Agenda of Infrastructure Policy Committee

ORANGE CITY COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE

City of Orange Traffic Committee

HELD IN Councillors Workroom, Civic Centre, Byng Street, Orange

ON 12 July 2016

COMMENCING AT 9.00am

1 Introduction

Attendance

Cr R Turner (Chairperson), Mr David Vant, Sgt Mark Hevers, Mr Geoff Lewis, Deanne Freeman (RMS), Project Team Leader, Commercial and Emergency Services Manager, Road Safety Officer, Works Manager, Strategic Planning & Design Engineer, Transport & Assets Engineer, Divisional Administration Officer

1.1 Apologies and Leave of Absence

Nil

1.2 Acknowledgement of Country

1.3 Declaration of pecuniary interests, significant non-pecuniary interests and less than significant non-pecuniary interests

Nil

2 Previous Minutes

RESOLVED Sgt M Hevers/Mr D Vant

That the Minutes of the Meeting of the City of Orange Traffic Committee held on 14 June 2016 (copies of which were circulated to all members) be and are hereby confirmed as a true and accurate record of the proceedings of the City of Orange Traffic Committee meeting held on 14 June 2016.

3 General Reports

3.1 Parking for Caravans

TRIM Reference: 2016/1472

Recommendation Mr D Vant/Mr G Lewis

1 That Council installs parking signs for vehicles with caravans on the western side of Peisley Street north of Byng Street between the corner and driveway for the loading docks for a distance of 34m.

2 That Council writes to the businesses on the eastern side of Peisley Street advising of the changes in parking.

3 That the long vehicle parking in Peisley Street south of March Street reverts back to 45° rear to kerb parking.

3.2 Traffic Issues - McLachlan Street South of Bathurst Road

TRIM Reference: 2016/1474

Recommendation Mr D Vant/Cr R Turner

That Council refer the email on traffic issues in McLachlan south of Bathurst Road to the Police for monitoring.

3.3 Intersection of Leewood Drive and ELSHAM Avenue

TRIM Reference: 2016/1481

Recommendation Mr D Vant/Sgt M Hevers

That gatewayed give way signs with appropriate barrier linemarking be installed at the intersection of Leewood Drive, Ash Street and Elsham Avenue.

3.4 Parking - 171 Edward Street

TRIM Reference: 2016/1500

Recommendation Sgt M Hevers/Mr D Vant

That Council write to the owners of 171 Edward Street requesting they remove the existing parking sign at the driveway entrance and replace it with a sign in compliance with the Development Consent and remove the reserved signs painted in the parking spaces.

3.5 2017/2018 Federal Blackspot and Safer Roads Nominations

TRIM Reference: 2016/1551

Recommendation Cr R Turner/Mr G Lewis

That Council supports the 2017 – 2018 Federal Blackspot and NSW Safer Roads Program nominations shown in Table A of this report.

The Meeting Closed at 9.25AM.

Infrastructure Policy Committee 2 August 2016

3 General Reports

3.1 Current Works

TRIM REFERENCE: 2016/1627

AUTHOR: Chris Devitt, Director Technical Services

EXECUTIVE Summary

The purpose of this report is to update Council on construction and maintenance works which have been carried out since the last current works report to Council.

Link To Delivery/OPerational Plan

The recommendation in this report relates to the Delivery/Operational Plan strategy “14.1 Our Environment – Design and construct new infrastructure assets as specified with the Asset Management Plan to agreed levels of service”.

Financial Implications

Council has been advised that as a council included in the NSW Government’s merger proposals under consideration by the Office of Local Government since referral on 6 January 2016, Council must comply with the merger proposal period guidelines issued under S23A of the Local Government Act 1993.

The guidelines instruct Council it should expend money in accordance with the detailed budget adopted for the purposes of implementing the Delivery/Operational Plan for the 2015/16 year.

Any expenditure outside the adopted budget requires the identification of clear and compelling grounds and must be approved by Council at a meeting that is open to the public. The guidelines indicate the resolution of Council for increased expenditure must specify the reasons why the expenditure is required and warranted.

