Urgent Council Report 12 September 2018 1

DCI38/18 MORELAND INTEGRATED TRANSPORT STRATEGY - PUBLIC CONSULTATION FORUM (D18/341944)

Director City Infrastructure Strategic Transport and Compliance

Executive Summary At the July 2018 Council meeting (DCI18/18), Council resolved to approve the draft Moreland Integrated Transport Strategy (MITS) for a further round of public consultation. The draft MITS also included proposed changes to the Moreland Parking Strategy, which included a widespread introduction of parking restrictions within a 400 metre catchment of the Brunswick, Coburg and Glenroy Major Activity Centres. As a consequence, notifications were mailed to approximately 40,000 properties. Consultation closed on Friday 31 August 2018, drawing over 800 online submissions and 21 separate submissions received as emails and hard copies. Of these submissions, 156 submitters have indicated they wish to speak at public forum in support of their submission. Actions relating to parking had the highest response rate (70% of respondents), followed by public transport (36%) and cycling (36%). The highest numbers of submissions were drawn from the southern-most suburbs. The public consultation has drawn active and lively interest from the community to the extent that the large number of people (156) wishing to speak publicly presents a logistical challenge. As part of the July 2018 Council meeting resolution, Council resolved to hear people speak in support of submissions on 19 September 2018. Given the high number of respondents who have indicated they wish to speak, the forum will need to extend beyond this date. Furthermore, the style of forum will need to be refined to ensure that all members of the public are accorded fair opportunity to be heard.

Officer Recommendation That Council: 1. Notes 156 people have indicated they would like to speak in support of their

submission to the draft Moreland Integrated Transport Strategy and draft Parking Strategy at a hearing of submissions committee meeting and that this number of people cannot be accommodated at the established time and date for the committee to meet; and

2. Authorises the Chief Executive Officer, in consultation with the Mayor, to establish new dates and times for the community members to be heard.

3. Cancels the Hearing of Submissions Committee meeting scheduled to be held on 19 September 2018 and advises community members of the new dates and times set.

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REPORT

1. Policy Context This issue relates to the review of the Moreland Integrated Transport Strategy 2010-2019 (MITS).

2. Background At the July 2018 Council meeting, Council resolved: That Council: 1. Endorses the Draft Moreland Integrated Transport Strategy and Draft Parking

Strategy at Attachments 1 and 2 to this report, for feedback from the community and other stakeholders, with the following changes:

• Deletes section 3.1.1;

• Makes adjustment to the document to reflect these changes.

2. Gives notice of the public feedback process for the Draft Moreland Integrated Transport Strategy and Draft Parking Strategy in the Moreland and Northern Leader newspapers and on Council’s website and invites written feedback until 17 August 2018.

3. Appoints all Councillors to a committee to hear from community members and stakeholders requesting to be heard in support of their written feedback and sets 6 pm 1 September 2018 as the time and date for the hearing, to be held in Council Chamber at the Moreland Civic Centre, 90 Bell Street, Coburg.

4. Receives a further report with a final version of the Moreland Integrated Transport Strategy and Parking Strategy following the completion of the consultation process.

5. Endorses the public exhibition plan at Attachment 3 to this report, for the planning scheme amendment planned for mid-2019 to implement the Moreland Integrated Transport Strategy and Parking Strategy into the Moreland Planning Scheme, following adoption of these strategies.

At its August meeting Council resolved to correct the 1 September 2018 date to 19 September 2018 as was intended. The public consultation period was extended to 31 August 2018, with the hearing of submissions set for 19 September 2018 at the August 2018 Council meeting. This date was moved to accommodate an extension to the consultation period, partly due to the scale of the mail out. The next proposed step in the process was to stage a forum event to enable any submitter who indicated they wished to speak to their submission an opportunity to do so. The date proposed for this forum is 19 September 2018. There has been over 800 online submissions and 21 separate submissions received as emails and hard copies to the draft MITS. Of these submissions, 156 submitters have indicated they wish to speak at public forum in support of their submission.

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3. Issues The key issues relate to managing the large number of submitters (156) who have indicated they wish to speak at a public forum. Logistically, according 156 speakers a 3 minute speaking opportunity with breaks, and introductions may require as many as 3 evening sessions, or a full day and evening session. This is significantly more than the original proposal to allot a single evening (19 September 2019) to hear from the community.

Human Rights Consideration The implications of this report have been assessed in accordance with the requirements of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities.

4. Consultation This has been the subject of a mail out to 40,000 property owners.

5. Officer Declaration of Conflict of Interest Council officers involved in the preparation of this report have no conflict of interest in this matter.

6. Financial and Resources Implications The financial implications are relatively minor in event staging, as Council owned venues, and existing Council officer resources are deployed. The risks associated with streamlining or culling the number of presenter is to incur public criticism of not being sufficiently inclusive.

7. Implementation Advice has been sought from Capire Consulting, the communication consultancy firm who conducted earlier public fora and consultation workshops regarding the transport strategy review. Capire has provided preliminary advice regarding options for different styles of conducting public fora in a manner that ensures all members of the community who wish to speak are provided with that opportunity in the most expedient and meaningful way. An extract of the advice is at Attachment 1. It is proposed that the Chief Executive Officer be delegation to convene the necessary number and location of meetings to appropriately hear all public presenters.

Attachment/s 1 Extract - Moreland Integrated Transport Strategy - Urgent Council

Meeting Item D18/341117

Extract - Moreland Integrated Transport Strategy - Urgent Council Meeting Item

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Extract - Moreland Integrated Transport Strategy - Urgent Council Meeting Item

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Extract - Moreland Integrated Transport Strategy - Urgent Council Meeting Item

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Executive SummaryOfficer RecommendationREPORT1. Policy Context2. Background3. IssuesHuman Rights Consideration

4. Consultation5. Officer Declaration of Conflict of Interest6. Financial and Resources Implications7. ImplementationAttachment/s