Monday 29th June

“If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make that change.” Michael Jackson, Man in the Mirror

Forgive me for starting this week’s e-news with a rather ironic reference to the late king of pop, but the words carry some weight and reflect what community members and councillors are trying to achieve as we think globally and act locally.

The gathering of ALGA in Canberra last week also reflected the tremendous efforts of local communities in dealing with issues of water, greenhouse emissions, housing, financial sustainability, as well as social and physical infrastructure improvements. Some important agreements were reached demonstrating the desire of local communities to see national support for changes at the local level – I will report further on this soon.

Community members across Victoria are making changes and making better places. Advocacy at the state and national level by the VLGA and others for the recognition and support of these efforts continues.

Feedback on nation building investment

At the ACLG last week, an additional $220 million nation-building investment in community infrastructure was announced by the Federal Government. The funds were welcomed by all, but we are also seeking your feedback on the process by which Councils are receiving the grants and the criteria that have been applied. In the quest for financial sustainability and livability, are competitive and occasional grants driving strategic investment and partnerships? We welcome your feedback.

Recent Parliamentary Decisions & VLGA Campaigns

The winter session of Parliament continues to include important decisions that reflect VLGA Policy positions, including:

· The Planning Legislation Amendment Bill set to introduce the mechanics for the Development Assessment Committees was rejected;

· Container Deposit Legislation was supported via a private member’s Bill in the Upper House – although more work is needed to see it pass the Lower House;

· The Premium Solar Feed-in Tariff Bill was amended .The size of the systems eligible under the scheme was increased from 3.2kW to 5kW, and community buildings and small businesses who use less than 100MW per year were made eligible to participate. However, Environment Victoria states that despite these improvements the scheme still falls short of the gross feed-in tariff needed to get solar panels on roofs and create green jobs for Victorians.

Urban Growth Boundaries

The Planning Minister has released the draft Urban Growth Boundaries and submissions can be made up until July 17th. See www.vic.gov.au/planningmelbourne

Consultation: there are public information sessions at Bulla, Craigieburn, Melton, Sunshine, Hoppers Crossing, Beveridge, Cranbourne and South Morang. See http://www.vic.gov.au/planningmelbourne#A3 for details.

The State Government has said it will not introduce the changes unless the associated levies for social and physical infrastructure are also approved by the Parliament.

Year of Local Women in Local Government Ambassadors sought

2010 is the Year of Women in Local Government, according to Local Government Managers. The National Steering Committee is currently seeking nominations for ambassadors. The ambassador could be a female officer or manager, a Councillor or a CEO (male or female) who actively promotes the advancement of women in Local Government. Criteria and a nomination form can be downloaded from http://tinyurl.com/mwuf9q. The VLGA particularly encourages women Councillors and CEOs to nominate.

We have long campaigned for greater representation of women in Local Government. Our Women’s Policy Working Group will soon provide an update on activities and events – particularly those scheduled for 2010.

Events

Councillors have been commenting on the value of having an easy to access Events Calendar of community and council events available from the front page of our website at www.vlga.org.au

Take a look! Here are a few you may be interested in:

Harmony walk - Sunday, 12 July 2009 starting at 12.30 pm

Starting from Carlton Gardens, Melbourne through Melbourne CBD Finishing at Federation Square, Melbourne

Earth Matters Climate Change Forum - August 8, 2009

12.45pm-5.30pm (information booths open from 12noon)

Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts, Howitt St, Ballarat

Call 5338 0980

ReGenerating Community: Arts, Community and Governance National Conference -

Sept 2-4, 2009

RMIT University, Melbourne see www.cdn-generations.net.au/overview.htm

ReGenerating Community Conference is about ways in which global issues are being addressed locally through collaborations between artists, communities and local government.

Monday 22nd June

Is Council work and family friendly?