If increased expenditure is greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Council’s revenue from rates in the preceding year, whichever is the greater, Council is required to exhibit the increase to the budget and consider comments received.

Council must also avoid entering into contracts or undertakings where expenditure or revenue is greater than $250,000 or 1% of the Council’s revenue from rates in the preceding year, whichever is the greater, unless the contract or undertaking is as a result of a decision or procurement process commenced prior to the merger proposal period or where entering into a contract or undertaking is reasonably necessary for the purposes of meeting the ongoing service delivery commitments of the Council or was previously approved in the Council’s Delivery/Operational Plan.

Policy and Governance Implications

Nil

Recommendation

That the information provided in the report on Current Works be acknowledged.

further considerations

Consideration has been given to the recommendation’s impact on Council’s service delivery; image and reputation; political; environmental; health and safety; employees; stakeholders and project management; and no further implications or risks have been identified.

SUPPORTING INFORMATION

ROADWORKS

Road Maintenance

Extra resources from Road Construction, Concrete and Drainage and Parks and Gardens teams have been assisting regular maintenance crews in an effort to address the backlog of road maintenance issues brought about by record rainfalls over June and July.

Excess water flowing through causeways caused road closures at

· Ophir Road 2nd Crossing

· Bulgas Road crossing

· Beasley Road crossing at Lucknow

· Favell Road crossing

· Emu Swamp Road crossing

· Ginns Road crossing (Huntley Road end)

· Hiney Road crossing (Huntley Road end)

· Bloomfield Road crossing

· Bargwanna Road crossing

· Selwood Lane crossing (Forest Road End)

Selwood Lane had gravel added to address washouts and was given a grade.

Road upgrading

Additional works were undertaken to upgrade sections of the North Orange Bypass between Ophir Road and Icely Road with asphalt.

CONCRETE AND DRAINAGE

Footpath Rehabilitation

Works on rehabilitating aged and damaged footpaths have been undertaken at Kite Street from Anson Street to Ophir Car Park.

Traffic facilities

Works continued on the construction of pedestrian kerb ramp and refuge facilities at the intersection of Kite and Sampson Street and Kite and Woodward Street.

WATER MAINTENANCE

Construction

· Quotes for supply of pipe and fittings for Nile Street water main replacement are currently being requested.

· Pipe and fittings have been delivered for William Maker Drive to Telopea Way water main construction works.

Broken water mains

· 28 Burrendong Way

· 37 Jilba Street

· 215 Dalton Street

· 5 Carroll Street

New Water Services

· 6 Abbey Court

· 13 Grace Rise

Water Service Renewal

· 8a Wade Place - 20mm service renewal

Other works

· 2015 -16 meter replacement program completed

Category	July 2014 – June 2015	June 2016
Leaking meters	382	40
Faulty meters (incorrect readings)	119	70
No supply	24	3
Water pressure complaints		4
Meter box/lid replacements	74	13
Water quality	25	0
Service break	7	0
Service leak	37	5
Main break	47	8
Main leak	231	8
Valve leak	9	0
Hydrant leak	45	4
Total Water Requests	1,000	155

WATER STORAGE

Water Storage Levels

Location	Date	Level Below Spillway (mm)	% of Capacity
Suma Park Dam	15 July 2016	0	100.0%
Spring Creek Dam	15 July 2016	0	100.0%
Gosling Creek Dam	15 July 2016	0	100.0%
Lake Canobolas	15 July 2016	0	100.0%

Water Quality

Water samples are collected as a component of the Orange City Council’s Drinking Water Quality Monitoring Program which forms part of the NSW Health requirements. Samples are collected regularly and sent to a National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) accredited laboratory for analysis. Samples analysed between 1 June (as last reported to Council) and the end of June 2016 complied with the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines, 2011.

Water Consumption

Average daily water consumption during the week ending 14 July 2016 was 184 litres per person per day.

