Council

Municipal Office Project Return

Key Dates

2013 Budget Added $34 Million unallocated roads

2015 Money transferred to Buildings then finally to the Municipal Office Project

2017 Municipal Office Project Removed from Budget by new Council

2019 June 21st Council Dismissed

2019 June 28th $30 Million New Expenditure Added to the Budget within one week of Council dismissal

2019 June 30th Administrators Approved Officer Budget Recommendations.

These included the $30 Million Future Unallocated but also $3.8 Million for Stage 1 Municipal Precinct. Total available for Municipal Office Project is now $33.8 Million.New Expenditure

2019 ??? Officers briefed Administrators on Leongatha Hub which NOW seems to include a new Municipal Office Component.

Interesting observation-Officers seem to have included the $34 Million proposal into the Budget BEFORE they briefed the Administrators on the idea. Were the Administrators FULLY INFORMED on this project when they approved it in July 2019 at the budget meeting?

History Of The Municipal Office Project And How History Repeats

History of First Attempt.

The first attempt to have this project included in Council budget was in the 2012-2016 Council. The $30 Million appeared as unallocated roads and later on it appeared as finance for the Municipal Office Project.

The debate in 2015 showed two divergent views at Council. One group, the majority block approved this project but three Councillors fought against it.

The new Council removed the Project and all references to it from the Budget and Council Plan early in 2017.

History of Second Attempt.

An amount of $3.8 Million for Municipal Project and $30 Million Unallocated Future Funds were included in the Budget approved by the Administrators in July 2019.

These two entries within the Budget were NOT included in the draft budget put out for consultation with the Community in April 2019. They were NOT included in the budget papers until AFTER the Councillors were dismissed.

Without being in the Council Plan or the previous year’s budget Officers recommended their inclusion within a week of Council being dismissed and approved of by the Administrators.

The public were unaware of these significant changes and were not made aware by Council.

On BOTH occasions it seems that Officers/Administration included the funds without consulting with the ratepayers and indeed apparently without telling the Councillors at the time either.

Below is the Record from Council Minutes showing the briefing session on the Council Offices.

Council

Return of the Municipal Office Project

Dec 10, 2023 Carpe Diem

Leongatha Memorial Hall Feasibility Study

Council has begun work on developing a business case and feasibility study for the redevelopment of Memorial Hall that looks at current and future use, multi-use, demographics, population growth, service, service levels, heritage, redevelopment models, constraints, benchmarking with other population centres, demand, impact on small towns, accessibility, and whether operational costs can be supported and maintained.

The business case would also consider the relationship between other halls and venues both within and outside of the Shire, including the Foster War Memorial Arts Centre.

Council states that a strong case for State Government and Commonwealth Government support and contribution towards capital works can only be made if underpinned by a solid business case that has a forward projection extending over 25 years.

Council’s Infrastructure Planning team initiated the development of a business case and feasibility study in 2023/2024 in consultation with relevant stakeholders including the Arts, Culture and Visitor Economy department.

The feasibility study is supposed to investigate the Memorial Hall building as a performance space and theatre as detailed within Council’s 4 year plan.

The tender documents however suggest another plan is in mind by the officers. Those documents indicate the name of the study as “Leongatha Memorial Hall Precinct Feasibility Study”.

A precinct is not confined to the Memorial Hall but is a larger area so a bigger project not indicated by the Council 4 year plan 2022-2026.

When one reads the documents more closely it can be seen that a second building site is proposed on the adjoining property to the Memorial Hall and specifications in the tender documents indicate a proposal for the redevelopment of the current Council offices on that site along with various inclusions making the total project approximately 3 times the size of the Memorial Hall area.

History of the municipal office project

Back in the 2012-2016 Council term the administration inserted a $32 Million project into the budget and hid it from ratepayers. The information on this project was released to the ratepayers via a letter to the editor in the Sentinel Times written by then Cr Don Hill who is now editor of South Gippsland Voices newspaper. The community then reacted strongly against the imposition of this $32 Million project and the newly elected Councillor group at the 2016 election voted to remove the project in 2017.

