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CEO Corporate Update Tuesday 27 August 2019

Infrastructure & Operations

Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), Balhannah – Stormwater Upgrade Project

Adelaide Hills Council has an existing stormwater easement through ARTC land in Balhannah.

Stormwater infrastructure had failed and a new 630mm PN16 diameter poly pipe was required to be

installed underneath the main freight corridor in Balhannah.

The works were undertaken by the contractor (South Australian Directional Boring) SADB under the

management of Adelaide Hills Council.

CEO Corporate Update | 27 August 2019

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CEO Corporate Update | 27 August 2019

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New steps for erosion control and remediation – Lobethal Bushland Park

Council biodiversity staff constructed steps at the request of NRM (Natural

Resources Management) District Officer and Friends of Lobethal Bushland

Park for a badly eroded section of the trail leading up to the Reservoir North.

Spring Street, Kersbrook – Flood mitigation works stage 3 complete

Flood mitigation Stage 3 works with construction of the

upgraded Main culvert across Spring Street, Kersbrook has

now been completed. This work is a continuation of flood

mitigation Stage 2 works along the street that Council has

carried out over the last year by installing seven

upgraded driveway culverts for the properties on the Eastern

side of the creek.

Overall expected outcome would be to reduce the flooding

frequency along the street\properties from 60% - 50%

(50%AEP) up to 5%, (5% AEP), which is a

significant improvement against flooding and stormwater

nuisance which have been experienced along the

street/properties for many years.

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Riparian planting / revegetation for erosion control and remediation of Cox Creek – Bridgewater

Council biodiversity staff engaged Aldgate Primary School students on a National Tree Day event to

revegetate a small section of the Cox Creek following major flood mitigation works adjacent the

Bridgewater Oval. (And the plants survived the deluge a week later) Phew!

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New entrance and informative signs and trail / park info brochure for Lobethal Bushland Park

Council staff and Friends of Lobethal Bushland Park developed a series of informative signs and a

new brochure for park users. Signage has been installed with a media release to come.

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Longwood Road in Stirling footpath renewal project

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Corporate Services

Quarterly Council Performance Report

As part of the 2019-20 Annual Business Plan Council adopted Corporate Performance Indicators

which will be reported through to Council on a quarterly basis, with the first Quarterly report to

Council to be based on September. A pilot run for the June quarter gives an insight into some

positive results across the organisation.

Procurement - Buying Local

As part of the Procurement work staff undertook some research on how much we “buy local” given

that there was some discussion at the Audit Committee on that issue. The analysis of the summary

data indicated that approximately $33 million of our spend has occurred in the Adelaide Hills Council

area over the last 6 years.

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Information Management & ICT

There are a lot of plans being developed at the moment, for example:

Replacement program is underway for devices

afterhours patching and maintenance plans being undertaken and working with consultants on business continuity on the phone system when connections are broken

Records Hub workshops

Electronic Visitor Sign System Trial & ongoing Open Office Systems upgrades

IoT (Internet of Things) (i.e. Smart Sensors connected to the internet and collecting useful data) is

also starting to progress here at Council with staff exploring some ideas which have potential to feed

real time data into systems providing a solution for helping decision making, or controlling the way

we undertake activities to make them more efficient.

Property

Settlement for the sale to Emmalines (the biscuit company) at AHBTC has been completed. With

the impending sale of another building in the next week or so, this will bring to an end a very large

part of what Council has been trying to achieve at the site for the last few years.

Community consultation will commence for the Crown Land review after DEW advised that they are

prepared to resume a number of identified Crown Land parcels. This will enable the Crown to take

back a raft of land parcels that have been under our care and control that we will never have a use

for, reducing the costs that we have been incurring for maintenance and limits any potential

opportunities for public liability claims.

Staff are starting work on the solar panels on Council buildings project. This will be a rather large

project as Council has put in excess of $200k towards making this happen in this financial year alone.

