identified that a 

review of the name and address register is 

required. 

Finalise the Voice over Internet 

Protocol (VoIP) to include integration 

of voicemail to email by September 

2010 and reduce mobile phone costs 

by December 2010 (Information 

Management) 

Project continuing. Partially 

completed with implementation to occur 

during July and August 2011. Project 

delayed as a result of IT staff diverted to 

restoring business operations following fire 

at Administration Building. 

Develop a Human Resources web 

page, which will include policies, 

forms, recruitment information and 

guidelines, payroll information with 

links to human resources information 

systems, human resources handbook, 

telephone directory, superannuation 

and the Australian Tax Office (Workforce 

Management) 

 

Project complete. Updated on an 

ongoing basis with new information and 

forms placed on the web page. 

Develop policies and procedures, in 

consultation with employees or their 

representatives, which demonstrate 

the organisations commitment to the 

creation and ongoing provision of a safe 

workplace 

Ensure management of workers 

compensation claims continue to 

comply with WorkCover requirements 


Project completed. The new 

forms were presented to the Occupational 

Health and Safety (OH&S) Committee in 

March quarter. 

Review Council’s risk management 

practices to determine compliance with 

the international standard ISO31000 


Project completed. OH&S 

Procedures and policies were amended to 

comply with the AS31000 in September 

quarter. 

Review Occupational Health and 

Safety policies to ensure compliance 

with the National Audit Tool and Risk 

Management program (Workforce 

Management) 

Project completed in 

December quarter. 

Create a workplace which is culturally 

diverse and family friendly 

Review and update the Equal 

Employment Opportunity policy 




PART 1 / State of our 


73 

state of our 

environment 

Local Councils in New South Wales are required to report on the state of their 

environment as part of the annual reporting requirements under the Local 

Government Act, 1993 (Section 428 (2) c). This is a summary of the state of 

the environment in the Liverpool Local Government Area (LGA) for the period 

of 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011. This report is a summary of the performance of 

Council in key environmental performance areas, as well as a summary of the 

actions that Council and the community have completed together. 


PART 2 / State of the 




Planning 

2010 saw the launch of an Integrated Environmental 

Sustainability Action Plan development process. This plan 

integrates existing corporate environmental sustainability 

objectives as well as describing the strategies Council will 

employ to achieve environmental goals. The plan, once 

completed will set the direction for Council for the next 

four years. 

In 2011 Council conducted a series of Action Planning 

workshops for topics including Biodiversity, Energy and 

Climate Change, Sustainable Procurement/Fleet, Waste 

and Water. The aim of these workshops was to develop 

a list of specific actions to achieve Council’s strategic 

environmental goals. With funding from the NSW Office 

of Environment and Heritage work on these actions 

began, with progress reports soon to follow. 

Council continues to implement the 2010-2020 Waste 

Strategy, to provide the planning framework for Councils 

progress towards zero waste over a 10 year period. To 

date the strategy has helped Council minimise waste 

through avoidance, reuse, recycling, planning, policy and 

behavioural change (education). This strategy targets both 

domestic waste and Council waste. 


PART 1 / State of our 


75 

1. Sustainability Education 

Under the Local Government Act (1993) Council has a 

legal responsibility to carry out its functions in a manner 

that is consistent with and promotes the principles of 

Ecologically Sustainable Development. 

Increased demand for resources, materials and land, 

consumption of energy and water and production of 

waste and pollution can all result in unsustainable (social, 

economic and/or environmental) outcomes in the long 

term. 

In response Council coordinates several programs that 

promote and encourage environmental sustainability 

within the Liverpool Local Government Area (LGA) 





Highlights for 


• In 2010 four schools within the 

Liverpool LGA Catholic Schools 

cluster began an environmental 

project called ‘Beyond the Fence’. 

This project has now become an 

annual event for upcoming Grade Six 

students. 

• In 2011 Council’s Sustainability 

Education Officer was asked to be 

a keynote speaker at the Beyond 

the Fence Conference, to commence 

the project. More than 360 children 

and 50 staff attended from the four 

schools. 

• In 2010 Liverpool City Council was 

invited by the University of Western 

Sydney to mentor undergraduate 

business students to understand 

sustainable business. More than 

16 Students participated in the 

program. 

Environmental sustainability 

education workshops 

Council held six environmental education 

workshops as part of the Sustainability 

Blitz Workshop Series during 2010-11. 

Nine workshops had been planned, 

unfortunately the loss of Council’s 

Administration Centre located at Hoxton 

Park Road disrupted services. 

Monthly workshops included Composting 

and Worm-farming, Grey-water Reuse, 

Building a Herb Spiral, Frog Walk and 

Talk, Balcony Gardening and Growing 

Vegetables in Pots and Natural Body Care. 

Council also conducted workshops at 

three private Child Care Centres and 

four workshops during the ‘Green Day’ 

event (at St Joseph’s Primary School, 

Moorebank), with more than 400 students 

attending from four local primary schools. 

Schools environmental education 

A growing number of schools are 

demonstrating a desire to become more 

sustainable through initiatives such 

as worm farms, compost bins, veggie 

gardens, native plantings and encouraging 

environmental stewardship. 

In 2009-10 Council continued to support 

local school environmental education 

by holding nine school environmental 

workshops. The end of 2010 saw 25 

schools receiving awards for participation 

in Council’s Environment Citizen of 

the Year Award, where 115 students 

received recognition for demonstrating 

environmental stewardship within their 

school environment. This included both 

primary and secondary schools. 

Environmental sustainability 

newsletter 

Council also produced and distributed 

four editions of the Sustaining Liverpool 

newsletter with educational articles on 

biodiversity, sustainable gardening and 

natural cleaning. The Sustaining Liverpool 

newsletter is printed on 100 per cent 

recycled content paper and is available 

electronically via email. The number of 

residents receiving the newsletter via 

email has increased since 2009. 




77 

2. Biodiversity 

Biodiversity refers to the variety of life and ecosystems 

that they form. Biodiversity and ecological integrity 

contribute to the essential natural processes upon which 

we all depend. The intensification of development has 

placed considerable pressure on biodiversity in the 

Liverpool LGA through land clearing for developments, 

introduction of exotic species, stormwater impacts and 

altered soil conditions. Further urban impacts have 

occurred through weed invasion, altered fire regimes and 

edge effects. 

Liverpool City is home to a wide variety of plants, 

animals and ecosystems, including 35 threatened fauna 

species and 23 threatened flora species. There are 

approximately 11,015.8 hectares of native vegetation 

remaining in Liverpool LGA with 5,776 hectares of this 

being vegetation classified as an endangered ecological 

community under Schedule 1 of the Threatened 

Species Conservation Act, 1995. Of the remaining native 

vegetation only a small area, 1,527.3 hectares, is under 

formal protection*. 

*Formal protection incorporates land mapped in LEP 2008 as environmental protection or recreation zones and areas identified 

within SREP 31. 





Environment Restoration Plan 

The Environment Restoration Plan is 

funded by way of a special levy, which 

was approved by the Division of Local 

Government on 3 July 2007. The long-term 

aim of the Environment Restoration Plan 

is the restoration of the ecological health 

of our creeks, rivers and bushland areas, 

which in turn assists in delivering broader 

environmental outcomes such as improved 

biodiversity, water quality and contribution 

to greenhouse reduction. 

Environmental Restoration Plan 

Maintenance Program 

Council’s Bush Regeneration Team 

currently maintains 63 Environment 

Plan, Environment Restoration Plan 

and Community Tree Planting sites. 

Maintenance works are in progress for 

the 11 sites selected in 2010-11 for 

Round 3. Fifteen projects were selected in 

2010-11 for Round 4 of the Environment 

Restoration Plan; contracts are being 

developed and implemented for these 

sites. The site selection process for 

Round 5 (2011-12) is in progress. 

Environment Volunteer Program 

The Environment Volunteer Program 

(EVP) facilitates the establishment 

of environmental volunteer groups 

and activities under the Environment 

Restoration Plan in Liverpool LGA. In 

2010-11 there were nine established 

environment volunteer groups. More 

information about the works and activities 

funded by the Environment Levy can be 

found on page 85 of this report 

Noxious Weeds 

Noxious weeds are to be removed as soon 

as possible and there is a legal obligation 

for all public and private landholders to 

control noxious weeds on their properties. 

There are 81 species declared noxious 

weeds for the Liverpool LGA. Of the 81 

declared noxious weeds, 21 are known 

to commonly occur in the Liverpool LGA, 

including African Olive, Alligator Weed, 

Bitou bush, Blackberry, Castor oil plant, 

Lantana and many others. 

National Tree Day 

Council celebrated National Tree Day on 

Sunday 1 August 2010 by organising a 

community tree planting day and BBQ at 

South Park Chipping Norton, with over 

volunteers planting 2,500 locally native 

plants. 

As part of School’s National Tree Day local 

schools also planted natives. 32 schools 

participated on the day, with each school 

planting 50 native plants. 




79 

3. Water use and waterways 

Within the Liverpool LGA waterways are exposed to 

a range of pollutants from industrial and commercial 

premises, rural areas, roads, parks, gardens and 

households. In an urban area stormwater typically 

contains: litter, nutrients, bacteria, pathogens, pesticides, 

heavy metals, sediment, oils, grease and other pollutants. 

Rural run-off can increase the levels of sediment, 

nutrients, pesticides and chemicals in waterways. 

All of these pollutants can cause a decline in water 

quality, native plants and animals. The ability of a 

waterway to cope with increased nutrients, sediment and 

changes in flow is affected by the amount of vegetation 

cover, intensity of land use and the loss of vegetation 

along creek banks. 







• Water conservation actions 

developed during a cross-council 

action planning workshop series. 

Actions have received funding and 

are now under way. 

• The fourth and final Water Savings 

Action Plan annual update 

submitted. Council is now waiting on 

new guidelines to be developed by 

the State Government 

• NSW Public Works water monitoring 

equipment was installed at several 

key facilities to enable online, realtime 

monitoring of facilities 

• A data collection service was utilised 

to monitor Council’s water use. 

• Council continued to investigate 

wastewater related pollution across 

the LGA 

Water pollution 

Council’s Environmental Health Officers 

and Rangers are authorised under 

the Protection of the Environment 

Operations Act 1997 to investigate and 

respond to stormwater pollution related 

matters. Council continued to investigate 

stormwater pollution across the LGA. 

Onsite wastewater management 

Under the Local Government Act 1993 

the operation of all Onsite Sewage 

Management Systems (OSMS), as 

well as greywater and blackwater 

treatment systems require the approval 

and monitoring of Council. OSMS are 

required to be classified on a scale of low, 

medium and high risk. The higher the 

risk of the OSMS to public health and the 

environment, the more frequently Council 

is required to inspect the OSMS. 

Throughout 2010-11 Council’s inspection 

process ensured that OSMS are managed 

effectively. 

The Georges River Combined 

Council’s Committee 

The Georges River Combined Councils 

Committee is made up of nine local 

councils whose areas when combined 

make up the Georges River catchment. 

The Committee meets on a regular basis 

to discuss issues impacting on the Upper 

Georges River catchment. 

During 2010-11 the tendering process 

for Bush Regeneration works at Casula 

Parklands was completed. Works will 

begin shortly and information regarding 

the design and scope of these works will 

be made available to the public. Works 

will include weed control and extensive 

native plantings. 

Georges River - River Health 

Monitoring Program 

The River Health Monitoring Program is 

funded by a $210,000 Federal Government 

Caring for our Country grant and will run 

until 2011. This study is the first to assess 

the health of the Georges River on a 

regional scale and will identify priority 

areas for future conservation works. 

The second and third sampling campaigns 

for the Community River Health Monitoring 

Program (Autumn 2010 and April 2011) 

were completed during the 2010-11 

financial year. There will be a total of 

four catchment wide sampling campaigns 

during the two-year program. After each 

campaign a new report will be produced. 

By combining the results of the river 

health indices and accumulating more 

data as the project moves along, we 

will gain a greater understanding of the 

Georges River system. We will be able 

to identify areas of high biodiversity that 

should be protected, areas where onground 

works have been effective, areas 

where remediation works could be carried 

out in the future, and areas where future 

investigation may be required. 

This study provides a snap-shot of River 

Health. The results are indicative of the 

conditions present at the individual 

monitoring sites at the time the samples 

were taken. The quality of freshwater 

in the Liverpool Local Government Area 

varied from good to poor. 

