Community Connect - Spring/Summer 2017

Quarterly Report - Spring / Summer 2017

CommunityConnect

Celebrate what’s great!

East Gippsland Shire Council is proud to support many of our local community groups to host Australia Day celebrations throughout the municipality on January 26.

See page 8 for a list of regional Australia Day events.

BRING ON

SUMMER

CommunityConnect

Connect with us 1300 555 886 5153 9500 feedback@egipps.vic.gov.au PO Box 1618, Bairnsdale 3875 eastgippsland.vic.gov.au @egsc

Customer Service Centres Bairnsdale: 24 Service Street

34 Pyke Street

Lakes Entrance:18 Mechanics Street Mallacoota: 70 Maurice Avenue Omeo: 179 Day Street Orbost: 1 Ruskin Street Paynesville: 55 The Esplanade

Customer Service Centres can help with: - Rate and property enquiries and payments - Pensioner concession discount on rates - Animal registration and renewals - Planning - Collecting applications - Lodging permits - Community laws and health - Enquiries about adjoining fence owners - Change of address - Disability Parking permits - New or replacement waste bins - Raymond Island Ferry passes

CommunityConnect

Message from the Mayor As we come to the end of 2017, I can certainly say it has been a big year.

Following extensive community consultation Council adopted its Council Plan 2017-2021 – a document that outlines where the community want Council to focus its priorities to ensure the things the community values are maintained and enhanced.

My fellow Councillors and I have advocated widely for the needs and wishes of the East Gippsland community. It has been a pleasure to meet so many of you at a wide range of community group meetings and celebrations across the shire.

Our event season has started with a bang when Bairnsdale hosted the RACV Great Victorian Bike Ride’s rest day in late November. More than 3500 riders and support crew spent two nights in Bairnsdale.

Many used the rest day to see some

of East Gippsland’s attractions or spend money in town, which was fantastic to see.

The cycling event was quickly followed by Australia’s most popular car rally, the Alpine Rally. More than 125 competitors took part in the rally, which was a spectacular sight.

I look forward to many more great events over summer.

Cr Joe Rettino Mayor

Message from the CEO

Strong community support for White Ribbon Day

This financial year council has a capital works program of $35.5 million.

We also opened the Bairnsdale Business Centre, which heralded a new way for customers to engage with us. This model has proved popular with the community appreciating the opportunity to discuss their questions with staff from our customer-facing teams.

Building on the first White Ribbon Day breakfast Council held last year, Council ‘took it to the streets’ in support of White Ribbon Day 2017 with a breakfast in the Nicholson Street Mall in Bairnsdale on Saturday 25 November. Our recreation centres in Lakes Entrance and Bairnsdale were also behind the cause, offering free entry on the day for those who took the pledge to ‘Stand Up, Speak Out’.

Gary Gaffney Chief Executive Officer

There were various speakers during the morning including Victoria Police and Kat Harrison - a ‘survivor’ of domestic violence.

Many of the projects in the program are underway and, as you’ll see in the following pages, some are already completed.

The Orbost streetscape, LindenowGlenaladale Road Bridge and the roundabout in Service Street Bairnsdale are just some of the larger projects we’ve undertaken so far.

These projects will make travelling in these areas safer.

- Marina and jetty enquiries and payments

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Our front cover

Outreach Centres

East Gippsland comes alive in summer and there are plenty of ways to enjoy the region.

Bendoc: 18 Dowling Street

Scenic drives, bushwalks, kayaking, fishing, or even just heading to the local park.

Buchan: 6 Centre Road

Metung’s Patterson Park (pictured on the cover) is a nature-based play area which includes a water area that is a favourite with people of all ages on a hot day.

Cann River: Princes Highway

Council recently conducted a ribbon cutting to mark the official opening of the Luderick Point Boat Ramp at Bemm River.

Recreational fishing is an important tourism sector for the Bemm River area, bringing in visitors from Melbourne and further afield.

The new boat ramp provides improved safety for users. It includes a dual lane boat ramp, new southern pontoon system and an upgraded northern pontoon and abutment. New overhead solar lighting was also installed, as well as a davit crane to help people with disabilities board and disembark boats. Council has also completed repair work on a section of the car park. The project was supported by a $313,080 grant from the Victorian Government’s Boating Safety and Facilities Program. In addition, council contributed nearly $229,000.