I am writing to you as I sit at the Australian Local Government Association’s National General Assembly in Canberra. So, as a mother of two young children, I am curious about the debate that has again erupted over whether children should be tolerated in our Parliaments. Subjecting children to rather ‘boring’ meetings is not an ideal scenario, but where there are obstacles that prevent carers from taking on the role of elected decision makers, we have a problem.

In Victoria, the percentage of female Councillors dropped to 29% at the 2008 elections suggesting that aspects of Council work are not attractive to women. VLGA’s August Leading Edge Forum will focus on women in local government and we welcome continued debate about how we can achieve equity in local government and decision making.

Liveable and Just Discussion Paper

As you would know, we’ve been conducting a number of workshops around the State. To inform these workshops, our contractors the McCaughey Centre completed a Discussion Paper. This is a significant piece of work and provides valuable background about the likely social equity implications of climate change.

I highly recommend the Discussion Paper to you. It can be downloaded from our website, by clicking on the item NEW! Liveable & Just link on the right hand side of our main page.

New Council Members

The Board would like to welcome our 2 newest councils members – Maroondah City Council and the Borough of Queenscliffe. This brings to 54 the number of member councils, an all-time high.

We look forward to working with these 54 and others to ensure that our services and advocacy continue to be responsive and relevant. I have included some more information below on both new council members.

Maroondah City Council

The City of Maroondah was created in December 1994, when the former Cities of Ringwood and Croydon joined together with small parts of North Ringwood, Lillydale and Kilsyth South. Its area is 61.4 square kilometres.

Maroondah is named after an aboriginal word meaning "leaf", which symbolises Maroondah's green environment. There are 21 shopping precincts and 6,000 businesses in Maroondah.

Maroondah is a great recycler - 12,000 tonnes of garden organics are collected and mulched each year, alongside 12,500 tonnes of recyclables.

Maroondah has its own local community radio station, Eastern FM - 98.1 FM, while Eastern Regional Access is the Maroondah based TV station on Channel 31.

For more information on Maroondah, visit www.maroondah.vic.gov.au

Borough of Queenscliffe

Home to a permanent resident population of around 3,437, the Borough is located at the eastern tip of the Bellarine Peninsula and forms one side of Port Phillip Heads - opposite Point Nepean in the Mornington Peninsula. It is surrounded by Bass Strait, Port Phillip Bay and Swan Bay on three sides. On its fourth side, it has a land boundary with the City of Greater Geelong. The Borough is approximately 105 kilometres south-west of Melbourne and 35 kilometres east of the regional city of Geelong.

Although the township of Queenscliff is located on the Peninsula, it gives the impression of being on an island. It is connected to Point Lonsdale by a slender sand dune isthmus called The Narrows, which separates Port Phillip Bay from Swan Bay. This feature creates a natural break of open space and foreshore reserve between the urban areas of Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale.

As well as being of high ecological value, the foreshore and marine environments contribute towards urban and landscape character which attracts many people to the Borough. Important local industries (including eco-tourism, recreational and commercial fishing) also rely on the 'health' of the environment.

For more information on Queenscliffe, visit www.queenscliffe.vic.gov.au

Filming of Council Meetings

The VLGA has received a lot of media interest in the issue of whether Council meetings should be web-cast for access on the internet by people at home. The feedback we received from Councils to date indicated in-principle support for webcasting council meetings with some concerns raised around publication liability and residents’ privacy.

Any Councils wanting further information about how some Councils have managed filming and taping can contact us.

Lastly, congratulations to Rae Perry and Damien Kingsbury who were married on June 13th in Northcote. We wish them safe travelling as they celebrate their future together.

Tuesday 16th June 2009

Refugee Week provides an opportunity to celebrate the cultural diversity of our communities and continue discussions on human rights and our Victorian Charter. Enjoy your local events and discussions.

On a related theme, the VLGA this week celebrated the graduation of 30 Overseas Qualified Professionals (see picture below), many of whom have found employment in local government through a placement program run by the VLGA.

Representatives from Hindmarsh Shire and Melbourne City Council joined the VLGA in celebrating the employment of planners, IT professionals and engineers across Victoria.














