In gearing up for increased competition, Council’s Local Approvals Service Unit has embarked on a program to improve its effectiveness and efficiencies. Designed to place it at the cutting edge of best practice, the Unit is benchmarking its performance against Warringah’s three neighbouring SHOROC Regional Councils, Manly, Mosman and Pittwater.
Six other Councils of comparable size and character to Warringah have also been selected to provide an industry measure. They include Bankstown, Blacktown, Canterbury, Fairfield, Parramatta and Sutherland. A regular series of data exchanges and workshops is proposed to facilitate this comparison.
The Service Unit has established a Special Reform Group to drive the reform programs. This is a cross functional team, comprising planners, building surveyors, administrators and engineers.
“The program will reevaluate all aspects of the approvals process,” said Dennis Emery, Manager of the Service Unit. “The program of reform is ambitious and promises a completion date at the end of 1998.”
The Service Unit is currently gathering statistics to assess where it stands in relation to the other Councils and to identify those areas in need of improvement. An important part of the process is feedback from service users by way of a customer survey. The Unit aims to be recognised as a leader in both approval turnaround times and human resource management.
“As well as changing the culture of the workplace, we also need to change the community’s perception of Council and how it does things,” Dennis Emery said. “We must be seen as competitive, efficient and providing value for money services.
“A major emphasis is being placed on enhancing staff skills, and the use of information technology to ensure we are at the cutting edge.”
For further information contact Dennis Emery, telephone (02) 9982 0414.
