Busselton Mayor Phill Cronin warns councillors to be “mindful” of staff workloads amid five notices of motion

Busselton Mayor Phill Cronin has warned councillors they should be “mindful” of pressure on staff amid a number of notices of motion put forward at council meetings. The council voted on five notices of motion at its latest meeting, with three put forward by Cr Andrew Macnish and another two by deputy mayor Cr Anne Ryan. But Cr Cronin told councillors to “focus on the important things” while arguing against the council voting for Cr Macnish’s proposal to have work start on a peak periods policy to better allocate resources during high demand. He said the “problem” with notices of motion is “they push themselves up the line of priority” for staff. “We did bring this up as an issue, we had a briefing from staff regarding this peak period and I’ve requested that a meeting be booked in around that winter time that we as councillors can do this type of work,” he said. “We have to mindful of the pressure and amount of workload that staff are currently under.” Cr Macnish hit back, stating he thinks it is “culturally sad” if anyone does not look positively on notices of motion. “It is the primary tool of an elected member to carry out their role in facilitating communication between community and the council,” he said. “Anyone who downplays the importance of notice of motions, you’ve got to have a serious look at yourself.” Cr Ryan brought up a contradiction in Mr Cronin’s speech, where he also outlined a wish for the council to create a tourism committee. “You want to create a committee when you’ve just finished telling us that the staff are under-resourced and they don’t have enough time to do what they’re doing,” she said. In introducing the peak periods policy notice of motion, Cr Macnish said the council should address the issue rather than “kick the can down the road”. “Each year we have discussions about camping, litter, dogs and traffic,” he said. “We’re responsible now to recognise the reality of that and resource that.” Cr Kate Cox spoke against the proposed policy and proposed instead to bring a destination management plan to the next meeting. Cr Macnish’s motion was carried 5-4, with Mr Cronin, Cr Cox, Cr Val Kaigg and Cr Mikayla Love in the minority.