Australia Day changes, container deposit schemes, a rates regulator and fluoride in our drinking water are just some of the matters set to be debated at Wednesday’s Local Government Association of Tasmania general meeting in Hobart.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Burnie City Council is hoping to gather enough votes to support an investigation into an independent body, similar to the price regulator for power, water and sewerage, to regulate local government rates, fees and charges and to oversee estimates of capital works budgets.
The Tasmanian Division of the Property Council of Australia praised the council for the proposal.
“There is absolutely no need for councils to increase rates beyond CPI … any municipality that chooses to do so is obviously out of touch with their community, and should be required to justify the increase,” executive director Brian Wightman said.
“The motion to conference presents a terrific opportunity for councils to show that they actually believe in transparency and accountability.
“No council should fear an independent regulator auditing the setting of rates.”
The Kentish Council is leading a push to lobby the state and federal governments to change the disaster resilience mitigation funding under the National Partnership Agreement, especially following the flood crisis of June 2016.
Meanwhile the Hobart, Clarence and West Coast councils will bring a motion to LGAT to see the introduction of container deposit legislation for the state.
Tasmanian is one of only two states that had not introduced the recycling scheme.
The 2017-18 state budget set aside $100,000 for EPA Tasmania to conduct a feasibility study and develop a model framework for a container deposit scheme.