COVID-19 Pandemic

IMPACT ON COUNCIL OPERATIONS

Hard on the heels of the summer bushfire crisis, the first COVID-19 case was detected in Australia in January 2020, with border controls and travel restrictions initially announced by the Federal Government in late February.

The national response to the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the City of Ryde and Council operations. The northern part of the City of Ryde was one of the hotspots during the early phases of the outbreak in Australia with Epping Boys High School closed, multiple cases among staff at Ryde Hospital and Macquarie University, and a growing outbreak at aged care facility Dorothy Henderson Lodge in Macquarie Park, on the university campus’ north-west perimeter.

During February, businesses in the usually bustling Eastwood town centre experienced a downturn of up to 70 percent following the virus’ arrival in Australia as people began to avoid the suburb and Lunar New Year events were cancelled. In response, Council established a $500,000 Small Business Hardship Fund to help support small businesses in Eastwood town centre cope with reduced customer traffic.

On 6 March 2020, Council invoked its Business Continuity Plan and accompanying Pandemic Plan in light of the rapidly evolving situation. The major focus of this plan was to ensure that Council can maintain a safe work environment for all our staff to minimise risk to both themselves and customers, and find alternate means to safely provide the services required by the community with minimal disruption. We set up a Crisis Management Team (CMT) and CMT subcommittee that meets regularly to manage Council’s response to the pandemic and to monitor changing State and Federal Government requirements.

When the World Health Organization recognised the spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic on 11 March, the Federal Government closed international borders to non-citizens and non-residents. The State Government enacted Public Health Orders that directed employers to allow employees to work from home where possible, restrict gatherings at home and outdoors; allow businesses to run, with restrictions, require people diagnosed with COVID-19 to self-isolate; and restrict access to residential aged care facilities. Lockdown of essential services was introduced to curb infection rates and social distancing measures introduced.

By 30 March, all Council sporting facilities, playgrounds, libraries and community facilities were closed and most Council events cancelled or postponed to comply with social distancing guidelines and restrictions on public gatherings. Some other Council services, like the Health and Building Inspection Program, were significantly disrupted as a result of the closure of many of the premises that were scheduled for inspection.

Adjustments were made for staff working from remote locations part-time or with modified arrangements for operational and frontline staff to ensure separation and physical distancing. Planned investment and associated work in information technology infrastructure was brought forward to cater for staff work from home requirements resulting from COVID-19 restrictions and modified work practices.

Adjustments were made to many other Council services to ensure continuity of services, with health and building inspection staff, rangers and Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre (RALC) staff shifted to other duties, including delivering library books to housebound residents and joining Council’s parks teams. We provided additional financial support to assist local businesses affected by social distancing and lockdown measures, including a range of fee waivers, and applications for rent deferral from business owners operating from Council premises. A range of community events were delivered online with great support from the community.

Council adopted a COVID-19 Financial Hardship Policy in April 2020 that included deferral of rates and a $400 rate rebate for beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s JobSeeker and JobKeeper schemes, with an identical subsidy for eligible pensioners for 2020/21. Fee waivers for the RALC, community halls and libraries were adopted, along with a variety of regulatory fees aimed at assisting small business. Council also implemented its Small Business Assistance package to provide financial assistance to small business operating from Council premises to enable them to continue and recover from the impacts of the pandemic.

Key Council functions like processing development applications, waste collection services and almost our entire capital works program were able to continue with minimal to no disruption. Of the 151 capital and non-capital projects in our 2019/20 Operational Plan, at the end of the financial year, 99 were complete or completed their planned scope for the year and a further 30 of these were progressing as planned. Three projects had been deferred and one cancelled. Council is managing issues relating to the delivery of the remaining 18 projects, including delays resulting from COVID-19 restrictions.

Council services were flexed up and down in line with isolation rules, physical distancing and other requirements set out in NSW Public Health Orders, NSW legislation and regulations. Changes were made to Council buildings, front desks and libraries to ensure physical distancing by staff and visitors, including the installation of screens, COVID-19-related signage and the supply of sanitiser and protective equipment.

The RALC re-opened on 22 June with capacity and physical distancing restrictions in place. Libraries re-opened in June with limited hours and some restrictions to ensure physical distancing and infection control. Our halls were made available to the community during the shutdown period, and parks and playgrounds reopened on 15 May. Council meetings continued to be held online with members of the public able to live stream and submit comments in writing. Fee waivers were announced to support sporting clubs following the return to competitive sports competitions.

During the shutdown period, the City of Ryde also increased its COVID-19 compliance role, with our compliance team working with NSW Health to conduct visits and joint inspections, and engaging with local businesses that need assistance to comply with NSW Public Health Orders.

The net financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for Council between 1 March 2020 and 31 December 2020 is estimated to be approximately $12 million ($4.5 million in 2019/20 and $7.5 million in 2020/21), which is being funded through internal reserve drawdowns, together with expenditure savings and the deferral of some projects. Prudent financial management over many years has helped us to rise to the challenge presented by the COVID-19 pandemic while maintaining a balanced budget.