Since attending the meetings of the corporate council since January, we have always taken the opportunity at the completion of their meeting to have a say with Mayor, councillors or CEO. This week we were able to speak with one councillor and make her aware of the UN Agenda 2030 following discussions regarding fluoride in the town water. The councillor asked if we could forward her any information regarding agenda 2030 so she could research it. We had an interesting conversation with the CEO regarding 15 minute cities planned across the world and we asked him if he had recently attended the 15 minute cities conference at the Gold Coast, to which he said he hadn’t.

• Quarterly Questions Taken on Notice Report
• Councillor Portfolio Report
• Gympie Local Disaster Management Plan
• Caretaker Period Policy
• Procurement Panel
• September 2023 Financial Report
• Budget Amendment – First Quarter Budget Review
• Quarterly Investment Report to 30 September 2023
• Community Grants Program 2023/2024 - Round 1 Funding Recommendations
• Arts and Cultural Strategy 2023-2028 and Public Art Policy
• Infrastructure Services Directorate Report - October 2023
• Rationalisation of Council's Land Holdings
• Consent for State to dispose of land held in trust by Council - Lot 9 CPLX899, 3470 Mary Valley
  Road

As we have been saying since attending the meetings of the corporate council since January, we have noticed the way councillors have changed their behaviour to try and demonstrate they have the ratepayers in mind when discussing council items on the agenda, they think the public like to hear how great a job they are doing for the people.

• 2023 Update of Corporate Plan 2022-2027
• Procurement Panel Report
• August 2023 Finance Report
• 2023-24 Budget Amendment
• Community Sustainability Directorate Update
• Grant Funding Recommendation - Community Halls Insurance Category
• Review of Gympie Regional Council's Infrastructure Charges Resolution
• Contract Variations Eastern Cell Construction Bonnick Road Landfill
• Flood Hazard Area Update for the Building Regulation 2021
• Returned & Services League of Australia (Queensland Branch) Gympie Sub-Branch Inc. - Proposed lease 39 Monkland Street, Gympie

The presentations by council officers appears to be changing at this meeting, to the point that even Cr Devereaux thanked the Corporate Services Director for the detailed explanation of the update report.

• Corporate Services update - finance, rates, financial audit, cctv update, current head count, economic development, native title
• Procurement Panel
• July 2023 Financial Report
• Temporary Local Planning Instrument - Biodiversity Protection
• Furness Road Storm water Drainage Upgrades

Ratepayers across the region will need to dig deeper into their pockets in the coming months with rates on the rise again, with the council finally revealing by how much.

• Council has just announced a General Rates increase of 5.5% in the 2023 budget.
• Amendment to 2023-2024 Schedule of Fees and Charges
• Procurement Panel
• Infrastructure Services Directorate Report

It would appear that through comments from the councillors, in their words "their useful life in coming to an end with the elections in March 2024". Some are already looking into when council goes into caretaker  mode by December however the mayor advised that period would not begin until February 2024.

• Rainfall records for last 114 years
• Finance Report
• Schedule of Fees and Charges
• Annual Land Valuations
• Tourism Branding
• Procurement Panel
• Community Grants
• Asset Management Policy