The St Marys and Penrith City Centres are the heart of the City. The renewal programs for these assets will help stimulate visitor and business activity and enliven the Centres. $2million per year is required from Council's SRV application. If unsuccessful, the program of civic infrastructure improvements will not be implemented resulting in the loss of the catalyst to encourage economic growth and support new investment. What are thoughts about the need for these improvements?

The draft Operational Plan 2012-13 outlines Council's responsibilities over the coming year to deliver on priorities for our community and its development. The plan refelects those tasks and activities considered necessary to complete the body of work cimmitted to in the 2009-13 Delivery Program.  Do you think Council has included the right series of tasks and priorities, and the apprropriate service level, to achieve the Delivery program priorities?  Do you have any suggestions for change or improvement ?

Consultation for the Special Rate Variation (SRV) highlighted community perception of the disparity of services and infrastructure in established areas as opposed to the newer areas of the City.Council's Neighbourhood Renewal Program has been actively engaged with residents of established areas across the city to revitalise places & make public spaces more appealing for use by a broad range of community members. Requiring an additional $300,000 per year to successfully revitalise and connect identified communities the implementation of a number of recommendations of Neighbourhood Action Plans will be significantly delayed should the SRV not be successful. This includes bus shelter and seating in areas used by older residents in Kingswood Park, Cranebrook and Kingswood and enhanced lighting in Londonderry, particularly near bus stops.Is this an important issue for you? Would you be prepared to pay more for this?

Once seen as just an unsightly issue, litter has now been recognised as a significant environmental problem. Already chip and confectionary wrappers, glass, fast food packaging, soft drink bottles and cigarette butts are challenging issues throughout the Council area particularly in car parks, high activity locations, community precincts & industrial areas. If the extra $360,000 per year is not forthcoming from the Special Rate Variation (SRV) Application, Council will be unable to tackle this growing community concern.What do you think about this issue?

Community consultation regarding the Special Rate Variation has highlighted that whether residents supported or didn't support a rise in rates, they certainly did not want any reduction of services. Council's customer surveys support this finding with 87% of respondents satisfied with Council's performance and nearly three quarters providing a high satisfaction rating. However with an additional $1.3 million required annually to maintain existing levels of service to the community, an unsuccessful SRV application would not only see a reduction in service levels but a number of cuts to services. Do you agree? What are your thoughts about this issue?

The condition of public toilets continues to rate as high importance and low satisfaction in Council's community surveys. Over the past 3 years it has been rated with the lowest satisfaction rating.The program has been funded at the rate of $150,000 per year since 2008-09. Today 19 toilet blocks need to be replaced at an estimated cost of $2.4 million. Funding outlined in the SRV application is fundamental to upgrading existing toilet blocks to current accessibility and community safety standards. On current funding it will take a further 16 years to complete the program. An extra $90,000 received through a successful SRV application would fast track this program to completion in 10 years. Is this an important issue to you?  Would you be prepared to pay more for this?

The footpath network is approx. 365km long & growing every year as new release areas are developed in the City. Recent community consultation for the Special Rates Variation showed that 'footpath maintenance' was raised at almost every listening post held at shopping centres, markets and at community group meetings. The community was clearly concerned about the upkeep of footpaths especially in older areas of the City. Council's recent annual report showed a backlog in maintenance for existing footpaths of just over $4million. The current budget for essential repairs is $400,000pa. A proposal in the SRV application to increase this budget by $400,000 in 2014-15 would see the backlog start to be reduced. How important is this issue for you?

Council looks after 1,240 hectares of open space & spends approx. $13.3m each year on parks, reserves, playgrounds & sporting field maintenance and upkeep. Although 85% of assets are in good condition significant renewal is required. Should the Special Rates Variation application be unsuccessful, Council will not have the required additional $600,000 per year to upgrade existing playgrounds and sportsgrounds to comply with Australian Standards. This includes the renewal of water efficient irrigations systems, floodlighting and playgrounds. There is the possibility that as conditions deteriorate a number of sportsfields and playgrounds will become unfit for use or unable to meet community expectations and will need to be closed. What is your opinion about this?

Do you agree with these?