Agenda of Workshop Meeting - 24 November 2010

Hornsby Shire Council	Agenda and Summary of Recommendations
Page 1

AGENDA AND SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

PRESENT

OPENING PRAYER

Rev. Neil Dawson of Thornleigh Baptist Church, Thornleigh will be opening the meeting in prayer.

Acknowledgement of RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY

Statement by the Chairperson

"We recognise our Shire's rich cultural and religious diversity and we acknowledge and pay respect to the beliefs of all members of our community, regardless of creed or faith."

ABORIGINAL RECOGNITION

Statement by the Chairperson:

"We recognise the traditional inhabitants of the land we are meeting on tonight, the Darug and Guringai Aboriginal people, and respect is paid to their elders and their heritage."

AUDIO RECORDING OF COUNCIL MEETING

Statement by the Chairperson:

"I advise all present that tonight's meeting is being audio recorded for the purposes of providing a record of public comment at the meeting, supporting the democratic process, broadening knowledge and participation in community affairs, and demonstrating Council’s commitment to openness and accountability. The recordings will be made available on Council’s website once the Minutes have been finalised. All speakers are requested to ensure their comments are relevant to the issue at hand and to refrain from making personal comments or criticisms."

APOLOGIES / leave of absence

declarations of interest

Clause 52 of Council’s Code of Meeting Practice (Section 451 of the Local Government Act, 1993) requires that a councillor or a member of a Council committee who has a pecuniary interest in a matter which is before the Council or committee and who is present at a meeting of the Council or committee at which the matter is being considered must disclose the nature of the interest to the meeting as soon as practicable. The disclosure is also to be submitted in writing (on the form titled “Declaration of Interest”).

The Councillor or member of a Council committee must not be present at, or in sight of, the meeting of the Council or committee:

(a) at any time during which the matter is being considered or discussed by the Council or committee.

(b) at any time during which the Council or committee is voting on any question in relation to the matter.

Clause 51A of Council’s Code of Meeting Practice provides that a Councillor, Council officer, or a member of a Council committee who has a non pecuniary interest in any matter with which the Council is concerned and who is present at a meeting of the Council or committee at which the matter is being considered must disclose the nature of the interest to the meeting as soon as practicable. The disclosure is also to be submitted in writing (on the form titled “Declaration of Interest”).

If the non-pecuniary interest is significant, the Councillor must:

a) remove the source of conflict, by relinquishing or divesting the interest that creates the conflict, or reallocating the conflicting duties to another Council official.

b) have no involvement in the matter by absenting themself from and not taking part in any debate or voting on the issue as if the provisions of Section 451(2) of the Act apply.

If the non-pecuniary interest is less than significant, the Councillor must provide an explanation of why they consider that the interest does not require further action in the circumstances.

petitions

Mayoral Minutes

Notices of Motion

Rescission Motions

matters of urgency

ITEMS PASSED BY EXCEPTION / CALL FOR SPEAKERS ON AGENDA ITEMS

Note:

Persons wishing to address Council on matters which are on the Agenda are permitted to speak, prior to the item being discussed, and their names will be recorded in the Minutes in respect of that particular item.

Persons wishing to address Council on non agenda matters, are permitted to speak after all items on the agenda in respect of which there is a speaker from the public have been finalised by Council. Their names will be recorded in the Minutes under the heading "Public Forum for Non Agenda Items".

GENERAL BUSINESS

· Items for which there is a Public Forum Speaker

· Public Forum for non agenda items

· Balance of General Business items

General Manager's Division

Nil

Corporate and Community Division

Page Number

Item 1 CC70/10 Section 377 Community Centres and Halls Management Committees - Report on 2010 Annual General Meetings and Feedback Regarding Future Management Option

THAT:

1. The contents of Executive Manager’s Report No. CC70/10 be received and noted.

2. Council note the further consultation undertaken with Section 377 Management Committees regarding the amended Option 7 that was developed following Council’s 28 July 2010 Workshop Meeting.

