With councillors set to return to the region in September next year, Central Coast Council says its annual report for 2022-23 highlights an organisation that is financially stable and making progress on delivering for the community.
The report, which was adopted by Administrator Rik Hart at the November 28 meeting, outlines the achievement of the organisation over the past 12 months.
Council says key highlights of 2022-23 include: successfully delivering a surplus larger than forecast; the revitalisation and renewal of the Visitors Information Centre at The Entrance, complete with community space and accessible bathrooms; successfully securing $800,000 in federal funding to upgrade six local playspaces across the Central Coast; delivering an extended events calendar with more than 176,000 attendees and an injection of about $21M into the local economy; upgrading 23km of sewer mains and 5.5km of water mains; repairing 109,418 potholes; seeing the Central Coast Regional Complex and Central Coast Stadium chosen as a team base camp for two highly ranked international teams (Germany and England) ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023TM; and supporting the national Sport4All program as the first local government area to sign up in NSW.
CEO David Farmer said it had been a successful 12 months for the organisation.
“I am proud of the achievements throughout 2022-23,” he said.
“We’ve worked hard towards regaining financial stability and the community’s confidence and trust as we move towards a brighter future.
“It is crucially important that this momentum isn’t lost, and we lay the groundwork for a stable Council that will see the return of councillors next year.
“Our staff are dedicated to delivering for the Central Coast community, and I will ensure that this focus will continue in the coming year.”
Administrator Rik Hart said the release of the annual report was a time to stop, reflect and celebrate the achievements and partnership of the organisation and community working together.
“The Central Coast is a beautiful place to live, work and play, and I am proud to be able to advocate for this region as we work to make it better every day,” he said.
The 2022-23 Annual Report is available for public download – search ‘annual report’ on Council’s website.
“Successful year” in that headline is hardly a statement of fact – more likely the heading of a Council media release spouting spin rather than reality.
The Council Annual Report shows that 25% of targets were not achieved – a poor result especially given the Mickey Mouse nature of many of these targets.
The Report includes shocking results across the water and sewer portfolio.
And mean times for processing development applications are still 57% above target – double what they were when Mr Hart was appointed Administrator and Mr Farmer CEO.
This is a poor return for an organisation that has increased its combined general rates and water rates by 30% in just three years.