Community & Business
2 December, 2022
Keeping pace with growth
KEEPING pace with population and industry growth and managing the rising costs of providing services are challenges facing Tablelands Regional Council, according to Mayor Rod Marti.
Mayor Marti made the comments in the 2021-22 Annual Report which provides a detailed picture of what the organisation has achieved over the 12-month period.
“With the Tablelands an ideal place to raise a fam-ily, we have and are experiencing exponential growth – our population is approaching 27,000 and many of the new arrivals are young professionals with families,” he said.
“Our gross regional product is up 7.3 per cent ($1.4 billion) from the previous year and this will continue for some time with major investments unfolding.”
Some of the highlights for the Mayor was the de-velopment of the Tablelands 2030+ Community Plan, taking the first steps towards the development of Prior
Creek Precinct, and the organisation’s progress in its “reconciliation journey”.
“Recognising our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, showing leadership in our reconciliation journey and building strong relationships is a priority for the organisation,” he said.
“We are also committed to doing much more work in the areas of social inclusion and employment – council is actively seeking to increase our percentage of indigenous employees.”
In his message, CEO Gary Rinehart said the organisation was focussed on improving the way it delivered projects and finding savings without compromising customer outcomes.
“We have commenced a service level review which will inform our next budget discussions and provide greater understanding of the long-term impacts of service-related decisions for sustainability,” he said.
He noted that council had delivered 76 per cent of the approved capital works program, spending $22.5 million renewing, upgrading and building new assets which increased the overall value of its assets by 16 per cent or $99.39 million.
Some of the capital works completed were the English Street upgrade at Malanda, a new animal management facility, two new playgrounds at Tolga and Malanda, a new reservoir at Ravenshoe, the replacement of the Webster Road bridge, and the up-grading of the Turner Road, Blencoe Creek and Wongabel Road bridges.
The report outlines a wealth of achievements for the organisation over the 12-month period, including being successful in gaining 48 grants, securing $6.8 million in funding to deliver 30 projects.
Total revenue for the organisation was $76.64 mil-lion, of which 61 per cent came from rates, levies and charges, and an expenditure of $63.25 million, ending up with a net result of $13.38 million.
Financial grants provided to the community to-talled $172,881 including $73,000 to support a vari-ety of events throughout the year.
In relation to staff, the report shows the council had 80 departures over the year and recruited for 70 positions.
HIGHLIGHTS OF ANNUAL REPORT
59.7km of bitumen resealed
1462km of rural roads graded
6035km of street sweeping completed
36km of footpaths pressure cleaned
3055 dogs registered and 274 animals impounded
108 animals reunited with owners and 61 rehomed
80 new trees planted
Two playgrounds replaced
18,154 customer requests actioned
140,056 website users recorded
59,344 visitors attended five visitor information centres
$82,296 million worth of building approvals completed
113 event and activity permits issued
1050 tonnes of kerbside collection recyclables sent for processing
1481 tonnes of steel and 215 tonnes of cardboard recovered
3357m of new water mains installed
163 new build water meters installed
814 water meters replaced
1595m of sewer infrastructure relined
