Annual Report 2011/2012 PART 1
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City of Whyalla Annual Report 2011/2012 Five top highlights for the City of Whyalla in 2011/2012 u Completion and opening of a $5.4m state-of-the-art public library. u Significant completion of a $5.7m Waterproofing Whyalla project using recycled water to improve and green the Whyalla environment. u Further re-development of the Whyalla Foreshore providing residents and visitors with a continuingly improved amenity. u Restoration and landscaping, in partnership with OneSteel Whyalla, of the historic wartime gun emplacement and lookout, Hummock Hill. u Substantial financial re-structuring yielded an end-of-year surplus of $2.2m. City of Whyalla Contents From our mayor & chief executive officer 2 Our city 3 Civic Building: Our strategic plan 8 Darling Terrace, Whyalla, SA. Postal address: Our key strategic plan performance 10 PO Box 126, Whyalla, SA, 5600. Phone: 08 8640 3444. Our elected members 12 Fax: 08 8645 0155. Our organisational structure 14 After hours emergencies: Normal office number 08 8640 3444. Our annual business plan 16 Hours: Weekdays 9am-5pm. Closed public holidays. Our financial sustainability 17 E-mail: [email protected] Council web sites: Our year in review - Community wellbeing 19 Council: www.whyalla.sa.gov.au Whyalla: www.whyalla.com Public library (on line catalogue): Economic prosperity 30 www.library.whyalla.sa.gov.au Snapper championship: Environmental care 35 www.australiansnapper.com.au Industrial estate: www.whyallaindustrialestate.com Council governance 38 OPERATIONS: A glimpse into2012/2013 54 Council works depot Lacey Street – 8645 6300. Our financial statements, 2011/2012 56 Mt Laura Waste & Recycling Depot Iron Knob Road – 8645 5016. OPAL Regional subsidiary report Nicolson Avenue – 8644 075. (Eyre Peninsula Local Government Association) (Based at Child Care Centre) Stray dog kennels Cnr Watts & Cook Sts – 8640 3444. Whyalla Child Care Centre Nicolson Avenue – 8645 4030. Whyalla Public Library Ekblom Street – 8645 7891. Fax: 8644 1498. About this Annual Report! Email: [email protected] Copies are available free of charge from the City of Whyalla office, Darling Community Information Service: Terrace, or can be viewed and downloaded from Council’s website: At library – 8645 1955. www.whyalla.sa.gov.au. All enquiries please phone Council on 08 8640 3444. Whyalla Visitor Centre and Cover Whyalla Maritime Museum Mayor Jim Pollock (left) and Federal Minister of State Gary Gray jointly Lincoln Highway – 8645 7900. opened Whyalla’s new $5.5million state-of-the-art public library, which Toll free – 1800 088 589. incorporates significant sustainability technologies. 2 From our mayor & chief executi ve offi cer Mayor Jim Pollock and new CEO Peter Peppin outline highlights of the year and look to the future for the City of Whyalla. Jim N Pollock Peter Peppin MAYOR CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Whyalla City Council conti nued to deliver community Congratulati ons to the hard working events team. improvements as part of its endeavours to improve the It is also noteworthy to report that in 2011/12 Whyalla total quality of life in the city. City Council received a runner-up award in the Public This was achieved against the backdrop of: and Environmental Health Council of the Year (Regional Category). Warmest congratulati ons to Environmental • Diffi cult world economic ti mes and a “two-speed” Health Offi cer Ms Samantha Rowe, for her contributi on. economy in Australia; and • Conti nuing high world oil prices, with a “knock-on” Looking to the future, the following are some of the eff ect to important local government cost items such service improvements to be “rolled out" in 2012/2013: as bitumen, cement and fuels. • Completi on of the $5-million Waterproofi ng Whyalla The following initi ati ves formed the basis of Council’s Project. service improvements in 2011/2012: • Conti nuati on of the $7-million Whyalla Foreshore • Opening of a new state-of-the-art public library in Upgrade Project. February 2012. • A very strong commitment to increase the capital • Development of neighborhood parks in Coolibah expenditure on renewal and refurbishment of Court and Tyler Crescent. existi ng assets throughout the city. • Introducti on of Council-run public, private and • Conti nual upgrade at the Whyalla Airport and specialised tours of the Arrium steelworks from refurbishment works at the Whyalla Health and September 2011, following cessati on of tours by a Leisure Centre – both Council owned faciliti es. former community based operator. • A new strategic plan is expected to be completed These new services were successfully introduced, before the end of 2012. notwithstanding that Council recorded a very commendable end-of-year operati ng surplus of Finally, we would like to thank Councillors and staff $2,233,736. for