Clarence council vows to tackle undelivered promises
Clarence City Council has vowed to get on top of their growing list of undelivered promises and stalled projects at a meeting on Monday.
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Clarence City Council has vowed to get on top of their growing list of undelivered promises and stalled projects at a meeting on Monday.
The motion was put forward by Alderman Brendan Blomeley who said council was juggling a “staggering” number of Master Plans, many of which had been left unfinished for years.
It comes after Alderman Tony Mulder joked that council had so many Master Plans that they’d need a Master Plan to sort out their backlog of Master Plans.
Mr Blomeley said ratepayers were justifiably frustrated with the slow progress made on council’s projects.
“All too often our community feels let down and frustrated by the time it takes to deliver on promised Master Plans,” Mr Blomeley said.
“This motion will ensure our council is totally upfront with our community on what exactly our strategic priorities are as well as the costs and time frames associated.”
Mr Blomeley’s motion would create a workshop to discuss council’s current 30 unfinished Master Plans and figure out an order of priority and time frame for completion.
Progress reports on the Master Plans would then be uploaded to council’s website for public scrutiny.
Alderman Beth Warren said she couldn’t see much point in the motion, since council staff already issued regular updates on the status of Master Plans.
“What concerns me about this motion is it adds another layer of bureaucracy which is going to stop our planners from actually progressing our Master Plans because they’re too busy reporting on the progression of the Master Plans,” she said.
Alderman Richard James sided with Ms Warren, agreeing it would be a “waste of time” that would be better spent on actually delivering their core services.
However Alderman Dean Ewington said it wasn’t good enough to “coast along” and do nothing while their projects languished on the backburner.
Mr Ewington said it was “just not true” to suggest that councillors were regularly kept up-to-date on the status of Master Plans.
He said aldermen often had no idea how projects were progressing, but that this motion would bring some much-needed clarity for councillors and the community alike.
“We’re in this situation for a reason and it’s time we did something about it, so I’d encourage everyone to support this motion,” Mr Ewington said.
“It might not be perfect but at least it’ll at least get us moving on making something happen and making us transparent and getting some accountability.”
Mayor Doug Chipman said it was an “outstanding idea” to have a list on their website letting members of the public know what council was working on and how they were progressing.
The motion passed council on Monday night following a vote.
Clarence council promises action on stalled Bellerive Bluff Master Plan, May 23, 2022
Plans to upgrade the delapidated Bellerive foreshore have been revived after a “torturous” decade-long delay.
The Bellerive Bluff Foreshore Masterplan was first proffered in 2013, but has been subject to repeated stalls and roadblocks.
At Monday’s Clarence City Council meeting, councillors agreed to put the plan on their urgent priority list with funding to be squared aside in the upcoming budget.
Alderman Brendan Blomeley said this was just one of many masterplans that had been put on the backburner for years on end with little-to-no progress.
“It’s important we don’t kick the can down the road anymore. We’ve got to put our money where our mouth is and we have to invest,” Mr Blomeley said.
“Bellerive is tired. It’s the jewel in the crown of Clarence and it’s tired… they’re crying out for some love, and that’s what we should be delivering.”
Alderman Tony Mulder said council had so many stalled masterplans that they’d virtually need a masterplan to figure out which masterplans to prioritise.
He said this particular masterplan was emblematic of a bigger-picture trend of council failing to deliver its various projects in time.
Alderman John Peers said council was to blame for continually putting more projects on their plate without finishing the existing masterplans promised years ago.
“We’ve got so many masterplans that we could not possibly fund, could not possibly do, and we keep asking for masterplans for this and that,” Mr Peers said.
“All we’re doing is giving staff extra work when we’re short staffed already.”
The Bellerive Bluff Foreshore Masterplan will bring in sweeping upgrades to the Bellerive foreshore area and its walkways, parking areas, and shrubbery.
The plan notes that the area is currently “uninviting”, with poor materials, “dangerous” parking areas, erosion, and degraded infrastructure hampering the user experience.
Council’s 2019 survey found the lack of carparking, the condition of the landscape, and the state of the shared pathway were the biggest complaints for the area.
As part of the masterplan, pathways would be widened and extended, trees and bushes would be planted, and stormwater run-off collection points added in.
Several walkways will be built and rerouted entirely to better connect with the new ferry service and the Blundstone Arena.
Monday’s council report notes that the final design work can begin this year to be shovel ready for construction in the 2023/24 financial year.
kenji.sato@news.com.au
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