Severe storm warning for New Norfolk

UPDATE: New Norfolk warning cancelled at 2.50pm
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Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
Tasmanian Regional Office
TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
for DESTRUCTIVE WIND, HEAVY RAINFALL, LARGE HAILSTONES and TORNADOES
For people in the Upper Derwent Valley and parts of the South East and Midlands Forecast Districts. Issued at 11am Friday, 9 November 2012.

THIS INCLUDES A TORNADO WARNING.
Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce destructive winds, heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding, large hailstones and tornadoes in the warning area over the next several hours. Locations which may be affected include New Norfolk, Oatlands and Richmond.

The State Emergency Service advises that people should:
* Move your car under cover.
* Avoid driving, walking or riding through flood waters.
* Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.
* Avoid using the telephone during a thunderstorm.
* Beware of fallen trees and powerlines.
* For emergency assistance contact the SES on 13 25 00.

The next warning is due to be issued by 2pm.
Warnings are also available through TV and Radio broadcasts, the Bureau's website at www.bom.gov.au or call 1300 659 216.

Local Government Reform topics

LAST week's council meeting at Granton authorised the forming of a working group to review and make comments on the recently circulated discussion paper titled “Proposed Changes to Local Government Electoral Arrangements". Appointed to this working group were mayor Martyn Evans, deputy mayor Barry Lathey, councillors Tony Nicholson, Wayne Shoobridge, James Graham, Chris Lester, Scott Shaw and myself, and general manager Stephen Mackey.

With a request to provide feedback on the four proposals by the end of this month, the working group met this Tuesday to consider the the council's position. Present were the general manager and councillors Lathey, Nicholson, Shoobridge, Lester and myself.

The four proposals and our council's position (reached by consensus) on them were:

• Introducing opt-in compulsory voting whereby a council may choose to make voting in local government elections compulsory within its municipal area. The Derwent Valley Council will not support this proposal. The working group's preference is compulsory voting for all councils. 
• Introducing all-in, all-out elections every four years, with four-year terms for Mayors and Deputy Mayors. The Derwent Valley Council will support this proposal. 
• Moving to election of Deputy Mayors "around the table" rather than by popular vote. The Derwent Valley Council will not support this proposal. The working group's preference is for mayors and deputy mayors to be elected in the same way - by popular vote.
• Banning dual representation, so that a person cannot in future hold a seat on council and in State Parliament at the same time. The Derwent Valley Council will not support this proposal. The working group's preference was that mayors and deputy mayors elected to parliament be permitted to serve out the remainder of their council term and that there be no restriction on councillors elected to parliament. My personal view is that dual representation is not ideal but should not be illegal.

Recent questions

AT the council's August council meeting I asked the following question without notice:

Mr Mayor, will Council be holding a function on the return of our Olympians?
The Mayor advised that Council will consider this matter.

At the September council meeting I asked:

Mr Acting Mayor, Can we have a clarification of the purpose of the council's advertisement seeking tenders for the installation of a power supply at Willow Court?
The General Manager answered that the advertisement was for the digging of trenches for the power supply.

Mr Acting Mayor, What will the council be doing to acknowledge the return of our local Olympians last month?
The General Manager took this question on notice. As of today, no answer has been received.

Mr Acting Mayor, Can we have a clarification of the legality of amending councillor motions on notice? On some occasions such amendments are permitted and on other occasions they are not.
The General Manager took this question on notice. As of today, no answer has been received.

Mr Acting Mayor, what payment does the council receive for the maintenance of the privately owned Woolworths car park in New Norfolk?
The General Manager said he was not aware of any payment being received.

Mr Mayor, why does the council perform maintenance of the Woolworths car park if it receives no payment for doing so?
The General Manager said this was a community service obligation.

July questions

THESE are the questions I asked at the July council meeting, and the answers received.

Mr Mayor, can you tell us about the $800,000 cheesery and restaurant recently approved in Rowbottom's Rd, Granton.
Answer: The mayor mayor took the question on notice. (As of today, no answer has been received).

Mr Mayor, who owns the Woolworths car park in New Norfolk?
Answer: The general manager advised that the car park was owned by Mr Robert Rockefeller through his company Humana or Nekon.

Mr Mayor, has the council received any communication from the Minister for Local Government regarding his proposed reforms?
The mayor advised that the council had not received any such correspondence from the minister. He further advised that he would write to the minister to ask what consultation would take place.

Winter newsletter available

THE latest issue of the Derwent Valley Council newsletter (Winter 2012) is available for downloading from the council website here.

Questions

HERE are the formal questions I have asked at the last few council meetings.

April council meeting
Mr Mayor, have we had a written answer from the Police Minister regarding the failure of a police representative to attend our recent workshop on Willow Court security?
Answer: The Mayor advised that a letter had been sent but a reply had not been received. He has however received a verbal acknowledgement from the Minister that the letter had been received.

Mr Mayor, has the Council contacted Malcolm MacDonald in accordance with the council's decision of last month?
Answer: The General Manager advised that he hadn’t but will follow it up.

