Published on Friday, 16 July 2021 at 8:00:00 AM

In May we shared a news article introducing the new Minister for Local Government, the Hon John Carly MLA. 

Last week we shared a news article on the State Government’s commitment (which is shared by your Shire Councillors) to reducing unnecessary ‘red tape’.

When we consulted with the community last September, October and November to develop our new Strategic Community Plan this was an issue that many of you identified as wanting to see us improve in. So we recently conducted a review of red tape across the organisation.  This isn’t something we will do once, it will be an ongoing practice.  In the review we focused on our development services area (planning, building, and health).  We identified the need to refine and reduce our town planning policies in order to reduce the complexity and detail required.  We are also investigating an amendment to our town planning schemes to exempt more types of development from having to obtain approval and avoid the need to go through separate planning and building approval processes.

It is important to remember that the State Government, through the Auditor General, is equally keen for local governments to operate with policies and procedures to guide appropriate actions.  This is because policies and procedures are critical for effective operation.  They provide guidance to officers to ensure they are doing their jobs in alignment with Council intentions and relevant legislative requirements. The challenge we are facing now, in our industry and our community, is getting the balance right so that we comply with the Auditor General requirements but have flexibility and responsiveness as we go about providing our services to the community.  We will continue to keep you posted on our progress and developments with regard to ‘red tape reduction’. 

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