One of the smaller Local Governments among Tasmania’s 29 municipalities, Brighton Council, has shown that size is no barrier to organisation excellence or entrepreneurial flair. It has developed strategic agreements for resource sharing with six other councils, selling the expertise of its professional staff and specialist services to councils that don’t have these resources.
In addition, Brighton has developed software solutions that are now used by nine Tasmanian councils, three councils in Western Australia, two in New South Wales and Suva City Council in Fiji.
Council’s business model has been widely acknowledged for demonstrating operational excellence with an award presented at the Local Government Association of Tasmania (LGAT) last year.
LGAT CEO Allan Garcia commended Brighton Council for managing its resources in a way that not only provided assistance to other councils but brought in revenue.
“Brighton Council has provided a fantastic example of how entrepreneurship and resource sharing can help Local Government achieve sustainability in the long term,” he said. “This is truly an innovative project, one that other Tasmanian councils could easily implement in their regions.”
Mayor Tony Foster said that Council’s resource sharing business model has brought enormous benefits to Brighton and demonstrated how a unique model could be used to cost effectively assist other councils no matter where they were located.
“We have developed a unique model to assist likeminded councils with resource sharing and service provision and, importantly, it is bearing fruit both here in Tasmania, interstate and overseas,” Councillor Foster said. “The real benefit is in the development of our talented staff, the efficiencies and economies of scale we achieve and, importantly, the income Brighton earns that is used to benefit our ratepayers and community.”
For further information contact General Manager Ron Sanderson telephone (03) 6268 7000.
