Amalgamating seven communities, all from different language groups, and covering an area stretching 320 kilometres to the east of Katherine has been no easy task.
“The important thing is having a vision for Nyirranggulung and working to make that vision real,” said President, Veronica Bell. “We now have a strategic plan. Community people have told us what is important and that has gone into the plan.”
After six years of hard work, Nyirranggulung Mardrulk Ngadberre Regional Council came into being on 1 July 2003. With an annual budget of $7.8 million, Council has 30 contract staff and 284 people employed under the Community Development Employment Program (CDEP).
“It has taken a while to sort out but things are really moving ahead now,” said Chief Executive Officer, Rod Walsh. “We need to be more community centric in regard to service delivery. Centralising finances into Council’s head office in Katherine enables the five Community Managers to concentrate more on local service delivery.
“Staffing remains an ongoing issue both in terms of recruiting and retaining skilled officers. We are also finding that running communities as ‘dry’ areas is not working that well. We are looking at other areas that have introduced community clubs. This model enables the community to control alcohol consumption and use access to the club as a means to encourage desired outcomes from specific individuals.”
