Agenda of Extraordinary Council Meeting - Tuesday, 16 December 2025

Extraordinary Council Meeting Agenda

16 December 2025

The Mayor & Councillors

Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council

PO Box 420

Cootamundra NSW 2590

NOTICE OF MEETING

An Extraordinary Meeting of Council will be held in the Alby Schultz meeting Centre, Cootamundra on:

Tuesday, 16th December, 2025 at 6:00pm

The agenda for the meeting is enclosed.

Roger Bailey

Interim General Manager

Live Streaming of Meetings Statement

This meeting is streamed live via the internet and an audio-visual recording of the meeting will be publicly available on Council's website.

By attending this meeting, you consent to your image and, or, voice being live streamed and publicly available. Please refrain from making any defamatory statements.

Statement of Ethical Obligations

The Mayor and Councillors are bound by the Oath/Affirmation of Office made at the start of the Council term to undertake their civic duties in the best interests of the people of Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council and to faithfully and impartially carry out the functions, powers, authorities and discretions vested in them under the Local Government Act or any other Act, to the best of their skill and judgement.

It is also a requirement that the Mayor and Councillors disclose conflicts of interest in relation to items listed for consideration on the Agenda or which are considered at this meeting in accordance with Council’s Code of Conduct and Code of Meeting Practice.

Extraordinary Council Meeting Agenda

16 December 2025

5 General Manager’s Report

5.1 Finance

5.1.1 Presentation of Audited 2025 Financial Statements

DOCUMENT NUMBER

452780

REPORTING OFFICER

Damian Smith, Acting Manager Finance

AUTHORISING OFFICER

Roger Bailey, Interim General Manager

RELEVANCE TO COMMUNITY STRATEGIC PLAN

4. Collaborative and progressive leadership

4.1 A clear strategic direction that is delivered upon

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

There are no Financial implications associated with this report.

LEGISLATIVE IMPLICATIONS

There are no Legislative implications associated with this report.

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

There are no Policy implications associated with this report.

ATTACHMENTS

1. Cootamundra Gundagai Regional Council - Financial Statements 2025 - Audited ⇩

Recommendation

That Council suspend the standing orders to receive a presentation from the NSW Audit Office.

Introduction

Council is required to table the reports on the audit of Councils Financial Statements for this year ending 30 June 2025.

Discussion

Under Section 419 of the Local Government Act 1993, Council is required to present its Audited Financial Statements, together with the Auditor’s report, at a meeting of the Council.

The meeting to present the Financial Statements to council must be set as soon as practicable after the Auditors Report is received. (Section 418(1)(a))

However, after Council receives the audited report, Public Notice is required to be given of presentation of the financial statements with them available for public exhibition for no less than 7 days prior to the meeting, but no more than 5 weeks after the auditors report is given to Council.

In accordance with Section 420 of the Local Government Act 2093 (NSW), any person may make a submission in writing to Council with respect to the Council’s Audited Financial Statements or the Auditor’s Reports.

In order to comply with the relevant legislation, it is proposed that the Financial Statements for 2025 be presented by the Auditors at an Extraordinary Council Meeting on 16^th December 2025.

The NSW Audit Office has completed their audit of the 2024/25 Financial Statements. The Director, Financial Audit – Min Lee from the Audit Office of NSW attend the meeting via video link to present the Audit Report and take any questions.

Public Notice in accordance with Section 418 has been arranged from Council’s Website 4 December 2025.

Financial

There are no financial implications associated with this report.

OLG 23a Guideline consideration

Does not conflict with Guidelines.

Extraordinary Council Meeting Agenda

16 December 2025

5.1.2 Quarterly Budget Review Statement - September 2025

DOCUMENT NUMBER

452850

REPORTING OFFICER

Damian Smith, Acting Manager Finance

AUTHORISING OFFICER

Roger Bailey, Interim General Manager

RELEVANCE TO COMMUNITY STRATEGIC PLAN

4. Collaborative and progressive leadership

4.1 A clear strategic direction that is delivered upon

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Reduction of net operating result of $2.294m predicting a $12.6m deficit at 30 June 2025. Increase in Capital expenditure of $748k, sourced from grants and reserves except for $7k from general funds to reflect cost to complete Hillas Creek Bridge.

LEGISLATIVE IMPLICATIONS

Compliance with Clause 203(1) of the Local Government (General) Regulation, 2005 requires that, not later than 2 months after the end of each quarter, excluding the June quarter, the responsible accounting officer must submit a budget review statement to Council. The format of the review must be consistent with the minimum requirements contained in the Quarterly Budget Review Statement Guidelines provided by the Office of Local Government.

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

There are no Policy implications associated with this report.

