FNQROC Update - July 2014

By: Executive Officer, Darlene Irvine...

Wow, another big month! (I do have to stop saying that each month but really, it doesn't seem to stop!)

This month we have (in the interim) included an economic development update from Advance Cairns.  A lot happens each month and it is difficult to keep up with the great work which occurs quietly behind the scenes.

Water Sensitive Urban Design

I met with the Water Sensitive Urban Design renewal team in Healthy Waterways in an attempt to incorporate the needs of the Wet Tropics area in their review (traditionally they had been SEQ focussed).

Planning reform continues

The Infrastructure Charges portion of the Bill I mentioned last month comes into effect from 4 July.  The guideline was released a little over a week ago and there is a strong interface to Councils' Long term asset Management Plans. As a side note, at our next Asset management meeting 7th July, we will be getting each party with an interest in the Asset Management plans to identify their interest, objectives and potential impacts of decisions. When you consider there is interest from an Engineering, Financial and now planning perspective there is a lot your Asset Manager needs to consider. This in turn links to our work in benchmarking Useful life and residual value.

Natural Asset Management Strategic Directions workshop

While we are all bearing the brunt of funding and financial cuts, this department seems to reflect the results of these cuts. We are working on and considering the way forward in this new world. While difficult, it is always exciting to start looking outside the box in terms of how we can still meet our objectives but in new and innovative ways. The results of this workshop still need to be refined which will occur on Travis return from well-earned leave (20 July 2014)

State Treasurer lunch

All the Mayors with seven guests each met and had lunch with the State Treasurer to discuss the budget.  It was great to see elected members from Councils collaborating after the lunch and I believe they received some dedicated time with the Treasurer as well.

FNQROC Audit

Our annual audit process has commenced with an aim to be complete by end of August 2014.

IPWEAQ NQ branch meeting

I presented at the IPWEAQ North Queensland branch meeting on the engineering activities we are working on.  In developing the presentation I was quite surprised by the number of engineering activities we actually do!  There is some duplication with the work IPWEAQ is trying to undertake so we have invited them to attend our technical committee meetings to get an understanding of what we are doing and why in a hope we can work more collaboratively with them to reduce our collective workloads.

ADC Northern Australia Forum

This forum was put together by ADC at the request of the Federal Government for input into the Northern Australia White Paper.  I have to say, I was 50/50 on this one...the group does not have a presence in Northern Australia but I did want to contribute to the region being seen as 'one' (I did register under RDA as they received a 50% discount which caused some confusion for participants who knew me) and I did not want to miss an opportunity to provide comment or mitigate potential misinformation.  I do have to say, I was a little disappointed.  I do believe there is still a perception that we (in the North) do not have an understanding on how Federal politics and decisions work.  On the face of it, it currently looks as though the focus will be on policy reform with 'infrastructure' far down on the list.

Northern Australia Green Paper

Submissions are due by 8 August and FNQROC does plan to develop one.  It should be out for Council review in mid July.

Hann Highway Action Group

I am now on my way to Oak Park for a meeting with the Hann Highway action group with Advance Cairns.  For those who don't know, Oak Park is 80km from the Lynd Junction (6.5 hrs drive from Cairns) and the accommodation for this 'princess' will be a campervan.  Staff in the office are still laughing!  I think it is a great personal challenge I am looking forward to.

Velocity 2014

Finally, last month I mentioned Velocity 2014 and I would highlight some of the presentations I saw when they were released.  Unfortunately, not all have been released however, here are a number that did provide some great case studies and examples of retrofitting existing road networks.

• City of Yarra example
• VIC case examples
• Cycle signage
• Dafydd Davis trails example  (Dafydd did some work with TIMBA)
• Tools to fix cycle tourism
• SEQ Cycling Strategy  (it is entitled Qld Cycle Strategy but really it is focussed on SEQ)