their support and hard work in achieving some signifi cant outcomes during the year. Special menti on must be made of Council’s successful hosti ng of major events covering the Whyalla Australia Day celebrati ons and awards, and Whyalla’s 22nd Jim N Pollock (Mayor) Australian Snapper Championship at Easter. Peter Peppin (CEO) Our City 3 CITY OF WHYALLA PROFILE AT A GLANCE WHYALLA: Area (hectares) 107,177 Where the Rateable properti es (as at June 30, 2011) 11,179 Total sealed roads managed (kms) 216 Outback Populati on (esti mated as at June 30, 2010) 22,214 Development applicati ons, past 8 years 5,707 meets the Sea. Development approval value, past 8 years $249 m Establishment of fully elected local government July 4, 1970 Original Town Commission formed May 1, 1945 WHYALLA WEATHER: Enjoys a Mediterranean climate with an annual average rainfall of 271mm. COUNCIL: Average monthly temperatures: Summer 28C max, 18C min. Autumn 24C max, 14c min. Winter 18C max, 8C min. Spring 23C max, 13C min. Proudly TRAVEL & TRANSPORT: From/to Adelaide: By car - Four to fi ve hours on Nati onal Highway 1. serving its By air - Regional Express (Rex) operates up to six return services daily. By bus - Premier Stateliner operates up to four return services daily. community. In Whyalla: Car hire - Available through Avis, Budget and Hertz. Taxi - Des’s Cabs operate a 24-hour, seven-day service and meet all air services. Public transport - Des’s Transport operates the city’s 5 1/2-day bus service. OUR TRADITIONAL OUR HISTORY CUSTODIANS The northern Spencer Gulf was We acknowledge the Barngarla Barngarla people wore cloaks fi rst navigated by Matt hew people as traditi onal custodians made from kangaroo skins turned Flinders in 1802, followed by of our land and give thanks for its fur inwards during winter. In Frenchman Louise-Claude de use. summer, they smeared their Freycinet the following year. bodies with fat and ochre. They In 1840 explorer Edward John Aboriginal tribes fi rst occupied hunted both land and marine Eyre reported of ironstone in our area around 6,000 years animals, but never included the Middleback Ranges, 50 kms ago when it was visited by semi oysters and other shellfi sh in their west of where Whyalla would be nomadic tribes of Malkaripangala diet. ulti mately established. people who were a subdivision of the Barngarla Aboriginal group The Barngarla were known to Our city has its origins clearly in culturally linked to Lakes Eyre and “sing” to the sharks and dolphins South Australia’s, and indeed the Torrens tribes. at Fitzgerald Bay and Point Lowly nati on’s, remarkable mining and to help them drive fi sh towards resources story. Sett lement began Their signifi cant places included shore where they could be either in the late 1890s when the Broken Fitzgerald Bay, Weeroona Bay, caught in traps or speared. By Hill Proprietary Company gained Point Lowly, Stony Point, Black the 1970s, the majority of Eyre mining leases to extract iron ore in Point, Wild Dog Hill, Mount Young, Peninsula Aboriginals lived the area. Mount Laura, Hummock Hill caves, at fringe camps near white Cultana Range caves and Tregalana Today’s sprawling city started in sett lements. The Malkaripangala salt lake. 1901 as a campsite on the shore virtually disappeared. Briti sh submarine HMAS Trump visits, September 1945. 4 Our City Launching of the waiti ng tankers, was $1.4billion. HMAS Whyalla, However, Whyalla suff ered a October 1941. severe blow to its economy and growth when the shipyard ceased operati ons – at the same ti me as a downturn in the steel industry worldwide saw stringent rati onalisati on within BHP. These setbacks dogged Whyalla well into the 1990s as the populati on gradually lost around 10,000 from its buoyant days when it peaked in 1976 at 33,000. With growth reversing and development slowing down signifi cantly, Whyalla certainly felt its share of “lows.” From the mid 1990s development approvals started to lift , although with a degree of inconsistency. at the foot of Hummock Hill – a in barges. A second, but shorter service base for a jett y constructed pipeline was completed in 1967 Nevertheless, there were positi ve by BHP to ship out the ore. and includes an undersea secti on. trends clearly surfacing, while success stories again became more A sett lement, then known as A shipyard was built because of apparent. Hummock Hill, gradually expanded Whyalla’s strategic locati on and unti l 1914 when it was proclaimed the fi rst ship HMAS Whyalla (now Our 21st Century the town of Whyalla. preserved and restored at the Whyalla Mariti me Museum) was By 2003, major development The BHP Company extended its launched in 1941. resurgence – parti cularly in industrial acti viti es by building a residenti al building acti vity – was blast furnace, wharf and harbour The booming town was proclaimed in full swing and in just fi ve years in the late 1930s.