State election campaign | Planning | SA Greens and local government | Council Next Practice Showcase & OGM | Little Corellas | State election commitments | State election candidate update No Images? Click here Special weekly update from the LGA President Vol 3: Issue 8 - Monday 5 March 2018 Dear Mayors and CouncillorsOnly a couple of weeks until the election and people are starting to focus on the real issues and get serious about their vote. Each election there seems to be a focus on funding local projects rather than focusing on the big issues, but I’m hoping to see some serious discussion in the next fortnight about what we can do to ensure a better future for SA. Tasmanians have spoken very clearly, so I wonder what South Australians will do? On a brighter note I offer the LGA’s congratulations to Mayors Bruce Green and Julie Lowe for their upcoming wedding, following a marriage proposal at the EPLGA Conference last week! LGA President Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg State election campaignTwo weeks out from the state election the LGA continues to draw attention to the issues that are important to South Australian councils and their communities. Our campaign to oppose the introduction of rate capping has now expanded to include a series of ads featuring South Australian media identity Amanda Blair. Amanda is genuinely a big fan of councils and the services they provide, and is legitimately concerned about what rate capping would mean for the services her family and friends love and enjoy. You can watch them here. Cost shifting from the State Government is an ongoing issue for our sector, and we’ve produced a series of videos explaining what cost shifting is, and how our communities are paying for it through their rates. Like the rate capping ads, these videos are running across a range of popular websites, as well as on social media, and you can watch them here. I encourage you to look out for these posts on the LGASA accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and help spread the word among your friends, family and colleagues by sharing the links. The planning system communities wantLGA members identified planning as a priority issue for the state election, with the strong message that councils and communities do not have a strong enough role in the new planning system. The LGA’s State Election Agenda - South Australia. Uncapped Potential - outlines a number of changes that can be made to the planning system to address the issues being raised with us by members. Many community groups are also calling for similar changes. Centralisation of planning decisions, an increasing role for private certifiers and reduced community consultation are priority issues that we are seeking to address, along with resetting fees and charges so that ratepayers are not footing so much of the bill for their neighbour’s development applications. More information about the commitments the LGA is seeking in relation to planning and heritage is available in this document. To date planning hasn’t featured heavily in the campaigns of the major parties. The SA Liberal Party has pledged to strictly enforce local building height limits, but we are yet to see details about further reform proposals. SA Labor would continue implementing their new planning system in ‘partnership with local councils’. We’re yet to see specific policies from SA Best about the future of the planning system. The Greens SA are strong supporters of revisiting planning reform and putting people back into planning. I’m aware that a number of members are of the view that the role of councils in planning has diminished to the point that the State Government should take responsibility for the whole lot. If our next Parliament will not give councils and communities a genuine say, perhaps this is the direction that our future advocacy should take? The LGA is also seeking commitments that would provide additional support for heritage in SA. The SA Liberal Party has committed to introducing a comprehensive heritage policy, heritage tourism strategy and establishing a $500,000 fund to assist owners with vital preservation and restoration works. These are welcome announcements. SA Best would create an independent body to deal with all heritage listings. While we agree that decisions about heritage should be merit based rather than political, we wouldn’t want to see the role of councils in providing evidence-based nominations for properties for listings disappear. The SA Greens and local governmentLast week we sent our proposal for local government reform to all political parties, and I was pleased to receive a quick response from Greens SA Leader Mark Parnell MLC. Responding to this document in particular, Mark wrote that the Greens supported the intent of our proposed reforms, and subject to seeing the final details, believed his party