Two scathing reports have cast a dark shadow on Wingecarribee Shire Council.
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A second report on Planning, Development and Regulatory Services called 'Righting the Wrongs' by Earnest Consulting and a Purchase Card Review by Finch Consulting has highlighted a series of shortcomings in the Wingecarribee Shire Council.
The two reports were released by interim administrator Viv May at the Extraordinary Meeting of Council on July 28.
Mr May said that several reviews and audits undertaken concerning the operation of the council showed that Wingecarribee Shire Council was "not a good example of local government."
"In addition, the Small Business Commissioner released a report following his consultations with small businesses that are generally consistent with the earlier initiated reviews," Mr May said.
"The tabling of these reports has been delayed due to legal advice; however, I now table both reports as they were presented to me and commend the general manager, Ms Miscamble, on the action she has already taken to address the very serious issues raised in the recommendations."
The 'Righting the Wrongs' report was conducted by Malcolm Ryan, Director of Earnest Consulting. Mr Ryan interviewed 19 members of staff and 83 members of the community.
The report found several themes throughout interviews with Wingecarribee Shire Council staff which included.
- Interference by councillors to pre-determine recommendations especially on Planning Proposals.
- Council adopted a strategic policy then continually amending it so that it never gets actually finalised (e.g., the Local Housing Strategy).
- Poor or no leadership from senior staff and the elected council manifests in a lack of trust in their decision making and a lack of authority to make decisions.
- Not enough staff due to vacant positions not being filled which appears to be a deliberate strategy.
- Changes to the way customer service staff function at the front counter removed a lot of corporate knowledge resulting in more enquiries going to the professional staff
- Poor outdated Development Control Plans (DCPs).
- Inconsistency between various strategic policies of the council, such as the council's position to promote tourism and the contents of the Local Environmental Plan (LEP) that effectively prohibits those land uses.
Interviews with community members also highlighted poor communication between members of the public and council, inconsistent processes and outcomes, and the perception that outcomes on applications appeared to be different for people who were seen to be friends of councillors or senior staff.
In his report, Mr Ryan said there was a perception of inconsistent decision making that affected the planning matters and resulted in the inconsistent application of various policy settings.
"There appears to be a complete lack of any serious commitment to even the most basic strategic planning functions," he said.
"The planning functions are not just confined to the statutory instruments of LEP and DCPs but permeate across the whole operations of the council.
"Many of the issues have been going on for many years. The administrator is carrying out many other investigations into many aspects of the council's functions, this may not be seen by many as being complete enough.
"A public enquiry may be the only way to deal with all the issues associated with this council for many years."
The second report conducted by Robert Finch of Finch Consulting looked at the purchase card transactions made by senior staff.
The purchase card review was conducted with the assistance of the council's finance team.
The review found shortfalls in relation to policy compliance and transparent explanations for expenditure on the part of some managers.
"Our findings are based solely on the documentation, explanations and authorisations recorded in the Payment Card system and do not take into consideration other forms of authorisation such as emails," the review read.
Questionable transactions were grouped into two categories: Transactions that appeared non-compliant with the council's policy and transactions that could be considered business practice but appeared non-compliant.
Questionable transactions that appeared non-compliant included a parking fine, an e-tag top-up, wine, Christmas lunches and gift cards.
Transactions that could be considered business practice included catering for staff meetings, retirement gifts and gifts for staff members (flowers for births, deaths or illness).
The Purchase Audit Review found that that "some managers had taken advantage of the weaknesses in guidelines or had failed to conduct business in a transparent and accountable manner."
The review made several recommendations, which included a policy review into the existing guidelines to allow staff gifts, promotional giveaways, uniforms and entertainment expenses, and full compliance with the policy concerning official business undertaken.
You can read the full 'Righting the Wrongs' report and the Purchase Audit Review' on the council's website under the July 28 Extraordinary meeting of council documents.
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Vera Demertzis
Journalist at the Southern Highland News covering council yarns and community news. Got a tip or a story to tell? Email vera.demertzis@southernhighlandnews.com.au or call on 0427 250 908.
Journalist at the Southern Highland News covering council yarns and community news. Got a tip or a story to tell? Email vera.demertzis@southernhighlandnews.com.au or call on 0427 250 908.
