The 13 suspended Central Coast councillors are to be sacked and the Council is to remain in administration until the next local government election for the region following the release of the Public Inquiry report this morning (March 17).
After months of waiting, residents finally have access to the full report on the public inquiry into Central Coast Council.
Minister for Local Government, Wendy Tuckerman, has tabled the report, saying the State Government accepts all eight of its recommendations in principle.
The first recommendations are that all civic offices be declared vacant immediately and that an Administrator be appointed until the next election of councillors.
Commissioner Roslyn McCulloch has also recommended that Council’s Business Recovery Plan formulated in 2020 be completed and that information sessions be held for prospective candidates prior to the election, providing information about the obligations and burdens on future councillors.
She suggests mandatory training for newly elected councillors, including training relating to financial management specific to local government, within three months of the election.
McCulloch recommends consideration be given to making it mandatory for incoming councillors to complete an accredited course for company directors, or and equivalent course developed specifically for local government, within 12 months of the election with refresher courses for councillors who have previously completed such courses.
She suggests amendments to the Local Government Act 1993 to make it clear that monies raised through rate or charges levies must be used for the purpose for which they were levied.
The report also recommends that consideration be given to removing Central Coast Council as a water authority, with water supply and sewerage services to be administered in the same way as they are for other NSW councils.
“The community rightly expects that its elected council officials adhere to the highest standards and this report makes strong recommendations to help improve the Council’s performance moving forward,” Tuckerman said.
“Central Coast ratepayers deserve a council operating in the best interests of its community and this report puts in place recommendations to continue the road to recovery.”
Central Coast Newspapers spoke with Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, Adam Crouch MP, following the release of the Inquiry’s findings.
Crouch welcomed the report and all of the Commissioner’s recommendations, saying it highlighted the poor performance of the elected councillors who, he said, “were too busy point-scoring and grandstanding and not focusing on the job at hand”.
Crouch said the report was also very critical of the senior officers within Council and that the process of repairing council finances would be a long and challenging one.
“This is a situation that ratepayers of the Coast are going to have to bear for a decade.”
Crouch also supported the recommendations in relation to the Central Coast Council status as a water authority and , saying that there was an opportunity to “unlock value from these multi-billion dollar water and sewerage assets”
Shadow Minister for the Central Coast, David Harris MP, also welcomed the publishing of the report and supported the notion of separating the region’s water and sewerage services into a separate authority outside of Councillors management remit.
However, he did not support any future attempts to privatise those assets.
Harris also said he was disappointed the government has not used the opportunity to restructure and reduce the Council’s debt burden by allowing Council to access its own internally restricted funds.
Current Administrator, Rik Hart also welcomed the report.
“It’s an opportunity for the community to get some closure after what has been a pretty disastrous period for the Council, community and staff,” he said.
Hart has been asked to continue as interim Administrator to ensure continuity in the recovery.
Terry Collins
It is pleasing to the Public Inquiry Report tabled.
An area of continuing concern is pocket communities, such as, Empire Bay, needing Road and Drainage Maintenance. This will require NSW State support. Mr. Adam Crouch M.P., Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, has had some successes in this space. More help is needed, though. Given mismanagement by generations of Councillors, Budgeting is tight. Significant State is required. The Council simply cannot afford to address the situation given its resources.
Government grants need to allow for local requests, in lieu of all Capital Works projects being sidelined for more visible projects in tourist areas. Fair is fair. Expenditures need to more balanced.
The need is greatest in pocket communities, largely ignored by Council or put on the never-never in Capital Works Programming. For example, Council has advised, it could take a decade before dilapidated Rickard Road, Empire Bay, will receive appreciate attention. Rickard is a key feeder road to secondary roads in Empire Bay, carries buses, and, for many residents, is the main route to the shopping area. The new Councillors need to respect the requirements of voting, rate paying residents of pocket communities. Relatedly, Maintenance should be regarded the same priority as development.
Better Road Repair equipment is needed, rather than work gangs eternally filling pot holes. Empire Bay Drive was tarred and sealed, over a few weeks. Community Council Roads do not see see these efficiencies.
Please lobby our representatives.
Dr. Peter Sinclair
The report said that the elected councillors “were too busy point-scoring and grandstanding” Hardly surprising given that most of them are members of political parties. We get enough of that at the two higher levels of government so how about banning anyone with membership of any party from standing as councillors in future? That way we might actually get the focus placed exclusively on our region.