would support their implementation. He also added that ”. . . in the next Parliament, the Greens will continue to support local councils by opposing rate capping and by opposing cost-shifting from state to local government. We will support the measures set out in the LGA’s Local Government Reform Agenda including reforms to accountability and governance. We will continue to oppose forced council amalgamations, whilst facilitating voluntary boundary reform processes.” The Greens have provided strong support for our sector in the Parliament on a number of issues over the past few years, including planning law reform, taxation, and local government reform, and this support has always been appreciated. I look forward to continuing to work with Mark and his colleagues to ensure that councils remain independent, and are funded and empowered to provide the services and facilities their communities want and need. The 2018 Council Next Practice Showcase and LGA Ordinary General Meeting will be held for the first time at Adelaide Town Hall from 12 - 13 April. The Showcase is an opportunity for councils to share their successful projects and services with their sector, while our OGM provides member councils with the chance to help set the LGA’s strategic direction. This year’s Showcase Networking Dinner will be held on the Thursday night at the Intercontinental Hotel, and will once again include the presentation of years of services certificates to long-serving council members, as well as presentation of the 2018 Joy Baluch Award. More information – including a draft program and link to register to attend – is on our website. Little CorellasFor a number of councils – including my own – Little Corellas and their impact on the environment continue to be a serious concern. The State Government has committed to developing a state-wide strategy to address this issue, which is being informed by a Discovery Circle research report produced by the University of South Australia. Last year the LGA held a joint forum with councils, DEWNR and UniSA to ensure our sector had a seat at the table in the development of this strategy; and DEWNR have told us they are now seeking further input from local government. If your council has been developing its own strategy to deal with Little Corellas, or would like to be involved in this next round of consultation, please contact LGA Policy Director Lea Bacon at 8224 2025 or email lea.bacon@lga.sa.gov.au. State election commitmentsOver the weekend the SA Labor Party announced a $28 million fund for an urban network of parks, paths and bike tracks across Adelaide. These projects are expected to be co-funded by councils. The SA Liberals also announced their plan to pilot a new type of ‘start up’ visa to attract young people with innovative business ideas to establish in South Australia. This visa plan is a key part of the SA Liberal’s population growth strategy. The LGA is seeking a commitment from all parties to develop a strategy for responsible and sustainable population growth, particularly in SA’s regional areas where there is existing capacity to accommodate growth. State election candidate update Below is a list of known candidates from local government contesting the 2018 state election. Lachlan Clyne • Liberal • Badcoe • lachlan.clyne@sa.liberal.org.au John Woodward • Independent • Badcoe • badcoe2018@gmail.com Trevor Scott • Australian Conservatives • Chaffey • trevorscott1958@gmail.com Jassmine Wood • SA Best • Colton • jassmine.wood@sabest.org.au Karen Hockley • SA Best • Davenport • karen.hockley@sabest.org.au Carol Martin • SA Best • Enfield • carol.martin@sabest.org.au Kendall Jackson • Liberal • Frome • kendall.jackson@sa.liberal.org.au Kris Hanna • SA Best • Gibson • kris.hanna@sabest.org.au Tom Antonio • SA Best • Giles • tom.antonio@sabest.org.au Marijka Ryan • Independent • Hartley marijka.ryan@gmail.com Lynton Vonow • Greens • Heysen • heysen@sa.greens.org.au Ian Grosser • Greens • Kavel • kavel@sa.greens.org.au Andrew Stratford • SA Best • Kavel • andrew.stratford@sabest.org.au Paula Luethen • Liberal • King • paula.luethen@sa.liberal.org.au Steven Rypp • Liberal • Lee • steven.rypp@sa.liberal.org.au Andy Legrand • SA Best • Lee • andy.legrand@sabest.org.au Karen McColl • Liberal • Light • karen.mccoll@sa.liberal.org.au Heidi Greaves • Australian Conservatives • Mawson • heidi.greaves@bigpond.com Hazel Wainwright • SA Best • Mawson • hazel.wainwright@sabest.org.au Peter Field • Labor • Morialta • peter.field@alp.org.au Stephen Patterson • Liberal • Morphett • stephen.patterson@sa.liberal.org.au Richard Sage • Independent • Mount Gambier • sageys@bigpond.com Gary Johanson • SA Best • Port Adelaide • gary.johanson@sabest.org.au Sam Johnson • SA Best • LegCo • sam.johnson@sabest.org.au Gail Kilby • Independent • LegCo • votegailkilby@gmail.com For further information or to submit |