3 Liveable & Just Workshops Remain
There are only 3 workshops left designed for Councillors, CEOs, Strategic Planners, Sustainability Officers, Community Officers and Community Planners. Liveable & Just is a VLGA project to improve the capacity of local governments to respond to climate change in ways which are healthy, just & sustainable. It is being run in partnership with the Brotherhood of St Laurence and the Department of Sustainability and Environment, and is funded by the Victorian Local Sustainability Accord.

Mornington Peninsula – 22 June, 9am – 1pm
Venue: Community Centre, Currawong Street, Mornington

Wangaratta – 24 June, 9am – 1pm
Venue: Committee Rm 1, Level 1, Wangaratta Government Centre, Corner Ford & Ovens Streets, Wangaratta

VLGA, Carlton – 30 June, 9am – 1pm
Venue: Meeting room 1 & 2, Ground Floor, 60 Leicester St, Carlton

Please RSVP: Phone: 9349 7999 or Email: vlga@vlga.org.au For further information, please contact Stacey Bloomfield on (03) 9349 7943

Media Release: Don’t Rush New Legislation & Rules
You may have already seen my Media Release from yesterday. The VLGA is calling on the State Government to pursue the priority of fixing the current Conflict of Interest rules that were introduced in late November last year.

Clearly Councillors – and especially rural Councillors – are struggling with the current rules so let’s have a real partnership to find means of effectively addressing the minority of cases of bad behaviour. If you want to see a copy of the Media Release you can access it from the left hand side of our website front page at http://www.vlga.org.au/

Upcoming Events: Launch of ‘Under Pressure: Costs of living, financial hardship and emergency relief in Victoria’
Speaking of our website, did you notice our new feature of an Events Calendar on the right hand side just under the link to this enews?

The Victorian Council of Social Service will host the Federal Minister for Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin MP on Friday June 26 from 9.30am-11.00am. If you are interested in this launch, go to http://www.vlga.org.au/ and click on our Events Calendar to download the flier.

Individual and Group Memberships Due
Our valued individual and group members would have received an email from our Acting CEO this morning reminding you that it is membership renewal time once again. Our success over the last 12 months is in large part due to your continuing support.

I am excited to be leading a new Board who have adopted a new priority to engage more effectively with you and include you in more of our work.

We need your ongoing support, as this makes us stronger, connected and relevant.

If you have any queries or ideas, feel free to contact me.

Rose
Cr Rose Iser
VLGA President
0414 959 427
rose@vlga.org.au

10th June 2009

July Leading Edge Forum Thursday July 2nd: New Councillors Surf The Learning Curve
Don’t miss our next LEF in our offices in Carlton which will share tips and support to newly elected Councillors. Please join us for dinner and drinks at 6.30pm and the LEF from 7.00pm.

Consistent with the VLGA’s aim to build the capacity of Councillors, this LEF will be more of a learning and sharing opportunity for new Councillors. Of course longer serving Councillors are welcome to share your knowledge and tips with your newly elected colleagues!

Questions explored will include:
* Now that you’ve passed the half way mark of your first year on Council, has everything gone the way you thought it would?
* What surprises came your way?
* What tools or knowledge do you need from past and present Councillors to ‘surf the learning curve’ for the remainder of your Council term?

Planning
The VLGA continues to impress upon the Minister for Planning that partnership with local governments in planning requires real commitment and that surprise call-ins (most recently affecting South Gippsland and Mildura) and DACs in their current form (in which Council bears the costs and responsibility, but is not the decision maker), do not represent a genuine partnership.

While local governments are often chastised for lengthy decision making, we also call for speedier passage of Planning Scheme Amendments through the Department of Sustainability and Environment, and more resources at VCAT to make the existing processes more effective. We recently met with the Minister repeating our request that these issues are addressed.

Many in the community are also expressing their frustration at recent planning decisions, as evidenced by a letter we recently forwarded to member Councillors and CEOs. This was followed up yesterday by several articles and the publication of an open letter from concerned Councillors in the Age.

