Policies

This policy provides a framework to regulate and guide the identification, recognition and measurement of non-current assets that provide future economic benefit to Coffs Harbour City Council and the community. This policy is necessary to ensure compliance with International and Australian Accounting Standards and relevant legislation, as well as capture meaningful data for strategic planning purposes. 

The Asset Management Policy and accompanying Asset Management Strategy establish the principles and direction for managing Council’s infrastructure assets to ensure they:

• Perform in a way that meets the needs and aspirations of the community as expressed in the Community Strategic Plan (as far as possible within the resources Council has available to provide them, considering competing priorities)
• Are sustainable (in that the social, environmental and economic costs of providing them over the long term are minimised)
• Have an acceptable level of risk (as defined in Council’s Risk Management Policy) and are resilient (wherever possible, increasing the capacity of the community to withstand external shocks and adapt to changing circumstances) 

Council is committed to preventing the possibility of backflow of contaminated substances into Council's water supply system, which if occurred, could result in sickness and in some cases, death. Backflow is the reverse flow of waters or other liquids from a potentially polluted source into the town’s water supply.

Coffs Harbour as the supplier of water to the public undertakes to provide safe drinking water to the consumer’s property. Council ensures this by protecting the systems from contamination or pollution. This details council's commitment to backflow prevention and cross connection control. 

See also: Backflow protection, how to register a device and submit testing

Coffs Harbour City Council manages seven cemeteries and the purpose of this document is to detail Council’s policy on:

• Interment rights
• Managing the Cemetery Register
• Burials and interment
• Plinths and plaques
• Cemetery management and conditions of use

Coffs Harbour City Council provides and delivers programs and services that children access and use and council is committed to:

• Ensuring that Council’s programs and services are safe for children and protects their welfare, wellbeing and, in particular, protects them from child abuse
• Ensuring that all Council workers (including volunteers, see definition) act in the best interests of a child and take all responsible steps to ensure a child’s safety
• Establishing and implementing systems for child safety

This policy aims to manage potential conflicts of interest and increase transparency at all stages of the development process for City-related development.

Council acknowledges the reality of climate change and that climate change will impact on both the current and future way of life of the whole Coffs Harbour local government area community and our natural and built environment. Council commits to:

• Reducing Council’s contribution to climate change and supporting the community to reduce their contribution to climate change.
• Adapting Council’s activities and services to become more resilient to climate change and realise the opportunities it provides.
• Working with the community to help build the resilience of our residents and local ecosystems to adapt to the effects of climate change.

 This policy has been developed to articulate Coffs Harbour City Council’s position and response to climate change. 

The Coastal Vulnerability Area Policy has been developed to:

• Minimise social, environmental and economic risks, due to coastal erosion and recession;

• Manage development in the Coastal Vulnerability Area and protect the environmental assets of the coast, and

• Establish a framework for land use planning to guide decision-making in the Coastal Vulnerability Area, and

• Provide clarity for development on land subject to coastal erosion and recession.

The Code of Conduct sets the minimum standards of conduct for council officials. It is prescribed by regulation to assist council officials to:

• understand and comply with the standards of conduct that are expected of them
• enable them to fulfil their statutory duty to act honestly and exercise a reasonable degree of care and diligence (s439 of the Local Government Act 1993)
• act in a way that enhances public confidence in local government.