But the officers were not done. They quietly worked behind the scenes awaiting their opportunity and in June 2019 the administrators approved the administration’s budget papers which included start up cash for refurbishment of the current Council offices in Smith Street Leongatha. This led to a complete gutting of the ground floor space and reconstruction of the internal areas. As part of this improvement, they managed to make the external windows so that people could not view the officers at work inside as could be done in the past. You could say they made the Council less transparent to outside scrutiny!

After the internal fit out at a cost of a few million dollars a tender was put out in 2023 for the external revamp which is currently being assessed. Maybe another million here.
As part of the 2020-2024 Creative Arts Plan an assessment of the Leongatha Memorial Hall was to be conducted. This review was to explore and develop a business case and feasibility study for the redevelopment of Memorial Hall that looks at current and future use, multi-use, demographics, population growth, service, service levels, heritage, redevelopment models, constraints, benchmarking with other population centres, demand, impact on small towns, accessibility, and whether operational costs can be supported and maintained.

Officers began work on this in 2023 and in August Councillors spoke of this too.

Council put out a tender in November 2023 and added more detail to the assessment. It now included the buildings and space adjoining the Memorial Hall and the specifications for the tender now included Council offices, the Council Chamber and Council meeting rooms as well as adding in a Leongatha Library and first time mentioning of a community hub like the new Korumburra Hub which would also include other community facilities in addition to the Council offices and library.

So, the cat is now out of the bag. Let’s explore this project further.

Leongatha Theatre Investigation morphed into a Leongatha Theatre Complex morphed into the Municipal Office Hub-confirmed by Council tender

South Gippsland Shire Council is seeking expressions of interest (EOI) from suitably qualified consultants to undertake a Feasibility Study and prepare a Business Case that will review and provide recommendations for the future use, design and service model for a
new Leongatha Memorial Hall Precinct.

Expressions of interest are sought from consultants well experienced in undertaking feasibility studies and preparing business cases for the development of regional hubs incorporating Performing Arts, Library and Cultural facilities.

The Heritage Victoria listed Leongatha Memorial Hall and former Shire Offices is located in the heart of Leongatha on the corner of McCartin Street and Michael Place. Constructed in the 1920’s the building consists of a large brick, hip roofed public hall fronted by two storey Free Classical façade and single storey wings to either side, terminating at the corner with an engaged colonnaded rotunda and returning North along Michael Place in a single storey classical facade which fronted the former Shire Offices.

The Memorial Hall element of the building is still in regular use with other elements of the building being utilised as the Council Chamber, Meeting Rooms and Community Spaces. The site also contains a central courtyard and public toilets. One of a small group of Shire buildings erected in Victoria as war memorials, it is the largest single memorial erected in the Shire to commemorate the First World War. Council states the Leongatha Memorial Hall is due for asset renewal and Council’s Arts & Culture strategy recognises the hall as the most appropriate site for development into a performance space within the municipality. These two factors along with ageing community infrastructure and a desire to consolidate services and provide multi-functional buildings within the municipality are the underlying principles behind the project.

The proposed Leongatha Memorial Hall Precinct currently containing the Council Chambers and Council meeting rooms will include a two storey Community Hub element (approx. 880m2 footprint) including such area as a Library, Community Spaces, community meeting rooms and public toilets whilst providing updated theatrical capability in the Heritage listed Memorial element of the project (approx. 900m2).

Other key elements for the project will include the interaction with the existing street scape, public amenity and parking requirements.

The proposed timeline

In November the tender was put out for consideration. The timeline for the project is as follows:

Invitation Issued 25/11/2023
Invitation close date 19/12/2023
Closed Tender process early February 2024
Closed Tender closes early March 2024
Ideal Project start Early April 2024

It appears that the construction phase is included in the tender exploring the feasibility study. Those shortlisted in this inital phase could take part in a closed tender for the works which seem scheduled to start April 2024. Either way, the timeline does not appear to show a period for public consultation of the project which would not be designed until March 2024 at the earliest.

