Hornsby Shire Council elects a new Deputy Mayor and receives top marks for performance

At the meeting, Council also tabled its latest Performance Report, detailing strong progress with its 2022−2026 Delivery Program including the 2022/23 Operational Plan, and Budget outcomes for the first half of the 2022/23 financial year.

“The community has outlined its vision for Hornsby Shire through the Community Strategic Plan and the Delivery Program and Operational Plan roadmap how we will achieve these goals. I’m delighted that this Performance Report reveals that we have continued to deliver the highest possible service for the community within our financial means,” said Hornsby Shire Mayor Philip Ruddock AO.

“Across the Shire, we spent $36 million, much of it received as grants from the NSW Government, on services for the community. We completed capital projects including upgrading four parks and playgrounds including a major new playground at Warrina Street Oval, Berowra and a new dog park at Hunt Reserve. We upgraded four sporting facilities, which included completing the upgrades to the Mark Taylor Oval and we delivered a new indoor cricket centre at this facility. We built a new scenic viewing platform at Quarter Sessions Road in Westleigh and delivered a new accessible path at McKell Park in Brooklyn.

“We also delivered five new footpaths, built two new pontoons and opened the new three-lane boat ramp at Wisemans Ferry, as well as a significant drainage project in Mount Colah and installed a device to keep our streams and rivers clean in Dural.

“We promoted arts, culture and resilience across the Shire through a range of events and activities and reinforced our commitment to having meaningful conversations with our residents by welcoming voluntary community members to several committees and advisory groups and consulting on a large range project and programs,” Mayor Ruddock continued.

“While we forecast a moderate surplus, a review of the Long Term Financial Plan (LTFP) identified the need to take a number of actions to secure long term financial stability and maintain our high levels of service for the community. Following extensive consultation, we updated and adopted a revised LTFP, and Council resolved to advise IPART of its intention to make, and subsequently submitted, an application for an SRV to ensure we build a strong financial future for Hornsby Shire.”

The December 2022 Performance Report is available on the Performance Reports webpage.

Also at last night’s meeting Council:

• Received a Mayoral Minute about the passing of Mr Allan Watson who worked tirelessly for the Darug people for many years and was one of the founding members of Hornsby Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Consultative Committee (HATSICC) which was the first of its kind in Northern Sydney when it was established
• Received a report on the status of investments and borrowing for 2022/23
• Endorsed the amended ‘Conflict of Interest Policy for Proposed Council Development’ for public exhibition
• Received a report on variations to development standards for development applications approved
• Received answers to a Question on Notice from Councillor Nathan Tilbury about the traffic impacts associated with Westleigh Park
• In response to a Notice of Motion from Councillor Nathan Tilbury, Council reaffirmed its position that there is a need to proactively address the impacts of cats on the environmental qualities of our Shire.

Council resolved to write to the NSW Government, the Opposition, NSW Greens and Independent Members of Parliament calling for support in managing the impacts of cats on the environment in a range of ways. These include changes to the Companion Animals Act 1998 to enable Council to introduce containment policies in consultation with the local community, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Invasive Species Council, the RSPCA and other agencies to meet the specific needs of the area, including phase-in periods, a selection of areas within the area to which the policy applies and monitoring frameworks including consideration of resource allocation.

The full agenda of the meeting, along with details of each item discussed, can be found on the Council Meetings webpage. The video recording of the meeting will be available from tomorrow afternoon.