SEWER MAINTENANCE

Category	July 2014 – June 2015	June 2016
Sewer blockages	329	40
Odour	11	0
Overflows	201	22
Total Sewer Requests	541	62

Construction

· 42 Cox Avenue - sewer reconstruction

· 2/11 Newport Street – new sewer junction

· 2015-16 sewer relining program completed

· Construction will commence on the Margaret Stevenson Park sewer (225mm to 300mm) upgrade in the first week in August. All associated Safe Work Method Statements have been compiled in preparation for the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner audit.

CCTV

· Reactive CCTV continuing

· Peisley Street - investigate sink hole

SUMA PARK DAM UPGRADE

Suma Park Dam is at full capacity and overtopped on Thursday 7 July. The spillway has been raised 1metre resulting in the additional storage of approximately 10% or 1613ML. Total Suma storage is now modelled at 18,906ML.

The entire water level of the Suma Park storage is obviously also one metre higher. Preconstruction modelling and survey predicted that the new water level would remain within the confines of the Suma Park Dam property boundary and this has proved to be the case with no undue inundation of either property or Icely Road.

The main structural safety upgrade elements of the works are performing well. Electrical automation and minor finalisation works are being undertaken by the contractor Geotechnical Engineering (GE). Final conformance inspections from the designer Entura are due to be undertaken on Tuesday 2 August.

For the auxiliary spillway adjacent to Bulgas Road GE implemented a design and construct package as provided by Hydroplus. The large concrete structure relies on rubber seals to fully close off the system where panels meet. Currently GE is experiencing leakage at some of the seals. The integrity of the structure is not compromised, however GE has been instructed to provide a rectification method to eliminate the water loss.

Practical Completion is yet to be awarded to GE subject to finalisation of contract requirements and documentation. Milestone reporting is up to date with the State Government and the Dams Safety Committee waiting on final construction reporting. The project is currently on approved budget.

NEW EMERGENCY HELICOPTER HANGAR

The project is currently on approved budget, however the works schedule is affected by the recent prolonged wet weather with an anticipated completion now in late September/October. This is well within the timeframe required by TOLL of February 2017.

The new roof has been placed on the hangar so internal works can progress. The wall frames are in place and services rough-ins have commenced.

An upgrade of the incoming low voltage electrical supply to the facility is being undertaken to service the increased TOLL operational requirements and improve serviceability to existing airport users. It is again noted that the current high voltage and low voltage supply to the airport is exhausted and will need to be upgraded for any future development works.

Project Control Group meetings are progressing well with TOLL representatives in attendance. A meeting is scheduled for Friday 22 July to plan the refuelling arrangements for the facility.

CENTRAL TABLELANDS REGIONAL WATER SECURITY PROJECT – Orange To Carcoar Pipeline

Orange City Council is continuing the development of the Central Tablelands Regional Water Security Pipeline Project from Orange to Carcoar. This project is funded under the Restart NSW Water Security for Regions Program to improve water access and security in the areas serviced by Orange City Council and Central Tablelands Water.

Cabonne Council is also developing a Pipeline Project, under the same Restart funding program, and to achieve economies of scale it has been agreed to work with Cabonne and submit a joint tender. It was originally proposed to call for tenders in July, however, due to delays experienced by Cabonne Council, tenders will now be called for in August. It is now proposed to award the tender in November, with construction likely to commence early 2017. This delay should not affect the OCC / CTW project meeting the completion date of 2018.

Orange City Council and Central Tablelands Water are continuing consultation with their respective affected landowners in relation to acquiring easements which includes survey, valuations and rehabilitation plans.

This project is within budget and on track to meet the completion date of December 2018.

Aquatic Centre Attendance

	April 2016	May 2016	June 2016
Adult	869	584	423
Concession	510	370	295
Child	1,140	583	486
Child Under 5	363	195	159
Family	98	38	26
School	250	0	34
Swipe Entries	3,199	2,913	2,427
Adult Multi Pass	41	34	25
Child/Concession Multi Pass	59	51	45
Carnival Spectators	0	312	236
Fitness Passport	1,556	1,556	1,211
Shower	30	5	7
Non Swimmers	85	178	255
Aqua Aerobics	42	44	46
Super Pass	0	0	0
Total	8,242	6,863	5,675

In addition, 1,511 children were enrolled in learn to swim classes during the last quarter.

