I am again pleased to see and to report that the essence of the new committee structure is shaping up as a winner for Council.

The concept of committees with independent members contributing is ground breaking and challenging. It puts Unley out there in front and I know many councils are watching us to see how well we perform.

We will make mistakes and it is difficult to deal with the transition. We also will get great benefit from it.

And I saw again the value of independent expert input at the recent Development, Strategy & Policy Committee. The quality of the report this committee submits to next month’s council meeting is improved by their contribution.

This meeting included a report on, with a summary of, the responses we received from the public forum we conducted two months ago on DPA 3A. Members, both elected and independent, then contributed their thoughts.

The public responses and the observation form this meeting will be put to council for their final consideration. Council will therefore be well armed to make a responsible and qualified decision.