SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING SPM12 - 20 OCTOBER 2020 5.1.1 ALPINE SHIRE COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT 2019/20 Annual Report 2019/20 1 Alpine Shire Council Annual Report 2019/20 SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING SPM12 - 20 OCTOBER 2020 5.1.1 ALPINE SHIRE COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT 2019/20 About this annual report Welcome to the Alpine Shire Council Annual Report This report can be downloaded from Council’s website 2019/20. This report provides an account of Council’s www.alpineshire.vic.gov.au. Hard copies are available, by performance against the Alpine Shire Council Plan request, for those in the community without access to a 2017-2021 (review 2019) and Budget for 2019/20. computer. Performance is measured against the seven strategic objectives in the Council Plan: 1. A high performing organisation 2. A responsible and sustainable organisation 3. Incredible places for our community and visitors 4. Infrastructure and open space that our community is proud of 5. Highly utilised and well managed community facilities 6. A well planned and safe community 7. A thriving and connected community Front cover: The state-of-the-art $2.6 million Myrtleford Indoor Sport Stadium expansion was completed early in 2019/20, extending the provision of sport and active recreation activities to all Myrtleford residents and visitors. 2 Alpine Shire Council Annual Report 2019/20 SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING SPM12 - 20 OCTOBER 2020 5.1.1 ALPINE SHIRE COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT 2019/20 Council Vision “Providing outstanding opportunities for its residents through sustainable growth in balance with the natural environment.” Council Values Council’s values are the operating principles that guide councillor and employee conduct and the relationships between them, as well as the relationship of the organisation with its community, customers, partners and stakeholders. The values were developed following workshops with both councillors and staff – the set of six core values recognise who we are – ALPINE. The values are: Accountable We are accountable and responsible for our decisions and actions, and the impacts of these on our community and the organisation. Leadership We demonstrate leadership by being informed, applying innovative thinking and solutions and making fair and timely decisions in the best interest of our community and the organisation for now and the future. Productive We are productive by focusing on delivering efficient and high quality services and projects that respond to the needs and priorities of our community and the organisation. Integrity We have integrity by being committed, truthful and transparent in our decision making and our interactions with our community and the organisation. Nurture We nurture the relationships, contributions and strengths of our community and the individuals of the organisation. Engaged We are engaged with our community, and within the organisation, to build strong and effective relationships and inform our choices. The values have been embedded in the Councillor Code of Conduct, and the Employee Code of Conduct. These documents assist in reinforcing the importance of the values across the organisation. Alpine Shire Council Annual Report 2019/20 3 SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING SPM12 - 20 OCTOBER 2020 5.1.1 ALPINE SHIRE COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT 2019/20 Year in review Alpine Shire Council (Council) has made good progress in delivery against the 2017-2021 Council Plan (review 2019). Highlights included: Bushfires in January 2020, and COVID-19 restrictions • Completion of the Oaks Lawn Precinct at Pioneer Park introduced during March 2020 had the biggest impact on Bright in time to host the Katy Perry concert in March Council’s operations during 2019/20. See page 5 for more 2020. detail about these events. See page 39 for more details. 1. A high performing organisation 5. Highly utilised and well managed • Being highly responsive as an organisation to dealing community facilities with bushfire and COVID-19 responses. • Adaptation of services due to COVID-19 restrictions, • Provision of rate and fee relief for businesses and including introducing “click and collect” services at properties affected by the January 2020 bushfires. library branches. • Commencement of detailed work on the • Food organics and garden organics community survey implementation of the Local Government Act 2020. will be utilised to help inform a transition to increased recycling streams in the future. • Hosting the “Fight On” concert performed by Katy Perry in March 2020 in support of bushfire affected See page 42 for more details. communities and emergency services personnel. 