Water Savings Action Plan 

Liverpool City Council has produced a 

Water Savings Action Plan (WSAP) as 

required under State Government Energy 

Administration Amendment (Water and 

Energy Savings) Act 2005. 2010 saw 

Liverpool City Council complete the final 

year of actions within this framework. 

The NSW Office of Environment and 

Heritage is developing a new framework, 

to continue the success of WSAP, while 

conforming to new local government 

integrated planning requirements. In the 

meantime Liverpool City Council continues 

implement water conservation actions 

across the organisation through efficiency 

and integrated environmental planning 

programs. 


PART 2 / Waste and Resource 

Recovery 

81 

SITA - Kemps Creek recycling facility 

4. Waste and resource recovery 

Initiatives implemented by Council in 2009 are now, two 

years later, producing significant reductions in the amount 

of domestic waste originally destined for landfill. The 

commencement of operation of SITA’s Alternate Waste 

Treatment (AWT) at Kemps Creek in conjunction with 

the roll-out of the three bin system has ensured that a 

minimum of 68 per cent of Council’s domestic waste 

is diverted from landfill each year. In 2010-11 Council’s 

diversion rate was 69.06 per cent. 

Council envisages that this diversion rate will increase 

each year as a result of ongoing research into effective 

and efficient waste management together with the 

continual planning and promotion of waste collection 

options. These options will facilitate the disposal of 

problem domestic waste streams such as e-waste, excess 

recyclables and household chemicals. Education and 

interaction with residents, students and businesses will 

continue to address and identify current and future waste 

avoidance and management issues. 




Recovery 

Liverpool City Council Waste 

Services include: 

Household cleanup: an on-call household 

cleanup service is provided to residents 

to dispose of their bulky and metal 

household waste twice every calendar 

year at no additional cost. 

Parks litter collection: a network of litter 

bins to municipal parks and Central 

Business District (CBD) areas. Loose litter is 

also removed from public areas and from 

alongside roadsides. 

Illegal dumping patrols: waste officers are 

employed by Council to investigate reports 

of illegally dumped rubbish. Council 

continues to educate the community 

regarding illegal waste dumping through 

the distribution of educational brochures, 

reporting regular local media articles and 

attending community forums. 

Promotion of annual waste-focused 

events: Council encourages the public to 

participate in several events including 

Chemical CleanOut, E-waste Drop-Off and 

Clean up Australia Day. These events focus 

on educating the community about waste 

avoidance and management. 

‘Be Sharp Safe’ sharps disposal program: a 

free disposal service of community sharps 

through fifteen local chemists and eight 

public place recovery points. This awardwinning 

program is designed to reduce 

the level of sharps waste ending up in the 

garbage or recycling stream where there 

is an increased exposure to needle-stick 

injury. 

Waste and Resource Recovery Education: 

Council continually uses various media 

channels such as the internet and printed 

material to promote its waste services 

and resource recovery. It also promotes 

recycling through composting and wormfarming 

workshops and public information 

displays. 



• Top performing Sydney 

Metropolitan Area council for 

waste diversion from landfill: 

The latest NSW Local Government 

Waste and Resource Recovery Data 

Report identified Liverpool City 

Council as the top performing Sydney 

metropolitan council for its recycling 

efforts.The report details the 2009- 

10 performance of local government 

kerbside and drop-off waste, 

recycling and resource recovery 

services and Liverpool City is on the 

top, with a recovery rate of 69.1 per 

cent. 

• E-waste Drop off Day: 

53 cars attended Council’s first ever 

independent e-waste collection on 

Saturday 19 February 2011. A total 

of 57.91 tonnes of e-waste was 

collected and diverted from landfill. 

This is an average of 76kgs per car. 

• Garage Sale Trail: 

67 households registered and 

participated in Council’s first 

ever garage sale trail event 

held on Sunday, 10 April 2011. 

Approximately 2,200 kilograms of 

household items including furniture, 

toys and clothing was redistributed 

and diverted from landfill. 

• Public Place Recycling: 

The public place recycling trial has 

been a success, with an overall 

contamination rate of less than four 

per cent recorded during the trial 

period. A plan to further expand the 

project to other public accessible 

areas within the Liverpool LGA is 

anticipated. 

• Expansion of Be Sharp Safe 

drop off points: 

An additional five pharmacies have 

joined the program since July 2010. 

There are now 15 pharmacies 

participating in the program. The 

total number of sharps deposited in 

both pharmacies and public bins has 

increased over the last financial year. 

Waste and recycling trends 

New release areas in Council and natural 

population increases automatically results 

in an increase in the amount of domestic 

waste generated. New environmental 

events and initiatives such as the E-waste 

Drop-off Day and the redirection of other 

wastes from landfill have contributed to 

increasing the amount of waste diverted 

from landfill. 



Recovery 

83 



domestic waste tonnages in liverpool city council 

from1st July 2006 to 30th June 2010 

year 

2006-2007 

2007-2008 

2008-2009 

2009-2010 


These trends indicate that by the end 

of the 2009-10 financial year, Liverpool 

City Council had again managed to 

achieve and surpass the state-wide 

target set by the Office of Environment 

and Heritage (OEH, previously DECCW) 

of 66 per cent 4 municipal waste 

resource recovery, three years prior to 

the deadline of 2014. 

Total Domestic 

Waste (t) generated 

in Liverpool LGA 1 


Waste (t) to Landfill 

(Total Tipping) 2 


waste(t) 

recyclables/ 

recoverables 3 

% waste diverted 

from landfill 

68,001.89 

73,800.55 

70,995.83 

73,133.12 

76,608.43 

57,408.64 

62,734.05 

60,066.02 

23,623.97 

23,701.51 

10,593.25 

11,066.50 

10,929.81 

49,500.37 

52,906.92 

15,58% 

15.00% 

15.40% 

67.69% 

69.06% 

Footnotes 

1 – Includes: 

- Household CleanUp - Bulky AND Metals 

- TOTAL red-lid bin residual waste sent to SITA AWT Kemps 

Creek 

- Yellow recyclables bin and Green Waste (Paper and Comingled 

recyclables prior to July 2009) 

- Street-sweeper and litter collected from park bins, CBD 

bins, road verges and shopping centres (sent to SITA AWT 

in 2010/2011 together with litter collected on Clean Up 

Australia Day) 

- Waste collected through the Chemical CleanOut, E-waste 

Drop-off day and Cartridges 4 Planet Ark programmes. 


- Household Clean Up - Bulky Waste ONLY 

- Non-recyclable/recoverables sourced from the red-lid bin 

residual waste, (including in 2010/2011 street-sweeper 

and litter collected from park bins, CBD bins, road verges 

and shopping centres and Clean up Australia Day) AFTER 

processing at the SITA AWT Kemps Creek Processing Facility. 


- Household Clean Up - Metals ONLY 

- Yellow recyclables bin and Green Waste (Paper and Comingled 

recyclables prior to July 2009) 

- Recyclables/recoverables (including compostable food 

and green waste) recovered AFTER processing of the red-lid 

residual waste bin (including in 2010/2011 street-sweeper 

and litter collected from park bins, CBD bins, road verges 

and shopping centres and Clean Up Australia Day) at the SITA 

AWT Kemps Creek Processing Facility, Chemical CleanOut, 

E-waste Drop-off Day and Cartridges for Planet Ark. 

4 Section 2.3, page 8, Waste Avoidance and Resource 

Recovery Strategy 2007, DECC http://www.environment. 

nsw.gov.au/resources/warr/07226_WARRreport07.pdf 



85 

5. Air quality and energy 

Liverpool sits within a natural geographical basin in the 

South West of Sydney. Meteorological conditions within 

the Sydney basin often result in the development of 

poor air quality, particularly in South Western Sydney. 

Air quality is affected by impurities. Transport, industry, 

construction and commercial activities can all contribute 

to the emission of air pollutants. 

According to NSW Health the two main air pollutants 

in Sydney are ozone (from vehicle exhaust, industrial 

emissions, gasoline vapours, and chemical solvents), 

and particle pollution, (from vehicles, factories, power 

plants, and smoke from bushfires). Air pollution can have 

a negative effect on the respiratory system (lungs and 

airways) and on the cardiovascular system (heart function 

and blood circulation) of all people, particularly the 

elderly. 



86 PART 1 / Name of Section 

Recovery 

Greenhouse gas emissions 

Greenhouse gases trap the sun’s heat 

in the atmosphere and assist in the 

maintenance of the earth’s temperature. 

Scientists have observed that global 

atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse 

gases have increased markedly as a result 

of human activities. Scientists have also 

observed that this increase in greenhouse 

gas concentrations is very likely to have 

caused an increase in global average 

temperatures and to have influenced other 

changes in global climate. 

Human activities such as the burning of 

fossil fuels for electricity, consumption 

of petrol based fuels for transport and 

landfilling waste, all contribute to the 

release of greenhouse gases. 



• Energy Savings Action Plan Annual 

Updates submitted to the State 

Government. 

• Council utilises Planet Footprint to 

monitor energy use. In 2011 this 

subscription service was expanded to 

report on Council’s energy reduction 

and climate change actions. 

• Monitoring energy of Council’s 

new administration centre has 

commenced. 

• Energy planning workshops 

conducted to identify possible 

savings actions to be implemented 

over the next four years. 

Transport and air quality 

A major contributing source of air pollution 

in Sydney is motor vehicles. Liverpool 

residents have a substantially higher share 

of households owning motor vehicles, 

compared to the Sydney average. The 

most recent census data from 2006 shows 

that only 11.8 per cent of people from 

Liverpool LGA used public transport to get 

to their place of employment, compared 

to 18 per cent in the Sydney statistical 

region. This figure will be compared to 

current trends as part of the 2011 Census. 

Regulation of industrial and 

commercial premises 

Council continues to regulate noise and 

air pollution of non-residential premise 

by authority under the Protection of the 

Environment Operations Act 1997. Through 

the development assessment process 

Council regulates and approves business 

practices and processes that prevent the 

release of air pollutants. 

Regional Air Quality Index 

The NSW Office of Environment and 

Heritage maintains an air quality 

monitoring network across the Sydney, 

Hunter and Illawarra regions. In the 

Sydney South West region monitoring 

stations occur at Bargo, Bringelly, 

Liverpool, Macarthur and Oakdale. At each 

monitoring station these air pollutant 

concentrations are calculated and reported 

as the Regional Air Quality Index (RAQI). 

The RAQI replaces the previous Regional 

Pollution Index (RPI) and provides a scaled 

air quality reading of very good, good, fair, 

poor, very poor and hazardous. 

Over the 2010-11 financial year air quality 

at measurements at Sydney South West 

region monitoring stations registered nine 

days or poor air quality, five days of very 

poor quality and three days of hazardous 

air quality. 

Energy Savings Action Plan 

Liverpool City Council has produced an 

Energy Savings Action Plan (ESAP) as 

required under State Government Energy 

Administration Amendment (Water 

and Energy Savings) Act 2005. In 2010 

Liverpool City Council relocated the bulk of 

administrative services to levels 2, 4 and 

6 of 33 Moore Street, Liverpool. Council 

has recently purchased the building at 

33 Moore Street and is in the process of 

improving the environmental performance 

of this building, in line with the ESAP 

actions for key Council facilities. 

The introduction of new integrated 

planning requirements for Council has 

lead to a review of the ESAP and related 

actions. This plan is now being updated 

to meet NSW Office of Environment and 

Heritage requirements. 


PART 2 / Environment Levy 

87 


Levy works 

On the 3 July 2007 Council received approval for a permanent environment 

levy from the Department of Local Government. The Environment Restoration 

Plan is the program of works approved by Council to deliver projects funded 

by the environment levy. The environment levy is an ad valorem charge 

per ratable property and is approximately $20 per property per annum. The 

purpose of the Environment Restoration Plan is to provide a framework for 

the delivery of key environmental projects, programs and on-ground works to 

help improve the natural environment for the long term benefit of Liverpool 

and its community. 


88 88 PART 12 / Name Environment of SectionLevy 

The following table provides a summary of projects funded through the environment levy for the 2010-11 year. 

