News

Local Laws - Have Your Say Now!

Local laws determine what people can and can't do in Nillumbik. We are currently reviewing our local laws and this is a huge, exciting opportunity to create regulations that will protect what we love about where we live!

We can't miss this chance!

Our local laws are only reviewed once every ten years. If we miss this chance, we won't get to do this for another ten years!

Click here to make a submission to the local law review.

There is a discussion paper on the council website, which you can respond to but in particular, I'm interested in your answers to the following questions:

• Do you support restricting the construction of new barbed wire and ringlock fencing to protect wildlife?
• Do you support requirements for all new fences to have wildlife-friendly features such as gaps at the bottom and visible top wires?
• Do you support banning single-use plastics from council venues and all council-endorsed events, markets and festivals?
• Should council have certain designated areas where we prohibit the use of single-use plastics (e.g. by waterways)?
• Should council create regulations to minimise the impact that lighting on private property has on the circadian rythms of our nocturnal wildlife?
• Should council restrict the use of carcinogenic herbicides such as glyphosates?
• Should council regulate the use of pesticides to prevent secondary poisoning (e.g. where a rat is poisoned, an owl eats the rat and then the owl dies)?
• Remembering that local laws are here to specify what people can't do in Nillumbik, what other local laws should we make to protect what we love about where we live?

Don't wait. Submissions close 2 July. We only get to do this once every ten years!

Make your submission now!

I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say.

Small Wins

When I started on council, I got a call from a former councillor, who told me in six months’ time, I’d find myself an eight of the way through my council term, having achieved nothing. He was right (almost). The first six months are about learning and finding your way and that’s exactly what Nillumbik’s five new councillors have done. With our mandatory induction training coming to an end and having gained somewhat of an understanding of how things work in council, we’re finally about to move out of this first uphill battle and with the development of our council plan well underway, we can be confident that the things we want to achieve for our community will be on the agenda over the next three and a half years.

However, I wouldn’t say that we’ve achieved nothing. These may be small wins but I can honestly say I’m proud of what we’ve done so far.

Community meetings

Cr Frances Eyre and I held our first community meeting together in Research. Thank you to the Research CFA for being so accommodating and to everyone in the community who came down to have your say. Your input was invaluable and it will all go towards the development of a township plan for Research, which will help put Research’s needs on the agenda going forwards. We are also looking at short-term wins we can make while we wait for the township plan to progress.

My next community meeting will be in North Warrandyte. Stay tuned for details.

Research shops

It’s been great to see some landscaping works at Research Shops. This will be the first in a long list of improvements to the shopping strip, with the toilet block soon to be upgraded too. Once we have a township plan in Research, we will have a solid plan for what needs to be done to make the shopping strip into the vibrant community centre that Research deserves.

Youth council

As Nillumbik’s youngest ever councillor, it was an honour to be involved in the first meeting of the Nillumbik Youth Council. The Youth Council will help develop our Youth Strategy and will also help advocate for the needs of young people in our community. Congratulations to our new youth mayor, Fieke van der Kamp and our new youth deputy mayor, Jack Linehan.

Fill dumping

We love our Green Wedge and this council is committed to protecting it. That’s why we’re introducing new regulations to limit fill dumping in Green Wedge areas. After Amendment C131 passes, you will need a permit to dump more than 100 cubic metres of fill on any property. Have your say here.

Nillumbik’s Artbeat

We’re currently accepting community input on our Arts and Culture Strategy, which will soon be up for review. Make a submission online or come to one of the focus group sessions we’re holding across Nillumbik. Find out more and have your say here.

Wildlife-friendly Fencing

Fencing can have a devastating impact on wildlife. That’s why our local law review will be investigating ways to regulate fencing to protect our precious wildlife. New regulations will not be retrospective. This means existing fencing can stay but any new fencing will need to meet certain standards. This may include banning or restricting the use of barbed wire and ringlock fencing, controls on fencing height, gaps in fencing to allow wildlife through and materials to make fencing more visible to wildlife. We still need to do more research and consultation on this but when we’re done, this exciting move will save lives. Stay tuned to have your say.

In addition to regulating new fencing, I’ve heard suggestions about providing incentives for people to replace or upgrade existing fencing as well as fact sheets to help people understand the impact that fencing can have. This can’t be covered in our local laws but can form part of our wildlife protection strategy down the track.

Roads

I’ve been approached by residents about a whole range of road issues from truck crashes to speed limits to rat runs to school crossings to dangerous intersections right across Sugarloaf Ward, including North Warrandyte, Research, Kangaroo Ground, Smiths Gully and St Andrews. While Council has some control over local roads, a lot of these issues can only be addressed by the Department of Transport.

I’m in the process of arranging a meeting with the Department of Transport so I can raise our traffic issues with them and ask for action. I’ll be discussing the list of issues with Nillumbik’s Director of Operations and Infrastructure on Tuesday so we can decide the best way to discuss these with the Department of Transport to give us the best chance of success.