West Berkshire Council’s Post

We’re descending on State Parliament over the next two days to call on Premier Steven Miles and Opposition Leader David Crisafulli MP to empower, enable, and back SEQ councils grappling with our region’s significant growth.  Councils can play a key role in addressing challenges like housing supply, but need urgent funding support from the State and Federal Governments to deliver critical enabling infrastructure like road, water, and waste water connections.  The Queensland and Australian Governments collect 97% of all tax revenue nationally – Councils cannot be expected to take on more of the cost burden to deliver vital infrastructure.  Our region is home to four million people – three in four Queenslanders – with 2.2 million expected by 2046, requiring at least 900,000 new homes and more than 1 million jobs.   Led by CoMSEQ Chair Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, SEQ Mayors will spend the next two days putting our case to both the Government and Opposition outlining how Councils can play a vital role in meeting not just housing but other important regional priorities.  https://lnkd.in/g3WizRVU Adrian Schrinner Mayor Peter Flannery Tanya Milligan Jos Mitchell Rosanna Natoli Mayor Jon Raven Teresa Harding Tom Sharp Geoff McDonald Jason Wendt Frank Wilkie Brisbane City Council City of Moreton Bay Lockyer Valley Regional Council Redland City Council Sunshine Coast Council Logan City Council Ipswich City Council Scenic Rim Regional Council Toowoomba Regional Council Somerset Regional Council Noosa Council

Here’s what happened at Council: Council debated and used options to reduce the staff-tabled budget in adopting the final 2024-2026 budget. The budget includes property tax increases of: 6.14% in 2024 — average increase of $91 per household 6.34% in 2025 — average increase of $99 per household 6.41% in 2026 — average increase of $107 per household The investments in the operating and capital budgets support the City's strategic priorities of Reconciliation, Equity, Accessibility, Diversity and Inclusion, Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action, Complete Community, Infrastructure and Transportation Systems and Innovation and Future- Read. Read more about how we're investing in a future-ready city here: https://bit.ly/3HURYnD

HOW THE NOOSA PLAN VISION GETS LOST As mayoral candidate, one of my policies is for Noosa Council decisions and actions to be grounded in the 20-year vision of the Noosa Plan (the planning scheme) and moderated through the constant assessment of benefits for the community. The Noosa Plan’s 20-year timeframe envisions that the Council will ensure community well-being, economic prosperity, protection of natural assets, sustainable population growth, ecologically sound urban development, affordable housing and a managed response to climate change. Council decision-making is often distorted as a result of this all-encompassing vision being ignored. Limiting the Council’s focus to particular elements of the Noosa Plan, cherry picking, focusing on pet projects, and political game-playing hampers Noosa Shire’s ability to move towards a desired future. Soon after the 2020 election, I published an article ‘The Noosa Plan – is it black and white?’ In it I pointed out that the Council is like a board. It should be viewing the organisation through creative, holistic and strategic lens. It should understand where staff recommendations fit in as part of the process and that slavish conformity with rules carries more dangers than benefits . It is the role of staff to come up with case by case recommendations in light of the Noosa Plan and regulations laid down by the State. But It cannot be assumed that what staff recommend or State bureaucrats favour always represent the best outcome for the Noosa community. It is up to councillors to exercise judgement taking into account context, implications, viability and community need. Unfortunately some councillors leave judgement at the door as they enter the Chamber, preparing instead for a few hours of jousting or preening – or both. Council decision-making should not be just yes or no, good or bad. It’s a complicated process. The outcomes should be ebony and ivory in harmony, not black and white in conflict. You can read my article here: https://lnkd.in/gjqGBMZa

New launch! 🚀 We were delighted to attend the launch of ‘Land for Good – the 2023 Southwark Land Commission’ last night in Peckham. Across the last 8 months, We Made That have been working with PRD and Southwark Council to deliver London’s first Land Commission; a process which challenges the way the borough, London and UK as a whole thinks about public property. Considering land as a source of power and wealth underpins the report – including the ways in which its uneven distribution can perpetuate inequalities and injustices. The report makes seven recommendations to overcome these challenges and unleash the public good that can be derived from fairer, greener use of land: 1. Put social purpose at the heart of land use 2. Map what’s there and what isn’t 3. Take control of our land and assets 4. Defend and extend affordable accommodation for all 5. Cherish our natural capital and decarbonise our land 6. Give the community real power and voice 7. Disrupt the status quo to unlock bigger changes It was important that we worked with brilliant and diverse group of colleagues on the commission, including PRD, PMVPlanning, Miatta Fahnbulleh James McAsh and many, many more.   The recommendations in Land for Good include bold ambitions that need a commitment to delivery to see them through. Many of them are relevant to other places. In many ways, it feels like these conversations are overdue – we look forward to seeing the impacts of this much-needed thinking in our home-borough of Southwark and further afield. You can read more in the full report here: https://lnkd.in/e2Er6RAv

