Councillor Update
CITY OF ONKAPARINGA THALASA WARD COUNCILLOR UPDATE
Cherry Gardens Bushfires
I would like to congratulate the Country Fire Service and other emergency services for their efforts in combatting the recent bushfires in the Cherry Gardens area. You all played such a vital role in looking after our community and we were fortunate not to have had the disastrous consequences of the Adelaide Hills bushfires of last year. I saw the smoke from my home at Flagstaff Hill and monitored the activities on the Alert SA app, with regular updates over the following days.
Council staff has been out clearing damaged trees from the roadsides and working on our recovery process. I attended the Cherry Gardens community meeting at the hall on the evening of Friday 5 February with mayor Erin Thompson and staff where the recovery support process was discussed. The mayor was able to travel through the area shortly after the fires and see the impact they had and speak with residents, whilst Councillor Themeliotis and I were able to be to do so with the City of Onkaparinga CEO (Scott Ashby) a few days later with council’s emergency management team leader a few days later..
Long Term Financial Plan & Strategic Asset Management Plan
The City of Onkaparinga’s Long-Term Financial Plan LTFP) went before and was agreed to by Council at our meeting on 16 February. We developed a LTFP that directly reflects where and how the community believes its rates should be spent. Having a sustainable and clear LTFP is the cornerstone of good Council financial administration. It is founded on a suite of 16 principles developed following feedback from the community on service provision, project, rates, and debt management. It recognises that rate increases will need to reflect CPI increases, as our costs go up. However, any decisions to increase rates beyond CPI will need to be transparently made by Council, informing the community of exactly what those funds will go towards, and ringfencing them for that use. So the community can see where their money is going, and that they get what they paid for.
Australia Day Events
Australia Day was busy again and I attended the Australia Day breakfast held at the Happy Valley Sport Ground where some 1,550 people attended. I also attended the Noarlunga breakfast at Ramsey Place Noarlunga Centre on my way to the Australia Day awards presentations and citizenship ceremony held at the Hopgood Theatre followed by the Australia Day Fair held at the Wilfred Taylor Reserve, Morphett Vale. Then in later afternoon I attended at the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Australia Day celebration at Hillier Road, Morphett Vale with deputy mayor Simon McMahon.
The 2021 City of Onkaparinga Award recipients are:
Citizen of the Year - Paul Crate
Young Citizen of the Year - Angus Miller
Community Event of the Year - Jessica Jones Wildlife Event
What’s on – running events
Between April (9-11) and South Australia’s premier running event, the Leconfield Wines McLaren Vale Marathon, is headed to town, also incorporating a half-marathon, 13km and 6km races, and a free kids’ run, with options for runners and walkers alike. There are also some great extracurricular activities, such as a movie night, presentations and post-race party at Leconfield & Richard Hamilton Wines. South Australia’s premier half-marathon, the Great Southern Half Marathon (also presented by Great Southern Runs), is headed to Aldinga Bay on Sunday 16 May, also offering 10km and 5km races, with options for both runners and walkers. Anyone looking to keep healthy and active in 2021 should give one of these events a go. There’s something to suit everyone, whether you’re a walker, a child, an athlete with a disability, you’re looking to start your running journey, or you’re a seasoned marathon pro.
Transparency hub
The City of Onkaparinga has launched a new Transparency and Integrity Portal, to improve the visibility of its operations and accountability to its community. This Portal provides a single point of access for a range of information such as expense reporting, policy documents and gift and benefit registers for employees and elected members. Council will continue to add content to the portal in coming months, and we welcome community feedback either via the portal, or by phone or email. View the Transparency and Integrity Portal now at www.onkaparingacity.com/transparency-portal
Onkaparinga Now summer issue out now
The summer edition of Onkaparinga Now is out. Onkaparinga Now keeps you up to date on the latest council news and events, and includes articles on the environment, local business leaders, amazing people and our fantastic lifestyle.
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this article are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of Council.
Geoff Eaton
Councillor
Thalassa Ward
City of Onkaparinga
Email: geoff.eaton@onkaparinga.sa.gov.au
Mobile: 0416 637 351