On the above timeline it would seem Council would need to approve the successful tenderer in the March Council meeting and give the public a couple of weeks to view it in early April before work begins.

The possible cost to date

The council set aside something around $4 million for the internal refurbishment of the main offices in Smith Street and another 1 million perhaps for the external currently under tendering.

An additional amount equal to the internal fit out was within the budget a few years ago before they closed down the 15-year capital works program details from being included in the annual budget papers. This amount was for a municipal precinct. So maybe $9 million so far.

In this year’s budget an amount of $9 million has been set aside for buildings (not the Korumburra Hub) and another $1 million for historical buildings so if this is included total of $19 million so far.

After a contract is awarded and as they do not have a firm figure for the whole project works additional amounts could be included in next year’s budget so final cost is unknown at this stage.

Toilet problem for Council

A glance at the property title boundary on the map above shows the toilet block attached to the Council building appears to be located outside the title area. Further investigation shows the toilet block to seemingly be located on McNamara’s Place which is a road. Normally buildings built off the property cause planning problems so we asked Council planners about this and they said please put the questions in writing and we will consider them and get back to you. No response has been received from Council to date.

The property area showing McNamara Place
indicated in pink along northside of Council buildings

Additional proposed development area including the “outhouse” toilet block seemingly located smack bang in the middle of McNamara Place and not within the Council building land.

Council

Local Laws Officers handing out lemons for grass longer than 75mm

Dec 4, 2023 Carpe Diem

Council’s local laws team have been active during the month of November sending out letters of demand to owners of vacant lots across the shire. The letter received by someone in the farm zone near Toora, states that the letter is a courtesy letter to remind the owner to maintain their property and keep the grass short.

The letter goes on to explain the property owner must slash all grass, weeds, and stubble so that it is no higher than 75mm above the ground level. The letter then references the current local law as follows:

Clause 11 of Council’s General Local Law 2014 states: “An owner or occupier of the land must not allow or permit the land to be kept in a manner which:

(a) Is unsightly or detrimental to the general amenity of the neighbourhood or;”

Clearly there is no mention of 75mm in the local law and even in the proposed draft local lemon laws Council is progressing now, the grass length proposed is suggested as 300mm.

The letter then goes on to make threats of $200 for unsightly land, failing to comply with a notice from Council $200, and ongoing contraventions may end up in the magistrate’s court.

An example of Council staff making up the rules as they go when they try to enforce an arbitrary grass length in farmland. The letter ends by stating that officers will be pro-actively inspecting properties they deem vacant land during December and people may be issued with an infringement notice.

Council

Cr Clare Williams the new Mayor of South Gippsland Council-Does it pass the pub test?

Dec 1, 2023 Carpe Diem

With the appointment of Cr Clare Williams to the position of Mayor of South Gippsland questions are being asked about conflict of interest with regard to the Mayor’s husband’s company Hugh Patrick Pty Ltd T/A BJ’s Earthmoving.

Whilst the new Mayor has stated on several occasions at Council meetings that she is comfortable that she does not have a conflict at Council she has excused herself on many occasions declaring a conflict of interest when her husband’s company submits a tender for Council contract.

The Mayor enthusiastically supports increased spending on Capital works projects and as Deputy Mayor has attended functions in Canberra where Council and she lobbied various ministers and public servants for amongst other things, increased support for capital works projects within South Gippsland.

We sought information from Council on the awarded contracts during the period 2018-2023 and have shown this information on page 6 of this issue. The data shows that the Mayor’s husband’s company has done remarkably well over this period of time being successful on 16 occasions gaining contracts with a total declared awarded value of close to $13 Million dollars.

Since Mayor Williams was elected to council her husband’s company has won 6 contracts to the value of around $6 Million dollars. This amount awarded over 2 years is as much as was awarded in the prior 4-year period, so company is doing much better of late.

