Legal costs topped up by Tweed
RATEPAYERS in northern NSW were slugged an extra $400,000 for council legal fees in the last financial year.
Figures in the Tweed Shire Council agenda for next week’s meeting reveal ratepayers forked out $1.377 million on legal expenses in the 12 months to June 30, 2018.
Councillors topped up its legal budget by $200,000 in May after exhausting its $980,000 allocation in the first nine months of the financial year.
Mayor Katie Milne did not respond to the Bulletin’s request for comment.
However, in May she rejected the suggestion councillors were wasting money on legal battles and said there was no point having elected officials if they simply rubber-stamped officers’ recommendations.
“I’m sick of hearing we are running up a legal bill that is over budget,” Cr Milne said.
“We are $200,000 over the budget, which is adequately catered for by a reduction in worker’s compensation budgets.
“We aren’t here to just follow the council staff recommendation, as good as it is. We are elected councillors to defend what we see as the community’s interest.”
That $200,000 top-up was not nearly enough as the council spent $398,027 from April 1 to June 30.
All of that money was spent on planning and environmental law, where the council defended its position on proposed developments.
These included when councillors went against staff advice and were told they would lose in court.
Another $30,000 ($353,000 this financial year) was spent in court defending the decision to red light a 60-lot subdivision at 26 Tringa St, Tweed Heads West.
However, compared to the previous quarters most of the legal expenses were from following the council officers recommendations.
The largest expense – $65,000 – was for defending the council’s decision to refuse a depot for Tweed Coast Demolitions and Excavations at Pottsville.
Officers recommended the development be rejected because a depot did not fit within the rural land zoning.
Tweed Shire Council general manager Troy Green said budgeting for planning appeals and council’s responsibility as a regulator was not an exact science.
“Budget setting time precedes the actual events and the number of appeals and/or compliance actions cannot be accurately forecasted,” he said.
“Council attempts to deal with its litigation responsibilities as resourcefully and efficiently as possible, however council must work within the system available and this comes with a cost, so council can defend sustainable development and to maintain the Tweed’s reputation as a place for sustainability.”