Gunnedah Shire Council’s End of Term Report is now available, detailing the achievements of the previous Council made from 2012 to 2016.

The principal highlights included:

• Achieving a financially sustainable position by decreasing expenditure and forward planning to ensure Community assets are appropriately funded, maintained and updated;
• Being recognised as ‘Fit for the Future’ in the recent 2015 Local Government Reforms;
• The undertaking of an organisational review and implementation of efficiencies in Council operations which resulted in $1.7 million in annual and recurrent savings over the four-year term;
• Completion of back-to-back significant capital works programs well in excess of council's previous programs, resulting in a reduction of Council’s infrastructure backlog;
• Funding and increase in the availability of serviced industrial land.

"To come out of this period of structural change across the local government community of NSW in such good shape was a significant achievement by the Council and senior staff responsible for guiding us through that difficult period," stated former Mayor, Owen Hasler.

"We have been comprehensively assessed as very competent in many of our areas of operation including financial, engineering, and community services. Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART), the Local Government Review Team, the Office of Local Government, and our peers in Local Government NSW, have noted that Gunnedah Shire Council are a progressive and economically-sustainable Council focused on operational efficiency and high-quality service provision," Councillor Hasler continued.

"This places us in an outstanding position to set significant targets for the next four years and I look forward to working with new Mayor, Jamie Chaffey and my council colleagues to continue the same high standard of service provision"

"I would encourage members of the community who are interested in better understanding the quality services that our council provides for residents in Gunnedah Shire to have a look at the Report," he concluded.

The full End of Term Report is available for download from Council’s website below.

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End of Term Report Highlights

• 850m of sewer mains replaced.
• 11.07km of sewer relining undertaken.
• 14.3km of new road constructed.
• 12,329ML of water supplied.
• 61,775 trips delivered by Community Transport, covering 469,803km.
• 33 Community Hub Events staged.
• $38,690 of funding delivered to 7 local businesses, under the Business Partner Program.
• Enacted a new Local Preference Policy, developed in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce, resulting in improved opportunities for local businesses to work with Council.
• 35 community groups received $72,060 worth of funding.
• 21 sporting groups received $53,125 worth of funding.
• 280 GoCo Packages provided.
• 88,652 hours of support provided to aged and disability customers and their carers.
• $145,500 distributed to 146 Community Scholarship recipients.
• An average of 145 customer requests processed each month.
• Installation of 17 CCTV cameras in the CBD, with more to come.

One of the 43 (out of 104) NSW local governments deemed Fit For The Future by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART).

Media Contact: Tom Plevey (02) 6740 2100