Income and expenditure $ Outcomes achieved 

TOTAL INCOME $1,334,633 

Environment Levy $1,252,335 

Interest Environment Levy $82,298 

TOTAL EXPENDITURE $1,024,321 

Education and Administration $359,958 

Administration Costs (includes Salaries) $298,748 

• Staff employed to deliver Environment Restoration 

Plan program including Environment Restoration Plan 

Coordinator, Environment Restoration Projects Officer, Bush 

Regeneration staff 

• Engage Consultants to assist in development of 

Environment Restoration Programs 

Community Support $16,204 

• Provision of support for meetings for Environment Advisory 

Panel, Environment Group Sub Committee and Environment 

Groups 

• Provision of training for Environment Volunteers 

• Provision of supervision and training for Environment Group 

Activities 

George’s River Riverkeeper Program $30,000 

Educational Material and Programs $15,006 

Materials and Equipment $59,630 

Plants 19,291 

Mulch & site preparation $14,143 

Site Maintenance $20,468 

Equipment and Tools $5,728 

Lt Cantello Riparian 

Restoration Project – Area 3 

$20,700 

Contribution to delivery of George’s River Riverkeeper 

Program. Riverkeeper program undertake creek cleaning 

projects at various locations around Liverpool 

• Eight environment workshops as part of Sustainability Blitz 

workshop series 

• Six bimonthly environment activity flyers 

• Four editions of Councils quarterly environment newsletter 

“Sustaining Liverpool” 

• Support for tree planting activities and environment events 

• Support for major environment restoration projects 

Locally native plants purchased for Annual Community tree 

planting activities, tree giveaways, environment group 

activities, schools programs, grant projects, bush regeneration 

maintenance activities and Sustainability Blitz workshops 

Site preparation and provision of mulch for Annual Community 

tree planting activities, environment group activities, grant 

projects, bush regeneration maintenance activities and 

Sustainability Blitz workshops 

Additional site maintenance works on completed major bush 

regeneration project sites 

Delivery of annual tree planting calendar, environment 

group activities, environment events including National Tree 

Day, bush regeneration maintenance and Sustainability Blitz 

workshops 

Delivery of riparian restoration works including weeding, 

locally native tree planting and litter removal (Project 

commenced Nov 10. Proposed completion Jul 12) 


PART 2 / Environment Levy 

89 

Elouera Bushland Reserve 

Vegetation Survey 

On-Ground Contracted Works 

Round 4 Projects 2010-11 



$393,033 

$20,700 

$20,700 


Round 3 Projects 2009-10 $393,033 



Jacqui Osmond Reserve 

Riparian Restoration Project – Area 1 

Bringelly Recreation Reserve 

Riparian Restoration Project- Area 2 

Rossmore Grange Riparian 


Craik Park Bushland 


Remount Park Riparian 


Ernie Smith Reserve 

Riparian Restoration Project – Area 3 

Woodside Park Bushland 


Public Reserve – Rossini Drive Bushland 

Restoration Project - Area 1 

Amalfi Park Riparian 


Riverside Park Riparian 

Restoration Project - Area 1 

$18,030 

$17,379 

$13,518 

$13,792 

$18,462 

$67,165 

$20,271 

$67,451 

$54,842 

$74,528 

$27,595 

Contracted riparian restoration works for 

Round 3 environment restoration projects includes 

weeding, locally native tree planting and litter 

removal. Projects 18 month duration. 

Commencement of contracted riparian restoration 

works for Round 4 environment restoration project 

includes weeding, locally native tree planting and 

litter removal. Projects 18 month duration. 

Delivery of riparian restoration works including weeding, locally 

native tree planting and litter removal (Project commenced Nov 

10. Proposed completion Jul 12) 

Contracted riparian restoration works for Round 3 

environment restoration projects includes weeding, 

locally native tree planting and litter removal. 

Projects 18 month duration. 


native tree planting and litter removal (Project commenced Jan 10. 

Proposed completion Jul 11) 


native tree planting and litter removal (Project commenced Dec 

09. Proposed completion Aug 11) 

Delivery of bushland restoration works including weeding, locally 


09. Project completed Apr 11 ) 



09. Project completed Apr 11 ) 



09. Proposed completion Aug 11) 



Proposed completion Sept 11) 



Proposed completion Jul 11) 


native tree planting and litter removal (Project commenced Mar 

10. Proposed completion – Dec 11 ) 



09. Proposed completion – Oct 11 ) 



09. Proposed completion – Sept 11 ) 



09. Proposed completion – Nov 11 ) 


90 90 PART 12 / Name Environment of SectionLevy 


Round 2 Projects 2009-10 

Bringelly Recreation Reserve Riparian 

Restoration project –Area 1 

Hoxton Park Bushland 


Pearce Park Riparian 


Mannix Park Bushland 


Bedwell Park Bushland 


Murragan Park Bushland 


Public Reserve 

(Adjacent to Dalmeny Reserve) Bushland 


Lake Moore Riparian 


Public Reserve –Bellata Place Bushland 

Restoration Project –Area 1 

Whitlam Park No.5 Bushland 


South Park Riparian 



Round 1 Projects 2008-09 

Lt Cantello Riparian Restoration Project – 

Area 1 

Maxwells Creek - Hoxton Park Road 

Riparian Restoration Project 

Havard Reserve - Area 2 Riparian 

Restoration Project 

Tucker Road Public Reserve Area 1 - 

Bushland Restoration project 

Brickmakers Creek Riparian Restoration 

Project Homepride Avenue Area 1 

Hoxton Park Reserve Bushland Restoration 

project – Area 1 

$126,356 

$7,347 

$11,365 

$5,480 

$13,353 

$11,681 

$15,988 

$7,707 

$9,340 

$11,512 

$13,572 

$19,011 

$55,938 

$19,002 

$6,027 

$11,289 

$4,520 

$5,919 

$2,417 

Contracted riparian restoration works for Round 2 

environment restoration projects includes weeding, 

locally native tree planting and litter removal. 

Projects approximately 18 months. 


native tree planting and litter removal (Contract commenced – 

April 09. Project completed -Jan 11) 


native tree planting and litter removal (Contract commenced – Apr 

09. Project completed -May 11) 



April 09. Project completed - Jan 11) 



May 09. Project completed - Jun 11) 



May 09. Project completed - Apr 11) 



May 09. Proposed completion- Jul 11) 



May 09. Project completed – Jan 11) 



May 09. Project completed – May 11) 



May 09. Project completed - Mar 11) 


native tree planting and litter removal (Contract commenced – Jun 

09. Project completed - Jun 11) 



May 09. Project completed - May 11) 

Contracted maintenance works for Round 2 

environment restoration projects. Proportion of 

works completed in 2010-11. 

Completion of maintenance works for the Lt Cantello Reserve 

riparian restoration project (Project completed - July 2010) 

Completion of maintenance works for the Maxwells Creek riparian 

restoration project (Project completed - Oct 2010) 

Completion of maintenance works for the Havard Reserve riparian 

restoration project Area 2 (Project completed - Oct 2010) 

Completion of maintenance works for the Public Reserve Tucker 

Road bushland restoration project Area 1 (Project Completed – Dec 

2010) 

Completion of maintenance works for the Homepride Avenue 

riparian restoration project Area 1 (Project completed Apr 2011) 

Completion of maintenance works for the Hoxton Park Reserve 

bushland restoration project Area 1 (Project Completed - Oct 2010) 


PART 2 / Bushfire Hazard 

Reduction Activities 

91 

Bushfire hazard 

reduction activities 

Council has undertaken a number of activities that have resulted in a 

reduction of bushfire hazard areas. Included in these activities has been 

the roadside slashing, tree pruning and vegetation removal of a number 

of rural sites in the western and eastern suburbs of the Liverpool local 

government area to ensure that the roadways are safe for travel during 

periods when there is a potential threat of bushfire. 


PART 2 / Bushfire Hazard 


Reduction Activities 

The areas 

cleared 

from this 

potential 

are: 

• Badgery’s Creek Road 

• Fourth Avenue Devonshire Road 

• Greendale Road Wynyard Avenue 

• Ferndale Road 

• Jaeleman Road 

• Taylors Road Longley’s Road 

• Fifteenth Avenue 

• Anton Road 

• Western Avenue 

• Edmondson Avenue 

• Riverside Drive 

• Various sites throughout Glen Regent Estate and Voyager Point 

Council also undertook the maintenance of a number of fire trails and fire buffer zones 

within parks sites that are in close proximity to areas under potential threat of bush fires 

throughout the Liverpool Local Government Area including: 

• Peter Pan Park 

• Rossmore Grange 

• Carroll Park 

• Jameson Park 

• Lt Cantello Reserve 

• Chipping Norton Lakes 

• South Park 

• Helles Park 

• Cecil Hill’s Lakes 

• Riverside Park 

• Heron Park 

• Mill Park 

• Throsby Park 

• Old Casula Golf Course 

• Ernie Smith Reserve 

• Haigh Park 

• Cape Baron Park 

• Lascelles Park 

• Jacqui Osmond Reserve 

• Stroud Park 

• Dwyer Oval 

• Bringelly Park 

• Browns Farm Reserve 

• Harvard Reserve 

• Braidwood Reserve 

• Sarah Holland Drive Reserve 

As well as parkland adjoining the Elouera Nature Reserve including; 

• Blamfield Oval 

• Tepper Park 

• Stanwell Oval 

• Landa Park 

• Lehmann Oval 

• Edwin Wheeler 

• Miller Park 

• Powell Park 


PART 2 / Managing our 


93 

Managing our 


Liverpool City Council is responsible for the management, care and control 

of a wide range of infrastructure assets, representing a significant public 

investment and utility. These include public roads and other transport 

related facilities; floodplain and drainage networks; parks, reserves and 

recreational facilities; property and buildings, with a combined replacement 

cost of close to $1.7 billion. 


PART 2 / Managing Our 



The following figure shows the 

scope and value of assets managed 

by Council. Additional details 

regarding each category of these 

assets are provided in the attached 

Condition of Assets Report. 

Council’s assets are used to provide 

a range of services, which aim 

to deliver social, environmental 

and economic outcomes for the 

community of Liverpool. The level of 

service delivered by these assets is 

largely determined by the manner 

in which they are maintained and 

managed. 

Asset 

management 

planning 

The 2010-11 year saw substantial work in 

the area of asset management planning 

to enable a move towards a more 

consistent application of current best asset 

management practices across Council 

and across all categories of infrastructure 

assets. 

As a result of this work, Council now has 

a suite of strategic planning documents 

for the management of its assets 

comprising asset management policy, 

asset management strategy and asset 

management plans. Together, these 

documents will guide and underpin asset 

management at Council to ensure assets 

continue to provide required levels of 

service over time and in a cost effective 

manner. 

Roads 

Current Replacement Cost - 2011 

Drainage 

Buildings 

Parks 

A key element of this process comprises 

priority selection systems for a range 

of asset programmes to provide Council 

with an objective and a legally defensible 

framework for the selection of projects. 

The asset management planning process 

also resulted in the development of a 

procedure document to guide the ongoing 

valuation of Council’s infrastructure assets, 

which has now become a comprehensive 

quality document of corporate significance. 

This will enable a consistent approach 

to the periodic revaluation of all 

infrastructure assets to the Division of 

Local Government’s requirements for 

reporting fair values enabling better 

estimation of asset consumption and 

depreciation. 

Roads $964,000,000 

Drainage $382,000,000 

Buildings $205,000,000 

Parks $132,000,000 

Total $1,683,000,000 


PART 2 / Managing Our 


95 

Proportion of assets in each of the following conditions 

asset condition 

Excellent 

Good 

Average 

Poor 

Very Poor 

47% 

Sealed 

roads 

11% 

7% 

27% 

8% 

Asset condition 

37% 

55% 

Over the last few years, Council has 

built up a comprehensive data base of 

all its assets, which has enabled Council 

to undertake necessary planning and 

valuation of its assets most efficiently 

and to a high level of accuracy. Council’s 

ongoing asset surveys have provided 

valuable data to objectively determine 

its current condition and performance. 

This has enabled Council to proactively 

develop maintenance and renewal 

strategies and programmes that are 

responsive and cost effective. 

Bridges 

Footpaths 

and 

cycleways 

6% 

2% 

0% 

11% 

1% 

0% 

0% 

88% 

The following provides a summary of 

condition and performance information 

for some of Council’s key assets. 

9% 

25% 

Asset renewal 

and replacement 

During the year, Council continued its 

capital works program to renew and 

replace infrastructure assets to maintain 

satisfactory condition and performance. 

Works were funded from the following 

income sources, which enabled a large 

number of projects and programs to be 

completed: 

• Special Rate Variation ; 

• Stormwater Management Service 

Charge; 

• Grants from commonwealth and 

state governments for a range of 

infrastructure projects; and 

• Council’s own funding sources 

including Section 94 contributions 

(S94). 

