Welcome to the new Douglas!

In 2014 the new Douglas Shire Council became one of Queensland’s 77 Councils, proud to take its place alongside its neighbours in the Far North. The first year has been extraordinary because the establishment of a new Council is a unique experience, with little local government history of de-amalgamation to draw upon for guidance. Douglas hit the ground running, with our doors open for business on 2 January 2014 and the new Council team of more than 140 staff keen to bring a fresh new approach to the delivery of services and works for the community. Our motto throughout the year has been to be contemporary, concise and compliant in all our operations – to be an enthusiastic new administration, clever and innovative in managing and working on, and in, the business of local government, with the community’s interests and financial sustainability targets driving us to a successful future. Our partnership with the Mayor and Councillors has been a strong and welcome alliance and I wish to formally thank Council for the direction and support each elected member has provided as we have progressed through 2014. Senior management and all staff have embraced the opportunities to bring Council’s vision and policy direction for the new Douglas to life.

Observers are saying that the new Douglas is punching above its weight and throughout the year we have been recognised in many ways – for the successful financial separation and de-amalgamation process achieved by the Transfer Manager, Mr Jeff Tate, for our many community programs and events, the successful delivery of two Operational Plans, two Budgets and the Corporate Plan in the first six months, our compliance with all statutory requirements, the management of two declared disaster events, the many library initiatives and for the dedication of our teams to keeping our public spaces looking better than ever. We have upgraded roads and water infrastructure, approved or are in the process of assessing 143 planning applications, developed new business processes and introduced more efficient services for the community. We were the first de-amalgamated Council to complete and receive an unmodified (unqualified) audit from the Queensland Audit Office, and have collected more revenue and spent less than the budget forecasts.

In our first year we have been grateful recipients of competitive Queensland State Government grant funding from the Departments of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning; Local Government Community Recovery and Resilience; Science, Innovation Technology and the Arts, Police Fire and Emergency Services, Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services; National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing; the State Library of Queensland and from the Local Government Association of Queensland.

There is much that goes on behind the scenes to deliver the very complex business for which local government is responsible and I extend my sincere gratitude to each and every member of the combined Council teams for working tirelessly to get the new Douglas up and running. Many staff have worked extremely long hours over the entire year to address the very significant challenges a new Council faces, in order to deliver, as far as possible, seamless, quality services to the community.

We aim to be a capable, transparent and accountable administration with all staff proud of their workplace and supportive of their colleagues. We want the new Douglas to be a workplace of choice; we are a strong and enthusiastic team at the service of the Council and the community.

It is a pleasure to provide a snapshot here of just some of the achievements of the new Douglas in 2014.

Linda Cardew Chief Executive Officer

When the new Douglas Council opened its doors for the first time on 2 January 2014, little was shown of the de-amalgamation work that had been undertaken by a small team over the previous months: the development of an entirely new IT system, new business processes, recruitment of new staff and the transfer of some staff from Cairns Regional Council to the newly developed organisational structure, the development and transfer of records systems, extensive audits, new financial systems and the painstaking process required for the transfer of assets and the financial separation from CRC. All was successfully achieved under the direction of the Transfer Manager, Jeff Tate.

Council Chambers 2 January 2014

First Council meeting

The Council Chambers were filled to capacity for the first Council meeting on 2 January with an excited community present to observe the Mayor and Councillors making a Declaration of Office before acting as elected members. The first Ordinary Meeting followed on 3 January.

The interim organisational structure was adopted at Council’s Ordinary Meeting of 14 January followed by the adoption of Council’s first Operational Plan and first Budget at a Special Budget Meeting just three weeks later on 24 January. The Operational Plan detailed 36 major initiatives for the first six months, and all were achieved prior to 30 June. The Budget set rates, charges and levies for the six months to 30 June, applying a zero rates increase, and no increase in fees and charges. Credit card charges were dropped, resulting in lower overall charges to the rate payer in real terms. Without the benefit of a detailed financial history Budget estimates were made regarding revenue and expenditure taking into account seasonality, tourism, and the available source data. The timing of de-amalgamation, time constraints and limited resources were all challenges in developing this 6 month budget.

“This is a fantastic result and directly contravenes the dire predictions of QTC in late 2012. We have a good cash position and opening balance of just under $16 million (less the $1.9 million we have already paid towards the de-amalgamation costs). We also have a significant capital works budget of just over $6 million which translates to a $6 million re-investment in our infrastructure.

The costs of de-amalgamation are below the QTC estimate and we are now in a position to deliver a financially responsible budget with and I repeat a zero rate increase.” Cr Julia Leu, Mayor’s budget address 24 January 2014.

At the Australia Day Awards and Citizenship Ceremony Council was proud to announce:

 Citizen of the Year – Ron Schild

 Civic Recognition Award – Robert Hanan

 Volunteer of the Year – Elizabeth O’Shea

 Five new citizens

 Over 100 in attendance

Libraries

The Mossman and Port Douglas Libraries successfully transitioned from Cairns Libraries to Rural Libraries Queensland by 1 January, 2014.

Library customers now have 24/7 access to approximately 300,000 physical items along with e-books, e-audio books, e magazines and free downloadable music.

Storytime and Baby Rhyme Time sessions are held weekly at Mossman Library for children 0-4 years. The programs build early literacy skills and provide an opportunity for children and their parents to share in the adventures that books can bring.

Rural Libraries Queensland offers 2 free membership cards:

General membership for residents and a “Tourist card” – “join RLQ for free and read on the road”.

“Ready for some school holiday fun” sessions are held each school holidays and are always popular. Activities include stained glass creations, decorating library bags and Summer Reading Club.

Our building facilities officer and local laws officer went about removing Cairns Regional Council signs and replacing with New ‘Douglas Shire Council’ Signs.

Waste Services managed the Installation of the Landfill Lid at Killaloe Landfill – reducing the volume of day cover material needed for site operations (below).

Finance and Information Technology

In January the new IT system went live with finance, payroll, property, registers, records management, cloud hosting.

The first budget for January to June 2014 was adopted, together with the Schedule of Fees & Charges 2013/14. The financial delegations register was established.

February

New CEO announced

Council prepared to farewell Jeff Tate as Transfer Manager through de-amalgamation and Acting CEO, to welcome Daintree resident Linda Cardew as the first CEO of the new Douglas Shire Council, promising an accessible and accountable administration committed to implementing an innovative and cost-effective approach to service delivery.

Launch of Douglas Shire Council Facebook page

The CEO Unit introduced a new tool to communicate with our communities. Council’s Facebook page now has almost 1400 “Likes”, averaging 45 posts per month which individually reach an average of 700 Facebook users.

Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA).

The Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services approved the activation of Douglas for the event “North East Qld Monsoonal Rainfall and Flooding, 7-9 February 2014”.

King Tides caused damage to leading edge of Sugar Wharf and damaged sewer pipe under building.

SCADA and Telemetry services supporting Water and Wastewater

During February a successful separation from Cairns Regional Council systems and re-engineering of DSC Water, Wastewater and Waste Telemetry and SCADA services took place ensuring control and monitoring of water, wastewater and waste operations.

Rate notices and water notices were issued on time.