CHANGES to Kempsey Shire Council’s operations in the new financial year will include a focus on cutting red tape, a review of its recreation assets and progress on water fluoridation.
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The council will also undertake major projects already flagged, such as the $2 million beautification of Kempsey’s CBD; the $2 million project to create an airport business park; and the new $7 million sewage treatment plant at West Kempsey.
General manager David Rawlings said a team of council staff, from across each department of the organisation, would seek to make it easier for individuals and organisations to bring about positive changes for the community.
“It’s about getting people involved in taking ownership of their communities,” he said.
“And it’s about getting them doing and driving things that are good for the community, without having to wait for the council to identify things that are beneficial.”
Mr Rawlings said the council was trying to identify how to give the community a more positive awareness of what could be achieved.
“We’re looking at red tape and working out do we have regulations that don’t provide much help,” he said.
“A lot of regulation is imposed on us (through the Local Government Act), so it’s about how we can set it up so it’s as easy as possible for people that want to do something.”
Mr Rawlings said fluoridation of the drinking water supply to Kempsey and Crescent Head was on track for completion by the December 2015 deadline.
He said the council had undertaken preliminary work at the Steuart McIntyre dam in readiness for the installation of fluoridation equipment.
Once that was completed there would be a period of thorough testing, which would need to be verified and signed off, before it could “go online”.
Preliminary work would begin at Crescent Head in July, Mr Rawlings said.
The general manager said the aim of a review of the council’s sporting grounds, parks and playgrounds was to find out how to get them up to a high standard in order to maximise their use.
Mr Rawlings said this would entail a process of feedback from sporting groups and other users to determine what was important, to encourage ideas for improvement and to figure out was possible.
“There’s a lot of details to get right, but by getting positive people on board to think creatively, I’m sure we’ll come up with very good ideas,” Mr Rawlings said.
“It’s about how we spend the money to get the best facilities.”
