EXPLAINED: What changes to council’s structure really mean

“It is now time to set up our organisation for the next phase of growth and maturity in how we operate, make decisions and deliver services.”

Richmond Valley Council general manager Vaughan Macdonald.

Major changes are on the cards for the structure of Richmond Valley Council, as it seeks to set itself up for a strong future.

At this month's meeting, councillors agreed to go ahead with the proposed changes, which will include creating two senior positions.

Currently, the executive consists of general manager Vaughan Macdonald and the director of infrastructure and environment, Angela Jones.

In his report to the council, Mr Macdonald said they had been working hard to improve the council's performance as a "customer-focused and progressive council".

"It is now time to set up our organisation for the next phase of growth and maturity in how we operate, make decisions and deliver services," he said.

The proposed structure will consist of the general manager, the director of Community Service Delivery (Ms Jones), and two new director roles ‒ the director of Organisational Services and the director of Projects and Business Development.

Mr Macdonald said the decision came after a careful organisational review of the council's performance, current projects and future opportunities.

As a result, he said some changes were necessary in order to "ensure that everything is in place so that council can continue to support the Valley to grow and prosper and deliver the lifestyle and opportunities our community deserves".

"Importantly, the revised structure seeks to retain local employment and does not propose job losses through redundancy," the report states.

"It will strengthen our leadership and help us to operate as one positive and progressive RVC team.

"The proposed structure will be implemented to be salary budget neutral.

"Some roles will have increased remuneration; however, this will be balanced by a rationalisation of other roles through natural attrition."

It is expected the two new directors could be internal recruits ‒ Mr Macdonald said the council had a 15-strong management team which had been performing well in recent years.

The proposed structure has communicated to all staff and the unions.

A final decision will be made in early March, with recruitment of the two director roles to commence at that time.