3. The minimum committee number for Management Committees be reduced from seven to five, with the conditions detailed in Report No. CC70/10 applying to the makeup of the Committees.

4. The frequency of asset inspections conducted by Management Committee be reduced from monthly to quarterly for all Centres.

5. Council accept the management of Epping and Pennant Hills Community Centres and the associated conditions detailed in the submissions made by those Committees.

6. Council write to and formally thank the Committees of Epping and Pennant Hills Community Centres for their outstanding community service and the professional manner in which they operated these Centres.

7. Advisory Committees be formed at the Epping and Pennant Hills Community Centres with outgoing members of the Management Committees encouraged to serve in this capacity.

8. Council allow other Management Committees to self determine their preferred model of management where they continue to meet the amended and agreed inspection and reporting standards and where an appropriately constituted committee is formed.

9. Council resume management of facilities when agreed performance standards regarding inspections and reporting are not met – noting that the failure to submit reporting documents late or not at all on two occasions in the period between AGMs will constitute cause for Council to resume management of that centre.

10. Council require members of Section 377 Management Committees to sign Working with Children Checks in order for their places on the Committee to be considered valid and contributing to the quorum. In the event that quorum numbers for management committees are not met, Council resume management of the relevant centre.

11. Funds derived from the hire of Council managed centres be used to employ a full time officer to manage the bookings associated with Epping, Arcadia, West Epping and Brooklyn Community Centres/Meeting Rooms and to provide additional support to Management Committees and Advisory Committees.

12. The Branch Administrator role within the Community Services Branch be redesigned in order to provide additional support to Management and Advisory Committees in order to ensure that agreed performance standards are met.

Environment Division

Nil

Planning Division

Nil

Works Division

Nil

SUPPLEMENTARY AGENDA

CONFIDENTIAL ITEMS

PUBLIC FORUM – NON AGENDA ITEMS

Questions of Which Notice Has Been Given

QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Executive Manager's Report No. CC70/10

Corporate and Community Division

Date of Meeting: 24/11/2010

1 SECTION 377 COMMUNITY CENTRES AND HALLS MANAGEMENT COMMITTEES - REPORT ON 2010 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS AND FEEDBACK REGARDING FUTURE MANAGEMENT OPTION

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

At the 28 July 2010 Workshop Meeting, Council discussed Report No CC33/10 and resolved that consideration of the Report be deferred to allow a further report to be prepared responding to the issues raised by Community Centre Management Committees and Councillors in respect of Council’s in principle support for a move to Option 7 for the management of Council’s community centres and halls.

Based on the issues raised and the feedback received in respect of Option 7 at the Workshop Meeting, Council staff redrafted the Option and provided a copy to all Section 377 Management Committees for comment. Each Committee was asked to discuss the matter at their Annual General Meetings (AGM’s) such that they could confirm that the amended Option 7 was consistent with the feedback provided by their Committee at the 28 July 2010 Workshop Meeting and advise of any further changes that the Committees believed were necessary to the amended Option 7.

The first part of this Report provides details of the AGM’s conducted by Management Committees in August and September 2010; and the second part provides feedback from the Committees in respect of the amended Option 7 to assist Council to make a decision about the future management of Council’s community centres and halls.

In respect of the AGM’s, details are provided about when and where they were held; the content of discussions which occurred in respect of the required quorum numbers for Committees; the financial status of Committees as at 30 June 2010; and other general matters of interest to Council. It is noted that all Committees, with the exception of Beecroft, were able to elect a Committee in accordance with the new standards proposed in the amended Option 7. The Report recommends that the Beecroft Management Committee be allowed to continue with the management of the facility subject to them meeting performance requirements on an ongoing basis.