Community Win On Pokies Bill
As a post-script to our recent note on Pokies and our forum on June 4th, the Gambling Regulation Amendment (Licensing) Bill 2009 was passed unanimously by the Upper House having been amended to include some of the features we recommended and as discussed in this enews on May 29th. We will publish more thorough details in the near future.

In the meantime, our thanks go to the many MPs, Councillors and community members who joined us in advocating for amendments to the Bill.

This is yet another example of how the VLGA’s advocacy, and the concerted work of our Local Government Working Group On Gambling (LGWGOG) leading to positive results. Our bottom-up policy development processes really can make a difference.

Filming Council Meetings
Also, following on from the last enews, your feedback regarding filming Council meetings suggests that you support the principle of transparent and accessible meetings via webcasts or other filming.

However, many have concerns about the rights of residents not to be filmed, costs of defamation should defamatory statements be made and re-published, as well as filming not getting in the way of the orderly conduct of meetings. We will seek further advice on how these problems could be addressed.

Green Purchasing Awards Announced
VLGA members ECO-Buy held their 2009 ECO-Buy Awards for Excellence in Green Purchasing at the National Gallery of Victoria on Thursday, May 20.

According to Mike Hill the winners “…are excellent examples of green purchasing in action. They are demonstrating strong leadership by reducing the environmental impact of their activities and setting the standard for the broader community.”

VLGA Member Councils fared well, with Council winners including:
* Metropolitan Council Award – Casey City Council
* Regional Council Award – Mildura Rural City Council
* Small Rural Council Award – Hepburn Shire Council
* Recycled Product Purchasing Award – Mildura Rural City Council
* Water Saving Champion Council Award – Greater Bendigo City Council
* Greenhouse Friendly Purchasing Award – Buloke Shire Council, and
* Green Powered Champion Council Award – Hepburn Shire Council.

State Government and Business Winners included:
* Victorian State Government Award – Department Of Treasury And Finance, and
* Business Award – Toyota Australia.

Congratulations to all nominees and winners from the VLGA. Further details of the Awards can be found at http://www.ecobuy.org.au/

Members may also be interested in the State of Victorian Local Government Green Purchasing 2007/08 Report, which profiles the green purchasing activity of ECO-Buy’s 47 reporting Councils last financial year.

A one page summary of findings and the full report can also be downloaded from http://www.ecobuy.org.au/ – just follow the ECO-Buy launches 8th Victorian Local Goverment green purchasing report link on the left hand side of the webpage.

This is fascinating reading with some great results that demonstrate how local governments are leading the way!

Health, Wellbeing and Community Enterprise: the Role of Local Government Report Launched
The above Research Report from a University of Melbourne/VLGA Community Enterprise Project was launched yesterday. The project was funded by the Department of Human Services Public Health Research Grants to look at the impact of community enterprise on health and to develop an information and resource guide for local governments.

The Research Report includes case studies developed to provide a basis for local governments to understand what they can do to support community and social enterprises.

Contact our office on 03 9349 7999 or vlga@vlga.org.au for a copy of the Research Report and Resource Guide.

Preventing violence against women
The four year Research Project Gender, Local Government and Violence prevention (aka GLOVE) will complete its work at end of June 2009 after working with four local governments to increase the effectiveness of violence prevention measures and reduce the gap between how “public” violence and “private” violence is tackled.

Following Kevin Rudd’s 2008 White Ribbon Day speech, an 11 member National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children was set up. The National Council released its Time for Action: The National Council’s Plan for Australia to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, 2009-2021. The Plan offers yet another plank in the Australia wide support for preventing violence against women initiatives

Many of our member local governments are now independently taking action to prevent violence against women. VLGA will host the GLOVE resources on our website following the GLOVE project completion and will continue to take a pro-active role in working with Councillors, officers, Local Governments, MAV, other Governments and VicHealth to ensure that together we make the future free of violence against women.