Randwick City Councillors met on Tuesday 27 August 2019 to consider a range of issues. Below is a summary of some of the outcomes. Council will next meet on Tuesday 17 September 2019.

Refugee internship to be offered at Randwick Council
Starting in 2020, Randwick Council will offer a 12-week paid internship to a refugee with tertiary qualifications to support refugee entrants seeking entry to the Australian workforce. Council will work in partnership with Career Seekers, a not-for-profit organisation supporting Australia’s humanitarian entrants into professional careers.

Concern over Matraville incinerator proposal
A proposal to build a commercial waste to energy facility at the Orora papermill in Matraville was met with concern by Councillors. The facility would burn up to 160,000 tonnes of waste a year to generate electricity to help power the papermill with excess electricity going into the grid. An application under State Significant Development is expected to be lodged with the Department of Planning for consideration. Should this happen, Council will make a submission and consider the community benefit, health impacts and additional truck movements.

Scoreboard honours for Ella brothers and Mike Whitney
The scoreboard at Coogee Oval, located on Brook Street, will be named after four local sporting legends following a request from the Randwick Petersham Cricket Club and Randwick Rugby Union Club. The names of Australian rugby union legends Mark, Gary and Glen Ella and Australian test cricketer Mike Whitney, will grace the board in acknowledgement of their impressive sporting accomplishments.

$50,000 study into cruise ship terminal impact
Randwick Council will engage specialist consultants to analyse the environmental and socio-economic impact of the proposed cruise ship at Molineux Point and Yarra Bay. The State Government announced in July 2018 that it was considering building a third Sydney cruise ship terminal for large and mega cruise ships at Yarra Bay. Council is opposing the plan along with many members of the local community. A heritage study is also underway with a view to heritage listing the Yarra Bay foreshore and surrounds.

Support for businesses going plastic bag-free
Randwick Council will work with local businesses to support moving towards a plastic bag-free environment. Council phased out single use plastics such as plastic bags, drink bottles and drinking straws from Council operations and events in July 2018. Many local businesses are also making the move and Council will develop an education campaign to partner with and support local businesses phase out single use plastics.

Support for Global Climate Strike
Council is, in principle, supporting the upcoming Global Climate Strike to be held on Friday 20 September 2019 in the Domain as well as the School Strike 4 Climate movement. The strike is about young people taking action to encourage leaders to reduce carbon emission and reliance on fossil fuels. Council is encouraging the community to take part. Randwick Council resolved in April to declare a state of climate emergency and is working on reducing its own carbon emissions, reducing waste and increasing tree canopy coverage.

Council supports IPART rating review recommendations
Council is supporting recommendations made by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) into the way in which residential rates are applied to properties. Currently, rates are based on a property’s unimproved land value as assessed by the NSW Government Valuer General. IPART has suggested a move towards levying rates based on the market value or Capital Improved Value of the property. This would provide more equity between houses and apartments. Currently some more expensive apartments are paying less in rates than a similarly priced house as the rates are assessed on the apartment’s share of the unimproved land value.