Late Agenda of Council Meeting - Wednesday, 5 June 2024

Councillor Contact Details

Granville Ward
Clr Steve Christou	0419 651 187	Steve.Christou@cumberland.nsw.gov.au
Clr Ola Hamed (Deputy Mayor)	0405 070 007	Ola.Hamed@cumberland.nsw.gov.au
Clr Joseph Rahme	0418 995 471	Joseph.Rahme@cumberland.nsw.gov.au
Greystanes Ward
Clr Diane Colman	0400 279 200	Diane.Colman@cumberland.nsw.gov.au
Clr Greg Cummings	0417 612 717	Greg.Cummings@cumberland.nsw.gov.au
Clr Eddy Sarkis	0425 348 000	Eddy.Sarkis@cumberland.nsw.gov.au
Regents Park Ward
Clr Kun Huang	0418 911 774	Kun.Huang@cumberland.nsw.gov.au
Clr Sabrin Farooqui	0400 322 999	Sabrin.Farooqui@cumberland.nsw.gov.au
Clr Helen Hughes	0400 264 534	Helen.Hughes@cumberland.nsw.gov.au
South Granville Ward
Clr Glenn Elmore	0418 459 527	Glenn.Elmore@cumberland.nsw.gov.au
Clr Paul Garrard	0414 504 504	Paul.Garrard@cumberland.nsw.gov.au
Clr Mohamad Hussein	0400 281 726	Mohamad.Hussein@cumberland.nsw.gov.au
Wentworthville Ward
Clr Suman Saha	0419 546 950	Suman.Saha@cumberland.nsw.gov.au
Clr Lisa Lake (Mayor)	0418 669 681	Lisa.Lake@cumberland.nsw.gov.au
Clr Michael Zaiter	0418 432 797	Michael.Zaiter@cumberland.nsw.gov.au

Statement of Ethical Obligations

Oath or Affirmation of Office

In taking the Oath or Affirmation of Office, each Councillor has made a commitment to undertake the duties of the office of councillor in the best interests of the people of Cumberland and Cumberland City Council and that they will faithfully and impartially carry out the functions, powers, authorities and discretions vested in them under the Local Government Act 1993 or any other Act to the best of their ability and judgment.

Conflicts of Interest

A councillor who has a conflict of interest in any matter with which the council is concerned, and who is present at a meeting of the council when the matter is being considered, must disclose the interest and the nature of the interest to the meeting as soon as practicable. Both the disclosure and the nature of the interest must be recorded in the minutes of the Council meeting where the conflict of interest arises. Councillors should ensure that they are familiar with Parts 4 and 5 of the Code of Conduct in relation to their obligations to declare and manage conflicts of interests.

For information on Council services and facilities please visit www.cumberland.nsw.gov.au

Council Meeting

5 June 2024

Item No: MM06/24-55

Mayoral Minute - Back to Guildford Festival 2024

Author: Mayor Lisa Lake

Summary

On Saturday 25 May 2024, Council hosted the ‘Back to Guildford’ Festival. This was previously an important festival for the local Guildford community. Saturdays event was the first ‘Back to Guildford’ festival held in 20 years.

Council received funding from Transport for NSW for the Safer Cities: ‘Her Way’ Program, which made the upgrade of Guildford Laneway and the ‘Back to Guildford’ Festival possible.

The community gathered for the event in droves, with a large crowd of people attending the festival, ensuring it was a great success.

The festival included a packed entertainment program with a lineup of live music, roving performers, dancers, children’s activities, craft activities and a range of eateries, food and market vendors. The day was so successful that some vendors sold out of product.

There are several individuals and organisations to acknowledge, who worked together to ensure the success of the Back to Guildford Festival. Thank you to:

· Brooke Wharton, Executive Director, Cities Revitalisation and Place, Cities and Active Transport, Transport for NSW

· Kim Voss – Managing Director, Sold Out Events

· Transport for NSW for the funding for Safer Cities: Her Way Program

· Sophi Odling – the talented muralist who painted the walls in the laneway

· Ben Perry and Peter Casimaty from Plantabox – the project and construction managers for the laneway

· Nick Ison from Place Design Group – who created the concept design for the laneway

· Jen Guice and Abinaya Rajavelu from Cred Consulting – who conducted the nightwalks and other stakeholder engagement sessions for the laneway study

· Acting Superintendent Darren Beeche from NSW Police; and

· Cumberland Council staff – Director, Environment and Planning Daniel Cavallo;– Manager, Place and Engagement Christopher Manoski;– Acting Coordinator Placemaking and Activation John Khoury; Place Making and Liaison Officer Joshua Fattal; and

· Our community. Your participation, attendance and support made the Back to Guildford Festival the huge success that it was.

