Annual Report 2002 - 2003 - Wattle Range Council - SA.Gov.au

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wattle range contents mayor’s MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR 1 MESSAGE FROM THE CEO 2 COUNCIL PROFILE 2 Council Membership 3 Ward Boundaries 4 Corporate Structure 4 YEAR IN REVIEW 5 Economic Development 5 Operations 6 Engineering Services 6 Planning & Environmental Services 6 Business & Corporate Services 9 Library Services 11 Tourism Services 12 Saleyards Services 13 Child Care Services 13 RATING POLICY 14 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 17 Opening Statement 17 Statement of Financial Position 17 Expense & Revenue by Function and Type 19 GENERAL INFORMATION 20 COUNCIL REPRESENTATION QUOTA 21 message This past year has seen further consolidation and expansion in our Wattle Range Council area. Economic growth and job creation opportunities are a major thrust for our Council. The many school children I speak with across our area tell me “I hope I can get a job when I leave School”, so we must take action to grow, for if we stagnate we wither. South Australia is a State with a total population of 1.5 million, with over 1.0 million people living in Adelaide, and it is imperative Wattle Range Council pushes our own barrow as nobody else will. We badly need more funding for the maintenance of our infrastructure, especially roads. If the State Government cannot find a company willing to upgrade and operate the SE rail system then the construction of the Border Road from north of Penola through to Mount Gambier becomes imperative. The harvesting of the Blue Gum plantations is due to come on-stream in approximately 4 years and it is essential that the heavy logging traffic be diverted from the Riddoch Highway. How can tourists be attracted to Coonawarra, Penola, Nangwarry and further down the road to Mount Gambier if 800 or so trucks are travelling that road daily? After the recent election, the composition of Council has changed. We will miss the expertise of Bill Murray (6 years) and Maurie Gritton (18 years) both splendid contributors and thank Barbara Cameron (3 years) and Richard Howell (3 years) for their contributions. Newly elected to Council are Jim vanSchaik from Millicent (Corcoran Ward) who has many years of local government experience and is a former Mayor of Millicent, Gwenda Lawlor from Furner (Corcoran Ward) who was a former Chairman of the District Council of Beachport, Vivian Reschke from Coonawarra (Riddoch Ward) and Bernard Larter from Kalangadoo (Sorby Adams Ward). We extend a sincere welcome to them all. Our congratulations go to Cr Simon Cox who has been elected as Deputy Mayor, Cr Zig Osis elected as the Chairman of the Business and Corporate Services Committee and Cr John Trafford elected as the Chairman of the Operations Committee, while our thanks goes to Council’s dedicated Staff who share our passion for progress for the Wattle Range Council district. I would thank those people who work so hard in our communities with little recognition – Service Clubs, Carer Groups, Aid organizations and those many volunteers who assist neighbours, Meals on Wheels etc. You do many good deeds and I thank you all. We are making good progress. We can and we will do better especially if we all pull together. D.M. (DON) FERGUSON MAYOR 1
message from the ceo 2002/03 has culminated with the general Council election marking the end of the previous Council and the election of a new Council who will take the Council forward to May 2006. With the conclusion of the May 2003 election I would like to thank the retiring Councillors for their untiring efforts on behalf of the Wattle Range communities and to acknowledge the unsuccessful candidates who presented themselves for election to Council while congratulating the new and returned Councillors on their election to Council. Our sustained efforts to build upon the well established partnership between Councillors, staff and the local communities have seen positive outcomes with a Council focus on economic development, youth initiatives and new employment opportunities. Many long awaited significant industrial development projects have commenced providing renewed impetus to local communities and their confidence in the future. The appointment of Mr Geoff Moffatt and Mr Leith McEvoy to the positions of General Manager – Business & Corporate Services and General Manager – Operations in November 2002 finalised the Council’s organisational restructure. The restructure is aimed at providing Council with the ability to meet its financial and infrastructure demands, while improving the standard of service delivery and responsiveness to the community. Infrastructure management has been identified as a major challenge for all local government authorities and Wattle Range Council is no exception. With much of Council’s infrastructure base (roads, stormwater drainage, footpaths and buildings) constructed in the 1960’s and 1970’s the cycle for major maintenance and refurbishment is now upon us. The challenge for Council is to develop asset/ infrastructure management policies and strategies to ensure Council can achieve the maintenance of our assets and infrastructure to agreed standards. The main driver in developing a sustainable asset/ infrastructure management program is establishing how Council can afford to maintain its assets and infrastructure at an acceptable standard over the long term. A $1.0 million road-resealing program undertaken during 2002/03 was a deliberate program to extend the life and improve the standard of the sealed road network. It is expected that the resealing program will be continued over the next few years to address the backlog of sealed road maintenance. Investigations, including engineering assessments, into the long-standing problems with water infiltration into the Millicent Civic & Arts Centre building saw the building closed in July 2002 due to concerns at the structural adequacy of the fly-tower portion of the Centre over the stage area. Remedial building work to rectify the adequacy of the flytower structure was completed by local engineering contractors in December 2002, however the building remains closed while other remedial building works are undertaken to restore the integrity of this prominent civic building that is expected to continue into 2003/04. Mayor Ferguson, Councillors and Council employees are committed to working positively with our communities to make Wattle Range Council an even more dynamic and vibrant place to live and do business. F.N. (FRANK) BRENNAN CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER mission statement To provide responsible stewardship of resources and efficient cost effective key services to our community. vision statement The Wattle Range Council will develop its area to be the premier region in South Australia through: Productive and forward looking leadership Responding to community needs Growing our business and industry Responsible environmental management Maintaining our quality lifestyle Sound financial management 2
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Page 5 and 6: WARD BOUNDARIES Manager Engineering
Page 7 and 8: OPERATIONS TEAM Left: (Senior Plann
Page 9 and 10: ENGINEERING SERVICES During 2002/20
Page 11 and 12: WATTLE RANGE COUNCIL SPORTING FOUND
Page 13 and 14: Penola Visitor and Information Cent
Page 15 and 16: 2002/2003 rating policy statement d
Page 17 and 18: STATE SENIORS CARD RATEPAYER (SELF
Page 19 and 20: STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS
Page 21 and 22: general information FREEDOM OF INFO
Page 23 and 24: REPRESENTATION QUOTA FOR COUNCILS O

Annual Report 2002 - 2003 - Wattle Range Council - SA.Gov.au

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