Buildings 

Parks 

and 

Open Space 

Stormwater 

drainage 

system 

Gross 

pollutant 

traps 

23% 

1% 

14% 

8% 

3% 

24% 

6% 

1% 

3% 

23% 

5% 

0% 

0% 

42% 

33% 

42% 

66% 

72% 


96 PART 2 / Roads and Transport 

Assets 

Road and 

transport assets 

Council is responsible for the care, control 

and management of more than 809 km of 

formed roads. Approximately nine km of 

this network is unsealed and 36 km has 

regional road status. During 2010-11 an 

additional eight km of new roads were 

added to the network as a consequence 

of subdivision, mostly in the Middleton 

Grange and Edmondson Park urban release 

areas. 

A condition survey of council’s road 

pavements found that while most parts 

of the road network are generally in a 

satisfactory condition, a relatively high 

proportion (15 per cent or 120km) of the 

road pavements are in below average 

condition overall. 

Confronted with this significant backlog 

of roads in poor to very poor condition 

and the threat of rapidly deteriorating 

road pavement mainly due to ageing and 

Council has employed strategies that aim 

to progressively upgrade assets that are in 

poor condition while placing a significant 

focus on preventing assets that are in fair 

or good condition from falling into the 

poor category. 

The preventative strategies aim to 

preserve or restore a road at an earlier 

time in the roads life, before it falls into 

disrepair. Such strategies provide the 

capability of significantly extending the 

life of the road pavement at a cost four 

to five times less than the reconstruction 

costs associated with failed pavements. 

Early and effective employment of the 

road dollar is now known to be many 

times more cost effective in overall asset 

management. 

Early intervention through Council’s 

preservation programmes will provide the 

most cost effective treatment in arresting 

the overall rate of decline in the condition 

and performance of the road network 

and preserve the existing roads in a 

serviceable condition over the long term. 

Continuation and expansion of such 

preventative strategies and associated 

long term economies will have substantial 

beneficial impact on Council’s future 

financial liability. 

Some of the key issues facing Council’s 

management of its large portfolio of road 

assets are: 

• The ageing of public infrastructure 

assets. Many roads and associated 

infrastructure built in the 1970s and 

1980s, while delivered according 

to the standards of the time, 

are now approaching the end of 

their serviceable lives and now 

require significant improvements 

and renewal to bring them up to 

current acceptable standards for the 

community. 

• Between 1995 and 2010 the road 

network grew by 29 per cent 

from 624 km to 809 km in length, 

however, the overall condition of the 

road network continues to decline. 

Available funding has primarily been 

directed towards minimising this rate 

of decline by focusing on pavement 

preservation and rehabilitation 

treatments. 

• The road network is expected to 

grow by another 150 km or 20 per 

cent over the next 10 years and 

with this growth comes the need for 

increased maintenance activities. 

• Development in the rural areas is 

leading to increased traffic loadings 

unsuitable for the existing rural road 

pavements, which places additional 

pressure on already constrained 

maintenance budgets. 

• The rural road network, due to its 


PART 2 / Drainage Assets 

97 

advanced state of deterioration, 

will continue to decline unless 

a substantial boost in funding is 

provided to arrest this decline. 

However, these rural roads lie 

predominantly within the South 

West Growth Centre and the 

ensuing residential and commercial 

developments will ultimately see 

the full reconstruction, widening 

and upgrades to majority of the 

roads within this area. Alternative 

low cost strategies, to hold 

these rural roads in a reasonable 

condition until full reconstruction 

can occur, have been developed 

and are being progressively 

implemented. Recent examples 

of this approach include Bellfield 

Avenue, Rossmore and Twelfth 

Avenue, Austral. 

Achievements for the year 

More than $12.8 million was expended 

on preserving, restoring and enhancing 

all road and transport related assets 

during the 2010-11 financial year. This 

has facilitated the reconstruction and 

rehabilitation of some of the major roads 

within the network such as Governor 

Macquarie Drive and North Liverpool 

Road. The following highlights key 

achievements for the 2010-11 program 

year. 

• Completed streetscape 

enhancement works in Elizabeth 

Street between Macquarie Mall 

and George Street to provide 

new paving, street furniture and 

landscaping within the city centre. 

• Upgraded and expanded the 

Collimore Car Park to accommodate 

355 cars to provide improved 

parking opportunities for city centre 

employees. 

• Completed major reconstruction 

and widening of key sections two 

major regional roads comprising 

North Liverpool Road and Governor 

Macquarie Drive at a cost of over $3 

million. 

• Completed road pavement renewal 

and rehabilitation works to a value 

of over $9 million covering 27 

streets with a combined length 

of over seven kilometres, which 

will restore and extend pavement 

service lives and also improve 

riding conditions. 

• Completed the following major 

preventative maintenance 

activities: 

- resealing program - 

completed patching and 

resurfacing of five streets in 

Bringelly covering an area of 

over 43,000sqm. 

- rejuvenation program - 

completed surface rejuvenating 

treatments in Hinchinbrook 

Green Valley area to slow 

the rate of surface and 

pavement deterioration and 

extend pavement service life. 

42,000 sqm of pavement 

surface was treated. 

- Patching program - heavy 

patching works were completed 

selected road sections to restore 

serviceability of failed 

pavements. 

• Continued construction of paved 

footpaths and shared paths in 

established and older release areas 

of Liverpool with over 15 km of new 

paved pathways constructed to date. 

• Reconstructed a large number of 

kerb ramps within the City Centre 

as well as the suburbs for improved 

access and mobility. 

• A total of five new traffic facilities 

were provided during the year at 

the following locations for improved 

pedestrian movement and safety: 

- Pedestrian refuge - 

Pine Road, Casula 

- Pedestrian refuge - 

Banks Road, Heckenberg 

- roundabout at intersection 

of Pine and Box Roads, Casula 

- roundabout at intersection of 

Governor Macquarie Drive and 

Barry Road, Chipping Norton 

- roundabout at intersection 

of O’Brien Parade and Wildman 

avenue, Liverpool 

Drainage assets 

Council’s drainage assets comprise over 

564 km of piped drainage systems and 

associated pits, gross pollutant traps, flood 

retention basins, formed channels and 

waterways with a combined value of over 

$382 million. The drainage network is 

projected to grow at a rate commensurate 

with the growth in the road network. 

A substantial part of the drainage portfolio 

comprises predominantly underground 

structures and without a structured 

inspection program, maintenance of the 

system can be random and reactive, 

and only carried out when it becomes 

apparent that the deterioration and defect 

could be a threat to the safety of public or 

property. 

To overcome this uncertainty, Council 

commenced a program of comprehensive 

inspection of its piped drainage network to 

assess its structural condition and hydraulic 

performance. The inspection, which uses 

a closed circuit television system (CCTV), is 

ongoing and its purpose is to provide 

Council with accurate condition data and 

digital imagery of its pipe network. 

The inspections have enabled Council to 

proactively develop maintenance and 

renewal strategies and programmes that 

are responsive and cost effective and 

have identified the need for the following 

broad categories of drainage renewal and 

replacement activities, which are expected 

to improve hydraulic performance and 

significantly extend service lives: 

• Restoration of piped drainage system 

through relining of long lengths of 

existing deteriorated pipes. This 

trenchless method of pipe restoration 

method uses robotic techniques to 

apply a PVC liner within existing 

pipes to restore structural integrity 

and flow efficiency. 

• Restoration of piped drainage 

system through application of 

structural patches to isolated failures 

within pipes. Again, this trenchless 

method of pipe restoration method 

uses robotic techniques to apply 

polyurethane resin patches that 

provide long term structural 

enhancement and seals against root 

intrusion. 

Both these programs utilise technology 

that has been transferred from sewer and 

water main renewal and Liverpool is one 

of very few councils that has embarked on 

such a large scale and planned stormwater 

pipe renewal using this technology. 

To enable identified works to be 

delivered most efficiently, Council has 

established long term contracts with 

a panel of contractors specialised in 

drainage rehabilitation works for ongoing 

maintenance and renewal of stormwater 

drainage pipes. The works are being 

undertaken on a priority basis and funded 

by stormwater service charge. The priority 

selection system for restoration, renewal 

and replacement of drainage system is 

based on asset condition assessments 

and knowledge of other performance 

parameters including strategic location of 

pipes, flooding and safety. 


98 98 PART 12 / Name Buildings of Section 


management of its large portfolio of 

drainage assets are: 

• The existing drainage system 

comprises predominantly 

underground pipes and pits, which 

can only be properly assessed using 

CCTV. This method of collecting data 

is costly and time consuming and 

only 40 km of the piped network is 

able to be assessed each year. This 

means that condition of the entire 

drainage network will continue to 

be estimated from collected data for 

asset management and valuation 

purposes. 

• Inspections and assessments so far 

have shown a significant proportion 

of the drainage system inspected 

to be below average condition. This 

proportion is likely to grow due to 

ageing and deterioration. However, 

Council has commenced a substantial 

drainage renewal and rehabilitation 

program, which is expected to assist 

in arresting this decline. 

• Council’s Stormwater Management 

Service Charge, which generates 

approximately $1.2 million each 

year, has provided Council with a 

sustainable funding source for its 

stormwater management program 

and this funding has enabled more 

enhanced maintenance and renewal 

programmes to be undertaken. 

• The drainage network and associated 

infrastructure is expected to grow by 

another 100 km or 18 per cent over 

the period of this Plan. 

• The current push towards more 

water sensitive urban designs has 

introduced new types of assets 

and devices for stormwater quality 

improvement, which will require 

more structured and some times 

more intensive maintenance 

practices to be adopted. 

• Council’s voluntary property 

acquisition scheme, currently 

operating in Moorebank to mitigate 

adverse impacts of flooding from 

the Georges River, has not been 

progressing as anticipated, primarily 

due to funding constraints. Unless 

Commonwealth funding is restored 

to original levels, the Scheme 

will take substantially longer to 

complete. 

• Five large flood detention basins 

are expected to be built over the 

short to medium term to facilitate 

development within the Cabramatta 

Creek catchment and these 

basins place additional burden on 

Council resources due to stringent 

monitoring and surveillance 

requirements placed by the NSW 

Dam Safety Committee. 


During 2010-11 over $4.5 million was 

spent on preserving, restoring and 

enhancing drainage infrastructure with the 

following work undertaken: 

• Completion of major flood mitigation 

and creek rehabilitation works in 

Brickmakers Creek to improve flow 

capacities and mitigate flooding 

within northern parts of the city 

centre. 

• Completion of programmed 

renewal and rehabilitation of piped 

drainage system with over 4.5 km 

of the piped drainage relined and 

patched. This trenchless method 

of pipe restoration method uses 

robotic techniques to apply a 

PVC liner within existing pipes to 

restore structural integrity and flow 

efficiency. 

• Completion of a critical section of the 

City Centre trunk drainage project 

enabling immediate benefits to the 

existing town drainage system. 

• Completed a major performance 

review of Council’s basin strategy for 

the Cabramatta Creek Catchment, 

which will now guide further 

development in this catchment. 

• Completion of major bank 

stabilisation works in Brickmakers 

Creek to control and prevent ongoing 

erosion of creek banks downstream 

of Moore Street. 

• Provision of improved drainage 

system at Clinches Pond including 

a gross pollutant trap to remove 

pollutants from water entering the 

pond. 

• Installation of telemetry flood 

warning systems at two flood 

detention basins for monitoring of 

flood levels in the basin during flood 

events for emergency management. 

• Continuation of the program of 

comprehensive inspections of 

existing piped drainage network to 

enable capital works programmes 

for maintenance and renewal of 

drainage systems to be developed. 

Over 100 km of piped drainage have 

been inspected to date which has 

enabled the development of long 

term capital works programs. 

Parks and Recreation 

facilities 

Council manages a portfolio of 500 open 

space reserves, consisting of Regional, 

District or Local open space made up of 

active, passive and natural bush land. The 

portfolio includes 107 recreational and 

sporting facilities including netball courts, 

tennis courts, cricket nets, skate ramps 

and aquatic centres. These assets cover 

over 1,400 hectares and have a combined 

replacement cost of over $133 million. 

While the overall condition of this category 

of assets is considered fair, sports amenity 

buildings located within reserves suffer 

significant malicious damage due to its 

location and inadequate surveillance. This 

requires higher levels of maintenance 

to ensure satisfactory standards and 

continued serviceability. 