This is the first full year of the new Council, following the October 2016 elections. My fellow Councillors and I look forward to working with you in 2018 on our shared goals for East Gippsland.

- Roads, footpaths and bridge enquiries - All your Council account payments

New boat ramp for Bemm River

Council’s Parks and Gardens team maintains over 350 ha of open space across the region - that’s 150 times bigger than the MCG.

CommunityConnect - Spring/Summer 2017

Over 12 months, on average, one woman is killed every week in Australia as a result of violence from a partner or family member.

As an organisation, we take a stance that violence against women – in any way – is unacceptable. We were commended at the event for taking this stance to such a public place, which sends a strong message.

It is sobering to hear that one in three women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by someone they knew. Today, we have a much better understanding of the many forms of violence used to control women.

These behaviours are aimed at removing a woman’s confidence, support networks and independence in order to highlight the abuser’s own power within the relationship.

White Ribbon uses the United Nations’ definition of men’s violence against women: Any act of gender-based violence that results in – or is likely to result in – physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including: threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivations of liberty.

We need all our community leaders to engage in the discussion and lead by example in standing up against this issue.

Thanks to everyone who came along and supported the event.

Some statistics on violence against women in Australia are: • Indigenous women and girls are 35 times more likely than the wider female population to be hospitalised due to family violence; • One in four children are exposed to family violence; and • Domestic and family violence is the main cause of homelessness for women and their children.

One of the ways to reduce domestic violence is to change men’s attitudes towards women.

Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, Kat Harrison, Mayor Cr Joe Rettino, Shire 2017 Citizen of the Year Richard Rijs, CEO Gary Gaffney, Youth Ambassadors Phoebe Butler, Katie Nally and Torin Troy raised awareness about White Ribbon’s work to end violence against women. The event was well attended with many signing a pledge in support of changing the attitude around violence against women. Image courtesy of the Bairnsdale Advertiser.

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Arts and Culture Recreation Centres Shire offices Landfills Aerodromes Outdoor pools Livestock Exchange Customer Service Centres Road maintenance Recreation reserves Libraries Visitor Information Centres Raymond Island Ferry Marinas Waste collection Road contractors Parks and Gardens Street lighting Public toilets Events and civic functions Emergency Management Local Laws Immunisations and environmental health Mobile library service Bridges Playgrounds School crossing supervisors Street and footpath sweeping Boat ramps Holiday and caravan parks

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Every time you leave your house, you are using services that we provide.

4 Waste management costs

As your local Council, we provide over 100 services to over 40 individual communities across a geographic area that is equivalent to 10 per cent of the size of Victoria. We’ve illustrated just some of the services, plus provided a breakdown below of each $100 we spend.

The increasing and ongoing cost to Council of waste management, including Victorian Government charges and levies, has been a significant portion of Council’s yearly expenditure, especially over the past few years.

This includes the cost of managing waste disposal facilities, landfill levies, street litter and recycling bins, environmental compliance, split waste and recycling bins and kerbside waste collection.

$30

$24

$13

$9

Capital Works Asset Management Governance Waste and Legislative compliance, Environment Roads, buildings, and Maintenance property and risk, playgrounds etc.

HR etc.

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$7

Health, Recreation and Community Safety

$4

$4

Community Planning Council Enterprises Caravan Parks, and Support Livestock Exchange, etc.

$3

Parks and Gardens

$2

$2

Planning and Building Arts, Culture and Community Programs

$2

Economic Development and Tourism

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CommunityConnect

CommunityConnect

Glenaladale bridge due to reopen soon Landholders, haulage companies and the community will soon be able to cross the new LindenowGlenaladale Road bridge as the finishing touches are put on the project.

In early November construction reached a major milestone when concrete was poured to create the bridge’s new deck. The job involved pouring 240 tonnes of concrete, which was approximately 20 truckloads.

The bridge is a major asset for the vegetable growing region of Lindenow, with high volumes of farm machinery and heavy vehicles using

the bridge to cross the Mitchell River.

The old bridge was closed in late March and completely demolished.

Works also included relocating powerlines and creating a temporary water main mounting system.

