The Hilltops Council Transition Implementation Plan has recently been made public in the agenda for the October Council Meeting. You can expect other newspapers to simply print the media release provided by Hilltops Council and place it front and centre. It’s often easier to do this than investigate the issues involved. One thing we don’t do at the Twin Town Times is take the easy option. It’s our rate dollars as well as our readers and our readers deserve to know what is going on. According to the agenda “the plan is necessary in order to articulate the context behind the transition … and provides a framework for structured change.” The document provides an overview of the path from the initial amalgamation in May, to the first elections, to be held next September. The plan outlines ten key risks that the amalgamation of the three councils presents for the new governing body, five of which are operational and five of which are strategic.

At this point in time, the plan identifies and assesses only those risks that have Council wide implications. Further additional risks will be later identified as part of sub plans. It is made clear the plan “does not … differentiate between the initial risk rating and the residual risk after controls and treatments are put in place.” The risks are rated using a five by five matrix, that grades them according to both their consequences and their likelihood, receiving a rating varying from ‘low’ to ‘extreme’. Eight of the risks were identified as being ‘high’, the second highest rating, while one of the risks was ‘medium’, and another was ‘extreme.’ The lowest risk identified was the potential of an “elected Hilltops Council [that] does not provide adequate representation for the whole community.” If this issue came to fruition, the plan states “disproportionate representation” could alienate sections of the Hilltops Community. The lack of wards in Council elections to be held September 2017, has caused angst in the community that the larger population of Young may cause that town to dominate the nine member Council. Despite these concerns, the plan believes the likelihood of this risk becoming reality is ‘rare.’ It is believed that “regular consistent information and resources … regarding election of council,” as well as “community consultation throughout implementation phase to promote community engagement” will minimise the risk. The effectiveness of these measures will not be clear until elections are held next year.

One of the key element’s of the state government’s amalgamation pitch was the millions of dollars promised to local communities to aid in the transition. The Transition Implementation Plan identifies the fact that the Council Implementation Fund will ‘likely’ be insufficient in successfully merging the three councils. The same agenda that the plan is to be found in, states the council estimates a $1.4 million gap between the funds provided, and the funds required to implement the new Government. Such a shortfall will have “major” consequences, according to the plan, which says it could cause “repetitional damage,” a “disengaged and angry community,” and “reduction in service delivery and capability,” among other impacts. The largest risk facing the new council was identified as a potential “disruption of services [with] Council unable to deliver ‘business as usual.'” The plan grades this risk as extreme, due to its severe ‘consequences’ and ‘likely’ nature. The plan identifies seven potential sources that could contribute to this risk, ranging from “staff diverted to integration projects with nobody covering existing functions,” to “staff feel overworked or stressed and unable to complete work loads.” Should this risk become reality, productivity, morale and service levels could be impacted. In order to prevent this, the plan identifies six potential so-called “controls,” including “continued reporting and action for customer service requests,” as well as “community consultation meetings to reaffirm service levels and provision.”

The plan itself commenced on May 12, 2016, the day the new council was proclaimed, but has only recently been made available for public viewing. Thus, the general public was unaware of the risks the new Council would face upon amalgamation. Residents can read the implementation plan for themselves at the Hilltops Council website http://hilltops.nsw.gov.au