By Dominique Tassell
Southern Downs Regional Council moved to delegate authority for all community facility fee waiver requests under $2000 to the Chief Executive at the recent Ordinary Council Meeting.
The agenda item stated that Council regularly receives requests from not-for-profit organisations to waive the fee for the hire of community facilities, citing the Stanthorpe Civic Centre and Warwick Town Hall as examples. Not-for-profit organisations already receive a 50 per cent discount.
These requests are currently approved or declined by the Chief Executive on a case-by-case basis if they fall within the $1,000 limit currently delegated to the CEO. Requests of a higher value are referred to Council.
To streamline the process for fee waiver requests for community facilities, it was recommended by staff that all future requests are sent to the Manager of Community Services for review and decision.
Three conditions will be placed on all approved not-for-profit organisations, the first being compliance with relevant facility hire agreements and conditions.
The second condition is the payment of a hire bond where applicable.
Finally, the Council’s support must be acknowledged through the display of the Council’s banner for the duration of the hire period and event, the inclusion of the Council’s logo and acknowledgement in all marketing and promotional material relevant to the event, including media and social media, and an invitation must be extended to the Mayor and Councillors for the event.
The approved waiver of fees did not include setting up, pack-down or cleaning by Council staff.
A register of fee waiver requests for community facilities will be maintained by Community Services staff and reported to Council at the end of the financial year. This will be reviewed to determine the ongoing support requested in addition to community grants.
The successful motion stated that Council will delegate authority for all community facility fee waiver requests to Chief Executive Dave Burges to a maximum value of $2000. It noted the proposed sub-delegation to the Manager Community Services based on the content of the report tabled at the meeting.
The motion was moved by Cr Andrew Gale and seconded by Cr Sheryl Windle.
