PROCEDURE FOR SPECIAL MEETING OF ELECTORS
In accordance with the Local Government Act 1995 Section 5.30 and the Local Government (Administration) Regulations 1996, the Mayor is to preside at a general or special meeting of electors and is to determine the procedure to be followed.
1. All present are required to sign the attendance register at the entry to the meeting room, including name and address.
2. The proceedings will be recorded for the purpose of production of the minutes and speakers are requested to use the microphones each time they speak.
3. No other audio or visual recording is to be undertaken without the permission of the Presiding Member.
4. During the meeting, no member of the public may interrupt the meeting’s proceedings or enter into conversation.
5. A register of Electors wishing to address the meeting will be located at the entry of the meeting room on the night. The Presiding Member will request speakers to approach the podium in the order that they appear on the register and thereafter will open to the floor for further speakers.
6. Should an Elector wish to address the meeting, they may do so for a maximum of 3 minutes each. An extension of time may be given at the discretion of the Presiding Person who will ensure that speakers are given a fair and equal opportunity to do so.
7. Speakers must be Electors of the City of Wanneroo.
8. When addressing the meeting, a person is to:-
a) rise and move to the front podium unless unable to do so by reason of sickness or disability;
b) state his or her name for recording in the minutes;
c) address the meeting through the person presiding.
d) limit questions/statements to fact, not opinion or supposition.
Putting a Motion to the Meeting
9. “Motions from the Floor” Forms are available at the entrance to the meeting room for completion by electors. Where possible proposed motions should be provided in writing to Administration prior to the opening of the meeting.
10. Motions received from the floor (i.e. from Electors) are to be read aloud by the Presiding Member to ensure that everyone is clear about what they are voting on.
11. The Mayor will call for a mover and a seconder for a motion.
12. No motion or amendment is open to debate until it has been seconded. Only one amendment on any one motion shall be received at a time and such amendment shall be disposed of before any further amendment can be received; but any number of amendments may be proposed.
13. Upon a motion being proposed, the Mayor will call for speakers to address the Chair.
14. The mover of a motion (but not the mover of an amendment) has the right of reply, and this closes the debate.
15. An elector may rise and move without discussion, “that the question be now put”, which, on being duly seconded and carried by a majority, will result in submission of the motion at once to the meeting, after the mover has replied.
16. The Mayor will then ask for a vote on the motion from the floor.
17. Each elector has one vote. An elector does not have to vote.
18. Voting is determined by a show of hands.
19. A simple majority carries the vote.
20. The person presiding is to determine questions of order and procedure not stated above but an elector may move a motion of dissent from a ruling of the person presiding, which if seconded, shall be put without discussion.
21. Decisions made at electors’ meetings are to be considered at the next ordinary council meeting or, if that is not practicable at the first ordinary council meeting after that meeting. Decisions from this electors meeting will be considered at the City's 11 December 2012 Council meeting.
22. The decisions of this meeting are not binding on the Council, but as required by the Local Government Act 1995, the reasons for any Council decision on a decision of this meeting are to be recorded in the minutes of the council meeting.
Notice is given that the next Special Meeting of Electors will be held at the Phil Renkin Centre, Two Rocks on Monday 12 November, 2012 commencing at 6.30pm.
T Roberts
Mayor
9 November, 2012
CONTENTS
Item 2_____ Attendance and Apologies
Item 3_____ Purpose of the Meeting
3.1 Yanchep Active Open Space Update
Item 4_____ Meeting Open to the Floor – Public Question Time/Motions
Agenda
Item 2 Attendance and Apologies
File Ref: 4504 – 12/136962
Responsible Officer: Director, Planning and Sustainability
Disclosure of Interest: Nil
Attachments: 3
Issue
To provide a briefing to Electors on the Yanchep Active Open Space Project, in response to a request for a Special Meeting of Electors.
