Councillor Margot Castles has topped the list for the number of councillor requests on the Council Hub – where councillors make requests for information.
Council has published councillor expenses and the list of councillor requests after the first six months of having councillors back on the Central Coast.
Castles asked for information 25 times ahead of Councillor Jared Wright with 23 requests.
Castles said an example of her requests included questions about a derelict property and overgrown, non-maintained land around that property; questions about a toilet block which needed replacing; and questions about grass cutting and grounds maintenance.
On the first question, Castles said she drove past the property and concurred with the concerns raised.
“I asked a series of questions including advice on what action, if any, Council can take under these circumstances and whether an inspection can be made of the property,” Castles said.
“From that an inspection was made of the property and Council does have this type of thing under its remit.”
With the toilet blocks, she was able to find out and report back to the community member that this was scheduled for replacement with work commencing shortly.
“The grass cutting took a while to get sorted as it was close to a sensitive wetlands area but the result was that grass cutting/ground maintenance has been recommenced and community nearby liaised with,” Castles said.
“It is also worth noting that all councillors can see the questions asked and the responses given so we can all be better informed.”
The six monthly report includes statistics showing councillor attendance at council meetings, briefings, workshops, weekly CEO updates and advisory groups as well as access to the Hub and their viewing of documents.
A second report outlined their expenses.
Council noted that some expenses might not have made the list as councillors have up to three months to seek reimbursement of expenses.
“Accordingly, there may have been expenses incurred which are not shown in the table; such expenses will be captured in the next reporting period,” Council said.
The councillor expenses policy is currently on public exhibition for public feedback.
A review of the policy is mandatory after each council election.
Central Coast councillors were elected in September 2024 after four years of the Council being under administration.
The first councillors were suspended in 2020 and then sacked in 2022 after a financial crisis saw the State Government install an administrator and hold a public inquiry.
Residents can find and comment on the councillor expenses policy here: https://www.yourvoiceourcoast.com/CEFP
Merilyn Vale
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