In respect of feedback on the amended Option 7, the Epping and Pennant Hills Committees have requested that their Centres be managed by Council, and that Advisory Committees be formed for the Centres to ensure ongoing community input. The Centres without paid booking officers have indicated their general support for the amended Option 7. The Centres with paid booking officers not specifically mentioned in amended Option 7 (i.e. Cherrybrook, Roselea and Thornleigh) have requested that the status quo be retained in respect of their management of those facilities. Galston Community Centre supported their continued independence as outlined in amended Option 7.

Officers have responded to the views of Committees by developing a model which utilises funds generated from Council managed centres to address resource shortfalls to manage the (now) five “over quota” centres that Council has direct management of. In addition to this, a job redesign of an administrative position within the Community Services Branch is recommended as an option to address the expressed desire of Management Committees to be provided with additional support to continue to manage community centres on behalf of Council.

In summary, the wishes of the Committees and the concerns of Council staff can be addressed with the only financial impact being on funds which would have been spent on facility upgrades and the redirection of existing administrative resources from within the Community Services Branch. The issue not addressed at this point is Council’s articulated desire to take advantage of opportunities to improve customer service across the network through the implementation of a centralised booking facility. This opportunity is not lost in supporting this current recommendation and the opportunity may be able to be revisited in the future in consultation with Management Committees.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this Report is twofold. Firstly, it is to provide details of the AGM’s conducted by Community Centres and Halls Section 377 Management Committees in August and September 2010; and secondly it is to provide feedback from the Committees in respect of the amended Option 7 distributed to Management Committees following the 28 July 2010 Workshop Meeting, such that Council can make a decision about the future management of Council’s community centres and halls.

DISCUSSION

At the 28 July 2010 Workshop Meeting, Council discussed Report No CC33/10 and resolved:

THAT consideration of Report No CC33/10 be deferred to allow a further report to be prepared for discussion at a future Workshop Meeting which responds to the issues raised by Community Centre Management Committees and Councillors in respect of Council’s in principle support for a move to Option 7 (as detailed in Report No CC33/10) for the management of Council’s community centres and halls. The report is to include details of the management model preferred by individual centres.

Based on the issues raised and the feedback received in respect of Option 7 at the 28 July 2010 Workshop Meeting, Council staff redrafted the Option and provided a copy to all Section 377 Management Committees via a letter dated 20 August 2010. A copy of the letter is attached for Council’s information.

In the letter, each Committee was asked to confirm that the amended Option 7 was consistent with the feedback provided by their Committee at the 28 July 2010 Workshop Meeting. In this regard, the Committees were asked to discuss the matter at their Annual General Meetings (AGM’s) in August and September 2010 and to provide a formal response to Council by 15 October 2010. The response was also to include any further changes that the Committees believed were necessary to the amended Option 7.

This Report, therefore, has two purposes. The first is to provide details of the AGM’s conducted by Management Committees in August and September 2010; and the second is to provide feedback from the Committees in respect of the amended Option 7 such that Council can make a decision about the future management of Council’s community centres and halls.

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Part 1 - Annual General Meetings (AGMs)

Council owns 24 community centres and halls throughout the Shire. These facilities operate using one of the following four management models:

· Management by Council through the Community Services Branch (7 facilities)

· Management by Council with input/advice from Community Centre Advisory Committees (2 facilities)

· Management by Section 377 Management Committees (13 facilities)

· Management by community groups under lease/licence agreements (2 facilities)

The Community Centres and Halls managed by Section 377 Management Committees under delegation from Council at the time of the AGM’s held during August and September 2010 were the:

· Beecroft Community Centre

· Cherrybrook Community Centre

· Cowan Community Centre

· Dangar Island Community Centre

· Epping Community Centre

· Epping Creative Centre

· Galston Community Centre

· Glenorie Community Centre

· Gumnut Community Centre (at Cherrybrook)

· Mt Kuring-gai Community Centre

· Pennant Hills Community Centre

· Roselea Community Centre

· Thornleigh Community Centre

The main purpose of the AGM’s is to elect a Management Committee for the ensuing 12 months and to present reports on the Community Centre's operational management for the consideration of the community and Council. The Procedures Manual for Community Centre and Hall Management Committees along with the Financial Manual for 377 and other Management Committees and OHS & Risk Management Manual outline the reporting and procedural requirements relating to Community Centre AGM’s. In this regard, Management Committees have signed an agreement with Council indicating a commitment to adhere to the contents of the various Manuals.