In line with its city wide playground 

equipment asset management plan, 

Council continued implementation of its 

capital works priority program to replace, 

restore and rationalise its stock of sub 

standard playgrounds. The following 

playgrounds were upgraded during the 

year at a total cost of $573,000: 

• Starling Park, Busby 

• Lady Woodward Park, Miller 

• Vasta Park, Moorebank 

• Mihajlovic Park, Green Valley 

• Mubo Park, Holsworthy 

• Wattle Grove Park, Wattle Grove 

• Alex Grimson Reserve, Hoxton Park 

• Alamein Park, Liverpool 

• Edwin Wheeler Oval, Sadleir 

• Cordellia Park, Hinchinbrook 

• Glendevie Park, West Hoxton 

• Collimore Park, Liverpool 

• Grand Flanuer Beach, Chipping 

Norton 

An overall expenditure of some $3.6 

million will be required to enable a 

complete refurbishment of the City’s 

playground equipment. Council’s 

program of improving key suburb and 

local parks continued with the following 

refurbishment and enhancement works: 

• Green Valley Reserve, Landscaping, 

Hinchinbrook 

• Glendevie Park, Development, West 

Hoxton 

• Freeburn Park, Landscaping, 

Luddenham 

• Salamaua Park, Landscaping, 

Holsworthy 

• Collimore Park, Landscaping, 

Liverpool 

During 2010-11 Council spent close to $6.0 

million in maintaining, preserving and 

restoring parks and recreational facilities. 

Buildings 

Council has in its ownership, care and 

control some 222 building assets covering 

its commercial, operational, community, 

recreational, cultural and heritage services, 

with a combined current replacement 

cost of over $205 million. The mix of 

buildings is significant with many of the 

buildings built in the late 50’s and 60’s 

and several specialised structures such as 



99 

parking stations, large aquatic centres and 

heritage buildings. 

Council continued its programmed 

inspection of building assets to enable 

development of optimised maintenance 

and renewal programs and development 

of asset management plans. Condition 

surveys are expected to continue over the 

next 18 months to capture the condition of 

more specialised elements of the buildings 

such as electrical, plumbing, essential 

services, security and air conditioning 

systems. These surveys will be outsourced 

due to the need for specialist skills for 

these assessments and are expected to be 

completed by 2013. 

A proportion of the buildings have been 

found to be below average condition 

overall and this has critical implications 

on the allocation of maintenance 

funding. However, a large proportion of 

the buildings in this condition relate to 

secondary buildings or parts of buildings 

such as storage facilities and public toilets 

associated with sporting facilities, works 

depot and the fire services. 


management of its large portfolio of 

building assets are: 

• Up to 25 per cent of the building 

portfolio requires significant 

maintenance or renewal to restore 

serviceability. 

• Malicious damage to sports amenity 

buildings due to their location within 

reserves and inadequate surveillance 

require higher than normal 

maintenance. 

• The majority of Council’s buildings 

do not generate any income and are 

unable to offset the spiralling cost of 

maintenance and renewal. 


During the year Council expended over 

$5.5 million towards refurbishment and 

improvements to ten of its premises 

including community child care centres, 

car parks, parks and reserves. 

Council suffered a major setback in its 

daily operations following complete 

destruction of its main administration 

building by fire in August 2010. As part of 

its recovery operation, Council commenced 

a staged program to demolish the fire 

destroyed sections of the building and 

under take necessary reconstruction and 

fit out of the new and existing buildings to 

maintain Council’s operation. 

Major highlights for the year include: 

• Acquisition of a new administration 

building at 33 Moore Street. 

• Replacement of the Whitlam Aquatic 

Centre roof. 

• Upgrade of Whitlam Aquatic Hall 

change rooms. 

• Roof replacement to gymnasium 

and squash court at Whitlam Leisure 

Centre. 

• Replacement to change room and 

spa roof at Whitlam Aquatic Hall. 

• Front entrance paving and 

landscaping upgrade to the Whitlam 

Leisure Centre. 

• Whitlam Leisure centre main car park 

lighting upgrade. 

• Dr Pirie Centre renovation and 

upgrade. 

• New disability access ramps to Dr 

Pirie Centre, share care, Oliveri Hall, 

and Hilda Davis. 

• North Cumberland car park upgrade. 

• Upgrade of Warwick Farm Child Care 

Centre nappy change area. 

• Commencement of Peter Miller Park, 

Casula. 

• Completion of works resulting 

from fire damage to Council’s 

Administration building including: 

• Demolition of the South Building of 

the Administration Building. 

• Reconstruction of the interface 

space to the North Wing of the 

Administration Building. 

• Upgrade of Francis Greenway to 

accommodate new Council Chamber. 

• Relocation of staff and fit out to 

alternative Administration Building 

at Moore Street. 


100 100 PART 12 / Name Condition of Section of Assets 

Condition 

of Assets 

The following table provides average 

condition of Council’s assets and costs 

to upgrade and maintain these assets 

to ensure they continue to provide 

acceptable standards of service over the 

long term. 

Notes to table 

1. Current replacement cost - estimated 

cost to replace existing asset with 

modern equivalent which will deliver 

same service potential. Values are 

based on June 2010 fair values 

adjusted for CPI. 

2. Average condition - an overall 

assessment of the average condition 

of assets within an asset category. 

Selected from one to five condition 

levels comprising; excellent, good, 

average, poor and very poor or 

unserviceable. 

3. Estimated cost to bring to a 

satisfactory standard - estimated 

cost required to bring assets within 

an asset group to a condition level 

equal to or better than “good”. 

Previous annual reports have reported 

the costs to bring assets to a condition 

level equal to or better than “average”, 

hence an increase of over $84 million in 

this amount from last year. This approach 

is in accordance with DLG Planning and 

Reporting Manual (2010). 

4. Estimated annual cost of maintaining 

asset at that standard - estimated 

annual expenditure required to 

maintain all assets within an asset 

group at a condition level equal to 

better than “average” once they 

have been brought to a satisfactory 

standard. 

5. Annual maintenance expenditure 

- Council’s expenditure during the 

financial year for the purpose of 

maintaining, preserving or restoring 

assets. 

6. Estimated annual maintenance costs 

for pipes is inclusive of maintenance 

cost for pits and headwalls. 

7. Estimated annual maintenance costs 

for basins is inclusive of maintenance 

cost for wetlands. 


PART 2 / Condition of Assets 

101 

Asset category and 

description 

Quantity 

Current 

replacement cost 

(Note 1) 

Average 

condition 

as at June 


(Note 2) 

Estimated cost 

to bring to 

satisfactory 

standard 

(Note 3) 

Estimated 

annual 

cost of 

maintaining 

asset at that 

standard 

(Note 4) 

Annual 

maintenance 

expenditure 


(Note 5) 

ROAD AND TRANSPORT 

Roads 817 km $617,146,000 Average $135,625,584 $11,789,104 $12,615,154 

Kerb and gutter 1200 km $170,626,000 Excellent $2,271,853 $279,616 $437,996 

Footpath and cycleways 525 km $69,484,027 Excellent $554,696 $2,660,464 $529,856 

Bridges and culverts 99 $37,832,000 Good $3,887,714 $141,864 $144,962 

Road furniture and structures 12,667 $55,481,000 Excellent $1,347,992 $607,548 $365,092 

Off street car parks 123 $13,811,000 Good $898,022 $60,652 $85,597 

FLOODPLAIN AND DRAINAGE $382,413,000 $11,188,788 $2,031,328 $2,306,469 

Pipes Note 6 564 km $293,474,000 Excellent $7,482,125 $1,552,280 $1,960,698 

Pits Note 6 18,025 $60,760,000 Good $2,623,802 

Headwalls Note 6 1,238 $2,067,000 Good $247,294 

Retarding Basins Note 7 52 $14,488,000 Good $531,000 $265,224 $233,921 

Gross Pollutant traps 110 $5,170,000 Excellent $224,318 $213,824 $111,850 

Wetlands Note 7 21 $6,454,000 Good $80,249 

BUILDINGS $205,384,000 $68,472,490 $3,552,980 $7,010,384 

Admin buildings 2 $24,100,000 Good $1,000,000 $402,000 $338,129 

Works depots 15 $5,793,000 Poor $4,837,155 $124,388 $206,312 

Bush fire & SES 8 $1,854,000 Average $676,710 $46,260 $2,053 

Libraries & museums 6 $24,171,000 Excellent $4,109,070 $405,000 $762,199 

Community centres 35 $33,939,000 Good $9,163,530 $584,000 $560,070 

Childcare centres 11 $10,126,000 Good $2,835,280 $170,000 $3,704,319 

Multi level car parks 2 $19,348,000 Good $4,837,000 $379,332 $130,020 

Commercial properties 4 $2,888,000 Average $722,000 $52,000 $8,927 

Heritage buildings 14 $28,012,000 Average $15,126,480 $362,000 $68,747 

Aquatic centres 3 $31,187,000 Average $12,942,605 $550,000 $1,023,115 

Parks buildings & structures 113 $23,966,000 Average $12,222,660 $478,000 $206,493 

PARKS AND RECREATION $132,893,517 $38,540,199 $4,316,713 $5,968,518 

Sporting fields and ovals 90 $32,115,682 Average $25,245,300 $1,690,144 $1,229,289 

Sporting facilities 107 $6,412,417 Average $1,625,134 $323,420 $877,053 

Natural reserves 32 $8,648,505 Good $650,371 $460,149 $614,639 

Parks, gardens and streetscapes 467 $79,032,187 Average $7,301,376 $1,398,086 $2,769,299 

Playground equipment 157 $6,179,046 Average $3,620,244 $430,798 $391,113 

Wharves, jetties & boat ramps 6 $505,680 Average $97,774 $14,117 $87,125 

GRAND TOTAL $1,685,070,544 $262,787,339 $25,440,269 $29,464,028 


PART 2 / Special Infrastructure 

102 102 PART 1 Name of Section 

Levy 

Special 


Levy 

The special infrastructure levy was 

introduced in 2005-06 to provide 

additional funding towards Council’s 

infrastructure capital works program up 

to 2010. The purpose of this special levy 

was to fund a backlog of much needed 

infrastructure works and to progressively 

bring the community infrastructure up to a 

satisfactory standard. 

The following table provides a summary 

of projects funded through the special rate 

levy. 

Projects partly or 

fully funded through 

infrastructure special 

rate levy 

Funding 

from Special 

Rate Levy 

Total 

Expenditure 

Status as at 30 June 


Buildings $226,100 $108,900 

Community Centre 

Rehabilitation Program 

$108,900 $108,900 Works complete. 

School of Arts 

Restoration/Conservation 

Works 

$117,200 $0 

Works at the School 

of Arts deferred 

due to future site 

redevelopment 

adjacent to this 

site. Available 

funding transferred 

to Collingwood 

heritage restoration 

works. Site works 

have commenced 

and completion is 

anticipated by October 


Parks and 

Recreation 

$601,700 $601,700 

Floodlighting Staged 

Upgrade Program - 

Riverside Park 

Lakeside Park - Key 

Suburb Park Upgrade 



Playground Replacement 

Program 


Total $827,800 $710,600 


PART 2 / Stormwater 

Management charge 

103 

Stormwater Management 

service charge 

Council continued its program of 

stormwater rehabilitation and renewal 

works funded from the Stormwater 

Management Services Charge, which was 

implemented in July 2008. The charge, 

which generates approximately $1.2 

million each year, has provided Council 

a sustainable funding source to improve 

water quality, mitigate flooding, improve 

drainage, increase maintenance and 

replace ageing storm water networks. 

The charge is for additional storm water 

management services beyond those 

already provided and will provide funds to 

ensure the city’s storm water and drainage 

assets are maintained and improved. 

The following table provides a summary 

of projects funded through the Stormwater 

Management Service Charge. 

Projects partly or fully funded 

through stormwater management 

service charge 

Funding 

from 

Total 

Expenditure 

$ 

Status as at 30 June 2011 

FLOOD MITIGATION $257,000 $134,945 

Dale Street, Liverpool - Drainage Capacity 

Improvement 

$23,300 $4,800 

Design in progress with site works planned to 

commence in late 2011. 

Lake Francis Cowpasture Rd, West Hoxton - 

Flood Warning Systems 


Detention Basin 3A, Cecil Hills - Flood 

Warning Systems 

CBD Trunk Drainage - George St, Moore St to 

Scott St. 


$75,000 $62,221 

Amalfi Park Detention Basin Design $100,300 $23,970 

Design in progress to enable drainage works to be 

constructed in the 2012-13 Year. 

Design in progress with site works planned to 

commence in early 2012 subject to approval of 

grants. 

