December 2024 Oberon Council Meeting

December 19, 2024

The final meeting of Oberon Council was held on Tuesday, December 17.

One item on the agenda which was expected to generate discussion was a motion by Councillor Frank O'Connor relating to the proposed wind farms in the Oberon area.

You can see the full motion here

There was a certain inconsistency in the motion as it seemed to suggest that Council should start the process immediately, but another part of the motion said:

However, the proposed timeline for development of the biggest wind farm doesn't allow for the required information to be available until the current project investigation phase is completed, which is not expected until late 2026. Only then could the timeline for construction be estimated (assuming that the development application was approved).

You can see the full timeline here. Note that it does not mention "VPA".

The motion was carried 5-4, with Councillors Tucker, Hayden, Alevras and McCarthy against.

Another item where debate seemed to drag on for longer than necessary was the problem with playgrounds first mentioned in May.

As always, the problem is money - where it is going to come from and how quickly it can be spent. In a perfect world all the area's playgrounds would be fixed immediately, but it is going to take time. This issue won't go away, and can be expected to feature at Council meetings well into the new year.

Speaking of money, Council voted to apply the maximum rate rise allowed by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) for planning and budgeting for the 2025/2026 financial year. The rise will be 5.4% and applies to total rate income, so there can be adjustments either up or down for various categories provided that the gross maximum is not exceeded.

IPART have a quite complex system for working out how much each council can raise its rates by and exceeding the recommended rise can require very good arguments and justification. You can see the full 22 page IPART report including the recommended rises for all councils in NSW here.

The rest of the meeting kept the rubber stamp warm without a lot of discussion.

You can see the agenda for the meeting here (420 pages)

You can see a recording of the meeting here (3:02:43).

The next Council meeting will be on Tuesday, February 18, 2025.

---