Details about the Community Centres and Halls AGM’s and the financial position of the various Community Centres and Halls is provided below:

AGM Dates and Venues

All AGM’s were held during August and September 2010 at the community facility managed by the Committee. With the exception of the Cowan Community Centre, a Councillor or Council officer attended each AGM and acted as the Returning Officer for required elections. It is noted that special provisions were made, in the absence of a Returning Officer, to have the Cowan Committee elected.

AGM Quorums and Committee Numbers

Council's Procedures Manual for Community Centres and Halls along with Council’s resolution in respect of Report No CC92/05 currently requires that Section 377 Management Committees operate with no less than seven members. In this regard, the Committee may be comprised of Councillors, members of the community or user groups of the specified Centre.

At the 28 July 2010 Workshop Meeting, Council indicated that it was prepared to consider a reduction in the required membership of Committees to five. As a consequence, and to ensure that perceptions of transparency and propriety are maintained, staff developed the following for inclusion in the amended Option 7 distributed to Committees for comment:

Quorum numbers in respect of an appropriately constituted committee for a Centre be reduced to five. Of those five, a maximum of four will represent user groups of the Centre and of those four, a maximum of two will represent any one user group. The executive positions of Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and Booking Officer (as necessary) must all be filled on an individual basis i.e. no individual will hold multiple positions

Whilst the change to Committee numbers has not yet been formally approved by Council, the proposal did have the general support of Councillors and Committee representatives at the 28 July 2010 Workshop Meeting and has subsequently been used in forming Committees at the 2010 AGM’s – see table below.

Community Centre	Comment
Beecroft Community Centre	Committee formed in accordance with amended Option 7 with the exception of having two executive positions filled by one person i.e. the Treasurer and Booking Officer. (N.B. Three Committee Members have currently refused to sign the Working with Children Check)
Cherrybrook Community Centre	Committee formed in accordance with amended Option 7.
Cowan Community Centre	Committee formed in accordance with amended Option 7.
Dangar Island Community Centre	Committee formed in accordance with amended Option 7.
Epping Community Centre	At their 6 September 2010, the Committee decided to hand back management of the Centre to Council.
Epping Creative Centre	Committee formed in accordance with amended Option 7.
Galston Community Centre	Committee formed in accordance with amended Option 7.
Glenorie Community Centre	Committee formed in accordance with amended Option 7.
Gumnut Community Centre (at Cherrybrook)	Committee formed in accordance with amended Option 7.
Mt Kuring-gai Community Centre	Committee formed in accordance with amended Option 7.
Pennant Hills Community Centre	Committee formed in accordance with amended Option 7. Despite this, the Committee decided to hand back management of the Centre to Council on a trial basis of six months – effectively the Committee will become an Advisory Committee during that period.
Roselea Community Centre	Committee formed in accordance with amended Option 7.
Thornleigh Community Centre	Committee formed in accordance with amended Option 7.

Based on the above, all Committees, with the exception of Beecroft, have formed Committees which meet the requirements of the amended Option 7. In respect of Beecroft, it is recommended that Council require all members of the Committee to sign the Working with Children Check as per the Procedures Manual. It is important that Council volunteers who may be working with and around children participate in this checking process in order to ensure the safety of children and young people. If, by the end of December 2010, the members of the Beecroft Committee continue to refuse to undertake the Check and sign the appropriate documents, it is recommended that Council resume management of the Centre.

Section 377 Committee Financial Reports as at 30 June 2010

The following table details the income, expenditure, cash in bank and term deposits held by the Section 377 Management Committees as reported by Volunteer Treasurers at the AGM’s.