AIRPORT PASSENGER NUMBERS

Passenger numbers for June 2016 were 4,018 compared with 4,016 during the same month in 2015. There have been 49,247 passengers up until 30 June 2016 compared to 48,836 last year.

ENERGY USE

The following information is sourced from E21, Council’s energy software.

Monday 18 July 2016

Infrastructure Policy Committee 2 August 2016

3.2 McNamara Lane Parklet

TRIM REFERENCE: 2016/1727

AUTHOR: Scott Maunder, Director Community, Recreation and Cultural Services

EXECUTIVE Summary

This report seeks approval for remediation works to be undertaken in McNamara Lane including the installation of a parklet.

Link To Delivery/OPerational Plan

The recommendation in this report relates to the Delivery/Operational Plan strategy “6.2 Our Community – Seek innovative and creative solutions in partnership with key stakeholders that convert the demonstrated community need for sporting and recreational services/facilities to infrastructure and activities”.

Financial Implications

The guidelines instruct Council it should expend money in accordance with the detailed budget adopted for the purposes of implementing the Delivery/Operational Plan for the 2015/16 year.

Implications in this report

The proposed works can be funded within the current Delivery/Operational Plan.

Policy and Governance Implications

Nil

Recommendation

That Council approve the following works at the McNamara Lane Parklet:

a Construction of kerb and gutter

b Reconstruction of the concrete footpath adjacent to the new kerb

c Provision of a bike rack

d Provision of seating

e Planting of shrubs and installation of solar lighting.

further considerations

SUPPORTING INFORMATION

Item 3.11 of the minutes of the Traffic Committee Meeting held on 14 June which dealt with the proposed upgrade of a section of McNamara Lane behind the parking area for the Hotel Canobolas was deferred by Council to enable Councillors to inspect the proposed works.

The proposed works included the reconstruction of the kerb and gutter together with the following improvements:

· Reconstruction of the concrete footpath adjacent to the new kerb

· Provision of a new bike rack (as requested by nearby businesses)

· Provision of seating

· Planting of trees

This work will remove an existing informal, and potentially unsafe, parking arrangement where vehicles park between the concrete footpath and property boundary. This results in vehicles crossing over or driving along the concrete footpath to gain access to/from this area, potentially impacting on pedestrian movements along the footpath.

The work is proposed to be funded under the respective kerb and gutter and footpath rehabilitation budgets, with work on the cycle rack and seating from the Cycling Towns grant program.

Council inspected the site on Saturday 23 July and held further discussions with interested parties. Following that discussion it is proposed to conduct following works:

· Reconstruction of the kerb and gutter

· Reconstruction of the concrete footpath adjacent to the new kerb

· Provision of a new bike rack (as requested by nearby businesses)

· Provision of seating

· Planting of shrubs and installation of solar lighting

Attachments

1 Macnamara Lane Parklet, D16/26871 ⇩

Infrastructure Policy Committee 2 August 2016

3.3 Aquatic Centre Usage Policy

TRIM REFERENCE: 2016/1728

AUTHOR: Chris Devitt, Director Technical Services

EXECUTIVE Summary

The development of the Indoor Aquatic Centre has been a resounding success, providing year round access to swimming for the Orange community. A very clear example is the growth in learn-to-swim class numbers, with around 800 children participating in this program run by Council staff at the Centre.

This success has also brought its challenges, with demands for lane space from swimming clubs and other groups increasing as the opportunity to train all year is now available.

This competition for lane space has created a number of issues which have impacted on the otherwise very positive atmosphere at the Centre.

The Aquatic Centre Usage Operational Policy provides a clear outline of the allocation of lane space amongst the various users of the Centre and will enable Centre staff to manage this aspect of the Centre more effectively. Operational Policies are approved by the General Manager and implemented by staff. Given the interest in this matter, it is proposed to take the unusual step of publicly exhibiting an Operational Policy. This will allow members of the public to make submissions, which staff will consider in finalising the Policy.

