This Week at Council – November 2021
Published on 19 November 2021
Shire of Broome Councillors congregated for the November 2021 Council Meeting on Thursday night, with a busy agenda in place for the penultimate meeting of the year.
A number of public questions were asked in relation to illegal camping, protecting our turtles on Cable Beach and the 2021 Shire election – the written responses will be provided in the minutes.
Councillors unanimously decided to continue the Shire’s financial support for Mamabulanjin Aboriginal Corporation’s Kullarri Patrol service.
A new three-year partnership was endorsed, which will see the Shire provide $20,000 per annum to the essential community safety initiative – read more here.
Development applications for properties on Challenor Drive and Hunter Street were carried unanimously by Councillors.
The Council supported the efforts of the Yawuru Park Council to develop a more effective strategy to manage access to Cable Beach during turtle nesting season in 2022-23.
This could include permanent closures of the Cable Beach north access ramp in the 2022-23 wet season – more information on this will follow.
A new Cable Beach Community and Stakeholder Reference Group is set to be established, with Councillors voting on the community representatives to be included.
A vacancy has been created on Council after the resignation of Councillor Fiona West in October, with two options as a course of action – to hold an extraordinary election, or to proceed with the existing eight Councillors for the time being.
After healthy debate, the decision to save ratepayers the cost of an election was made, with the Shire to now proceed with eight Councillors rather than the usual nine.
The meeting dates for 2022’s Council Meetings were endorsed, as was a raft of updated policies, October 2021’s payment listing and the minutes of the Audit and Risk Committee from November 11.
Finally, the meeting went behind closed doors, where Councillors resolved to grant a request for funding assistance from the Broome Visitor Centre.
The minutes of the meeting will be available soon at this link, with the next Ordinary Meeting of Council to take place on Thursday, December 16.