Mr Mayor, will you provide us with an update on your search for a tunnel beneath Burnett St?
Answer: The Mayor advised that he was having a meeting soon with Rebecca White MHA regarding UTAS and their groundpenetrating radar.

May council meeting
Can the Accountant provide an income and expenditure report for the first six months on the Carinya Education Park?
Answer: The General Manager advised that an income and expenditure report would be provided.

June council meeting (questions on notice)
Will the council contact the Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources to request a co-operative approach to the provision of a footpath at Westerway?
Answer: The Mayor advised that Stuart Taylor is pursuing this issue and it has also been included in councils budget.

Will the Mayor give an update on the search for tunnels beneath Burnett St?
Answer: The Mayor advised that he would take this matter up with Mr David Llewellyn AM and his new committee. That the General Manager will be taking it up with the University of Tasmania Thermal Imaging section. The Mayor will also take the matter up with Rebecca White MP.

June council meeting (questions on notice)
Cr Bester Mr Mayor why was advertising material for a nursing home posted out in envelopes with the Derwent Valley Council logo on them this month?
The General Manager advised that discussions had been held with Corumbene in regard to sending out the flyer with Council rate notices, unfortunately this did not happen and they were forwarded out separately. They had also asked if they could be provided with the detail so they could do the mail-out of which I advised privacy legislation would not permit Council to pass this information on.

How many were posted out?
The General Manager advised that approximately 1100.

How much did it cost?
The General Manager advised that he would have to get back to him in regard to the cost.

How was it determined who received the flyer?
The General Manager advised that it was forwarded to those that have a pensioner discount or are the holder of a Centrelink Healthcare Card. Corumbene has advised that they now have the longest waiting list that they have ever had and that this will assist with occupancy rates for their newly build units. Unfortunately I am unable to advise if this mail-out was the main reason for this.

New planning scheme

SEVEN of your councillors spent most of yesterday in a workshop to review the new planning scheme for the Derwent Valley Council. This will cover all land use matters between Granton and Strathgordon. All of Tasmania's municipal planning schemes are now under review, to bring them into line with a common model and introduce relative consistency throughout the state. In our case this is long overdue, with the current New Norfolk Planning Scheme have being adopted in 1993.

This was the second workshop on this project and there will be quite a number still to come. We are being ably led through this complex matter by the council's planning officer, Martin McCance, and there is no doubting his enthusiasm for the subject matter. Following an initial briefing last month, yesterday's workshop went through the many new zones defined in the model planning scheme. It seems likely that most of the following zones will be a feature of the new Derwent Valley Planning Scheme:

• General Residential Zone (To provide for residential use or development that accommodates a range of dwelling types at suburban densities, where full infrastructure services are available or can be provided)
• Rural Living Zone (To provide for residential use or development on large lots in rural setting where services are limited)
• Village Zone (To provide for small rural centres with a mix of residential, community services and commercial activities)
• Community Purpose Zone (To provide for key community facilities and services where those facilities and services are not appropriate for inclusion as an associated activity within another zone)
• Recreation Zone (To provide for a range of active and organised recreational use or development and complementary uses that do not impact adversely on recreational use of the land)
• Open Space Zone (To provide land for open space purposes including passive recreation and natural or landscape amenity)
• Local Business Zone (To provide for business, professional and retail services which meet the convenience needs of a local area)
• General Business Zone (To provide business, community, food, professional and retail facilities serving a town or group of suburbs)
• Commercial Zone (To provide for large floor area retailing and service industries)
• Light Industrial Zone (To provide for the manufacturing, processing, repair, storage and distribution of goods and materials where off-site impacts are minimal or can be managed to minimise conflict or impact on amenity of any other uses)
• General Industrial Zone (To provide for manufacturing, processing, repair, storage and distribution of goods and materials where there may be impacts on neighbouring uses)
• Rural Resource Zone (To provide for the sustainable use or development of resources for agriculture, aquaculture, forestry, mining and other primary industries, including opportunities for resource processing)
• Significant Agricultural Zone (To provide for the use or development of land for higher productivity value agriculture dependant on soil as a growth medium)
• Utilities Zone (To provide land for major utilities installations and corridors)
• Environmental Management Zone (To provide for the protection, conservation and management of areas with significant ecological, scientific, cultural or aesthetic value, or with a significant likelihood of risk from a natural hazard)
• Particular Purpose Zone (Willow Court)

There is still much work to be done, including determination of where these zones might apply.
 
Your feedback wanted
I'm particularly interested to hear the thoughts and opinions of Derwent Valley residents on two matters at this stage of the planning scheme process.

1. The proposed Rural Resource Zone includes a prohibition on subdivisions. In order to prevent further fragmentation of rural resource land, there would be no subdivision of new lots in this "zone". This relates particularly to large farms being subdivided and rendered unsuitable for major agriculture. What's your opinion?
2. Past and present planning schemes have sought to protect and preserve High St as the municipality's main commercial centre. The new planning scheme's proposed Commercial Zone would allow "big box" type developments in New Norfolk, but away from the central business district. What do you think?

I would welcome your thoughts, which can be posted using the comment function below or by emailing keepdamohonest@gmail.com