Link To Delivery/OPerational Plan

The recommendation in this report relates to the Delivery/Operational Plan strategy “1.3 Our City - Ensure a robust framework that supports the community’s and Council’s current and evolving activities, services and functions”.

Financial Implications

The guidelines instruct Council it should expend money in accordance with the detailed budget adopted for the purposes of implementing the Delivery/Operational Plan for the 2015/16 year.

Policy and Governance Implications

The Aquatic Centre Usage Operational Policy has been developed to allocate pool lane space between users on a hierarchy basis. Operational Policies are approved by the General Manager and implemented by staff. Given the interest in this matter, it is proposed to take the unusual step of publicly exhibiting an Operational Policy. This will allow members of the public to make submissions, which staff will consider in finalising the Policy.

Recommendation

That Council note the development of the Aquatic Centre Usage Operational Policy based on the contents of this report, and that the Policy will be exhibited to allow public comment.

further considerations

SUPPORTING INFORMATION

The issues surrounding increased demand for limited lane space at the Aquatic Centre have dictated that an Operational Policy be developed to help manage these issues at the Centre and provide a clear outline of how Council will manage the Centre into the future.

The Policy will contain a number of key principles which outline the general hierarchy of access to lanes at the Centre and thus reflect Council’s overall priority of usage amongst the various groups seeking access to the Centre.

A detailed lane allocation schedule for the Centre is attached which is based on the issues outlined in this report.

The proposed amount of lane access, expressed in terms of the number of available lanes for all forms of aquatic activity on an hourly basis throughout the week, and based on the following opening hours is:

Winter (25m pool only)
Opening Hours		Lane Hours (8 lanes available)
Monday - Friday	5.30 am-8.00 pm	14.5 hrs x 5 days x 8 lanes	580
Saturday	5.30 am-7.00 pm	13.5 hrs x 1 day x 8 lanes	108
Sunday	8.00 am-7.00 pm	11 hrs x 1 day x 8 lanes	88
Total			776
Summer (25m pool and 50m pools)
Opening Hours		Lane Hours (16 lanes available)
Monday - Friday	5.30 am-7.30 pm	14 hrs x 5 days x 16 lanes	1120
Saturday	5.30 am-7.00 pm	13.5 hrs x 1 day x 16 lanes	216
Sunday	8.00 am-7.00 pm	11 hrs x 1 day x 16 lanes	176
Total			1512

Category 1 Community Use Including Learn-To-Swim Classes

The primary use of the Aquatic Centre is for the general community, which includes recreational swimming, non-structured exercise and general water based leisure activities. A key component of community swimming is learn to swim classes, an activity which develops water confidence across the broad community and opens up the opportunity to participate in swimming as a life-long leisure activity. The demand for these classes is significant and a need which Council is committed to meeting on an ongoing basis.

The predominant community use occurs throughout the day and after school. During the majority of this time there is generally little competition for space at the Centre. This provides the opportunity for learn to swim classes to be scheduled along with a variety of other community uses, such as school groups participating in learn to swim, the Rainbow Club who use the toddler’s pool on a Sunday morning, CareWest, Anson Street School and other health related groups who utilise the indoor pool for rehabilitation, aqua aerobics classes and other similar uses.

Community members also utilise the Aquatic Centre most days from around 5.30-7.30am and from around 6.00-7.30pm for lap swimming and walking exercise. This is particularly the case for people who work and need to access the Centre outside work hours for their regular exercise.

The policy will ensure that community use continues to be the dominant use of the Centre throughout the year, with around 83% of the total available lane space at the Centre allocated for this purpose. This will include, as a minimum, four lanes for community use during peak demand times in the mornings and evenings as well as, generally, eight lanes outside these times during the normal operating hours of the Centre.

