Mayor column: with Cr John Harvie

Published on 26 March 2026

The March Ordinary Meeting was held earlier this week and considered two mayoral minutes that I prepared in relation to significant issues that impact growth and development across the council area.

The first minute tackles Private Developments and the Transfer of Infrastructure Assets into council ownership, care, or custody.

From time-to-time council is confronted with requests to provide maintenance or to replace or upgrade assets where ownership of the asset is in dispute. A recent example of a situation like this, involved responsibility for stormwater drainage within a private estate.

Often, the situation / dispute is long standing, with no evidence of ownership or ownership having been transferred and officially accepted by council and the matter remains unresolved. It is, therefore, critical that such transfers of ownership and responsibility are clearly documented and entered into council records.

Another recent situation arose within a private development where it was clear that the internal underground assets were owned by the developer, but the fees and charges applied by council constituted double-dipping (although this has been disputed and in any case was not initially clear cut). This resulted in lengthy discussion within council before being resolved.

It is my view that all water, sewage and drainage infrastructure should be constructed and installed to a standard, set by council, and that subsequent ownership should transfer to council.

My reasoning is that the management and operation of services such as sewage and water have significant community health risk, particularly if operated by private resident body corporates. Also, residents in private estates connected to council systems pay the same rates, fees and charges as everyone else.

The second minute tackles the long-standing issue of time taken to process development applications and to receive development consent which, if passed, will be reviewed by a Mayoral Taskforce consisting of the mayor and deputy mayor, three other councillors, the CEO, and other officers.

The time taken to process a development application, has been a constant source of dissatisfaction among stakeholders over several years.

Industry concerns are raised with councillors and senior officers almost weekly. While nationwide shortages of qualified planners, differing cross border certification criteria, and councils competing for staff by paying inflated salaries are major contributing factors, we need to develop a workable strategy to overcome these and other challenges.

The review will be conducted at a strategic level, and the final report will be submitted to council in September.