When companies involved in earthmoving, roads, and associated works are considered it can be seen in the pie chart on page 6 that Mayor William’s husband’s company has gained 28% of the $46 Million awarded for such works.

There is no suggestion that anything illegal or in breach of Council governance laws has occurred but when a single company gaining such a large share of Council’s contract spend has his wife as the Mayor, questions are needing to be asked and answered.

We asked the Mayor for her comments but she chose to not respond.

Editorial comment:

It is our view that Councillors should not be benefiting to the tune of millions of dollars of ratepayers funds through private business arrangements with Council. The perception of possible conflict is just too high even when no wrong-doing actually occurs.

Council

Leongatha Theatre Performance

Nov 23, 2023 Carpe Diem

Councillors approved the South Gippsland Arts, Culture and Creative Industries Strategy 2022-2026 at the July 2022 Council meeting and we noted that within that document mention was made of a Leongatha Theatre.
The motion was moved by Cr Darakai.

The theatre was linked to the Memorial Hall in Leongatha and since it would be a new project the Community Infrastructure Advisory Committee (CIAC) would have to review the project ahead of it being accepted into the Council works program.

The CIAC group comprises 5 members of the community chosen by Council with 3 of those 5 members from Leongatha, one from Walkerville, and the other from Mirboo North.
The terms of reference for the committee were that they were to meet roughly 4 times per year aligned with the Council budget process and they were to keep signed minutes as a record of their discussions and decisions.

It was discovered by this newspaper from a freedom of information request earlier that no minutes were kept from the committee and only one agenda in an email was ever “discovered” by Council when we did the freedom of information on all agendas and minutes from that committee.

It has since been discovered that the group met mainly in one of the years and not many times in other years suggesting the group failed to follow the terms of reference regarding aligning their meetings with the budget cycle. It also seems that Council ran the process through in one year and perhaps hope to end its term when the current group ends early 2024. Councillors will need to vote in a Council meeting to extend the group.

The group was intended to scrutinise Council’s capital works program to avoid improper conduct when it came to works appearing in the capital works program without proper strategic justification.

We asked Council on September 26th, 2022, whether the CIAC group had reviewed the Leongatha Theatre proposal and never received a response. We then wrote the following in an article on the front page issued October 10th, 2022, as follows:
“We asked about the Leongatha Theatre since that project was not already on the capital works program when the last Council was elected in Nov 2021, and it is known that several of those elected Councillors such as Cr Darakai are in favour of such a project occurring. We also note that this project was included within the 2022 Council budget so should have been reviewed by the CIAC committee.”

Around 7 days later we received an extraordinary email from Cr Darakai. We have decided to print it in its entirety on this occasion. This newspaper denies all allegations made by Cr Darakai and does not ever respond to his communications or contact him directly.

‘Here we are again. You, telling lies. Me, pointing out how you’ve once again lied to the public. What follows is just as predictable. You, attempting to deny that you’ve lied. Me, smiling in amazement that, despite incredibly strong evidence for the sinking ship that is your poor behaviour towards the community and me, you’ll clutch even firmer to its crow’s nest despite your obvious fate. To save you attempting to deny your deception, I’ll keep it simple: you have lied by suggesting it’s ‘known’ that I’m somehow ‘in favour’ of some fabled ‘Leongatha Theatre.’ Now, Don, I understand your desire to present your newsletter as a work of fiction, but this is just pure fantasy. And lies on the front page? You’re either remaining sorely ignorant or becoming cockier with your deceptive behaviour, clearly. The only person I’m aware of who has ever mentioned a ‘Leongatha Theatre’ is yourself in your newsletter when you were once again lying about me. That was one of your earlier lies. Seems they, and you, haven’t changed. I’m interested to hear what plans you have for this unique theatre project that you seem to be spearheading solo. Are you funding it privately or sourcing external assistance? And why would you build a theatre in Leongatha when you live in Mirboo North? Why not Korumburra for a theatre? Why a theatre at all? Is it feasible? Whereabouts in Leongatha do you propose to host the theatre? Were other towns not acceptable for such a project? What community consultation have you done? Are you sure you’re not being too Leongatha-centric in your thinking? I’d suggest we have a chat so you can tell me all about this project that you so boldly but wrongly claim I’m in favour of, let alone know about. Perhaps we can grab a cuppa so I can hear more about your ideas. I would suggest a cafe in Mirboo North but it sounds like your affections are with Leongatha, so let’s find a quiet spot to hear your adventurous theatrical business pitch.