The project has benefited from favourable weather conditions and is anticipated to be completed ahead of schedule – it was originally due to be completed in February 2018.

The new bridge includes a new truss to give the bridge a similar look to the previous structure.

Concrete works on 10 November 2017

The project’s budget is $2.5 million, with half of the funding provided by the Australian Government’s Bridge Renewal Program.

Working together during ferry outage Council and the community have been working through an extended outage of the Raymond Island Ferry.

The ferry was taken out of service for planned maintenance and slipped at the Paynesville Boatyard on Monday 9 October. One of the jobs scheduled for

this outage was taking the hull back to bare metal. It would then be thickness tested, have anti-foul reapplied and be repainted.

Association, volunteer community bus drivers, and all those who have chipped in to help the community during the outage.

After being taken back to bare metal, pitting was noticed on some sections of the underside of the hull. This indicated water had penetrated the metal. The outage was extended by an additional six weeks while the damaged panels were replaced.

Council appreciates the patience of ferry passengers during the outage.

Welders replace a rusted metal panel on the hull

There is enough car parking in Bairnsdale CBD to meet the needs of residents, shoppers and workers.

The ferry received a fresh coat of paint during the outage

New look for Orbost’s main street

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be distributing these car parking maps to businesses and motorists in the CBD as part of our strategy to ensure that future car parking demands of the CBD are met.

1 Hr 2 Hr 3 Hr Permit ed Unrestrict ble Accessi n Carava

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Historical elements of the street have been retained or replicated. The milestone remains, and the nearby footpath was made of red concrete to give the area a similar appearance to the painted red concrete of the old footpath.

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The $695,823.52 project also included drainage and kerb works.

We’ve developed an easy-to-read parking map to assist motorists in understanding the various parking locations in the Bairnsdale CBD and the restrictions that apply.

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CommunityConnect - Spring/Summer 2017

plants complete the look.

68.8% of vehicles surveyed within the study area, which includes car parks not under Council control, parked for more than four hours, and 11.4% of vehicles parked for the full nine hours (even when in a two hour parking zone).

If you would like a copy in Bairnsdale, drop into our Business Centre at 34 Pyke Street, our Customer Service Centre at 24 Service Street or the Corporate Centre at 273 Main Street.

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New seating is dotted along the street while raised garden beds provide additional informal seating. Mass plantings of groundcovers, climbers, shrubs, and feature

Legend

ale CBD Bairnsd locations parking

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The upgrade has transformed the streetscape on the western side of Nicholson Street and included new footpaths.

A total of 17% of all vehicles surveyed recently overstayed their parking restrictions.

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Stage One of the rejuvenation of Orbost’s main street was completed in November.

Raised garden beds provide additional seating

With our shopping precincts getting busier due to Christmas, it can be tempting to park your car in the first spot you see. However, there are different types of parking spaces, so you need to make sure you’re legally allowed to park where you’ve stopped. You should also consider the needs of others who may not be as mobile as you are, especially at this time of the year when spaces are at a premium.

Did you know that Bairnsdale has over 3000 car parking spaces in the CBD?

Following that project, the scheduled maintenance tasks were able to be undertaken.

Council would like to acknowledge the support of the Raymond Island Community

‘Tis the Season...

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CommunityConnect

Your Councillors Cr Joe Rettino Mayor

Cr Richard Ellis

Cr Jackson Roberts

0498 001 583 cr.rettino@egipps.vic.gov.au

0419 023 673 cr.ellis@egipps.vic.gov.au

0437 946 886 cr.roberts@egipps.vic.gov.au

Cr Natalie O’Connell

Cr Colin Toohey

0498 001 702 cr.oconnell@egipps.vic.gov.au

0498 001 704

Cr Ben Buckley

Cr Marianne Pelz

Cr John White

0429 857 750 cr.buckley@egipps.vic.gov.au

0428 115 667 cr.pelz@egipps.vic.gov.au

0498 001 531 cr.white@egipps.vic.gov.au

Cr Mark Reeves Deputy Mayor 0419 016 581 cr.reeves@egipps.vic.gov.au

cr.toohey@egipps.vic.gov.au

For a list of local events and activities

visiteastgippsland.com.au

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CommunityConnect - Spring/Summer 2017