The general community allocation proposed is:

Category 1

Winter (25m pool)	640 lane hours/week	(82.5%)
Summer (25m and 50m pools)	1274 lane hours/week	(84.3%)

Category 2 Swimming Clubs

Like many other sporting clubs across the City, Council provides facilities for these groups to engage in their particular sport. Given the particular limitation that swimming clubs can only operate at one community facility it is appropriate that they be given priority access to the Aquatic Centre over other groups, with the exception of community use.

The demand for lane space at the Aquatic Centre by registered swimming clubs has been an ongoing source of tension for a long period of time. The establishment of a second swimming club, Jets, in 2010 as a breakaway group from the original City of Orange Swimming Club, while claiming to cater for families with a different approach to swimming, created significant issues at the Centre especially around the allocation of lanes. For a long period Council staff became caught in the middle of these two opposing groups, with accusations by both clubs of unfair and biased allocations of lanes, clubs not sharing lane space, poor management of swimming squad numbers etc. In recent times, a third organised swimming group under a private swimming coach, Peter Archer, has emerged and sought access to regular lane space at the Centre. While not a club registered with Swimming NSW, this group represents a significant number of active swimmers, with many of these registered members of other swimming clubs in other centres and therefore swim competitively across the state.

The policy needs to effectively address the issue of access to the Aquatic Centre of organised swimming groups in a manner which will be sustainable over the longer term. There have been, and continue to be, issues raised by all of these groups about which group has rights to lanes, who is the most co-operative, who has the most qualified/best coaches, where do swimmers/coaches live, in the Orange LGA or outside it etc? The reality is that these issues have ebbed and flowed over many years and, in all likelihood, will continue to into the future. Therefore it is almost impossible to base any sustainable policy position on such variable and changeable issues.

The situation at the present time is that two swimming clubs, City of Orange and Jets, are registered by the governing body, Swimming NSW, to operate out of the Orange Aquatic Centre. These clubs have followed the appropriate processes to gain this registration and therefore legitimately have an expectation of being given priority access at the Centre for structured swimming club activities. In return the expectation of the swimming clubs is that this priority access to the Centre must ensure that they maximise their membership numbers to make club-based swimming available to as many Orange residents as possible. In order to achieve this, clubs need to demonstrate an ongoing commitment to utilising allocated lane space as efficiently as possible through effective programming of squads, and display an open and flexible approach to accepting club membership from the full spectrum of swimmers across the community.

The presence of two swimming clubs in Orange provides a very high level of access to club-based swimming compared to many other centres which only have one swimming club, therefore Council expects both the clubs and swimmers to take maximum advantage of this unique opportunity to ensure the needs of the vast majority of competitive swimmers are met.

Given the limited lane space at the Centre it is unlikely that either Council or Swimming NSW would endorse any more registered swimming clubs at the Centre. Therefore if individuals or community groups choose not to participate in structured swimming through either of the two clubs, it needs to be recognised that they should also accept that they do not have the same level of access to lane space at the Centre as the clubs are entitled to.

The policy proposes to provide, on a permanent basis, the following lane access for swimming clubs registered at the Orange Aquatic Centre. The lane access is to be shared equally between the two clubs:

Category 2

Winter (25m pool)	12 sessions, 82 lane hours/week
Summer (25m and 50m pools)	20 sessions, 152 lane hours/week

(Including 2 club nights utilising 6 lanes per week - 24 lane hours each/week)

Category 3 Private Coaches, Other Community/Sporting Groups

There is a significant demand for additional access to the Aquatic Centre from a wide range of other groups and, where possible, Council should seek to meet these demands. This fits with Council’s broad approach of increasing overall utilisation of the Centre and ensuring swimming and water based activities are offered to as wide a cross-section of the community as possible. These groups include at least two community swimming groups, including the Peter Archer group, as well as Bush Nippers, Polar Bears Swimming Club, Kinross Water Polo Club, Kinross Old Boys, Orange Triathlon Club (who have around 230 members), Merge Program, Scouts, TAFE as well as various fitness and physio groups.