Cheers, Adrian Darakai’

This newspaper chose to not respond to the Councillor’s message but did note the following as written by Cr Darakai in his candidate statement as published by the VEC for the 2021 Council election.

“I will also put in the hard work required to bring our community a multi-functional and cutting edge performing arts and cultural centre to support the countless groups across South Gippsland.”

We noted that a few weeks after receiving this email from Cr Darakai, that officers briefed Councillors on Wednesday 9th November 2022 in relation to the Leongatha Memorial Hall. This was indicated in the agenda for the Council meeting in November 2022.

In the Council meeting dated August 2023 Council voted to receive a report titled “2022/23 annual actions implemented from the South Gippsland Arts, Culture and Creative Industries Strategy”. This report was agenda item 2.3 and was unanimously approved by the Councillor group at the meeting.

In the agenda item notes officers wrote “Leongatha Memorial Hall as a performance space and community venue – discussions underway, involving engagement with interested community groups such as Lyric Theatre Leongatha.”
The section of this report featuring the Memorial Hall was as follows:
7.2 Leongatha Memorial Hall as a performance space and community venue

7.2.1 Council will undertake a business case and feasibility study for the redevelopment of Memorial Hall that looks at current and future use, multi-use, demographics, population growth, service, service levels, heritage, redevelopment models, constraints, benchmarking with other population centres, demand, impact on small towns, accessibility, and whether operational costs can be supported and maintained.

The business case should also consider the relationship between other halls and venues both within and outside of the Shire, including the Foster War Memorial Arts Centre.

A strong case for State Government and Commonwealth Government support and contribution towards capital works can only be made if underpinned by a solid business case that has a forward projection extending over 25 years.

Commenced – Council’s Infrastructure Planning team to lead the development of a business case and feasibility study in 2023/2024 in consultation with relevant stakeholders including the Arts, Culture and Visitor Economy department.

This intention clearly indicates that the Council officers were intending to embark upon the development of a business case for a performance space.

Cr Schelling moved the motion at the Council meeting and stated:
“A huge amount of discussion has occurred with arts over many years especially with regard to performing arts centre, and that looks like it might be starting to gain a few legs, and we can start to see it all to take shape. I am really proud of what we have achieved so far and I am looking forward to an exciting future and I just wish to note again we sought the assistance of the art sector specialists locally and surrounding and congratulate the officers for what they have achieved already. Well done.”

Cr Williams then spoke and said in relation to this point:
“I will pull out a few little highlights from this..
Leongatha Memorial Hall as a performance space and community venue – discussions underway, involving engagement with interested community groups such as Lyric Theatre Leongatha…”

Neighbouring Shires have similar performance centres. Baw Baw for example has an existing West Gippsland Performance Art Centre and in its current budget is the concept proposal for a new community precinct for arts to be built next to the West Gippsland Performance Centre. The budget for this new precinct is $30 million and presumably the existing performance Centre cost a few dollars also.

Council capital works program, before it was removed from public viewing in the annual budget papers, showed around $5 million for initial work on a Council Municipal Precinct. We do not know how much ratepayers’ money has been assigned to such project or to the Memorial Hall project but do note the comment by Mr Gus Blauu that within the Council financial documents, that Council has $49 million in cash reserves.

