Bayside councillors vote for pay rise
BAYSIDE councillors have voted to give themselves a $100 an hour pay rise — for those who sit on the Sydney Central Planning Panel.
Southern Courier
Don't miss out on the headlines from Southern Courier. Followed categories will be added to My News.
BAYSIDE councillors have voted to give themselves a $100 an hour pay rise.
The cash will go to Bayside Council members who sit on the Sydney Central Planning Panel (SCPP) — and who already receive $600 per meeting.
They were set to get an extra $150 an hour until independent councillor Liz Barlow stepped in, branding the hourly rate as “way too much”.
She suggested an amount of $100 which was voted through unopposed.
The SCPP meets several times a year to decide on development schemes valued at more than $30 million.
Each councillor already receives $600 per meeting they attend — regardless of how long it lasts. However, a submission from Bayside Council to last week’s meeting, recommended the additional $150 per hour to recognise “additional workload beyond panel meetings” such as site visits and briefings.
“I’ll be the Grinch again,” Cr Barlow said. “I’d like to move that it is just $100. I found it’s a lot of money and there are community members on our planning panel that get nowhere near that.”
The council’s general manager Meredith Wallace said the local authority was matching the rate paid to its councillors by Sutherland Shire Council, adding that it was “becoming the trend in recognition of the amount of work required”.
Ms Wallace said the hourly rate was calculated from the $600 flat fee for meetings which on average last four hours.
Bayside Council will put aside $27,600 each year to cover the pay increase.
Cr Michael Nagi, who was not at Wednesday’s meeting, sits on the SCPP along with Cr Ed McDougall.
Cr Joe Awada, Cr Ron Bezic and Cr Andrew Tsounis are all stand ins.
Cr McDougall seconded Cr Barlow’s proposal to reduce the hourly rate to $100.
IN OTHER NEWS