There is capacity to accommodate some of these groups outside peak demand times, such as during quiet periods throughout the day, when a number of lanes could be provided for specific approved activities, provided this does not adversely impact on general community usage. Such access would always be provided at the full discretion of Aquatic Centre management so such groups could not necessarily expect to gain access to the Centre on an ongoing basis above needs of the general community.

A further initiative to increase access to the Indoor Aquatic Centre during winter months, when only the 25m pool is available for use, is to offer extended opening hours from 7.30-8.00pm on weekdays at the Centre, providing all 8 lanes for these groups during this time. This, in conjunction with allocating 4 lanes during the last half hour of each day to these groups, from 7.00-7.30pm, a period when general community use is relatively low, would provide an additional 30 lane hours hour per week specifically for private coaches and other sporting groups to gain additional lane space without impacting on the key users of the pool. This additional level of service recognises the growing needs of users and, while requiring some flexibility to adapt to slightly later times, it should be acknowledged that this initiative is a demonstration by Council of its willingness to also adapt to the growing needs of users.

This would involve some additional overall cost due to additional staff time and pool operating expenses and these would need to be recouped through overall lane hire fees.

Swimming groups in this Category will be encouraged to seek dedicated lane space so that they can better structure their swimming activities without having to compete for lane space with the general community. In particular this includes any group which operates as a business and/or involves any form of payment amongst group members associated with use of the Aquatic Centre apart from normal entry fees. Similarly, if these groups choose not to participate as Category 3 users, but continue to turn up to the Centre as a group on a regular basis and/or seek to conduct structured swimming activities such as private coaching or structured training, at the expense of general community users, (particularly where complaints are made from the general public that “squads have taken over community lanes”) Aquatic Centre staff will need to address this, which could possibly result in exclusion from the Centre until a more appropriate time, such as the times provided under Category 3 allocations.

Applications for access to the Centre for private coaches and other groups would need to be assessed on a seasonal basis. The usage policy would include a mechanism for determining an equitable share of lane space for these various groups and be flexible enough to accommodate varied demands depending on the time of year. The policy would require acknowledgement from these various groups that access to lane space at the Centre would require them to act in a cooperative manner with other users and accept the determination of Council staff over lane allocations. While every attempt would be made to accommodate the requests of these various groups, with growing demand and a need for Council to be as fair as possible to all groups over lane allocation, not all requests may be accommodated at the particular times sought. In order to ensure equitable sharing of lanes no single group would be given more than 50% of the available Category 3 lane access available at the Centre.

Under this proposal, the Peter Archer group could access up to 27 lane hours in winter and 43 lane hours in summer. This is equivalent to the same amount of lane space that would be provided if this group were included in Category 2 and the available lane space, excluding clubs nights, was divided equally three ways.

Category 3

Winter (25m pool)	7 sessions, 54 lane hours/week
Summer (25m and 50m pools)	11 sessions, 86 lane hours/week

General Policy Issues

In developing a sustainable usage policy for the Aquatic Centre which will stand the test of time the following principles will apply:

General

· All groups seeking to utilise the Aquatic Centre, either as Category 2 or Category 3 users, will be required to sign and operate in accordance with Council’s Aquatic Centre Hire Agreement.

· The overall lane allocations provided in this policy under Category 2 and Category 3 will be reviewed at least every two years to ensure they reflect the ongoing demand and utilisation at the Aquatic Centre.

· Council staff may reduce lane allocations to any Category 2 or 3 group in favour of community users at the discretion of the Aquatic Centre Manger or designated staff member in charge of the Centre at the time. Such a decision is to be made on the basis of meeting the needs of the greatest number of users of the Centre, and could include, but not be limited to:

o days of extreme hot weather where there is extensive use of the Centre by the general community in the afternoons and additional public lanes should be provided for the community rather than for organised swimming activities.

o days where the number of swimming club or other organised group members in attendance is low and there is a large demand for community swimming, and a reallocation of lanes will result in a more even and safer allocation of lanes amongst all swimmers

o At all times such changes will be discussed with the clubs/groups involved, and as much notice provided of these changes as possible.

