Mount Barker Council to release 10-year financial draft plan for public consultation
A new town square, first-class aquatic centre, community sports hub and a major wastewater treatment plant upgrade are the big ticket items on Mount Barker Council’s new draft ten-year financial plan.
Adelaide Hills
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A new draft financial plan shows Mount Barker will be collecting an additional $23 million in rates by 2030, but it will also be spending millions on big infrastructure projects to support its growing population.
The council is already assessing tenders from developers for a proposed multimillion-dollar town square, which may includes plans for multistorey offices, residential and hotel buildings, a library, and a new council chamber.
Also on the list is a new first-class $28.3 million aquatic centre and a new community sports hub, as yet uncosted, to help accommodate the 65,000 residents who are tipped to call Mount Barker home by 2045 as part of the State government’s rezoning scheme.
The town is currently home to just under 20,000 residents.
A multimillion-dollar wastewater treatment plant upgrade will also be essential to housing the growing population, according to the new draft ten-year financial plan, which will be released for public consultation this month.
“(Rates) accounts for on average circa 87 per cent of Council Operations revenue over the next ten years and is an important part of the planned long term strategy,” the report reads.
“They provide for the delivery of major new facilities and funding to continue to manage growth and meet the expectations of the community, by maintaining services, roads, wastewater, footpaths, and buildings.
“With the anticipated allotment growth now occurring at a rate of around 2.5 per cent per year, council has now approached the time when it needs to plan and build significant new and upgraded facilities for its growing community.
“As a result, the value of long-term planning has become paramount”
Councillors will tonight vote on the draft report which outlines the council’s financial direction and projected income for the next 10 years.
Once the public has had their say this month it will come back to council to be formally adopted at the council meeting in June.
The report includes a predicted rate income increase of over $23 million annually by 2030, and an operating surplus of $3.859 million – up from $1.462 million – by 2030.
Meanwhile, total current assets – such as cash and inventories – will increase by almost $5 million, while non-current assets – which includes infrastructure and property – will sit just over $809 million in the next 10 years.
Mayor Ann Ferguson said the plan would guide the council’s future actions and activities but cautioned that it had been compiled applying assumptions that exclude the impact of COVID-19.
She said council would amend the plan later this year to account for the impact of the pandemic.
There will be no second community consultation.
“As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our community is facing significant challenges, both personally and financially,” Mayor Ferguson said.
“It is vital that the council maintains the delivery of essential services, and works with state and federal governments to not only support communities safety and wellbeing, but generate local economic activity.
“As the long term impacts of the virus are identified, we can’t afford to not revise the draft long term financial plan following public consultation.”