Another answer to the question ‘why should I focus on waste reduction and diversion strategies’? (Other than the obvious circular economy and scope 3 emissions challenges that are in play). Who really wants to be paying these inevitable increases? #wastereduction #costmanagement #wasteaudit

Approximately half of the UK’s wealth is held in land, the highest proportion of any G7 country. It defines where and how we live, where we work and play, where we seek care or education. Land is precious. It is not just a commodity; it is a shared resource that shapes the fabric of our society and environment. Yet how land is used and whom it benefits is rarely questioned or discussed.  That’s why I was delighted to attend the launch of Land for Good, the Southwark Council’s contribution to a necessary debate about how land is used within the borough, and how that use might be more equitable. Their recommendations are: 1. Put social purpose at the heart of land use 2. Map what’s there and what isn’t 3. Take control of our land and assets 4. Defend and extend affordable accommodation for all 5. Cherish our natural capital and decarbonise our land 6. Give the community real power and voice 7. Disrupt the status gap to unlock bigger changes Well worth a read. And congratulations on the good work, chair New Economics Foundation Miatta Fahnbulleh, PRD Chris Paddock, Southwark Council https://lnkd.in/eKwUuJpY?

𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗢𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗨𝗠𝗡 - 𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗢𝗥 𝗖𝗥 𝗧𝗢𝗡𝗬 𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗞𝗘𝗥 | 𝗡𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 Things have been busy the past few weeks with plenty going on as we head towards Christmas at the end of the year. I attended the Local Government New South Wales Conference in Sydney last week and the widening gap in ideologies and priorities between city and country councils was very noticeable. While rural and regional councils continue to attempt to address important issues such as financial sustainability, some of the “rich” city councils have no such problems. Frustratingly however, they attract the same Federal Financial Assistance Grants as we do, even if they have a $22 million dollar surplus at the end of the financial year! It just doesn’t seem fair to me. This is a good segway to our Council’s efforts to make the rates paid by our three rate paying groups - farmland, residential and business - more equitable. This was the constant message we received at last year’s public consultation meetings over the proposed Special Rate Variation and we have come up with a plan after an extensive review of the current model. We have finished our public consultation on the issue but there is still a few days left to make your comments on the matter by accessing our ‘Have Your Say’ online engagement portal on our website, or by emailing or mailing your thoughts to [email protected]. Submissions can be made until Monday, 27 November 2023. There are plenty of concerns over the Federal Government’s plan to introduce buybacks of water in our communities. The 450 gigalitres is a lot of water, especially when you consider we need about 620 gigalitres to irrigate our area. Leeton Shire Council has been very proactive in advocating in this space and have met with Federal Senators and written to a number of politicians to voice our concerns. We were also a driving force at the recent public rally held in Mountford Park and are grateful for all those who attended to lend their support. 🔗 Read the full column here: https://lnkd.in/gP9TsPr5 #LeetonShireCouncil #MayoralColumn #MessageFromTheMayor

We've submitted our State Budget Priority Statement for 2024-25 to the Tasmanian Government. Councils are the closest level of government to the community. They make decisions daily that influence how local communities are planned and developed. Due to this connectedness, local government is best placed to partner with the State Government on building prosperity and enabling improved community outcomes at the local level. On behalf of the local government sector, we have advocated for: 🎓 Funding to further progress the Learning and Development Framework for elected members. 📝 Increased funding to accelerate the current planning reforms through to completion. 📢 The development and implementation of a community communication program around growth and development in Tasmania. 🚜 Funding for a best practice infrastructure contributions system. 🏠 Investment in developing and implementing a mandatory property disclosure system. 🌳 Increased budget allocation for Parks & Wildlife Services to manage the parks estate across Tasmania. Read it here 👉 https://lnkd.in/grc7zsMe

Under 7 years of Labor, the Territory is a more expensive place to live, with less opportunities than Territorians deserve, with less community safety than ever before. There is uncertainty and that's why we need a government that can deliver certainty and stability. Our CLP plan will⬇️ ✅️Take back control of our streets ✅️Rebuild the Territory’s reputation ✅️Get our economy moving forward

Our op-ed was published today. Mahalo to Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Geospatial Solutions for supporting this great tool for equitable policy solutions: As we navigate the challenges of recovery and rebuilding, it is imperative that we leverage data to inform our policy decisions. We must ensure that our tax system reflects the true value of property and the impact of ownership on the community at-large, encouraging responsible stewardship of the land and equitable contributions to our community’s well-being. The path to recovery should include re-evaluating the foundations of our local economy, addressing the concentration of land ownership in non-local hands, and ensuring that any outside owners are actively contributing to — and not just benefitting from — the sustainable rebuilding of Maui County.