The financial budget papers for Council also show they have 3 times as much cash resources than is needed to maintain the existing capital works infrastructure so all the evidence seemingly points to a large piggy bank of funds being set aside for something big.
Total maybe $60 million? We wonder. Anyway, back to South Gippsland.

The Council’s own policy on infrastructure “Blueprint for Community and Economic Infrastructure” appears to put the dampers on this mammoth endeavour in the section headed 8.7 Performing Arts Venues on page 40, where the report states the following:
“Neighbouring local government areas have well large provisioned Performing Art Centres and Council cannot afford to emulate these standards,

Wonthaggi.
Warragul.
Latrobe Performing Arts Centre (under construction)”

Finally we will leave with a post made by Cr Darakai to the Korumburra facebook forum also during the 2021 Council election (October 2021) in which he endorses a dedicated arts and culture centre as perhaps a hint at how much Cr Darakai at least might like to spend on such a project.

And of course, it doesn’t look at all like a theatre does it?

Editorial comment:
The 3 Leongatha ward Councillors might be all gung-ho in favour of this massive venture for Leongatha but the shire ratepayers are not ready or able to fund its huge cost of development and then an ongoing rather large bill each year as is evident in neighbouring shires to run their performance centres.

Council

Council’s road managment plan approved at Council

Feb 28, 2022 Carpe Diem

Images in this article show examples from Council’s Road management plan where restoration work would be triggered.

Council has undertaken a review of the current Road Management Plan (2017) and developed a revised plan, being the Road Management Plan (2022).

Amendments made to the Road Management Plan (2017) required appropriate notice be given under Regulation 10 of the Road Management (General) Regulations 2016 for community consultation purposes. The notice period was undertaken from Thursday 9 December 2021 and concluded on Friday 14 January 2022. Interested parties were invited to view the revised Plan either online or at Council offices and make submissions in writing. No submissions were received by Council.

Adoption of the Road Management Plan 2022 by Council will enable the publishing of a notice in the Government Gazette and local newspapers within the Shire, as required by the Road Management Act 2004 and its subsequent enaction of use. The Plan will also be made available to the general public via Council’s website.

The key updates in the revised plan relate to the routine inspection frequency and methodology, along with how Council manages identified defects on roads and road related assets. Council utilises a risk-based approach to the assessment and treatment of identified defects or public safety matters. Under the Road Management Plan 2022, Council officers will use numerous new methods to identify risks and failures within the road network rather than relying solely on periodic inspections. Any risks or failures identified will be assessed by experienced and knowledgeable staff in line with the risk matrix included in the Road Management Plan and repaired within the identified timelines to maintain services levels.

Service levels act as management targets that facilitate decision making at each stage of the asset lifecycle. Service levels define performance expectations and are formulated through an assessment and consideration of legislative requirements, organisational objectives, customer expectations and financial constraints.

The primary road management objective for Council is to ensure the provision of a safe and efficient road network for use by the community. As a well-established municipality, with only a small proportion of new road and road-related assets being planned, designed and constructed each year, Council has focused on documenting the detailed service levels for the Maintenance phase of the asset lifecycle. This phase represents the stage where Council is most exposed to risk. As a result, routine defect inspections and maintenance service levels are detailed in the Road Maintenance Management Plan (RMMP)

The inspection and maintenance service levels, define and describe the scope and frequency for Council’s routine inspection and maintenance activities as well as response times in any given scenario.

Routine defect inspections

The main roads between townships and heavy traffic areas within townships are inspected every 6 months whilst property access roads are generally 1 yearly but smaller sideroads with limited properties have a 2-year cycle for inspections.

Footpaths are inspected annually for commercial areas and high traffic roads whilst general footpaths are inspected every 3 years.

Maintenance service levels

Pavement/ Surface Defects (Sealed Roads)

Examples of defects that would lead to restoration work being carried out are shown here for some aspects of roads and footpaths.

There are other areas covered under this policy to deal with bridges, culverts, and drainage.

How do your local areas roads and footpaths compare?