Wollongong City Council wants to hear from you about the Plans we're putting in place for the future.
Tonight, Monday 11 May 2020, Wollongong City Council voted at an Extraordinary Council Meeting to put the draft Delivery Program 2018-2022 and Operational Plan 2020-2021 and draft Operational and Capital Budget 2020-2023 out for public exhibition.
These documents, joined by the Revenue Policy, Fees and Charges, and Infrastructure Delivery Program, are our go-to guides for the following year. They set out what projects, initiatives and services we're committed to delivering, and how they will be paid for.
Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said Council had delayed the release of the documents by a few weeks to allow for the Plans to be modified to account for the impact of Coronavirus, or COVID-19.
The Plans include no increase to the Domestic Waste Charge and the Stormwater Charge, and CPI increases would not be passed on to ratepayers for fees and charges for the 202-2021 financial year.
Council has also proposed an $800M infrastructure delivery program over the next four years that will be put into major projects, and will also delivery additional investment in new and ongoing improvements to shared pathways.
We're also proposing to redirect net revenues from the city centre's parking metres into supporting regional and local economic recovery. This will delivery an additional investment of more than $2.3M into the City and support new programs to activate Wollongong.
"We do these plans every year and we usually start working on them from September the year prior. They set out what we're planning to deliver for our community over the next 12 months,'' Cr Bradbery said.
"But the past few months have been an extraordinary time across the globe and we've responded to these circumstances to not only support the general day-to-day business of Council, but to focus attention on the post-Coronavirus Wollongong and what we can do to support our community as individuals, our community as a whole, our retailers, our businesses and industry.''
The plan includes a proposed rate increase of 2.6 percent in keeping with the IPART rate peg based on the assessment of increase costs for Local Government.
Council remains committed to financial sustainability and the continued maintenance of assets and provision of services. The increase, if accepted, would increase the average residential property rate by about $5 a month and provide Council with an additional $4.5M to maintain our assets and operations that are an important part of the local economy.
"This money will be put to good use in delivering our existing services to the community while also providing for new footpaths and shared pathways like additional lengths of the Grand Pacific Walk, new playgrounds such as the one identified in the Cringila Hills Masterplan, and community facilities like Warrawong's Community Centre and Library,'' Cr Bradbery said.
"It's so important Council keeps moving forward with these projects, as these works improve our local area, support our community's lifestyle and provide local employment.''
The Plan also includes a commitment to advocate on behalf of our community with the State and Federal Governments for financial support for those impacted by Coronavirus, and for support of infrastructure, tourism and economic development initiatives.
The draft Plans will be available on the Join the Conversation pages of Council's website over the coming days and people are welcome to comment on the plans until 9 June 2020.