· Groups of regular Aquatic Centre users will be encouraged to seek lane access as a Category 3 group to ensure they can secure dedicated lane space without impacting upon, or competing with, general Aquatic Centre users for lane access.

Category 2 Users

· There will be no additional swimming clubs registered at the Orange Aquatic Centre.

· Registered swimming clubs must provide Council, on an annual basis, with written confirmation of membership numbers.

· Only one registered swimming club will be given access to the pool for each session.

· (If clubs choose to share sessions that is a matter for them to manage, however Council staff will not become involved in any issues between the clubs in these circumstances, and staff retain the right to insist on only one club at a time if the sharing arrangements are not working effectively).

· Lane allocations will be set through agreement between the two registered clubs generally based on an equal share of lanes between the two clubs. If the clubs cannot agree on overall lane allocations Council staff will make the allocations which will be binding on the clubs.

· In the event that either club’s participant numbers drop significantly Council will reassess either the allocation of lanes to an individual club or the total amount of lane space available for Category 2 usage overall.

Category 3 Users

· Preference will be given to groups based in Orange for lane access under Category 3

· All Category 3 groups seeking lane access at the Centre must provide Council with written confirmation of the number of registered members in conjunction with their application for seasonal lane access.

· Lane allocations will be set through a seasonal application process, based generally on the number of swimmers participating and an appropriate number of swimmers per lane relative to swimming ability. The final decision on lane allocations will be made by Council staff and is binding on all groups

· No single group will be allocated more than 50% of lane access for a season.

Creation of a Single Swimming Club

The creation of a single swimming club at the Aquatic Centre has been discussed with all user groups in the development of this policy, with a mixed response. A single swimming club could enable more efficient overall management of lanes and facilitate a smooth transition between learn to swim and club involvement, ensuring an ongoing participation in swimming as skills develop. As well a large broad based club would be encouraged to promote swimming more broadly in the community, not just focussed on competition.

Swimming NSW has indicated they do not oppose a move to a single club and has indicated they would assist Council and the two Orange clubs in working towards this goal.

At the present time the two swimming clubs are working co-operatively with each other, and they believe they are generally meeting the needs of the majority of swimmers in regard to structured, club based swimming. An initiative which has significantly improved to level of co-operation between the clubs, as well as with Aquatic Centre staff, has been the establishment of structured and regular meetings between the club representatives and Council staff, which provide a forum for operational and policy issues to be discussed in an open manner, with the aim of ensuring all groups can work together co-operatively.

Given these improvements which have been put in place, along with the development of this policy, which seeks to provide greater clarity to all users about access to lane space at the Centre, it is proposed that the current arrangement with two clubs continue at the present time. However, should it become apparent that the level of co-operation either between the two clubs or with Aquatic Centre staff no longer exists, Council will act quickly and decisively to review the current arrangements, which could include the creation of a single swimming club, with training and coaching potentially under the control of Council, if it deems this as the most appropriate way forward.

It is Council’s expectation that, through this renewed spirit of co-operation and secure access to additional lane space, the swimming clubs actively work together to increase member numbers and provide the highest possible level of access to the whole range of swimmers in the community. Should there be evidence of membership to clubs being unfairly denied to members of the Orange community, or offered selectively to individuals at the exclusion of others without valid justification, Council will review the current arrangement, with a potential outcome again being for the formation of a single club under Council’s control.

General Expectations

The management of limited lane space at the Aquatic Centre is a very dynamic process, which cannot be fully covered in a prescriptive operational policy. Therefore whilst the policy aims to give as clear guidance as possible to usage at the Centre by the various user groups, there will always be a need for flexibility in the enforcement of lane allocations. Ultimately this requires all parties to work together at the Centre in a spirit of good faith and co-operation. All users of the Centre are required to abide by Council’s Code of Conduct, which should be used by all users to guide their behaviour to ensure the Aquatic Centre continues to grow as one of the City’s premier recreational and sporting facilities.

Attachments

1 Proposed Aquatic Centre Lane Allocations, D16/32624 ⇩