It is important that Cumberland Council continues to provide free family events to the community. I propose that Council allocates funding of $100,000.00 from the Community Reserve to ensure the Back to Guildford Festival can continue to be held next year. Following this, Council can pursue options to include this event within the operational budget as part of the annual events program.

Therefore Councillors, tonight I move the following:

Recommendation

That Council:

1. Congratulate everyone involved with the success of the Back to Guildford Festival; and

2. Allocate $100,000 from the Community Reserve to ensure the continuation of the Back to Guildford Festival in 2025.

Attachments

Nil

Council Meeting

5 June 2024

Item No: MM06/24-56

Mayoral Minute - Extension of Parramatta Light Rail to Lidcombe

Author: Mayor Lisa Lake

Summary

On Monday, the NSW Government announced a $2 billion budget allocation in the 2024/25 budget for the next stage of construction of the Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 project. This was a welcomed announcement from the Premier, and this will provide critical infrastructure to the people of Western Sydney moving forward.

As part of this process, I call on the Government to examine and include an extension of light rail from Sydney Olympic Park to Lidcombe as part of Parramatta Light Rail. This proposal has previously been endorsed by Council and included as part of the recommendations of the Legislative Council’s Parliamentary Inquiry into current and future public transport needs in Western Sydney, following Council’s submissions and advice at the Inquiry.

The extension of the light rail project to terminate at Lidcombe Station from Carter Street is critical in providing greater transport options to the busy Lidcombe precinct.

Further to this, I also recommend that Council write to the NSW Minister for Transport, the Hon. Jo Haylen and our local State Members of Parliament, seeking their support on this important transport link.

Therefore Councillors, tonight I move the following:

Recommendation

That Council:

1. Write to the Minister for Transport, further advocating its position that the Parramatta Light Rail project be extended from Carter Street at Sydney Olympic Park to terminate at Lidcombe Station; and

2. Provide a copy of this letter to local State Members of Parliament.

Attachments

Nil

Council Meeting

5 June 2024

Item No: MM06/24-57

Mayoral Minute - Australia Post Office Closures

Author: Mayor Lisa Lake

Summary

In recent times, I have been concerned with the recent trend of closures to core local public services, such as bank branches, which I raised in this Chamber through a Mayoral Minute at Council’s meeting held on 5 April 2023. Of equal concern recently, are multiple announcements and reports of impending closures of Australia Post centres.

We have already seen a large number of postage boxes removed from our streets, requiring the public in the most part to attend a post office to post a letter, card or parcel, which is already an inconvenience for our community.

Cumberland is an area with a very high overseas born population and a high number of recent arrivals. In 2021, 53% of our residents were born overseas and 25% of them arrived in Australia after 2016. Many are from non-English speaking backgrounds. In Toongabbie, approximately 60% of households use a language other than English at home, with this number rising to 67% in Pendle Hill and 75% in Guildford.

This is significantly greater than the New South Wales average of 29.5%, and means that the closure of local post offices will be particularly problematic for the Cumberland community, where many residents rely on over-the-counter service and access to staff to assist them with their postage and other needs. Many members of our community rely on their local post office centre for other key services such as photographs for passport applications. Many also visit the local post office to pay their bills.

In the 2016 census, the Cumberland Council area showed a higher than Greater Sydney average of households who do not access the internet from their home. Accessibility to services locally is critical to people in Cumberland Council.

The potential removal of post offices within the Cumberland local government area would have an extremely detrimental impact on the community.

Council is aware of upcoming post office closures earmarked for closure outside the local government area, including Campsie in June 2024.

I call on the Group CEO of Australia Post, Paul Graham and the Minister for Communications, the Hon. Michelle Rowland, to provide a commitment that no post office locations are proposed for closure in future within Cumberland Council.

These are critical service locations that must be retained for the Cumberland community.

Therefore Councillors, tonight I move the following:

Recommendation

That Council:

1. Write to the Group CEO of Australia Post, Paul Graham to seek his commitment to retain all existing Post Office outlets in the Cumberland local government area; and

2. That a copy of this letter be provided to the Hon Michelle Rowland MP, Minister for Communications.

Attachments

Nil