By NIKKI TODD
Salary hike
TWEED Shire Councillors will receive a 2.5 per cent pay hike after voting to support a rise at the recent council meeting.
Councillors last Thursday agreed by a vote of six to one to accept the meagre pay hike, with only Greens Cr Katie Milne voting against it.
The motion was passed after Tweed Mayor Barry Longland proposed the creation of a special fund to allow councillors not keen on accepting the salary increase to donate it back to council.
The vote passed following much debate, with Deputy Mayor Michael Armstrong arguing it would send a bad message to accept a wage increase amid tough economic times.
However Cr Longland and Carolyn Byrne said councillors across NSW deserved far higher remuneration than the meagre $17,490 they would now receive, as dictated by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART).
The mayor’s pay packet will increase by $930 to $38,160.
Fingal planning
TWEED Shire Council has been asked to investigate whether it is possible to prioritise a development control plan (DCP) for the coastal village of Fingal Head in the next financial year.
Councillors at last Thursday’s council meeting supported a call by Greens Cr Katie Milne to fast-track a DCP for the environmentally-sensitive village.
Under a resolution adopted by council, a report will be prepared examining whether it is possible to prepare a DCP for Fingal Head in the 2013-’14 financial year and to ensure the community is adequately consulted on the issue.
“This is very important for Fingal Head,’’ Cr Milne said.
“They have been waiting very, very patiently for a long time and the character of the place is eroding very quickly.”
A second motion put forward by Cr Milne to ensure a two-storey (or eight metre) height development control at Fingal Head is maintained in the interim until a DCP is completed, was also carried.
