Mayor Lisa Matthews said Central Coast Council last night adopted Council’s submission in response to the Minister for Local Government’s Notice of Intention to Issue a Suspension Order.
Central Coast Mayor Lisa Matthews has today taken the extraordinary step of publicly announcing her loss of confidence in Central Coast Council’s CEO Mr Gary Murphy in the wake of revelations about long term, structural problems with the Council’s finances.Councillors and the Mayor have been provided with inadequate information about the financial position of Council and discovered the full extent of the problem only last night when it was revealed that Council would struggle to pay its own staff.“In light of the long-term problems that have been allowed to grow unchecked within the operational division of Council, the only course of action now available is to insist on a new CEO to manage the day to day operations,” Mayor Lisa Matthews said.“It is unforgivable for council staff to be left in a position where they might not be paid and it is unacceptable that the elected Councillors and I were not given information about the precariousness of Council’s finances until yesterday.”
Mayor Lisa Matthews said Central Coast Council has formally acknowledged the response from Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock, to Council’s financial situation, at an Extraordinary Meeting held today.
Central Coast Mayor Lisa Matthews will move a Mayoral Minute at the rescheduled Council Meeting calling on the NSW Premier to visit the Central Coast to see firsthand the devastation caused by the recent extreme weather event. Services and infrastructure have been severely impacted on the Coast with numerous roads closed, powerlines down and services out and homes and businesses inundated by floodwaters. Mayor Lisa Matthews said the repair bill was unknown at this time but is growing with each day and recovery will be long. “Following the extended drought, we thought rain was the answer to all our prayers including for our waterways and our dams but we didn’t expect it to come in quite this volume,” Mayor Matthews said.
Central Coast Council has welcomed 13 new members to its Access and Inclusion Reference Group (AIRG) who will support Council to further improve accessibility and inclusion on the Coast.The AIRG will guide Council in implementing the final year of its current Disability Inclusion Action Plan and will play an important role in the development of a new four-year Disability Inclusion Action Plan for 2021-2025.These plans set out actions that Council will deliver to enable people with disabilities to better access mainstream services, facilities, information and support to be fully and equally included in the community.Council’s Director of Connected Communities, Julie Vaughan said that the AIRG plays an integral role in helping Council to create an inclusive and accessible Central Coast for all residents with a disability.“The 2020-2021 Access and Inclusion Reference Group includes community members with a lived experience of disability, as well as those who work within the disability and community sectors.“The group reflects the many dimensions and diversity of disability.
Central Coast Council has welcomed the release of the NSW State of the Beaches report, with 100% of ocean beaches and baths receiving a good or very good quality rating for 2019-2020.The annual report uses the Beachwatch results to rate designated ocean and estuarine swimming sites across the state.Mayor Lisa Matthews said the report shows Central Coast beaches to be in good condition overall.“It’s great to see all of our ocean beaches and baths receive a Good or Very Good rating for swimming water quality this year,” Mayor Matthews said.“Terrigal Beach, which has been a particular focus for our community, retained a good rating for the second reporting year, while Toowoon Bay and Cabbage Tree Bay Rockpool have returned to good from poor last year.“While we have some work to do on the estuarine beaches, baths and lagoon sites, improvements were seen at Summerland Point baths which was also rated good and no sites declined in rating this year.“Council has a number of significant projects underway, some in partnership with the NSW Government, to address many of these concerns.“We remain committed to pinpointing potential pollution sources and continue to improve the water quality in the area.”Sites that have shown improvement in the 2019-20 year include:Cabbage Tree Bay rockpoolSoldiers BeachSummerland Point bathsToowoon BayUmina Beach.Council’s Director Environment and Planning, Scott Cox said there were a number of processes underway to help Council address some of the issues in the report.“In addition to the audits underway, Council will consider ways to improve the estuarine, lake and lagoon sites as part of the Coastal Management Program processes currently underway and we look forward to the recommendations of the Tuggerah Lakes Expert Panel to assist with this.“In the meantime, Council advises residents to check the Beachwatch website for the latest results before choosing to swim in these locations.”Across NSW, it is recommended that swimming be avoided during and for up to one day after rainfall at ocean beaches and three days at estuaries, lakes and lagoons.For daily forecasts of water quality visit:
An Extraordinary Meeting of Central Coast Council will be held on Tuesday 3 November at 2pm.It will be the first meeting presided over by interim Administrator, Dick Persson AM. The meeting will be held in the Wyong Chambers as well as livestreamed and webcast via Council's website.Members of the public will be permitted to attend Chambers, however the attendance will be limited to meet requirements of the Public Health order.
Central Coast Council interim administrator, Mr Dick Persson AM has confirmed Mr Rik Hart as Acting Chief Executive Officer at an extraordinary council meeting held in Wyong today. The temporary appointment is until the current CEO, Mr Gary Murphy, returns to the role or 12 months from today, whichever occurs first.
Central Coast Mayor Lisa Matthews has welcomed confirmation that Council has been successful in securing $600,000 in funding from the State Government to dredge The Entrance Channel. Central Coast Council applied in June 2019 for funding under the State Government’s Rescuing Our Waterways Program to continue its dredging program and will match the grant with $600,000 of its own funding. Mayor Lisa Matthews said it was great to see the long-awaited funding finally flowing for The Entrance Channel and the State Government on board to helping find a solution.