Councillor Ros Wight has made use of her position on Council to bring several matters in front of Council, including Coota Hospital, effluent water and land assets.
Her questions and responses from Council given in the business paper for Tuesday’s Council meeting are as follows:
Cr. Ros Wight: Council staff went to great lengths to clear out documents and rubbish left behind in the Cootamundra Hospital. Can you please inform the residents of how the Hospital will be utilised in the future?
Response from Council Officer: Council staff have, for some months, been attempting to contact NSW Crown Lands to obtain advice regarding the process for potentially returning management of the former Cootamundra Hospital site.
At the same time, some Council departments are considering whether there may be opportunities to utilise the building should Council continue to manage the site. Any potential future use would require the preparation of an appropriate business case to assess feasibility, costs and potential benefits.
At this stage, no decision has been made regarding the future use or management of the building. Council will provide a report to Council once further advice is received from Crown Lands, and any potential options for the site have been properly considered.
Cr. Ros Wight: The Local Land Service is tightening up their regulations regarding Travelling Stock Permits. Can we arrange a discussion about Council’s role concerning this procedure, because it is primarily the Council who determines the timing, the location etc of when or where these permits will be granted?
Response from Council Officer: It is the applicant who initially identifies the requested timing and location when completing the application form.
Residents are required to first apply to Council for consent before submitting a Travelling Stock Permit application to the relevant authority, Local Land Services (LLS), for approval.
Council receives the application and undertakes an assessment to determine whether the proposed grazing location is appropriate. This assessment considers a number of factors, including road safety (such as sight distances), potential conflicts with scheduled roadworks or maintenance activities, and environmental constraints. Environmental considerations include areas of high conservation value or locations identified for priority weed management, including areas marked with red guideposts indicating the presence of noxious or priority weeds.
While LLS is responsible for issuing the formal Travelling Stock Permit, Council’s consent is required in relation to the use of the road reserve. Council therefore, plays an important role in ensuring the proposed activity does not create safety, operational or environmental issues.
If Council provides consent, the application is then forwarded to LLS for their consideration. LLS subsequently issues the formal permit to the applicant. Council does not routinely receive a copy of the permit issued by LLS.
Up until recently, Council has been issuing permits for periods of up to twelve months, but LLS will grant permits for limit of one month lonely. Shorter permit durations would provide Council with greater flexibility to manage roadside activities such as roadworks, maintenance programs, and roadside spraying, while still allowing landholders reasonable access to roadside grazing where appropriate.”
Staff Recommendation
That Council Provide Travelling Stock Permits for a maximum of three months
Include a clause that the permit may be revoked should conditions change, including for planned or unplanned works
Cr. Ros Wight: Councillor Kelly made a good suggestion regarding the sale of Council-owned property. He said could we have a list of these assets. So, could we have a list and discuss the sale of etc?
Response from Council Officer: Local councils in New South Wales manage and dispose of land in accordance with the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW) and associated regulations. Where Council-owned land is classified as community land, it must be managed in accordance with an adopted Plan of Management (PoM).
The Plan of Management establishes how the land is to be used, managed, and protected, and sets the framework for activities that may occur on that land.
Land classified as community land cannot be sold while it retains that classification.”
Before community land can be sold, Council must first:
· Reclassify the land from community land to operational land; and
· Follow the statutory process required under the Act.
Reclassification generally requires:
· An amendment to the relevant Plan of Management, and
· In many cases, completion of the Local Environmental Plan (LEP) planning proposal process, including community consultation.
Only after land has been lawfully reclassified as operational land may Council consider its disposal.
Land classified as operational land may be sold by Council, subject to compliance with legislative requirements.”
Role of the Plan of Management.
The Plan of Management is central to the management of community land. It:
· Sets the objectives for the land’s use
· Outlines permitted activities and developments
· Ensures the land is managed in accordance with community expectations and legislative requirements.
While a Plan of Management guides how the land is used and managed, it does not itself authorise the sale of community land. Any proposal to sell such land would require the formal reclassification process described above.
Council cannot sell land that is classified as community land while that classification remains in place. If Council wishes to dispose of such land, it must first undertake the statutory process to reclassify the land as operational land.
Once land is classified as operational land, Council may proceed with the sale in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW), including appropriate public notification and consideration of any submissions received.
Whilst the last review of the Land Register took place in 2019, there is likely to have been little change.
In addition to this Council owned lands, there are also properties not owned by Council, but Council is still identified as the land manager.
Cr Ros Wight: With the current prolonged dry conditions, water is a very valuable commodity. Can we explore the options? to use our effluent water for construction and maintenance purposes, e.g. roadworks, etc. This would be a cost saving for Council as we have the infrastructure in place, and I understand this water is treated to a Tertiary Level. We could recoup electrical costs and still make a profit instead of allowing unused water overflow down the Creek. Could we also explore the sale of this water for local projects such as Inland Rail?
Response from Council Officer: The application of effluent reuse is strictly governed by Council’s Environmental Protection Licence (EPL)1603 – Cootamundra Sewage Treatment System.
Currently, the above proposed applications would be a breach to the licence. Specifically, conditions P1, EPL 1603 require all discharge locations to be monitored and to conform the limits for discharges of pollutants. Approved discharge locations are specified in P1.2 of the license.
Furthermore, Part 4 – Operating Conditions section O3 – Effluent application to land, specifies 6 requirements that the proposed application would likely breach or be unable to prove compliance, specifically:
O3.2 “Effluent application to the utilisation area(s) must not occur in a manner that causes surface run-off from the utilisation area(s)
O3.3 “Spray from effluent application to the utilisation area(s) must not drift beyond the boundary of the utilisation area(s) to which it has been applied”
O3.4 “Public access to any effluent utilisation area must be denied during effluent application and until the effluent application area has dried”
O3.5 “Livestock access to any effluent application area must be denied during irrigation and until the applied effluent has dried”
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