STORMWATER QUALITY $117,150 $31,411 

Detention Basin 3A Cecil Hills - Trash Rack 

Modification 


Orange Grove Road GPT - Maintenance 

Access 


Homepride Avenue GPT - Maintenance 

Access 


Rose Street, Liverpool - New GPT $8,300 $0 

GPT not required as a result of review of 

maintenance practices. 

Cockatiel Circuit GPT - Maintenance Access $550 $0 

GPT not required as a result of review of 

maintenance practices. 

URBAN DRAINAGE SYSTEM $2,162,998 $2,197,265 

Huckstepps Service Way, Liverpool - Pipe 

Replacement 


Macquarie Street, Liverpool - Pipe 

Replacement 


Detention Basin 100 - improvements to trash 

rack 


Stormwater Pipe - restoration program $799,000 $799,635 Works complete. 

Stormwater Pipe - replacement program $525,000 $544,403 Works complete. 

Minor Drainage Improvement Works $95,485 $120,543 Works complete. 

Urban Drainage Renew & Upgrade $124,413 $123,336 Works complete. 

Drainage Enhanced Maintenance $116,700 $127,189 Works complete. 

Stormwater Pipe - inspection, assessment 

and ancillary works 


Clinches Pond upgrade works $116,700 $155,871 

Drainage works complete and landscaping planned 

to be completed by October 2011. 

TOTAL $2,537,148 $2,363,621 


104 104 PART 12 / Name Special of Rate Section Variation 

Special Rate variation 

Council introduced a special rate variation of nine per cent commencing 1 July 2009. The purpose of this variation is to allow Council to 

increase its maintenance budget by $0.6 million and capital works by approximately $5 million annually to undertake more enhanced 

maintenance and fund a backlog of much needed infrastructure works to progressively bring the community infrastructure up to a 

satisfactory standard. Council’s main focus areas have been its road, bridge and footpath works, improvement and restoration of public 

buildings, drainage and floodplain improvements which reduce the impact of flooding and sporting field renovation. 

The additional works that have been funded by the nine per cent special rate variation during 2010-11 are listed in the table below. 

Projects partly or fully funded from 

Special Rate Variation 

Funding 

from 

SRV 

$ 

Total 

expenditure 

$ 


Buildings $540,000 $248,500 

Child Care Centre Rehabilitation & 

Renovation 


Community Centre Rehabilitation 

Program 

Dr Pirie Centre Restoration & 

Conservation 

$117,200 $0 

$601,700 $601,700 

Works at the School of Arts deferred due to future site 

redevelopment adjacent to this site. Available funding 

transferred to Collingwood heritage restoration works. 

Site works have commenced and completion is 

anticipated by October 2011. 

Implementation of Disability Action Plan $180,500 $180,500 Works complete. 

Wenden Pool Building Renewal $161,800 $161,800 Works complete. 

DRAINAGE and FLOODPLAIN $698,290 $1,022,924 

Moorebank Voluntary Purchase Scheme $165,000 $9,763 

Following valuation and negotiations with two 

property owners, Council has been unsuccessful at 

acquiring any properties due to competition from the 

private market. Negotiations are now underway to 

pursue acquisition of other properties in 2011-12. 

Brickmakers Creek - capacity 

enhancement - Campbell St to Orange 

Grove Road 

$533,290 $1,013,161 

Works complete and 12 months maintenance period 

has commenced. 

PARKS and RECREATION $865,000 $331,970 

Harris Creek Amenities & Services $132,000 

Cameron Park - Key Suburb Park 

Upgrade 

Chipping Norton (CN) lakes - Staged 

Fence Replacement 

Floodlighting Staged Upgrade Program - 

Stanwell Oval - League 

$132,000 

$63,000 


Design and documentation underway with site works 

planned for 2011-12 program year following statutory 

approvals. 

Preparation of tender documentation is underway 

with site works planned for commencement in 

October 2011. 

Chipping Norton Lakes is currently being considered 

for reclassification to a State Park. Any works will 

follow this review and redefinition of responsibilities. 


PART 2 / Special Rate Variation 

105 

Projects partly or fully funded 

from Special Rate Variation 

Funding 

from 

SRV 

$ 

Total expenditure 

$ 


Playground Replacement program $260,000 $260,000 Works complete. 

Regional Park Upgrade - Angle Park $99,000 

Deferred pending Chipping 

Norton Lakes review. 

Salamaua Park - Local Park Upgrade $77,000 

Site works have commenced 

with completion anticipated 

by September 2011. 

Disability Action Plan Implementation - Roads and Transport $30,000 $47,910 Works complete. 

Pedestrian Access and Mobility Plan implementation $36,600 $40,501 Works complete. 

Bridge Rehabilitation & Renewal - Bonds Creek Culverts, Fourth 

Ave Austral 


Bonds Creek Footbridge, Edmondson Avenue, Austral $50,000 

Works scheduled for August 


Aston Reserve shared path, Hoxton Park - Aston Reserve to 

Nineteenth 

Hinkler Avenue and McGirr Parade footpath, Warwick Farm - 

Hume to Mannix 

Hume Highway footpath, Warwick Farm - Sappho to Irelands 

Bridge 

South Liverpool Road footpath, Heckenberg - Jindabyne to 

Heckenberg 





Pirie Street footpath, Liverpool $15,000 $19,830 Works complete. 

Parrot Road footpath, Green Valley $6,545 $9,466 Works complete. 

Berridale Place footpath, Heckenberg $3,000 $7.544 Works complete. 

Maxwells Avenue cycleway, Cartwright - Cartwright to Stanwell $65,000 $151,942 Works complete. 

Infrastructure Asset Management System $80,000 

System implementation 

scheduled for 2012. 

Bull Street, Warwick Farm - National to Munday $154,000 $153,364 Works complete. 

National Street, Warwick Farm - Bull to Manning $95,000 $82,649 Works complete. 

Bull Street, Warwick Farm - National to Cul de Sac $181,000 $181,000 Works complete. 

Cartwright Avenue, Cartwright - Cabramatta to Heckenberg $111,000 $107,146 Works complete. 

Graham Avenue, Lurnea - Webster to Brain $192,400 $192,851 Works complete. 

Newcomb Place, Lurnea - Graham to North End $47,900 $48,394 Works complete. 

Ross Street, Chipping Norton - Holly to No. 18-20 $175,000 $158,769 Works complete. 

Twelfth Avenue, Austral - Edmondson to Fourth $297,100 $191,624 Works complete. 

West Street, Lurnea - Wonga to Jedda $95,500 $86,773 Works complete. 

Whitford Road, Hinchinbrook - Starling to Green Valley $228,700 $210,895 Works complete. 

Belfield Avenue, Rossmore $376,075 $383,300 Works complete. 

Kilmorey Street, Busby $226,187 $165,943 Works complete. 

Nuwarra Road, Moorebank $118,000 $117,668 Works complete. 

Wonga Road, Lurnea $184,538 $158,862 Works complete. 

Governor Macquarie Drive, Chipping Norton - River to Munday 

Stage 2 

$323,271 $1,032,271 Works complete. 

Governor Macquarie Drive, Chipping Norton - Childs to Barry $620,879 $1,337,298 Works complete. 

Safety Barriers Installation $33,300 $17,686 

Installation scheduled for 

September 2011. 

Flowerdale Rd - Pedestrian Fencing $20,000 $20,000 Works complete. 

O'Brien Parade and Medley Avenue Roundabouts $30,000 $21,600 Works complete. 

Pine Road, Casula - Pedestrian Refuge $20,000 $20,000 Works complete. 

Banks Road, Heckenberg - Pedestrian Refuge $20,000 $30,000 Works complete. 

Grand Total $5,944,295 $7,026,201 


PART 2 / Companion Animal 

106 106 PART 1 Name of Section 

Activities 

Companion 

animal 

activities 

Liverpool City Council has undertaken a 

number of activities during 2010-11 to 

ensure compliance with the Companion 

Animals Act 1998 including enforcement 

and education activities and programs. 

Council’s subsidised de-sexing program 

was reviewed and the reimbursement rate 

remained at $50 for cats and $75 for dogs. 

This program is permanent and provides 

assistance to pensioners to de-sex their 

companion animals. During 2010-11 

Council provided 74 subsidies at a cost 

of $4,925.00. It was promoted through 

Council’s website, community education 

and in the local papers. 

Liverpool Council’s Animal Compliance 

officer completed his authorised identifier 

course in September 2010 through the 

NSW Animal Welfare League. This enabled 

him to help microchip animals on Council’s 

free micro-chipping day and proactively 

educate the community during the course 

of the year. 

Liverpool City Council’s Micro-chipping Day 

is an annual event held for the purpose 

of providing the local community with a 

free service to identify their companion 

animals and comply with the Companion 

Animals Act. The annual event was held 

on Saturday 19 September 2010 with 

more than 300 companion animals microchipped 

and a large range of educational 

material from associated stakeholders and 

educational show bags were given out. 

The event was advertised in local papers, 

on Council’s website, through flyers, 

at Community Forums and on banners 

around the city. 

Council’s animal management team 

continued the registration program 

which has been immensely successful in 

informing owners of companion animals 

of the requirement to register their pets. 

This program has increased the number of 

lifetime registrations. 1,142 companion 

animals were registered during the year 

with total registrations fees received of 

$79,215 in the financial year 2010-11. 

Liverpool City Council diligently informs 

the Division of Local Government (DLG) of 

the number of dog attack incidents at the 

completion of the investigations. Liverpool 

Council has embraced the new format of 

reporting dog attacks via the Companion 

Animal Register; this process is much more 

streamlined and efficient. 


PART 2 / Companion Animal 

Activities 

107 

Liverpool Council completes the pound 

data statistics on a monthly basis and 

these reports are forwarded annually to 

the DLG at the end of each financial year. 

Council has introduced a review process 

of all impounded animals. This process 

identifies repeat offenders in order to 

take further action such as penalties and/ 

or education to assist owners with their 

dogs and address any problem behaviour. 

Council has found a noticeable reduction in 

repeat offenders since the introduction of 

this process. 

Liverpool Council has two off-leash areas: 

Lieutenant Cantello Reserve, Stewart 

Drive, Hammondville and Hoxton Park 

Reserve, Wilson Drive, Hinchinbrook. 

Council is looking at new locations to 

further increase the number of off-leash 

areas as well as improve the existing 

facilities. 

Liverpool City Council, along with 

our authorised impounding facility is 

investigating ways to reduce the rate of 

euthanasia of companion animals. We 

do this by using the services of other 

recognised organisations such as animal 

rescue groups to help in the placement 

of unclaimed animals. Last financial year 

Council released 595 animals to these 

organisations for re-homing. 

In addition, Council implemented a cat 

de-sexing program in conjunction with 

The Cat Protection Society. This program 

provided discounted cat de-sexing to all 

residents in the Local Government Area. 

Liverpool Council contributed $1,860 which 

allowed for 31 cats to be both de-sexed 

and microchipped between 20 June and 

30 June 2011. This successful program 

eliminated unnecessary pregnancies and 

hundreds of unwanted kittens. 

Furthermore, Liverpool Council purchased 

‘Dangerous Dog’ warning signs in January 

2011. These signs were provided to those 

residents that owned a dangerous or 

restricted dog free of charge as a good will 

gesture. It was acknowledged that these 

residents were required to pay out large 

sums of money already in order to keep 

these animals. 

Liverpool Council is also currently 

developing an Animal Management Plan 

to assist us in developing new strategies 

and programs to better assist Liverpool 

residents. 

Liverpool City Council actively utilises 

the Companion Animal’s Fund as per 

the guidelines of Section 85 (1a) of the 

Companion Animal Act 1998 which states 

“Any money paid to Council from the fund 

is to be applied by the Council only for the 

purpose that relate to the management 

and control of companion animals in its 

area”, as per the activities listed above. 

During 2010-11 Liverpool Council; 

• Employed a full time Animal 

Compliance Officer and Ranger 

• Employed a full time administration 

position working specifically on 

animal management issues and 

projects such as registrations, 

education letters, updating of DLG 

companion animal database and 

dealing with a large number of 

customer requests. 

• Engaged dog pound contractor 

for the impounding of collected 

companion animals 

• Produced education brochures 

relating to companion animals 

• Carried out repairs to leash-free 

areas 

• Purchased and updated equipment 

for the capture of companion 

animals 

• Organised a free Micro-chipping Day 

for cats/dogs owned by residents 

living in Liverpool LGA. 