6. A well planned and safe community See page 30 for more details. • Progressing a planning scheme amendment to 2. A responsible and sustainable organisation support Mount Buffalo activation. • Joint development of the Business Systems • Continuation of service delivery across environmental Transformation project with Indigo and Towong Shire health, building, planning and local laws services while Councils, with phase one implementation due in complying with COVID-19 restrictions. 2020/21. See page 48 for more details. • Completion of the Better Approvals Project to provide 7. A thriving and connected community an improved process for business customers needing to obtain multiple permits to commence or grow their • Adoption of the Myrtleford Resilience Plan and action business. plan. See page 35 for more details. • Delivery of Maternal and Child Health services through bushfires and COVID-19 restrictions, with only a slight 3. Incredible places for our community and drop in participation compared to the previous year. visitors • Delivery of a busy event program during 2019, before • Delivery of $6.0m of capital works projects in 2019/20 bushfires and COVID-19 impacted on the delivery of through challenges associated with bushfires and events in 2020. COVID-19 restrictions. See page 55 for more details. See pages 14 and 37 for more details. Challenges in 2019/20 4. Infrastructure and open space that our community is proud of • Delivery of Council’s capital works program and service delivery was impacted by the January 2020 bushfires, • Delivery of maintenance programs during the year and COVID-19 restrictions introduced in March 2020. through challenges associated with bushfires and Council transitioned quickly to continue to provide COVID-19 restrictions. services and complete capital works in line with government restrictions. 4 Alpine Shire Council Annual Report 2019/20 SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING SPM12 - 20 OCTOBER 2020 5.1.1 ALPINE SHIRE COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT 2019/20 Bushfires and COVID-19 January 2020 bushfires Fourteen fires were ignited by lightning on 31 December 2019 in the King, Buffalo, Kiewa and Wongungarra River catchments. On 4 January 2020, under extreme fire weather conditions, these fires increased rapidly in size, developed a convection plume and merged with five other fires in the Buffalo River and Buckland River catchments to form the Ovens NYE Fire Complex. Private properties in the Abbeyard and Catherine River area were damaged by fire during this time. The fire was declared contained on 5 February 2020. Evacuations During the January 2020 bushfires the communities of the Alpine Shire experienced multiple evacuations during a 22 day period. The following communities were affected by advice to Leave Now, Evacuate Now or Stay over a period of 11 days: Abbeyard, Bennies, Bright, Brookside, Buckland, Buckland Junction, Buffalo Creek, Buffalo River, Dandongadale, Davenport Village, Dinner Plain, Dunphys Hill, Eurobin, Falls Creek, Flourbag, Freeburgh, Germantown, Happy Valley, Harrietville, Havilah, Hotham Heights, Kancoona, Kancoona South, Merriang, Merriang South, Mount Buffalo, Myrtleford, Map: Red areas signify areas burned during the January 2020 Nug Nug, Ovens, Porepunkah, Rosewhite, Salt Log, Selwyn, bushfires (based on DELWP data provided). Smoko, Wandiligong. The first Watch and Act message including “Don't wait, leaving now is the safest option - conditions may change The majority of evacuees stopped through the relief centre and get worse very quickly” was issued to most visitors and to register that they were leaving and continued on to residents within the Alpine Shire on 1 January 2020. Tourists family/friends in safer areas. were strongly advised to leave the area and return home. A State of Disaster was declared by the Victorian Premier on Air quality 3 January 2020 for an initial period of 7 days, accompanied Air quality in the valleys was severely affected by smoke by further advice for tourists to leave. This was extended for during this period, with the smoke eventually impacting an additional 2 days. communities across the State. On 5 January 2020, The Age Emergency services advised on 23 January 2020 that it was reported that air quality in Bright was classified as safe for visitors to return to the area. ‘hazardous’, and a week later on 13 January 2020, ABC news Emergency Relief Centres reported that Bright had the worst air quality in the State, classified as ‘hazardous’ by the air quality monitoring Evacuees were directed to Emergency Relief Centres in station established by the EPA. The smoke impacted the Wangaratta or Wodonga. Many evacuees used the relief local communities for many weeks during the fires. centre as an information point to learn about road closures, fire activity and communications from emergency services. Alpine Shire Council Annual Report 2019/20 5 SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING SPM12 - 20 OCTOBER 2020 5.1.1 ALPINE SHIRE COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT 2019/20 Fire