Centre	Income 2009/10 $’000	Expenses 2009/10 $’000	Cash In Bank 30/6/10 $’000	Term Deposits $’000
Beecroft	22	12	36	129
Cherrybrook	83	60	32	0
Cowan	11	6	11	0
Dangar Island	2	1	4	0
Epping	86	65	36	115
Epping Creative	21	34	22	0
Galston	32	36	14	26
Gumnut	20	9	44	51
Glenorie	1	5	23	0
Mt Kuring-gai	44	6	52	0
Pennant Hills	107	88	239	0
Roselea	77	95	81	0
Thornleigh	55	64	10	18
Totals	561	481	604	339

Other Matters

During the conduct of the AGM’s, a number of Committees indicated that they were frustrated by a lack of communication back from Council about the progress and finalisation of maintenance requests submitted by the Committees. As a consequence, officers have investigated options which may be available for enhanced communication with the Committees. Whilst it would be too costly to have tradesmen or Council officers provide written feedback to Committees on each work order, it may be possible to provide a web based monthly update. Such a process will be progressed and evaluated throughout the year, in consultation with Management Committees, to determine if the needs of Committees can be met.

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Part 2 – Committee Responses to Amended Option 7

As noted above, based on the issues raised and the feedback received at the 28 July 2010 Workshop Meeting, Council staff redrafted Option 7 and provided such to all Section 377 Management Committees for comment. Each Committee was asked to confirm that the amended Option 7 was consistent with the feedback provided by their Committee at the Workshop Meeting and/or to include any further changes that the Committees believed were necessary and appropriate. A copy of the responses received from the Committees is attached.

The various components of the amended Option 7, which was distributed to Committees for comment, are shown in bold below. Each component is followed by a summary of the feedback from Committees and comments from Council staff:

· Quorum numbers in respect of an appropriately constituted committee for a Centre be reduced to five. Of those five, a maximum of four will represent user groups of the Centre and of those four, a maximum of two will represent any one user group. The executive positions of Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and Booking Officer (as necessary) must all be filled on an individual basis i.e. no individual will hold multiple positions

Council is aware from previous reports that officers have drawn a link between volunteers holding multiple positions on a committee and the non submission of KPI’s and other information by that committee. Only the Beecroft Management Committee has not complied with the proposed conditions associated with executive positions (also refer Part 1 of this Report). In this regard, the Committee has protested about the inclusion in the amended Option 7 of “no dual executive roles”. Based on the response received, staff believe it is appropriate for the Beecroft Committee to be allowed to form as elected on the proviso that, if Council does not consistently receive all required information from the Committee, then management of the Centre will be returned to Council. In this regard, the performance criteria that should be applied is the late or non submission of two facility inspections or financial information schedules in the period between AGM’s.

· Based on the advice received from their Committees at the 28 July 2010 Workshop Meeting, Council take over responsibility for management of the Pennant Hills and Epping Community Centres. As with other Centres managed by Council, Pennant Hills and Epping be offered the opportunity to form Advisory Committees

The Committees of the Epping Community Centre and the Pennant Hills Community Centre have requested that Council take over management of the Centres and that Advisory Committees be formed to ensure ongoing community input. The Pennant Hills Committee’s request is conditional on a review at the completion of a six month trial and that the Booking Officer remain on site at the Centre. Council staff are prepared to accept these conditions.

· The Gumnut Community Centre be “re-purposed” as a child care facility and operated under a licence arrangement with the current primary facility hirer during preschool operational hours. An appropriately formed Management Committee would then be responsible for administering after hours bookings for the Centre.

The formation at the recent AGM of a Management Committee which is not made up of a majority of members of the primary hirer has addressed the officer’s concerns associated with the Management Committee for this Centre. This will mean that when the primary hirer requests work or upgrades to be done on the Centre, there will be an independent assessment of the need for this work by the Committee. As such, it is considered that no action is required in relation to changes to the operation to the Gumnut Community Centre and that this component of the amended Option 7 be deleted.