The total cost is detailed below: 

Employees costs (Animal 

Compliance Officer, Ranger 

and Administration) 

$148,060 

Dog Pound Contractor $287,862 

General maintenance 

contractor 

$9,938 

Free Micro-chipping Day $15,458 

Total $461,319 

Animal management policies and 

procedures are reviewed on a regular 

basis to ensure they meet any changes in 

the provisions of the Companion Animals 

Act 1998 and the regulations. 


108 PART 2 / Management Plan 

Part 3: 

Our 

statutory 

reporting 

requirements 


PART 3 / Our Statutory Reporting 

Requirements 

109 

Companies in 

which we had 

a controlling 

interest 

Council held 100 per cent controlling 

interest in the Bulldogs Sports and 

Community Foundation Limited registered 

in May 2002. The Bulldogs Sports and 

Community Foundation Limited went 

into liquidation on the 2 June 2010 as 

per advice received from Dean Willcocks 

Insolvency Solutions. The net proceeds of 

the liquidation amounted to $6,309.34 and 

was used to pay legal fees outstanding. 

The company was deregistered 11 April 

2011 with the Australian Securities and 

Investment Commission. 

Competitive 

neutrality 

In April 1995, representatives of the 

Commonwealth and all State and Territory 

governments met and ratified the National 

Competition Policy. The principle of 

competitive neutrality is based on the 

concept of a ‘level playing field’ between 

persons competing in the market place. 

The principle applies only to the business 

activities of councils and not to their nonbusiness, 

non-profit activities. Compliance 

with the principle is required unless it 

can be demonstrated that the costs of 

implementation outweigh any benefits for 

the community. 

In relation to local government, it is 

accepted that some business activities 

will have a significant economic impact. 

A threshold of $2 million annual sales 

turnover/ annual gross operating income 

has been chosen as a reasonable measure 

of economic significance for the purpose 

of applying a corporatisation model and 

pricing requirements. In these cases, the 

benefits of applying competitive neutrality 

are expected to outweigh the costs. 

Businesses over this threshold are called 

Category 1 business activities. Business 

activities under this threshold are called 

Category 2 businesses. 

Council has determined that the provision 

of car parking at the Warren Serviceway 

Carpark is a business activity and is 

classified as a Category 2 business. Details 

of the revenue, expenses and assets held 

for the business are outlined in the Special 

Purposes Financial Reports provided as 

Part 4 of this annual report – Our Financial 

Statements 

A complaints handling mechanism that 

complies with the NSW Local Government 

Act 1993 and the National Competition 

Policy is in place. Council’s Complaint 

Handling Policy and Procedure are 

available on Council’s website. 

Council did not receive any competitive 

neutrality complaints during 2010-11 



Contracts 

awarded 

Council is required to report details of each 

contract awarded by the Council during the 

year for amounts greater than $150,000 

and other than: 

(i) 

employment contracts (that is, 

contracts of service but not contracts 

for services), and 

(ii) contracts for less than $150,000 

or such other amount as may be 

prescribed by the regulations, 

including the name of the 

contractor, the nature of the 

goods or services supplied by the 

contractor and the total amount 

payable to the contractor under 

the contract. 

Contract Number 

Contractor 

Description of 

Work 

Contract Type 

Contract Award 

Price 

PO 18247 

Infor Global Solutions 

Pathways Support 

Services 

Lump Sum $169,223 

PO 18087 

PO 19852 

Belgravia Leisure 

Management Whitlam 

Centre 

Lump Sum 

$225,000 

$200,000 

PO 18111 

PO 19591 

PO 20921 

PO 22147 

Emergency Management 

NSW 

Contribution to Rural Fire 

Services 

Lump Sum 

$404,318 

$404,318 

$393,746 

$416,609 

ST1032 

PO 18318 

Transpet 

Provision of Pound 

Services 

Lump Sum $290,100 

PO 18345 

State Debt Recovery 

Processing Fees for 

Parkers 

Lump Sum $204,000 

WT1425 

PO 18491 

WT2022 

PO 18564 

PO 18679 

Celtic Civil 

Traditional 

Stonemasonry 

True Energy 

CBD Trunk Drainage 

Works 2010 

Headstone Monuments 

Relocation 

Electricity charges for 

Street Lighting 

Lump Sum $1,022,189 

Lump Sum $166,409 

Lump Sum $1,000,000 

PO 18687 Integral Energy Street Light Maintenance Lump Sum $1,135,000 

PO 18688 

Australia Post 

Agent commission for 

Aust Post payments 

Schedule of Rates $193,000 

ST1221 

PO 18777 

ST948 

PO 18778 

WT1461 

PO 19477 

PO 19531 

WT987 

PO 19504 

PO19881 

PO 20520 

PO 21113 

PO 21159 

PO 21800 

PO 21833 

PO 21889 

PO 22011 

JJ Richards 

Sita Environmental 

Jay & Lel Civil 

Various 

Borthwick & Pengilly 

Waste Collection 

Services 

Waste Acceptance/ 

Treatment 

Detention Basin and 

Drainage Channel Works 

Asphalt Road Works 

Denham Court Road 

Reconstruction 

Patching in Devonshire 

Road 

Reconstruction of Road 

Pavement 

Road pavement 

Heavy patching 15th 

Avenue 

Asphalt surface 

preparation, Kelvin Pk 

Drive 

Asphalt Surface Bellfield 

Avenue 

Pavement Rehab Green 

Valley Road 

Whitford Road Patching 

Schedule of Rates $4,000,000 

Schedule of Rates $2,500,000 

Lump Sum 

Panel Period Contract 

$210,,702 

$752,323 

$398,312 

$236,000 

$920,000 

$252,822 

$230,686 

602,500 

$295,000 

$195,000 

$210,000 




Requirements 

111 

Contract Number Contractor Description of Work Contract Type 


Price 

PO 22056 

PO 22057 

PO 22081 

PO 22111 

PO 23378 

PO 23389 

PO 23206 

PO 23706 

WT1471 

PO19539 

Lamond Landscaping 

Asphalt Overlaying Various 

Roads 

Pavement Reconstruction 


Bull Street Rehabilitation 

Pavement Rehab Ross Street 


Wonga Rd 

Middleton Grange Asphalt 

Works 

Road Reconstruction Works 

Whitlam Entrance Paving 

& Landscaping 

Lump Sum 

$190,000 

$182,040 

$500,500 

$412,500 

$158,400 

$156,000 

$183,730 

$1,395,785 

$385,246 

PO 19657 Corporate Express Microsoft LGP Agreement Lump Sum $339,119 

PO 19671 Fischer's Cleaning Steamatic Cleaning Lump Sum $452,539 

PO 19742 

ST1485 

PO 19952 

RCL1382 

PO20058 

PQ2054 

PO 20260 

RCL1455 

PO 20289 

PO 23377 

PO21848 

Land and Property 

Management 

Benedict Pty Ltd 

Valuation Fees for Rates Schedule of Rates $252,669 

Material/Services for Park 

Maintenance 

Panel Period Contract $187,860 

RMA Demolitions Fire and insurance claim Panel Period Contract $477,510 

Interco Pty Ltd 

Various 

Interflow Pty Ltd 

Interflow Pty Ltd 

All About Pipes 

Reconstruction Works to 

North Wing 

Stormwater Drainage pipe 

Relining 

Lump Sum $377,718 


$162,584 

$201,457 

$229,194 

PO 20532 

Colliers International 

Lease of Levels, 2,4 & 6, 

33 Moore Street, Liverpool Lump Sum $724,997 

prior to purchase 

PO 20889 Macquarie Equipment Quarterly Lease Fees Schedule of Rates $187,147 

PO 20973 

Fischer's Cleaning 

Cleaning and drying of 

documents 

Lump Sum $298,010 

RCL1455 

PO 21848 

ST2080 

PO 21922 

ST1174 

PO 22089 

WT2066 

PO 22496 

PO 22518 

RCl1472 

PO 22834 

PO 24364 

All About Pipes 

JCB Constructions 

Stormwater Drainage Pipe 

Rehabilitation 

Purchase 1 Backhoe 

Purchase 1 Backhoe 


Lump Sum 

$188,189 

$173,889 

NSS Group Static Guard Services Schedule of Rates $178,596 

Cardinal Projects Peter Miller Precinct Park Lump Sum $3,719,000 

Fairfield Council 

Various 



Reconstruction of North 

Liverpool Road 

Concrete Footpath 

Construction 

Construction of River City 

Cycleway 

River City Cycleway from 

Casula 

Lump Sum $250,000 


$460,000 



Contract Number Contractor Description of Work Contract Type 

WT2012 

PO 22940 

Toolijooa 

Central Creek Bush 

Regeneration 

Lump Sum 


Price 

$194,471 

PO 23397 Legal Force Debt Collection LGP 109 Schedule of Rates $250,000 

WT1112 

Morizzi Bros 

Road Reconstruction Western 

$412,500 


PO 23441 

Road 

WR01-07/08 

PO 23465 

PO 21719 

PO 20920 

PO 20928 

Various 

Fulton Hogan 

Fulton Hogan 

Fulton Hogan 

Bernipave 

Resealing of various roads 



Collimore Carpark Upgrade 


$301,950 

$257,000 

$508,898 

$196,461 

PO 23681 Civil Constructions Provision of concrete path Lump Sum $158,345 

Total value of contracts greater that $150,000 $33,321,001 

External bodies exercising functions 

delegated by Council 

There were no external bodies that exercised functions delegated by Council in 2010-11. 




Requirements 

113 

Government Information 

(Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act) 

Schedule 2 Statistical information about access applications 

Table A: Number of applications by type of applicant and outcome* 

Refuse to 

confirm/ 

Access Access Access 

Information Refuse to 

Information 

deny 

Application 

granted granted refused 

already deal with 

not held 

whether withdrawn 

in full in part in full 

available application 

information 

is held 

Media 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Members of Parliament 0 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 

Private sector business 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Not for profit 

organisations or 

community groups 

0 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 

Members of the public 

(application by legal 

representative) 


(other) 

1 0 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 

3 0 1 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 

Table B: Number of applications by type of application and outcome 

Personal information 

applications* 

Access applications 

(other than personal 

information 

applications) 

Access applications 

that are partly 

personal information 

applications and partly 

other 

Not for profit 

organisations or 

community groups 


(application by legal 

representative) 


(other) 

Refuse to 

confirm/ 

Access Access Access 

Information Refuse to 

Information 

deny 

Application 

granted granted refused 

already deal with 

not held 

whether withdrawn 

in full in part in full 

available application 

information 

is held 


8 0 1 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 



1 0 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 

3 0 1 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 



Table C: Invalid applications 

Reason for invalidity 

No of applications 

Application does not comply with formal requirements (section 41 of the Act) 0 

Application is for excluded information of the agency (section 43 of the Act) 0 

Application contravenes restraint order (section 110 of the Act) 0 

Total number of invalid applications received 0 

Invalid applications that subsequently became valid applications 0 

Table D: Conclusive presumption of overriding public interest against disclosure: matters listed in Schedule 1 of Act 

Number of times consideration used* 

Overriding secrecy laws 0 

Cabinet information 0 

Executive Council information 0 

Contempt 0 

Legal professional privilege 0 

Excluded information 0 

Documents affecting law enforcement and public safety 0 

Transport safety 0 

Adoption 0 

Care and protection of children 0 

Ministerial code of conduct 0 

Aboriginal and environmental heritage 0 

Table E: Other public interest considerations against disclosure: matters listed in table to section 14 of Act 

Responsible and effective government 1 

Law enforcement and security 0 

Individual rights, judicial processes and natural justice 0 

Business interests of agencies and other persons 1 

Environment, culture, economy and general matters 0 

Secrecy provisions 0 

Exempt documents under interstate Freedom of Information legislation 0 

Number of occasions when application 

not successful 

Table F: Timeliness 

Number of applications 

Decided within the statutory timeframe (20 days plus any extensions) 8 

Decided after 35 days (by agreement with applicant) 1 

Not decided within time (deemed refusal) 0 

Total 9 




Requirements 

115 

Table G: Number of applications reviewed under Part 5 of the Act (by type of review and outcome) 

Decision varied Decision upheld Total 

Internal review n/a n/a 0 

Review by Information Commissioner* * * 1 

Internal review following recommendation under section 93 of Act n/a n/a n/a 

Review by ADT n/a n/a n/a 

Total n/a n/a 1 

*Currently with OIC. Review not complete hence, at this stage, not able to answer 

Table H: Applications for review under Part 5 of the Act (by type of applicant) 

Applications by access applicants 0 

Applications by persons to whom information the subject of 

access application relates (see section 54 of the Act) 

Number of applications for review 

0 

Legal proceedings 

Council is required to report on the amounts incurred during the year in relation to legal proceedings taken by or against the 

Council (including amounts, costs and expenses paid or received by way of out of court settlements, other than terms which 

can not be disclosed) and a summary of the state of progress of each legal proceeding and (if it has been finalised) the result. 

