Located in central Victoria, Mitchell Shire covers over 2,800 square kilometres and has a population of approximately 33,000 people. With such a large area, some residents have had to travel up to 40 minutes each way to carry out their Council business at the Shire’s one Council office. This was not a situation locals were used to, as prior to amalgamations in 1994, Council offices were located in close range to population centres.
The 1994 amalgamations combined the major parts of five Shires and it left Council’s only office building in the geographic centre of the new Shire, rather than in one of the main population centres. That geographic centre was Broadford, Council’s fourth largest town. While this offered obvious logistical advantages for Council, it led to only a small percentage of residents having easy access to Council.
As one of Victoria’s fastest growing regional municipalities, Mitchell Shire recognised the local community’s expectations for Council services to be available in places where they work and live. This year, Council purchased a State Government building, which was built on Council land in the large town of Seymour. It also invested in the infrastructure and training required to provide full Council services from its Kilmore and Wallan libraries.
The new Council offices in Seymour were officially opened in August after a frenzied period of renovations that saw a previously rundown building turned into sparkling offices ready to deal with the public. The Seymour office provides both permanent and temporary workstations for Council staff and has three meeting rooms. Council’s Economic Development Unit was relocated to the new office, planning staff are rostered there one day per week, and specialist staff are available by appointment.
The Wallan and Kilmore customer service centres were opened in October to coincide with National Customer Service Week. Specially trained staff, colocated at the Kilmore and Wallan libraries, are available six days a week. They can assist residents with a full range of customer service inquiries, including making appointments with officers and receiving documents and permit applications.
This extension of customer service centres to Seymour, Wallan and Kilmore means more than 18,000 people now have a Council office within a few minutes of their home.
Mitchell Shire Mayor, Councillor Bill Melbourne, said he is proud to be part of a Council that is turning around the idea that services should be centralised and can’t be provided in the towns where people work and live.
“We will now have customer service staff in the Shire’s four largest towns and in two of them on a Saturday,” he said.
For further information contact Daniel Scoullar, Mitchell Shire’s Public Relations Officer, on (03) 5734 6359.