· Management Committees who are unable to form an appropriately constituted Committee at their 2010 Annual General Meeting be required to hand management of their Centre back to Council.

This matter has been addressed above and currently only relates to Beecroft Community Centre Management Committee. As detailed above, it is recommended that the Committee be given an opportunity to function as elected (i.e. the Treasurer and Booking Officer positions being held by the same person) and that the matter be monitored throughout the year. This recommendation is conditional upon all members of the Management Committee signing the Working with Children Check as required by the Procedures Manual (by the end of December 2010).

· Other Management Committees remain responsible for the care, control and management of the facilities – including facility safety inspections (the frequency of which will be reviewed for lower utilised centres). With regards to the higher utilised centres, the paid booking officers will continue to undertake this function for those facilities.

This component of the amended Option 7 has been supported by Management Committees. Some Committees have also indicated that they may subcontract OH&S inspections to Council on a cost recovery basis. In relation to the frequency of facility safety inspections, staff are prepared to recommend that the formal inspection frequency for all Centres be changed from monthly to quarterly. In making such a recommendation, however, Committees are encouraged to take into account the type of utilisation their facility has and the type of facility that it is. For instance, if a Centre hosts higher risk activities or is older and would benefit from more frequent inspections, Committees are encouraged to informally inspect the facility more frequently and lodge work requests if required. Similarly, if hirers report problems with a Centre, a formal inspection should be undertaken in order to address the issues raised.

· Apart from Galston Community Centre, paid booking officers associated with community centres (both permanent part time staff and casual staff) work from a Council office, including at Pennant Hills Community Centre, to administer bookings for the centre they currently take bookings for as well as take bookings that are lodged during their allocated work time for other centres. Payment of the officers would continue to be met from their parent centre’s funds.

This component was supported by the Galston Committee but was rejected by the other Committees who have paid booking officers i.e. Cherrybrook, Roselea and Thornleigh. Council will recall that the Option 4 management model which was detailed in Report No. CC10/10 was estimated to be cost neutral because of the economies of scale that are achieved when Booking Officer positions are combined. Council will also recall that at the time there was an additional three Centres that needed to be managed by Council following the hand back to Council of the West Epping and Arcadia Centres and the opening of the Brooklyn Community Meeting Room.

The omission of three of the booking officer salaries from the funding model means that the overall model would no longer be cost neutral from a salary perspective. A possibility that exists to address this issue would be to take a proportion of the income from all of the Council managed centres and use this to employ the additional staff required to manage the Centres. This, however, may compromise the longer term asset improvement programs for these Centres and is less desirable than the funding model proposed in Options 4 and 7. However, the detrimental effects of this approach may be able to be offset by increased future earnings at these Centres. Given the current status of Council’s finances and the feedback provided by Committees, this approach is the recommended course of action as it will have no net impact on Council’s management costs of community centres. It is likely, however, to impact on Council’s ability to provide the standard of facility that the community are expressing a desire for in the future.

· The above dot point provides the opportunity for use of the Pathways booking system and a centralised telephone booking system for the following centres with paid booking officers (i.e. Cherrybrook, Roselea and Thornleigh) as well as Council managed centres (i.e. Arcadia, Asquith, Berowra, Brooklyn, Epping, Hornsby, Hornsby Heights, Mount Colah, Pennant Hills, Thornleigh - Hawkins Hall, West Epping and Wiseman’s Ferry). This would improve the customer service for those centres as a centralised telephone booking service would be available during working hours.

Assuming that Council takes into account the feedback from Committees given in the above component, the implementation of a centralised telephone booking system will be confined to Council managed centres. The Cherrybrook Community Centre Committee, although using the Pathways Booking System, has indicated an unwillingness to have Council staff book their Centre when their booking officer is not available. Similarly, they have expressed an unwillingness to have their booking officer take bookings for other Council centres during their rostered shifts. In the interests of finalising this review, it is considered appropriate for Council to progress the development of the centralised telephone booking system for the centres that it manages, and Committee managed centres be encouraged to continue to implement their own booking systems.

