Monday, November 30, 2015

Nominate someone you know

THE council has called for nominations for the 2016 Australia Day Awards in the following categories:
  • Citizen of the Year
  • Young Citizen of the Year
  • Community Event of the Year
  • Sports Person/Team/Group of the Year
  • Junior Sports Person of the Year
Nomination forms are available online here or from the Council Chambers in Circle St, New Norfolk.

Sunday, November 29, 2015

New planning scheme nearly here

THE Minister for Local Government and Planning last week declared a new planning scheme for the Derwent Valley municipality. The new scheme will take effect on December 16, 2015, replacing the New Norfolk Planning Scheme 1994, and will be available at www.iplan.tas.gov.au on commencement. More information about interim planning schemes is available on that website. Public comments on the new scheme will be invited.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Time to clean up credit card mess

FOR the third year in a row, the state's Auditor-General has drawn attention to weaknesses in the management of credit cards at the Derwent Valley Council. This concern was first expressed by the Auditor-General in his Report on the Financial Statements of Local Government Authorities in 2012-13 and was repeated in the report covering the 2013-14 financial year.

In his latest report to Parliament last week, the Auditor-General said: "In respect of Derwent Valley Council, weaknesses in the management of credit cards reported to Council each year since 2012-13 remained unresolved. The matter related to a lack of adequate supporting documentation for credit card purchases. Our recommendations again included:
• all credit card expenditure should be supported by adequate documentation
• a reconciliation of purchases from transaction statements to supporting documentation and certification of expenditure by the cardholder be undertaken
• a review of the above reconciliation should be performed by a person independent from the cardholder."

He concluded: "We continued to remind Derwent Valley Council of those matters and increased the associated audit risk to high."

The report includes the following response from the council's new general manager: "In relation to the credit card matter ... additional administration protocols have been implemented to address the matter raised."

The new protocols referred to above have not been reported to councillors, nor do we have information about exactly who has a council credit card. It was only last year that I became aware the mayor had a council credit card but I do not know how or when that was approved and what conditions there are on its use.

It is time to clear all this up and not have a fourth "must do better" rating from the Auditor-General.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Council meeting this Thursday

THE monthly council meeting for November will be held at New Norfolk this Thursday night, starting at 6.30pm and you are very welcome to join us. If you would like any assistance or information about the meeting, please do get in touch.

The meeting agenda is available online and in hardcopy from the council chambers. The agenda document has taken on a new format under the new general manager and will undergo some fine tuning in the coming months.

 The council meeting roster for the rest of the year is as follows:

  • 19 November 2015 - New Norfolk Courthouse 6.30pm
  • (Monday) 14 December 2015 - New Norfolk Courthouse 6.30pm