ATTACHMENTS

1. CGRC September 2025 QBR Statement ⇩

Recommendation

That Council:

1. Note the completion of the September 2025 Quarterly Budget Review.

2. Adopt the variations as outlined in the attachment totalling a net $2.162m.

Introduction

The purpose of this report is to present a summary of Council’s financial position at the end of the quarter, and to report on progress made against the original budget adopted by Council in its 2025-26 Operational Plan. A summary of operating budget variances, together with details of capital projects expenditure, are included in the September 2025 Quarterly Budget Review documents attached to the report.

Discussion

Details of the budget variations are included in the attached report below. There have been adjustments made to the capital and operational budget to accurately reflect the expected actual result as at 30 June 2025. Council is projecting an operating deficit of $12.6m based on current figures.

The increase in the net operating loss for the quarter is primarily because of the increase in budgeted expenditure of $2.162m for the Regional Emergency Road Repair Fund (RERRF). The expenditure was not included in the original budget for 2026 because planning for the projects was yet to be finalised and the expectation was the relevant funding for the projects was still to be received.

However, during completion of the 2025 Financial Statements, much work was completed on grants reconciliation and the resulting restricted funds that should be held. It was identified that funding received previously for RERRF, which covered multiple years, was treated incorrectly as income in the 2023 Financial Year. This grant should only have been recognised as income as the relevant projects were delivered. As such the decrease results from an overstatement of income in the 2023 Financial Statements.

While this has led to a disappointing result for Income and Expenses in the September 25 Quarter, as the adjustment is funded from Unspent Grants Reserve, it should at least have a positive result on unrestricted cash available at year end.

Financial

Reduction of net operating result of $2.294m predicting a $12.6m deficit at 30 June 2026. Increase in Capital expenditure of $748k, noting the majority of this is offset by grant and reserve funding.

OLG 23a Guideline consideration

Report purpose does not conflict with guidelines.

Extraordinary Council Meeting Agenda

16 December 2025

5.2 Engineering Gundagai

5.2.1 Traffic Matters - Humelink Project

DOCUMENT NUMBER

452531

REPORTING OFFICER

Thomas Hogg, Acting Mangaer Engineering Gundagai

AUTHORISING OFFICER

Trevor Dando, Acting Deputy General Manager Operations

RELEVANCE TO COMMUNITY STRATEGIC PLAN

5. Integrated and accessible region

5.1 Known for our good road network

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Please refer to financial implications section of this report.

LEGISLATIVE IMPLICATIONS

There are no Legislative implications associated with this report.

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

There are no Policy implications associated with this report.

ATTACHMENTS

Nil

Recommendation

1. That Council note this report.

2. That the Interim General Manager (or delegate – Acting Deputy General Manager Operations) continue to liaise with senior staff from Humelink regarding road safety issues, either through the HumeLink Construction Reference Group or if more urgent matters arise in the interim, through direct conversations.

3. That Council write to Trasport for NSW and request the urgency of the speed-zone review.

4. Staff update Council on the results of the speed-zone review currently being undertaken by Transport for NSW as soon as the report is received.

Introduction

Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council has received numerous complaints from members of the community regarding posted speed limits on Gobarralong Road, Adjungbilly. These complaints have primarily occurred since in the increase in heavy vehicle traffic for the Humelink Transmission line project, which has increased the frequency of vehicles being exposed to the increased risk which a higher speed limit causes. Council has been made aware of a near-miss between a school bus and a heavy vehicle, as well as between local vehicles and heavy vehicles.

This report provides information on the mitigation measures undertaken by Council today as well as clarification of other available to Council to address these safety concerns.

All traffic-regulation works undertaken by Council on any public road must align with powers conferred by legislation set by the State Government. Section 115 of the Roads Act 1993 allows Transport for NSW (TfNSW) to undertake traffic-regulation work for any purpose; however, Council’s powers are more limited. TfNSW has delegated some of its authority to councils through an Instrument of Delegation. In many instances, this instrument requires Council to refer matters to the Local Transport Forum before undertaking traffic-regulation works.

Speed Signs

TfNSW has a webpage that provides an easy guide to which signs require which approvals. The webpage can be found here: https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/operations/roads-and-waterways/traffic-signs. An example of a sign for which Council does not have any approval or delegation to install is the R4-1 Speed Limit sign. These signs are the sole responsibility of Transport for NSW.

Council may write to TfNSW to request a speed-zone review; however, Council has no ability to influence the outcome of that process. Specifically relating to the Humelink Project, Council has written to TfNSW requesting a speed-zone review for the length of road from the Hume Highway to Red Hill Road.

Council staff believe that the posted, or default speed limit is not compatible with the road conditions. The current speed limit on Gobarralong Road is 100km/h. The NSW Speed Zoning Standard, section B.1.1.3.2 sets out that the speed limit shall be 80km/h unless roadside risk and minimum carriageway dimensions are met. Many sections along Gobarralong Road do not meet the criteria for speed limits higher than 80km/h.