The following are the legal proceedings in which Council was involved during 2010-11; 

Matter Status Outcome Costs 

Representation in relation to a 

Supreme Court action by Hoxton 

Park Residents Action Group. 

Railcorp - Compulsory Acquisition 

Class 3 - Southern Sydney Freight 

line 

Class 3 proceedings by Gattuso - 

95 McIver Ave Middleton Grange 

Prosecution under the 

Environmental Planning & 

Assessment Act - Lot 3 (No. 55) 

Yarrawa Street Prestons. 

Appeal to NSW Court of Appeal 

by Hoxton Park Residents Action 

Group 

Appeal by Hoxton Park Residents 

Action Group. 

Council sought representation 

in relation to L & E Court 

proceedings - Ridge Design 

Finalised 

Finalised 

Proceedings were dismissed. 

Court ordered plaintiffs to pay 

Council’s costs. 

An agreement was reached (and 

Railcorp are to pay Council’s 

Legal costs.) 

$36,656 

$70,396 

Current N/A $36,230 

Finalised Prosecution was unsuccessful. $16,142 

Council has filed a submitting 

appearance in this matter 

(not yet heard at the time of 

reporting.) 

Listed for hearing (not yet heard 

at the time of reporting.) 

Matter listed for initial directions 

(not yet heard at the time of 

reporting.) 

N/A $2,557 

N/A $2,001 

N/A 

Nil (at the time of 

reporting.) 



Mayor and councillor remuneration 

Policy 

Council has Payment of Expenses and Provision of Facilities to Mayor and Councillors Policy. A copy of the policy is available 

to public inspection at Council’s offices or online at www.liverpool.nsw.gov.au/formspublicationspolicies.htm 

Expenses 

The fees received by the Mayor and Councillors for the financial year were $276,282. 

Mayor $53,743 

Total Councillor Allowance $222,539 (paid to Councillors and Mayor) 

The total amount spent on the provision of Councillor facilities and payment 

of Councillor expenses for the year was $50,826 

Expense 

Cost 

Dedicated Office Equipment $6,300 

Telephone Calls $1,758 

Conferences and Seminars $13,543 

Training $7,700 

Interstate Visits $4,170 

Overseas Visits $17,355 

Expenses of Spouse/Partner $ - 

Provision of Childcare $ - 

Total $50,826 

overseas visits 

At the Council meeting on 19 July 2010 Council resolved to send a delegation to Toda, Japan as part of the Sister City Program. 

The delegation visited Toda, Japan from 26 September - 6 October 2010 and consisted of: 

• Mayor Wendy Waller 

• Councillor Tony Hadchiti 

• Councillor Nadia Napoletano 

• Mr Jeff Organ, Director City Assets 




Requirements 

117 

Occupational Health and Safety Policy 

Legislative requirements 

Occupational Health and Safety Act, 2000 

Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, 2001 

Purpose 

The purpose of this policy is to document Liverpool City Council’s (Council) commitment to providing and maintaining a safe and 

healthy work environment for its employees, contractors, labour hire employees, visitors and members of the public. Council is 

committed to achieving this through the effective implementation of the Occupational Health and Safety Management System 

and through the implementation of its policies and procedures. 

Objectives 

Under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act, 2000, Council has a legal requirement to protect the health, safety and welfare 

of all employees, contractors, labour hire employees and visitors to the workplace. 

The objectives of this Policy are:- 

• to secure and promote the health, safety and welfare of people at work, 

• to protect against risks to health or safety arising out of the activities of people at work, 

• to promote a safe and healthy work environment that protects people from injury and illness and is adapted to their 

physiological and psychological needs, 

• to provide consultation and co-operation between Council and employees in achieving the objects of the OHS Act 2000, 

• to ensure that risks to health and safety at a place of work are identified, assessed and eliminated or controlled, 

• to protect people (whether or not at a place of work) against risks to health and safety arising from the use of plant and 

equipment that affects public safety, 

• to ensure continuous improvement of the OHS Management System. 

Policy statement 

1. Council is committed to ensuring the health, safety and welfare of all people in the workplace. 

2. In particular Council is committed to: - 

a) A Risk Management approach to identify, assess, eliminate and control hazards which have the potential to harm people in 

the workplace; 

b) Implementing risk management processes and ensuring consistency with the nature of the Council’s activities and scale of 

health and safety risks; 

c) Complying with relevant OHS legislation and other requirements placed upon Council or to which the Council subscribes; 

d) Establishing measurable objectives and targets for OHS to ensure continuous improvement aimed at the elimination of work 

related illness and injury; 

e) The provision of appropriate OHS training to all employees, and ensure that labour hire employees and contractors have the 

appropriate OHS training; 

f) A consultative process to ensure all employees including contractors and labour hire employees are included in the decision 

making processes impacting on workplace health and safety; 

g) The dissemination of OHS information to all employees, contractors, labour hire employees and visitors to the workplace; 

h) The effective implementation of the OHS Policy; 

i) The development and implemention of an Injury Management program and the timely return of employees to duties in 

accordance with the Worker Compensation Act 1987 and Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 

1998, Workers Compensation Regulations 2003 and Workers Compensation Amendments 2005; 

j) Ensuring continuous improvement and the monitoring the OHS Management System by conducting an Executive 

Management Review. 

3. Liverpool City Council will develop, implement and keep under review an OHS System for managing health, safety and welfare. 

This system will be supported by appropriate policies and appropriate procedures that are implemented and reviewed on a 

regular basis. 






Requirements 

119 

Partnerships, 

cooperatives and 

joint ventures 

Council is a member of Westpool, a joint 

insurance and risk management venture 

that provides liability protection for 

nine western Sydney member councils. 

Member councils are Blacktown, Blue 

Mountains, Fairfield, Hawkesbury, 

Liverpool, Parramatta, Penrith, Wollongong 

and Shellharbour. 

Council has a strategic alliance with and is 

a member of the Western Sydney Regional 

Organisation of Councils (WSROC). 

WSROC’s primary role is to lobby and 

make representations to government 

and industry on behalf of councils and 

communities of western Sydney. 

Council is also a member of the Local 

Government and Shires Associations of 

NSW which was established to provide 

advocacy for Local Government for the 

benefit of local communities and deliver 

services to member councils. 

In 2007, Council formed an inter-council 

relationship with Narromine Shire Council 

in the State’s Central West, with the aim of 

sharing knowledge, skills and resources for 

the benefit of both organisations. Council 

also has a Sister City Relationship with 

Toda City in Japan which began in 1991 to 

encourage a regular exchange of student 

groups. 

During 2010-11 Council was engaged 

in resource sharing with a number of 

organisations including other councils, 

State Government bodies, various learning 

institutions, and other bodies. Some of 

the organisations Council is affiliated with 

include: 

• Be Sharp Safe Community Sharps 

Management 

• Biodiversity Capacity Building 

Working Group 

• Chemical Cleanout 

• Climate for Change Protection 

Program 

• Floodplains Management Authority - 

NSW 

• Georges River Combined Councils 

Committee 

• Grants Network 

• Liverpool Local Emergency 

Management Committee 

• Local Action for Biodiversity Project 

• Macarthur Bushfire Management 

Committee 

• NSW Local Government and Shires 

Association 

• Southern Hoxton Park Aerodrome 

Agreement 

• Sustainability Blitz 

• Water For Life Council Partnership 

• Western Sydney Environmental 

Education Network 

• Western Sydney Regional Illegal 

Dumping Squad 

• Western Sydney Salinity Working 

Party 

• Agreement with Tharawal LALC 

and LCC 

Planning 

agreements 

in force 

The following planning agreements were 

held with developers and landowners 

during the reporting period: 

• George’s Fair Estate Lot 2127 DP 

11452258 Georges Fair (Boral Bricks 

Pty Ltd) and relates to the residential 

subdivision and provision of the 

necessary roads and public open 

space for the estate (including the 

link road). The conditions of the 

agreement have been complied 

with. 

• 146 Newbridge Road, Moorebank 

also known as Benedict Sand and 

Gravel (Tanlane Pty Ltd) relates 

to the commercial and residential 

development of the land and 

requires works including the 

embellishment and dedication of 

Georges River foreshore land and 

drainage land, and the construction 

of a bike/pedestrian path and road 

bridge. Works and land dedication 

stipulated in the agreement are not 

yet due to be undertaken. 

• 124-144 Newbridge Road, 

Moorebank also known as Flower 

Power Nursery site (Syesun Pty 

Ltd) relates to the commercial 




Georges River foreshore land and 

drainage land, and the construction 

of a bike/pedestrian path. Works 

and land dedication stipulated in the 

agreement are not yet due to be 

undertaken. 

• Former Hoxton Park Airport, Lot 

22 DP 1042996 Cowpasture Road 

(Hoxton Park Airport Limited 

Freehold Pty Ltd and Mirvac Projects 

Pty Ltd) relates to the industrial, 

commercial and residential 




land along Hinchinbrook Creek, 

construction of drainage detention 

basin, road bridge, bike/pedestrian 

path and signalised intersection 

at Cowpasture Road. Certain items 

of work have been completed in 

relation to drainage facilities and 

a further $10.2 million worth of 

bank guarantees have been lodged 

to Council in respect to upcoming 

delivery of the road bridge, and 

stormwater detention Basin 6. The 

required approvals for these works 

have been obtained by Mirvac. 

• Lot 7 Sirius Road, Voyager Point 

(Defence Housing Australia) relates 

to the residential development 

of the land and requires works 

including the embellishment 

and dedication of land adjacent 

Williams Creek. Land dedication and 

embellishments are not yet due to 

be undertaken. 

• Amarino Pty Ltd Lot 29 Cowpasture 

Road, Hinchinbrook relates to the 

industrial development of the 

land and requires works including 


Hinchinbrook Creek foreshore and 

drainage land, and construction 

of a signalised intersection on 

Cowpasture Road. Land dedication 

and embellishments are not yet due 

to be undertaken. 

• Mirvac Homes (NSW) Pty Ltd and 

Landcom Lot 11 DP 1139171 

Elizabeth Hills relates to the 

residential development of the 

land and requires works including 


Hinchinbrook Creek foreshore and 

drainage land, provision of public 

recreation facilities, and public open 

space for the estate. Land dedication 

and embellishments are not yet due 

to be undertaken however significant 

earthworks have been undertaken 

and as such, works required under 

the VPA are likely to be undertaken 

in the short term. 



Senior staff 

remuneration 

At the beginning of the reporting period 

Council had an executive structure that 

included the General Manager and five 

Directors. Following a restructure in 

December 2010 this was reduced to the 

General Manager and four Directors. 

During the reporting period Council 

recruited a new General Manager and one 

new Director, and processed one General 

Manager and one Director termination. 

The information in the table below relates 

the total amount paid to each (which 

includes total value of salary component 

of package, total amount of any bonus 

payments, performance or other 

payments that do not form part of salary 

component, total employer’s contribution 

to superannuation (salary sacrifice or 

employers contribution) total value noncash 

benefits and total fringe benefits tax 

for non-cash benefits) is as follows: 

Position 

total 

General Manager $294,021 

General Manager $205,098* 

Director City Assets $239,148 

Director City Services $200,770 

Director Corporate Services $198,178 

Director City Planning 

1/7/10 – 24/12/10 

$301,522* 

Director Strategic Planning 

& Development 

$201,038 

(formerly Director City Strategy) 

Acting Director City 

Planning 

6/12/10 – 14/1/11 

$10,728 

* Includes termination payment 

Work carried out 

on private land 

Section 67 of the Local Government 

Act 1993 requires council include in its 

annual report details or a summary of any 

resolutions made concerning work carried 

out on private land. 

This summary is to include: 

• the details of the work 

• cost of work fully or partly subsidised 

by council 

• the total amount by which council 

has subsidised any such work 

During 2010-11 there was no work carried 

out on private land. 




Requirements 

121 

Intentionally left blank 






Requirements 

123 




Liverpool City Council, Level 2, 33 Moore Street, Liverpool NSW 2170 

Phone 1300 36 2170 Visit www.liverpool.nsw.gov.au 

E-mail: lcc@liverpool.nsw.gov.au 

NRS: 133 677 (for hearing and speech impaired callers only)

State of the Environment Report 2010/2011 - Liverpool City Council

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