What is the biggest issue facing Local Government?
Votes: 9
by Ian Naylor 1:02pm, 25 January 2008
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I think the biggest issue facing local government is keeping up with demands of the community and skill shortages!
Toby Vero
Executive Member - Communication Guru
Feb 03, 2008 04:12pm
7
0 
At the moment the biggest issue may be coming from within; what is the State Government up to?
It looks as if their going to remove water resources and also s94 contributions from councils autonomy, what are they doing, where is the consultation with councils and the public?
I wonder what's coming next!
the detective
Feb 14, 2008 06:22pm
2
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I too am suspicious of the State govts motives. After studying Constitutional law I fear for the tenure of local councils who are not mentioned in the Constitution and only breathe at the behest of State govts. The current NSW govt is probably the most secretive of any. I think they are an example of Nick Greiners managerialism gone rabid. local communities need to speak up and own their own local govt.
kpatsan
Apr 10, 2008 10:16am
1
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As a member of the public (i.e. not an employee of a Council), I offer a real world perspective. Please appreciate that perception is reality and I'm just the messenger....
Rightly or wrongly, Councils are viewed in the community as being inefficient, wasteful and stymied by minority groups & strategic priorities that are out of touch with community expectations. Unfortunately this is what you get with a system that encompasses two elements:
1) Politicisation of Councils, as opposed to not-political management
2) Natural monopoly on revenue/no competition
(Still with me? Remember, I'm just the messenger)
As an entrenched system, there's little that can be done about removing the politics from Councils. However as Council workers have you wondered why a vast amuo0nt of people cheer when Councils are sacked and administrators appointed? It's because Councils invariably work better during this period, despite the supposed lack of democratic process.
On the issue of inefficiency, you can't expect a Council that has no concept of competition to offer services at market price/market service levels. The mere fact that it takes weeks and hundreds of dollars to approve a patio is testimony to that. However the cause isn't helped by work practices, work processes and staffing that is well behind private enterprise best practice. A good example is the 9 day fortnight, which is laughable in the real world. The consensus in the community is well in favour of amalgamation of Councils in order to deliver economies of scale and less duplication.
Believe it or not, (and this may sound anathema to you), I would well imagine the vast majority of NSW ratepayers (i.e. your customers), support Frank Sartor's reforms, for no other reason that our perception is that he's firing a rocket up Councils to make them more efficient.
aking
Feb 16, 2008 03:34pm
2
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The planning reforms are the biggest power grab ever. They are going to leave Local Government assessing home rennovations and pretty much nothing else. This will effectively remove the ability of Local Government to control the strategi development of our communities and will ensure that the State and their appointed commissions control things. If we do not act to stop these changes I fear for the future of local government in NSW
Tye
Feb 18, 2008 10:49am
3
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I think a lot of Councils are underestimating the impact of the Planning Reforms in NSW from the perspective of autonomy in decision making but also the significant impact it will have on the capacity of Councils to build important new community infrastructure. Last week Baulkham Hills Council annouced that the proposed changes would shave $343 million of their Section 94 budget alone.
I think Integrating Planning and Sustainability Planning will also be big future challenges for Local Government. Not doing less, but working smarter and knowing what our core business is.