Background
At the Council Briefing held on 9 October 2012, the City of Wanneroo received a request under Section 5.28 of the Local Government Act 1995 to convene a Special Meeting of Electors for the following reasons:
1. For the City to provide information to Electors on the status of the proposed Yanchep Active Open Space Project, the reasons for the project's delay, proposed future direction and expected completion of the public open space;
2. To discuss any issues arising from 1. above; and
3. For the meeting to make any resolution it believes relevant to Council's consideration of the matter.
Detail
This report is provided to address item 1. above, namely the status of the project, reasons for its delay, future direction and expected timeframe for completion. In this regard, it must be noted that the City is still negotiating the legal and financial intricacies of this project with the relevant developer (Yanchep Beach Joint Venture) in confidence and on a 'without prejudice' basis. Therefore, the City cannot disclose "any and all reasons for the apparent delay", as stated in the written request for a Special Meeting of Electors. The City will, however, disclose the reasons for the delay in a more general sense, or specifically where those delays are already on public record.
In addition to this report, the City's Administration will also be providing a brief presentation on this project at the Special Meeting of Electors and will endeavour to answer any questions raised at the meeting.
A plan illustrating the location of the Yanchep Active Open Space site is provided in Attachment 1.
Consultation
Relevant sporting groups have been consulted in the design of the masterplan for the Yanchep Active Open Space project.
Comment
The following information is provided in response to each of the four points raised in item 1 of the request for a Special Meeting of Electors, namely – the project's status; reasons for its delay; future direction; and timeframe for completion.
Project Status
For the past two years, the City has been working closely with the Yanchep Beach Joint Venture (YBJV) to refine the design and scope of works for this project and to negotiate the terms of a legal agreement between the City and YBJV that would formalise the relationship between both parties in terms of costs, responsibilities and other legal obligations for delivery of the project.
Council has also agreed to several key principles that need to be included in any legal agreement with YBJV for this project. Those principles were agreed by Council at its meetings on 13 December 2011 (Item CR01-12/11), 26 June 2012 (Item CR03-06/12) and 16 October 2012 (Item CR02-10/12). Although each of those reports to Council are confidential and therefore not publicly available, the actual decisions of Council in each instance were published in the Minutes of those meetings. Included as Attachment 2 is a copy of each of Council's decisions from the three meetings mentioned above.
Essentially, Council's latest (October 2012) decision requested YBJV to consider carrying out the earthworks for both ovals in exchange for the City half funding the construction of the road to service the ovals, from Yanchep Beach Road up to the northern-most access point into the oval site.
YBJV has recently responded to Council's October 2012 decision, although that response is confidential at this point in time. Once Administration has assessed YBJV's response, a further report will be presented to Council (in December 2012 or February 2013) for Council to consider YBJV's position and provide further direction to Administration. Until that occurs, the City cannot comment on YBJV's most recent response.
In addition to the above-mentioned decisions, Council at its meeting on 18 September 2012 also:
· Endorsed the Landscape Masterplan for the Yanchep Active Open Space Project (a copy of which is included as Attachment 3), and noted that the implementation program and construction staging are subject to finalisation of the legal agreement with YBJV; and
· Endorsed a grant application being made to the State Government for $1.08 million funding for the Yanchep Active Open Space project under the Community Sport and Recreation Facility Fund.
Both the above-mentioned reports to Council's September 2012 meeting are publicly available on the City's website (as Items IN01-09/12 and CD02-09/12 from that meeting's agenda) and provide additional background information on this project, should Electors wish to review them.
The project cannot move forward from its current position (as outlined in the above-mentioned Council decisions) until or unless the legal agreement is finalised with YBJV.
Reasons for Delay
The delays facing this project can be attributed to (in order of significance):
· The scale and complexity of the issues, responsibilities and costs to be addressed by and incorporated in the legal agreement between the City and YBJV;
· The preparation of detailed design drawings for development of the Yanchep Active Open Space site; and
· Identification of a suitable site(s) in Yanchep or Two Rocks to accommodate a full-sized Australian Football League (AFL) senior oval.
