Council keeping ahead of COVID curve

Published 03 February 2021

Smart and strategic spending is helping to keep Moreton Bay ahead of the worst impacts of the coronavirus downturn, with strong fiscal figures highlighted in Council’s Quarter 2 Operational Plan.

Mayor Peter Flannery said with Budget planning getting underway, Council would be focussed on keeping the economy afloat.

“Despite being in the middle of the biggest global economic downturn since the Global Financial Crisis, Council’s strong financial position is continuing to keep Moreton Bay moving,” Mayor Flannery said.

“Our $249 million capital works program has kept us on track and I hope to ramp-up our investment in local infrastructure to ensure Moreton Bay bounces back strongly this year.

“We’re not leaving anything to chance; while our growing population has historically been the secret to our success, today’s launch of our new Regional Economic Development Strategy articulates explicit strategies to diversify and modernise our economy so that we attract new investment and new opportunities.

“In the first half of this finance year, we met and exceeded targets on customer response times, project delivery and program activities.

“This shows residents can be confident that we will continue to service our community, deliver projects, create local jobs and also balance the books of Council.

“We are focused on demonstrating strong leadership and good governance to build trust with the people of Moreton Bay, which is important as the region grows rapidly and more people choose to call our Moreton Bay home.”

Highlights from the Quarter 2 (Oct – Dec 2020) Operational Plan include:

• 8,952 sport and recreation programs delivered from 815 activities.
• 99% of kerbside waste and recyclable waste bins collected as scheduled.
• 97% of CCTV cameras were fully operational assisting in the prevention and reduction of crime within the region.
• 97% customer satisfaction rating for libraries across the region, with customers grateful the services was available again after being temporarily closed during COVID and the helpful staff service.
• 69 community projects were funded under Round 2 of the Local Community Support Grant.
• 45 flying fox roosts and 27 ibis roosts were monitored with ongoing site management completed to reduce the impact of these native animals.
• 24 scheduled community immunisation clinics were delivered to provide vaccines to help protect the community against harmful viruses.