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Development & Regulatory Services

Flu Vaccination Promotion

Council is promoting the availability of flu vaccinations at Council clinics through electronic media-

Facebook, Twitter and the AHC website. Generally the flu season take holds every year between

June and October, peaking in August, hence this promotion is a timely reminder to the community

that the flu season is still upon us and to encourage them not to become complacent but to protect

themselves and their family as the threat still remains. There have been more than 100,000 flu

cases Australia wide and almost 20,000 in South Australia this year.

Food Safety Training

Over the past 12 months the Adelaide Hills Council’s Environmental Health Team has undertaken

four Food Safety Training courses to provide local businesses and community groups with a greater

understanding of food hygiene and handling practices to assist them improve their food safety. This

year 53 food handlers from 17 businesses have attended the training, these businesses ranged from

Hospitals and Aged Care Facilities to Home businesses, Cafes, Community and Children’s groups.

The training allows the food business staff to meet the Environmental Health Officer and get a better

understanding of what a food safety inspection entails, this reduces any apprehension they may

associate with such inspections.

Approval of Council’s Local Heritage Development Plan Amendment (DPA) – The end of an Era

In recent correspondence from the Minister for Planning, the Hon Stephan Knoll advised Council that

he has approved the Local Heritage (Stage 1 Public Places) DPA. This is a significant achievement for

Council being the tenth and final DPA completed by the Policy Planning Team over the last 15 years.

This therefore concludes the Development Plan Amendment work which Council set out to do back

in 2003 and represents the end of an era as the new Planning and Design Code, which will replace all

council Development Plans, does not contemplate DPAs. Well done to everyone (Council Members

and staff) for their efforts in this regard and we now look forward to the next significant project in

the Planning Policy space, being the conversion of Council’s Development Plan into the new Planning

& Design Code (which becomes operational on 1 July 2020). Public consultation on the draft

Planning & Design Code conversion will be undertaken when Phase 3 of the Code is released by the

Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI) for consultation in mid-October 2019.

Watch this space!

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Submission on the Bird in Hand Gold Mine Proposal

The Department for Energy and Mines released the Terramin Bird in Hand Mining lease proposal for

public comment in July 2019. This is first such mine proposal which the Council will consider for

decades and there is significant community interest in the proposal. A number of key concerns have

been raised by neighbouring farmers and business owners in relation to matters such as impact on

groundwater, noise, amenity, visual, dust, traffic safety and general economic impacts. The closing

date for comments is the 20 September 2019 and anyone with concerns in relation to this proposal

is encouraged to make a submission. Staff are in the process of reviewing the proposal and are

preparing a draft submission for Council’s consideration at its September meeting. The matter will

also be workshopped with Council Members on 10th of September. Members of the public are

welcome to attend the workshop and Council meeting to hear about Council’s draft submission.

Update on the Aldi Supermarket Proposal in Stirling

The State Commission Assessment Panel (SCAP) granted planning consent to the development at its

meeting on 22 August 2019. Staff attended the hearing and presented our Council Assessment

Panel’s decision on the proposal and answered questions of SCAP. It is noted that there were 6 valid

representations lodged with SCAP from adjacent landowners of which 5 were heard. Development

Plan Consent was granted subject to 16 conditions, including a condition requiring tree protection

zones to be installed around the trees to be retained which was added after discussion with Council

staff. The applicant has offered off-site works including the widening of the carriageway of Pomona

Road, modifications to the roundabout island, removal of kerb-side car parks (which encroach into

their property and are to be replaced with on-site parking capacity) and redundant kerb, new

crossovers for 1 and 5 Pomona Road, barrier kerbing, concrete footpath & pram ramp for the length

of Pomona Road frontage, and landscaping on Pomona Road. These off-site works will be subject of

a Section 221 permit (of the Local Government Act) application. Note that part of the

redevelopment includes the installation of the previously approved enclosing of the creek across the

property and which passes under Pomona Road. This stormwater culvert infrastructure is within the

Council easement which traverses the site for this purpose, and for which a Section 221 permit has

already been issued for the works under Pomona Road.

Note that if the development goes ahead, Pomona Road will be closed for a period of time to enable

the installation of the abovementioned culverts under the road. Staff will work with the applicant to

inform the public via various media outlets of the proposed road closure ahead of time.