Changes to address planning backlog
Additional senior staff in the planning department, a “fast track team”, more visits by the State Planning Department’s “flying squad” and possible engagement of consultants are among measures being considered by Baw Baw Shire to tackle a backlog of planning applications.
The shire’s chief executive officer Alison Leighton put forward the proposals when responding to a question when she addressed a Warragul Business Group meeting last Wednesday.
She said frustration with the time to handle planning applications was “very consistent” feedback she had received since joining the shire five months ago.
Pointing out that population growth in the shire, especially in Warragul and Drouin, was far greater than the State government had forecast, Ms Leighton said the council needed to “get ahead of the curve and plan appropriately”.
She said that between the 2011 and 2016 national censuses Drouin’s population had swelled 27 per cent, the third highest growth rate for the period of any regional centre in Victoria, and Warragul’s 9.1 per cent growth ranked 20th highest and also well above the State average.
In her address Ms Leighton said council’s priorities for the year were to implement the council plan, deliver core services, meet legislative obligations and lift organisational performance.
She described organisational performance as the area with most opportunity to add value.
Specifically highlighted by her were the organisation’s culture and people, customer service, economic development, planning services, communications and digital transformation.
Ms Leighton flagged a greater emphasis on economic development through increasing the shire’s resources and experience in that area and said she had been impressed by local businesses’ contribution to the wider community.
Parking in the Warragul CBD, the strain on sporting facilities and the smaller communities in the shire were among the topics Ms Leighton addressed during question time.
She said she was looking to put forward to council for next year’s budget a proposal to allocate specific funds to the smaller towns and communities and talk to the people there about how they want the money spent.
While acknowledging the impact of population growth on sports fields and stadiums – “grounds are getting a hammering” – Ms Leighton warned there was only a limited amount of money.
She said council needed to undertake demographic studies to identify the future “pressure points” on sporting facilities.
Ms Leighton believed the parking issues in the Warragul CBD were similar to the experiences of other growth areas.
Optimising “time parking”, looking at opportunities for more parking around the CBD and a multi-deck car park, for which a study has already been commissioned, were some possibilities to address the need, she stated.
The 50 people at the business group meeting were also introduced by Ms Leighton to three recent senior management appointments at the shire – director community assets (infrastructure) Cohen Van der Velde, chief information officer Martin Hopley and executive manager community information and advocacy Mark Kestigan.