bigrob.com.au - Performance

There are 11 elected officials sitting as Councillors on Lismore City Council. If Councillors do not submit items for consideration, they are leaving almost everything up to council staff. This may mean our community is not being represented as strongly as it should be by those they elected. It may also mean very little is being done in an open, transparent and accessible manner.

Nothing can be changed if nothing is being done by those elected to bring about change.

There are only 8 councillors sitting on Rous County Council, 2 from each of Lismore City Council, Ballina Shire Council, Byron Shire Council and Richmond Valley Council. It is not a general purpose council so it has a lot less to do. This is why there are so few items put by councillors. The staff also cover most of the issues very well so there is little need for submitting items.

This meeting turned out to be the most disappointing and upsetting one for me by far and has resulted in another significant shift in how I will do things going forward. The meeting was held over two nights. Things were going very well with everything I moved resolved until the first night adjourned. I received information just before the second night commenced a week later which caused me to leave moments before the meeting started. My remaining NOM lapsed because none of the councillors in attendance moved it. There were also several motions to be dealt with off the back of the QWNs, none of which were put forward by the councillors who did attend. Most had copies of the motions and could have moved them. There were some very important items to deal with, which were all but ignored by the councillors in attendance and may never be brought back for consideration by this council. It appears councillors are now well and truly in campaign mode so things will only get worse from here. I am now very seriously reconsidering whether I run again at all after what transpired at this two part meeting, since I may be much more effective from the outside.

The recording of Part 2 can be accessed by following this link - Ordinary Meeting of Council - Part 2 (20 February 2024).

This meeting was not recorded so there is no audio link available.

The recording of Part 2 can be accessed by following this link - Ordinary Meeting of Council - Part 2 (19 September 2023).

A tactical decision was made to shift towards increasing the use of Questions With Notice (QWN) as opposed to Notice of Motions (NOM) going forward, so a seconder was not required in order to seek out at least some information during a council meeting while still being open, transparent and accessible to the public. Since QWNs are submitted to council meetings in the same way NOMs are, a councillor may submit a motion for consideration on the night. A seconder is required at that time but it is more likely to come once information is made available about the motion's intent and the reason for seeking a resolution. Trying to silence a councillor who is just trying to represent members of the community helps absolutely no-one.

The recording of Part 2 can be accessed by following this link - Ordinary Meeting of Council - Part 2 (21 June 2023).

With the Interim General Manager out and a new General Manager appointed for a five year term, things were starting to look up for Lismore. Working together going forward was once again the stated position. Sadly, all other councillors yet again did not second many of my Notice of Motions, seemingly in an attempt to slow me down or silence me somewhat. Instead of publicly going silent again for a bit, doing more behind the scenes, I have decided to resubmit any motion which was not seconded to each council meeting going forward until it is seconded and decided following debate. New motions and questions will also be submitted.

The recording of Part 2 can be accessed by following this link - Ordinary Meeting of Council - Part 2 (15 February 2023).

The last Rous County Council meeting for 2022 saw more focus on IP&R, and a big decision to stop spending on a Purified Recycled Water Pilot Plant until after such time as the State government allows purified recycled water to be used as drinking water, if they ever decide to do so.

Some big decisions were made during the last Council meeting for 2022. It was a shock to see a previous Council's Community Strategic Plan (CSP) endorsed by most new Councillors, with no public consultation since the 2022 floods to update it. The CSP is any new Council's most important document, since it represents what our community wants over the next ten years or more. It was very good to see a resolution relating to the Nimbin Water Supply, hoping to see solutions to the ongoing water quality and water security issues faced by Nimbin considered and ultimately implemented.

This Council meeting was another big one which also had to be held over two nights. Once again it was demonstrated that submitting Notice of Motions was not required to be very active and effective.

The recording of Part 2 can be accessed by following this link - Ordinary Meeting of Council - Part 2 (15 November 2022).

The strong progress continued at Rous County Council, with a focus on the Integrated Planning & Reporting (IP&R) Framework and community engagement.

This meeting demonstrated that submitting Notice of Motions was not required to still be a very active and effective Councillor.

This Council meeting saw a clear shift in support, with no seconder coming for most Notice of Motions. Further tactical changes were required. A new General Manager, not expected until February 2023, may see things managed quite differently.

Rous County Council continued to make very strong progress, particularly in relation to the Future Water Project 2060.

The Agenda for this meeting was so big that it had to be held over two nights to catch up. Many items were resolved, with a few mainly procedural items being defeated.

The recording of Part 2 can be accessed by following this link - Ordinary Meeting of Council - Part 2 (16 August 2022).

One new tactic going forward was to go quiet in the lead up to and during this meeting, if nothing more than to demonstrate that a heavy workload was not the reason for lengthy meetings. It turned out that this meeting was the longest Council meeting this year, with 18 matters listed on the Agenda deferred to the next meeting.

This meeting was called by a few new Councillors. A number of Motions to Consider, also known as Urgency Motions, had been submitted following the previous Council meeting, none of which seemed urgent enough to require an expensive Extraordinary Council Meeting be called to deal with them.

Rous County Council resolved to support Lismore City Council to increase pump capacity, reliability and resilience of the Browns Creek Pump Station during and after flood events.

Considerable pressure was now being put back on to reduce workload. No seconder on motions came more often than not, and a couple of straight forward motions were defeated. New tactics would be required going forward.

Council's Integrated Planning & Reporting (IP&R) Framework and latest Quarterly Budget Review Statement (QBRS) were considered. This meeting was not recorded so there is no audio link available.

The Lismore Memorial Baths Users item was withdrawn as a result of the issue being resolved prior to the meeting. The item with a 'No Seconder' was a shock to see since the amendment related to keeping water consumption charges down following the devastating 2022 floods. This is something we promised to do following the catastrophic flood and the massive clean up which followed.

A 'Verbal Response' to a Question With Notice is quite normal. The General Manager can also publish a response in the Business Paper. A Question With Notice may turn into a motion, possibly being resolved or defeated following debate if it is seconded as a motion.

Councillors were becoming unhappy about big workloads. Support from other councillors was not forthcoming, with very important decisions being defeated following split votes. When there is 'No Seconder', a Councillor is prevented from even speaking on the item of business. When an item is 'Ruled Not Urgent', the Mayor unilaterally prevents an item from being debated and potentially resolved following a successful Motion to Consider, also known as an Urgency Motion.

The Dunoon dam was put back on the table at this meeting. It was another big decision, which will now see Council wait until the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage study is completed so an informed decision can be made. This is not expected to come back before Council during this term.

The North Lismore Plateau motion was a very big one. The motion was defeated but it will return to Council for decision, which is expected to be almost exactly along the lines of what was submitted as the motion at this meeting. Various items were withdrawn following an agreement to give the new General Manager a chance to resolve various issues without intervention from Councillors. This meeting went very long and was completed after a second meeting on 16 February 2022.

The recording of Part 2 can be accessed by following this link - Ordinary Meeting of Council - Part 2 (16 February 2022).

The new Council decided to sack the former General Manager at this Extraordinary Council Meeting at considerable expense to ratepayers. I chose not to attend as there were other options available which were not considered.

This was the new Council's first Council meeting and was mostly administrative. 'Amendment Resolved' indicates where a motion put or seconded was amended and then resolved.