On 5 December TfNSW confirmed that they would investigate the speed-zone for a distance of 25 kilometres of Gobarralong Road from the Hume Highway through to the intersection of Gobarralong Adjungbilly Road and Fern Hill Road. At the time this report was written, Council had not yet received an outcome from the review.

Signs – Other

Council has explored improvements to non-speed signage within the Adjungbilly area. The Local Traffic Forum reviewed the suggested improvements on 13 November 2025, and their recommendations were adopted at the Council Meeting on 9 December 2025. These improvements include advance T-intersection warning signs, transverse audio-tactile line marking, narrow-bridge warning signage, and School Bus Ahead signage.

Now that Council has passed this resolution, staff have commenced procurement of the required signage, which will be installed as soon as possible. Acciona, the principal contractor for the Humelink East project, has agreed to pay for the installation of the signage and line marking approved at the 9 December 2025 meeting.

Sight Distance Improvements

Sight distance is assessed in accordance with the Austroads Guide to Road Design. This ensures that any sight-distance improvements are undertaken where they are objectively needed, balancing environmental impacts with safety benefits.

Council has already addressed sight-distance issues at a narrow bridge on Red Hill Road by removing trees close to the road edge. Council has agreed to remove additional trees to further improve sight distance.

Advice to School Bus Operators

Informal school bus stops are set by the bus operator and are typically determined following communication with parents. Transport for NSW has developed a guide that Council uses to support the management of informal bus stops. Council does not have a decision-making role regarding informal bus stops; however, Council can, and does, provide technical advice to bus operators to ensure they can make informed decisions about the best placement of these stops.

Specifically in the Adjungbilly area, Council has provided technical advice to bus operators, when requested, on whether certain informal bus stops do or do not meet the requirements set out in Transport for NSW’s guide.

Humelink Project – Road Protection

As part of the Humelink Project approvals process, Transgrid were required to prepare a Traffic and Transport Management Plan. The document control table in the Traffic and Transport Management Plan for the project indicates that Transport for NSW made comment on the document and the document was updated to address their comments.

Section 6.2.2 of the Traffic and Transport Management Plan states:

“Where an issue is reported or identified in a survey on a local road (including local road crossings) and subsequently confirmed to be as a result project related traffic, a roadwork construction crew will be arranged to attend the site of the issue as a priority. Temporary repairs with available resources on site will be implemented. Temporary repairs may include sweeping or clearing debris from the roadway or infilling a pothole with an appropriate material. Material for repairs will be made available at the main site compounds. Temporary repairs will be monitored regularly until such time that a permanent repair can be made.

Where a more permanent repair is required, a better equipped maintenance and traffic control crew will be deployed to implement a localised traffic worksite as soon as practical after the issue is identified. Permanent repair will be made to the relevant standard for the type of road in question.

Repairs (or payment for the full costs associated with repairs) to any damage to local roads as a result of use by the project will be undertaken as soon as practical after the damage is identified, but within:

· Seven days of identification if the damage could endanger road safety, or otherwise;

· Two months of the completion of the relevant survey (unless the relevant roads authority agrees otherwise).”

To date, Council has received private works funding from the project contractor, Acciona to undertake temporary repairs using the Jet-Patcher. This funding has only been provided after Council raised deterioration concerns with Humelink contractors.

It is currently Council’s position that impacts to the road—such as damage to infrastructure, reductions in safety, or inconvenience to the public—resulting from the Humelink Project are the responsibility of Transgrid, who may delegate this responsibility to a contractor. Council is also of the view that ratepayers should not bear the cost of these impacts; such costs should be borne by the project. Council will continue to liaise with Transgrid and its contractors to ensure they are fully aware of their obligations.

Humelink Project – Development Consent

The Humelink Project is a Critical State Significant Infrastructure Project, and as such, the consent authority for the project was the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces. The project was approved on 13 November 2024. The Department exhibited the application from 30 August 2023 to 10 October 2023 (42 days). During this period, Council had the opportunity to make submissions regarding the project and provided comments on all documents supplied.

The notice of determination did not identify roads or traffic implications as a key issue raised by the community at that time. While Council had the opportunity to review project plans and make submissions, it had no role in the determination process.

Financial

Acciona, a key subcontractor for HumeLink, has agreed to pay for the line marking and signage approved at the 9 December 2025 meeting. Acciona has also agreed to certain private works agreements for jet-patching of Council roads impacted by the project.

Council will continue to advocate for all impacts caused by the Humelink Project to be funded by the HumeLink project itself.

OLG 23a Guideline consideration

Nil.