· Also, if Council resumes management of centres currently not meeting quorum requirements (i.e. Glenorie and Epping Creative Centre), then those Centres would also be able to be booked through the Pathways booking system and a centralised telephone booking system.

This component is no longer required as the Committees met quorum requirements at their recent AGM. It is recommended, however, that this component remain in place in the amended Option 7 to apply in the future if required.

· This would leave only the Beecroft, Cowan, Dangar Island, Gumnut and Mount Kuring-gai centres as not being able to be booked through Pathways. If those centres were left to maintain their own booking and administration procedures, it is noted that they would need to be provided with additional support to meet agreed performance standards.

If Council accepts the feedback provided by the Centres on their preferences, this component will need to be amended to also include Roselea, Thornleigh and Cherrybrook Community Centres.

· Centres booked centrally would have payments for bookings administered centrally through Council’s Debtor System. The income associated with particular centres would be remitted to those centres on a monthly or quarterly basis as appropriate.

This component can be implemented, with advice also being provided to Advisory Committees as appropriate.

As required by Council in its resolution emanating from the 28 July 2010 Workshop Meeting, a summary table on the preferences of Management Committees is provided below.

Management Committee	Management Model Proposed under Amended Option 7	Management Model Preferred by Committee	Comments/conditions
Beecroft Community Centre	Committee	Committee	Recommend one representative only from each user group allowed on a committee. Object to an individual only being able to hold one executive position.
Cherrybrook Community and Cultural Centre	Council	Committee	Request Centre Administrator remain on site and only take bookings for Cherrybrook.
Cowan Community Centre	Committee	Committee	Request to employ a casual booking officer and have them remain autonomous.
Dangar Island Community Centre	Committee	Committee	No specific requests in relation to this Centre.
Epping Community Centre	Council	Council	Have handed management to Council requesting a 12 month trial of Council management
Epping Creative Centre	Committee	Committee	No specific requests in relation to this Centre.
Galston Community Centre	Committee	Committee	Offer to work with Council to implement Pathways but express a desire to remain autonomous.
Glenorie Community Centre	Committee	Committee	No specific requests in relation to this Centre.
Gumnut Community Centre	Committee	Committee	No specific requests in relation to this Centre.
Mt Kuring-Gai Community Centre	Committee	Committee	No specific requests in relation to this Centre.
Pennant Hills Community Centre	Council	Council	Have handed management to Council requesting a 6 month trial of Council management, and conditional upon the Booking Officer being retained on site.
Roselea Community Centre	Council	Committee	No specific requests in relation to this Centre.
Thornleigh Community Centre	Council	Committee	Expressed a preference for Option 3.

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Summary and Recommendations

In assessing a path forward, it is important to revisit the issues which initiated the review of the management of Community Centres and Halls. Following the adoption of the Finance, Procedures and OH&S Manual for Section 377 Management Committees, a 12 month review of Section 377 Committee operations was undertaken. The review, in general, found significant non compliance with the management agreements signed by the Section 377 Management Committees. In addition to this, concern was raised in relation to the absence of appropriately constituted Management Committees at some centres. It is noted that some Committees did fully comply with the agreed management practices.

The key issues of concern during the review were the failure of Committees to comply with risk management processes in terms of undertaking facility safety inspections as per the agreed schedule and the quality of financial reporting. In addition to the aforementioned issues, opportunities presented themselves in relation to the possibility of a centralised booking service using the Pathways system and the future capacity for this system to provide improved customer service.

The key goals arising out of the review for Council were:

· to achieve compliance with the agreed management practices by Management Committees

· to fund the management of the “over quota” centres (Brooklyn, Arcadia and West Epping) which required additional resources

· to take advantage of opportunities to improve customer service via a centralised telephone booking system.

