Surplus in budget win

WITH a forecast budget surplus of more than $2 million, Cumberland Council plans to spend $46.4 million on renewing infrastructure under its Draft Operational Plan 2019-20.
The draft budget, which is open for public comment until the end of the month, will see an $8.3m spend on playgrounds and parks, $29m on facility renewals including $16.1m set aside for pool modernisations, $11.4m for the new Granville Multipurpose Centre, and $8.1m to repair roads and build footpaths.
Other major projects on the drawing board for 2019-2020, include a new Granville Stadium ($7m), irrigation of Woodville Golf Course ($1.2m), and major drainage upgrades in the Merrylands CBD ($9.6m).
While some fees and charges will drop or remain unchanged, others are set to increase over the next financial year including some construction and complying development certificates (up by between 12 and 22 per cent), occupation certificates (up by 10 per cent), and fees for domestic garbage and recycling services (up by between 2.4 and 10.1 per cent).
There are also new charges for unauthorised building work, mobile food van inspections at events and entry for non-Cumberland residents to the Sydney Cherry Blossom Festival.
New hire charges will also apply for events in the Auburn Central Forecourt, at the Ted Burge hall at Merrylands and at the Holroyd Centre, and parking fees will rise slightly at both the Susan Street Car Park in Auburn and the council owned Multi-Storey Car Park in Lidcombe, although the first two hours remain free.
Councillor George Campbell also asked for staff to work with Belgravia Leisure, the contractor who manages the Ruth Everuss Aquatic Centre, to ensure that free entry provisions for pensioners and any other categories of swimmers are applied consistently across all the council-owned and managed swimming centres.