The first of these issues is still being worked through and will only be overcome once a legal agreement has been finalised between the City and YBJV. The second of these delays is essentially no longer relevant now that Council has adopted the masterplan for the site.
In terms of the third delay mentioned above, a smaller site on Yanchep Beach Road was originally investigated (in 2010) as a possible location for an oval, due to its ease of development, servicing and access from Yanchep Beach Road. However, that site was never intended to be a long-term oval site and, if chosen, would have eventually been decommissioned and then developed by the landowner once a permanent oval site had been secured. This would have meant that any oval-related investment in that site would have been made redundant at a later date. Other disadvantages with the initially identified site related to the public use of private property as a community sporting facility.
Following broader examination of suitable oval sites in Yanchep and Two Rocks and discussions with YBJV, it was agreed to pursue the current site for the Yanchep Active Open Space. This site is substantially larger than the originally identified site on Yanchep Beach Road and is also designated as the ultimate location for active open space and related community facilities in the approved plans for future development of the Yanchep area.
Future Direction
As stated earlier, delivery of this project is dependent on finalising the required legal agreement between the City and YBJV. Negotiations in this regard are continuing in good faith with both parties eager to bring the project to fruition.
The Council-endorsed masterplan provides the blueprint for all future development on the site, with the implementation program and construction staging to be determined by Council upon finalisation of the legal agreement with YBJV. The legal agreement is fundamental to the commencement of works on site and eventual delivery of the project, because it will clarify who is responsible for the various components of the development, thus enabling Council to clearly determine the work that the City will do, having regard to available budget funds.
In the meantime, the City will continue to investigate and pursue all available funding opportunities to maximise the range of facilities to be delivered on the site as part of the first phase of the project.
Timeframe for Completion
Depending on when the legal agreement is finalised between the City and YBJV and subject to YBJV completing the work that it agrees to do on the site under the terms of the legal agreement, the following tasks will generally need to occur, with estimated timeframes shown in brackets:
· Prepare, advertise, evaluate and award tender for design and construction administration (~4 months);
· Undertake design (~5 months);
· Prepare, advertise, evaluate and award tender for construction (~3 months);
· Undertake Construction (~9 months).
The timeframes estimated above are only an indication of the likely timeframe required for the City to conclude its work on the site so that it is ready for use by the community. Those timeframes are subject to many variables and may be extended where unavoidable or condensed wherever practicable. Generally speaking though, if all the assumptions that underpin those estimated timeframes are satisfied, if no substantial complications arise during construction and if weather conditions are favourable for planting/laying of turf, then the Yanchep Active Open Space will be available for use by the community within approximately 21 months of the legal agreement being finalised between the City and YBJV.
Statutory Compliance
The Special Meeting of Electors has been requested in accordance with Section 5.28 of the Local Government Act 1995.
Strategic Implications
The proposal accords with the following Outcome Objective of the City’s Strategic Plan 2006 – 2021:
“2 Social
2.1 Increase choice and quality of neighbourhood and lifestyle options”
2.1.2 Provide timely and functional public facilities and open spaces to meet changing community needs.
2.2.1 Encourage, support and provide a range of accessible recreation and leisure opportunities, both active and passive.
2.3.2 Provide or facilitate access to services and facilities that support inclusive communities."
Policy Implications
The City's Local Planning Policy 4.3: Public Open Space, has informed the design of the Yanchep Active Open Space Masterplan.
Financial Implications
At this time, there is no change to the project financial position as presented to Council's September 2012 meeting (refer Items IN01-09/12 and CD02-09/12).
Attachments:
1View. |
Attachment 1 - Yanchep Active Open Space |
12/138004 |
|
2View. |
Attachment 2 - Yanchep Active Open Space Update |
12/138374 |
|
3View. |
Attachment 3 - Yanchep Active Open Space |
12/138372 |
|
CITY OF WANNEROO Agenda OF Special Meeting of Electors 12 November, 2012 12
Item 4 Meeting Open to the Floor – Public Question Time/Motions