Despite the tick of approval from Murray River Council residents and ratepayers in a council performance survey, a former Wakool councillor says it’s not a true reflection of what the new council will be like.
Administrator David Shaw said the telephone survey, conducted last September which surveyed 400 people, was a joint council and Department of Premier and Cabinet initiative to benchmark the performance of councils in their infancy.
“The survey results ranked Murray River Council as one of the best-performing newly formed council in NSW,” Mr Shaw said.
Murray River Council was formed in May last year as a result of the amalgamation of Wakool and Murray shires.
A new council will be elected in September.
The council received an index score of 61 out of 100 — above the regional/rural average of 56 out of 100, as well as the statewide index score of 58.
Katarni Lipp, a member of the new council’s Local Representation Committee, said until a council was elected, people were still treating this as a transitional period.
“What is happening now isn’t a true reflection of what the new council will be like because it’s very regimented in what the interim general manager and administrator have to achieve,” Ms Lipp said.
To read more of this story, grab a copy of Friday’s Guardian (March 31).
