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Annual Report 2020-2021

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Highlights

Message from Mayor, Tanya Milligan

I am pleased to present the Annual Report for 2020/21. As a Council, we have continued our trend of sound financial management, which this year enabled us to achieve a credit rating upgrade from the Queensland Treasury Corporation.

We are proud to have no forecast borrowings in the 10-year forward forecast. Our focus continues to be on the sustainable management of the region’s current assets and ensuring they are maintained and upgraded when necessary.

The community-focused Budget for 2020/21 resulted in the organisation being in its current strong financial position. We have continued to reign in debt and make loan repayments at an accelerated rate as we delivered a fourth consecutive operational surplus. We have paid down another $1.51M of principal repayments on debt, with all debt forecast to be paid off by 2036. We have $34.60M in cash and investments and continue to remain focused on paying down debt while finding efficiencies. This is all while still delivering on and improving our core services.

We have continued to recognise the important role partnerships play in achieving the best possible outcomes for our region.

Thanks to funding support from State and Federal Governments, we were able to commence construction on Fairways Park Stage 1 in October. The multi-million-dollar facility and all-abilities park is a major asset

for our region and is testament to the growth we are seeing here in the Lockyer Valley. This is the first time our community has been involved in a park design from the very beginning and we extend our thanks to all levels of Government for the funding support they have provided to this project.

Refurbishment works on the Gatton Shire Hall were also completed. The $2.08M program was jointly funded by the Australian Government and Queensland Government, in association with Council. This major renovation has not only refreshed the facility, but greatly improved the hall’s capabilities to service our growing community both now and into the future.

We continue to work alongside our neighboring Councils on a range of initiatives, including securing long-term, sustainable water for the Lockyer Valley through the Lockyer Valley and Somerset Water Collaborative and land for a regional hospital for the Lockyer Valley.

The Lockyer Valley is now home to more than 42,000 residents, 3000 businesses and spans more than 2200 square kilometres. The country living and city convenience is becoming increasingly attractive as people continue to seek to secure that sought-after work-life balance. Our population is expanding by more than 1.5 percent per annum, which is a clear indicator that our region really is a wonderful place to live, work and play.

And while, as an organisation we have certainly delivered some major achievements, they were only made possible through our close internal partnerships. I extend my sincere thanks to Councillors, CEO Ian Church, the Executive Leadership Team and staff for their commitment to our Council and our community.

Message from Chief Executive Officer, Ian Church

The achievements highlighted in this Annual Report contribute towards Council realising its vision for the region. That vision is to deliver services that enhance the liveability of our region, in a sustainable way, while embracing our diversity.

Despite the impact of COVID-19, Council continued to provide excellent customer service throughout

the year. When COVID restrictions were imposed, Council utilised its Pandemic Business Continuity Plan to ensure that service interruptions to our community were minimised. This is demonstrated by the fact that we received and dealt with 13,469 written customer requests and 27,507 phone calls during the year. Council also continued to reduce red tape through

its planning and development business improvement project. 240 development applications were lodged with Council and 201 decided exceeding statutory time frames. 1475 plumbing inspections were undertaken along with 627 building inspections.

Council continued its commitment to community engagement by completing specific engagement projects such as the Fairways Park upgrade; illegal dumping and misuse of rural bins; drought support including the Drought Support Expo; Forest Hill silos mural consultation and many more. The Natural Resource Management and Biosecurity Plans were completed during the year as were the Environment, Tourism and Economic Development Strategies. Council recognised the importance of community and sporting groups in our regions by providing them with direct financial assistance in the amount of $287,353, along with the provision of significant in-kind support.

Council continued to engage with the Queensland Government for a new hospital and improved health services within our region. Council also remained an active member of the Council of Mayors South East Queensland (COMSEQ) to ensure the Lockyer region benefits from projects initiated by COMSEQ, such as City Deals and Resilient Rivers.

Council continued its important work with the Lockyer and Somerset Water Collaborative to augment water supply for irrigation. The Collaborative released the Business Case and determined to form a Company Limited by Guarantee to continue with the next stage of the project.

Council staff also worked hard during the year to mitigate the adverse impacts of the Inland Rail Freight project and achieved a milestone by submitting a detailed response to the Helidon to Calvert Environmental Impact Statement.

In order to ensure that the journey to implement our desired values-based culture did not lose momentum, Council continued with the implementation of the recommendations of the Organisational Effectiveness Review (OER), completed towards the end of the 2019 calendar year. Council’s desired culture will have a strong focus on leadership and people with Our Corporate Values as the building blocks by which we shape behaviour.

Council experienced particularly strong revenue growth during the 2020/2021 financial year, despite predictions to the contrary based on the impacts of COVID-19. Fees and charges in all areas of Councils operations were higher than budget due to significantly increased regional development activity. This led to a particularly strong Operating result for the year of $7.71M. Council also achieved record levels of grant funding for projects from the Australian and Queensland Governments, which were able to be applied to a number of significant projects such as Fairways Park at Hatton Vale ($4M), the refurbishment of the Gatton Shire Hall ($2.08M), roadwork and footpath projects ($3.93M). Total capital expenditure for the 2020/2021 financial year was $17.25M.

At 30 June 2021 Council had $34.60M cash reserves and total debt of $21.57M, reduced from $23.08M at 30 June 2020. All long-term financial sustainability indicators remain positive.

I would like to congratulate the Mayor, Tanya Milligan, and Councillors for their leadership throughout what was a difficult year. With your support we moved further towards developing an organisation focused on providing outstanding service to our community.

I also sincerely thank the committed employees of Council who dedicate themselves to improving the liveability of the region for our residents, both present and future.

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