4 July 2024

Eurobodalla Mayor says he's proud of council's budget

| Sophie Lawler
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Mayor Mathew Hatcher

Eurobodalla Mayor Mathew Hatcher is happy with Council’s actions. Photo: ESC.

Eurobodalla Shire Council Mayor Mathew Hatcher says he’s proud of the council’s success in addressing the deficit in its budget.

Councillors welcomed an improving financial outlook as the 2024-25 budget was approved at a recent council meeting.

“We’ve worked very hard to communicate our financial position and current and future work plans in different forums across the shire,” Cr Hatcher said. “This has been well received. People have been interested and understanding – it’s very much about transparency and accountability. It feels good to be ending this council term with a focus on financial stewardship while still delivering the services the community expects.”

Mayor Hatcher said advocacy by the council played a role in recent State Government support for the shire, which included the $253.7 million boost to the state planning system, and a slice of the $200 million package for health-worker accommodation, which will assist with an increased workforce at the new Eurobodalla regional hospital.

“We’ve long been advocating around on-site nursing accommodation at the new hospital. Until now, there’s been some pushback, so it’s great to see our efforts have had an effect. Certainly, any investment in housing and in streamlining the state’s planning portal to reduce costs and time lags is very welcome.”

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General manager Warwick Winn said there were reductions in a few services in the budget but they were overall modest and a better reflection of the work the council could actually achieve.

According to Mr Winn, there is still a strong focus on footpaths and roads but by scrapping one urban road renewal project and reducing the annual road resealing from 35 km to 30 km, $17.4 million will be spent for 2024-25 and more than a quarter of a million dollars will be saved.

The grading of unsealed roads will occur every nine months instead of every six months, saving $365,000.

Setting aside sports fields and popular parks, mowing will be reduced from a three-week to a four-week cycle which will save $178,000.

“These figures better reflect the work staff can actually get done. It’s the practical, prioritised approach we’ve taken across the entire organisation,” Mr Winn said.

“The mayor and councillors have shown strong guidance and leadership on the financial front, saving Eurobodalla ratepayers from the large rate increases facing our neighbours. They’ve made tough decisions and embraced a financial stewardship model that will see our council living within its means and on a path to financial sustainability.”

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patricia gardiner5:45 pm 04 Jul 24

What is “transparent and accountable” about making decisions without giving the community the opportunity to provide input?
It seems to me that the present council is only transparent about failures made by the previous council that landed us with so much debt.
Will this council be accountable when someone has an accident due to an unmaintained council road and sues ESC for ‘willful neglect’?
Will this lot of councillors be accountable to the next councillors when repair costs to poorly maintained council roads escalate well beyond council’s ability to pay?
How can our mayor, “feel good to be ending this council term with a focus on financial stewardship,” when he is actually creating future debt for future councillors, just as the last lot did.

Richard McLeod5:30 pm 08 Aug 24

The new budget was on exhibition for a month. Please try and tell the truth. Fake news should not be allowed.

patricia gardiner10:17 am 09 Aug 24

Richard, there is a lot more to being transparent and accountable than just seeking obligatory submissions. Example: I asked ESC if they would reconsider their intention to reduce road maintenance when they received a 43% increase in Road to Recovery funding, as Snowy Monaro council did. My response: “the increase in funding is less than the amount removed from Council’s future budgets to ensure Council is financially sustainable and our work programs achievable.”
ESC is also reluctant to explain where the extra $4m will be spent, let alone the total $9m.

Richard McLeod10:23 pm 11 Aug 24

So you admit you did have an opportunity to provide input. That’s a very good start. It only seems the normal process mere mortals follow is not good enough for you. It seems you think the Council needs to give you one on one attention. How arrogant.

Richard McLeod10:25 pm 11 Aug 24

At least you admit your post was misleading. You were given an opportunity to submit just like everyone else. See telling the truth isn’t that hard is it?

patricia gardiner10:45 am 14 Aug 24

Thank you for your feedback, Richard. For your information, I did put in a submission on the budget.
If Mayor Hatcher is “proud of the council’s success in addressing the deficit in its budget,” why has council not implemented the actions provided by consultants(12 months ago) to stem the massive losses being incurred from the running of the Bay Pavilions, $6.2m?
For the community to provide meaningful input, council needs to provide ALL relevant information, not hide the ‘ugly bits’.

Richard McLeod12:17 am 15 Aug 24

Stemming the loss from Pollock’s wonderful Pav will take a miracle. Your input just seems to be criticism, whining and whinging.

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