Given that Council has already attempted to implement the Existing 377 Committee with Significantly Improved Performance Model of Management and this approach has not produced a satisfactory outcome, the question becomes one of how to improve this model or whether a new model should be implemented. Feedback received from Management Committees has been that Council should lower the performance bar by reducing the frequency of inspections and reporting on facility safety issues and Council should also provide additional support to Committees to enable agreed performance standards to be met.

Based on this feedback, this Report recommends reducing the inspection and reporting frequency of facility safety issues to quarterly in all Centres. The issue associated with providing enhanced support for Committees remains a question of how to fund additional staffing resources.

Further to the need for additional staffing resources to support Management Committees in managing their Centres, the other pressure point associated with this matter is the recent hand back/opening of (now) five additional facilities for Council management – including the Epping and Pennant Hills Community Centre who resolved to hand over management of these facilities to Council at or since their 2010 AGMs. The Pennant Hills Community Centre currently employs a 4 day per week part time staff member and is considered to be self sufficient in this regard with limited capacity to take on any additional centres. The Epping Community Centre employs a casual booking officer.

In order to resolve these resourcing issues, it is recommended that a full time officer be employed to manage the Epping, Arcadia, Brooklyn and West Epping Centres. As detailed above, this officer could be funded by revenue from the Council managed centres on a cost recovery basis. It is noted that the above officer will also have an expanded role when the Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre becomes operational in 2011 as additional community floor space will be made available for regular hire at this time.

To respond to the need to provide additional support to Management Committees, an internal service review of administrative support has been conducted in the Community Services Branch. It is the opinion of the Branch Manager that the Branch Administrator Position (which is currently filled on a temporary basis) can be redesigned and used to support the (10) Management Committees and (five) Advisory Committees and the general operation of Community and Cultural Facilities.

In summary, a funding model can be implemented which addresses the above issues and only impacts on the opportunity cost associated with improving the quality of facilities managed by Council. However, it is anticipated that this cost could be offset by the potential of improving utilisation of these facilities over time and so, in the absence of other funding models which do not impact upon Council’s general revenue, it is the recommended course of action.

BUDGET

As discussed above, the only viable funding model to implement the wishes of the Management Committees is to fund the additional staffing required to book facilities and from income generated from the Council managed centres and from the redesign of administrative support within the Community Services Branch. This approach has the negative impact of taking funds away from asset management/development projects in the Council managed centres. However, it will not impact on Council’s financial bottom line and it allows for the preferences of the Management Committees to be accommodated.

It is noted that Option 4 (where all Centres came under Council management) was able to utilise all current community centre salary expenditure more efficiently thereby avoiding a situation whereby these funds would be taken away from facility development projects. It is also noted that Option 7 and the amended Option 7 also provided a better financial outcome than what is now proposed.

POLICY

There are no policy implications associated with this Report.

CONSULTATION

Consultation has been undertaken with all 377 Management Committee as evidenced by the submission made which are attached to this Report.

TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE SUMMARY

A Triple Bottom Line assessment is not required of this Report.

RESPONSIBLE OFFICER

The officer responsible for the preparation of this Report is the Manager Community Services Branch, Mr David Johnston who can be contacted on 9847 6800.

RECOMMENDATION

THAT:

1. The contents of Executive Manager’s Report No. CC70/10 be received and noted.

2. Council note the further consultation undertaken with Section 377 Management Committees regarding the amended Option 7 that was developed following Council’s 28 July 2010 Workshop Meeting.

3. The minimum committee number for Management Committees be reduced from seven to five, with the conditions detailed in Report No. CC70/10 applying to the makeup of the Committees.

4. The frequency of asset inspections conducted by Management Committee be reduced from monthly to quarterly for all Centres.

5. Council accept the management of Epping and Pennant Hills Community Centres and the associated conditions detailed in the submissions made by those Committees.

7. Advisory Committees be formed at the Epping and Pennant Hills Community Centres with outgoing members of the Management Committees encouraged to serve in this capacity.