NSW LGMA gears up for challenges and changes
Meeting in the week following Statewide Local Government elections, and shortly after Nathan Rees became State Premier and carried out his front bench shakeup, amid worldwide concern with the US financial markets meltdown, Local Government Managers Australia (LGMA NSW) New South Wales state conference was staged in Penrith from 17 to 19 September.
LGMA NSW President, Penny Holloway, said the conference theme, ‘Building the Team’, was designed to develop, strengthen and provide support for the Local Government team as it takes on the economic, environmental and social challenges that lie ahead.
Recently appointed as Minister for Local Government in Nathan Rees’ new team, Barbara Perry agreed that there certainly are big challenges ahead for New South Wales.
A former Local Government Councillor prior to being elected to State Parliament, Minister Perry pledged to consult and work closely with councils.
“I do not want to work with Local Government through press releases,” Minister Perry said. “And I am well aware that you operate in an environment where expectations are continually increasing and resources decreasing.”
She said that the Local Government Department has a number of key projects that aim to build a strong and sustainable sector.
“The Councillor Development Strategy will assist both newly elected and returned Councillors to understand their role and that of Council management, and assist their decisions as they provide the services their community needs and can afford,” Minister Perry said. “To complement each council’s induction program, the Department will be holding 40 seminars across the State in October and November to equip Councillors with the skills to ensure they have a productive term of office.”
The Minister said that the draft legislation on integrated Planning Reporting will be released for consultation later this year and then introduced as a Bill to amend the Local Government Act in the 2009 Budget Session of Parliament.
“The aim is to streamline councils’ planning and reporting, strengthen councils strategic focus and ‘cut red tape’ to enable councils to focus more on community outcomes,” Minister Perry said. “It opens the way for councils and their communities to have important discussions about funding priorities, service levels, preserving local identity and to plan in partnership for a more sustainable future.”
She called on delegates to develop partnerships, to build skills to meet the challenges ahead, both within their council and across the sector through city/country alliances and regional groupings of councils.
“The Local Government sector needs to be one large team all working to provide a better quality of life,” she said.
