“Now that our future has been ratified by the community, it is full steam ahead,” said Paul Stevens, Gold Coast City Council’s Director Corporate Services. “From an organisational point of view, there is no uncertainty about the future, and we do not have too many doubts about how to get there.”
In population terms, Gold Coast is Australia’s second largest Council. Formed in March 1995 following the amalgamation of the former Albert Shire and Gold Coast City, this ‘Super Council’ serves a population of approximately 340,000 and has an annual budget of $425 million.
One of seven recently amalgamated Councils, the State Government recently legislated providing for a referendum to see if the people wanted to return to their former Council boundaries. Such a vote occurred in July, with the majority of voters rejecting deamalgamation.
“Public debate in the months leading up to the referendum affected both staff and community morale,” Paul Stevens said. “Since the result, there has been an immeasurable improvement. Programs no longer have a question mark hanging over them.”
In spite of the uncertainty, Council went ahead and adopted a Corporate Plan and more detailed Operational Plan. With continuation of the new Council now assured, these documents set out both the purpose and future directions for the City and map out the role which Council will play in that process.
In less than 18 months much has been achieved. The appointment of Dr Doug Daines, as the Chief Executive Officer in May 1995, was soon followed by the early settling of the organisational structure. A priority was to match the structure with meeting the needs of the larger community. Gold Coast was one of the first Councils in Australia to have its CEO, seven Directors and 39 managers all employed on fixed term performance based contracts which featured non automatic return to the award structure.
Other major achievements include a decision on the future of the Northern Waste Water Treatment Plant averting the less environmentally sustainable proposal of an ocean outfall. The establishment of a new City Projects Directorate enables Council to undertake major projects jointly with private sector and other stakeholders or of its own volition.
As well as including a new Economic Development Branch, City Projects is working closely with the private sector, Robina Town Centre, a major rejuvenation of Surfers Paradise’s CBD through the ‘Heart of the City Project’ and Yatala Industrial Area Development to name just a few. With an annual growth rate of around four percent, Gold Coast’s population is expected to exceed half a million people by 2011.
The City is looking forward to a great future based on astute planning decisions and quality management, using the best available technology.
