Gary Murphy starts role as Central Coast Council CEO
VIDEO: The Central Coast Council’s new chief executive officer Gary Murphy is on the job but he might have one of the toughest jobs going around.
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THE top job has been filled, and Central Coast Council’s new chief executive officer Gary Murphy is thrilled to be here.
The Express Advocate was lucky enough to nab a sit down interview with Mr Murphy on his second day on the job to get an idea of what he plans to bring to the Central Coast.
The 51-year-old father of two only arrived on the Coast last Thursday, making the move from Lismore. His wife Michelle is finalising the move and will be on the Coast as soon as possible.
His daughters are aged 25 and 22, and live in New Zealand and Launceston.
Mr Murphy, born in Durban South Africa, has been a chief executive of local government organisations since 2003, initially at Buller District Council in New Zealand and most recently with Lismore City Council. He was previously an engineering consultant for road projects.
What are you initial impressions of council?
The first couple of days have been back to back meetings and just information overload trying to absorb everything.
The size and scale (of council) is something that I was aware of but it’s only once you start exploring that you realise the breadth of the organisation. The issues are still the same. It’s all about people and the issues that the community has. But it’s a massive undertaking.
Have you identified any major issues yet?
As part of the discussion I had with council in the lead up to the role, there are many dimensions to it. First and foremost we do need to create a stable platform which is the integration of the two councils. The staff, I am sure, are looking for some stability and that’s what I need to deliver first and foremost.
Council has also adopted the One Coast Community Strategic Plan which is our contract with the community and we need to deliver on that. There’s a whole multitude of challenges as you know but those are the two fundamental things I’ve got to focus on in the short term.
Are there any specific visions/plans, or ideas of what you want to bring to the council?
I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to come in and try and impose a vision that the community already has. I have ideas about the organisation and where I’d like to take it that I’ll develop in due course.
One of the things we do need to strive for is excellence. We are a significant organisation in our own right and I think the community expects that we exhibit leadership in a multitude of areas.
What are some of your proudest professional achievements to date?
In New Zealand we did a community vision which was called Buller 2010 and Buller was the region of the council. We allowed the community to dream and dream big. It was a small community and we developed a whole range of community facilities; a sporting and aquatic centre, a performing arts centre and a museum and we raised 50 per cent of the funding from external sources which was quite significant at the time.
More recently at Lismore our floating solar farm, which is fairly unique in Australia; not just the technical aspects but how it was delivered. It was a community funded initiative, so we went out to the community and said, ‘would you like to help and work with the council on this?’ There was a share offering and was oversubscribed so we developed the first phase which is a 99 kilowatt floating solar farm in Lismore.
I’m really proud of that because it was an initiative of council and the community working together showing some leadership and also addressing issues around renewable energy.
You have come at a crucial time on the Central Coast? Are you excited about these major projects (Regional Performing Arts Centre and Gosford Regional Library) and potential of the area?
It’s one of the things that really attracted me; the potential. It’s not just a beautiful place in terms of the environment, the wonderful beaches, the lakes and the bushland.
Certainly the opportunities that have been presented with the State Government. I am meeting with (Central Coast Co-ordinator General) Lee Shearer next week and I think we are on the cusp of some significant changes on the Central Coast and we need to maximise that and do that smartly.
How do you see council’s role in the Gosford revitalisation?
We need to work in partnership with the State Government and I think from what I have been told the State Government is very receptive to that. I am looking forward to working with Lee and other State Government agencies such as RMS and planning.
Our role is to ensure that the community voice is heard. The community has told us that Gosford and the revitalisation of Gosford is important and particularly the public realm.
We need to be mindful it’s not just about parking, roads and buildings. It’s about the connectivity and the public spaces that are so important. People need to feel that this is their lounge room where they can play and visit, and it’s not just a 9am-5pm space where they work.
Do you believe transparency is important in local government?
Transparency is really important and I suppose there’s a concern around secrecy.
We need to be better at explaining what we do and why. Obviously there are commercial and in confidence discussions that need to be held but I think in order for the community to trust what council is doing we have to be open. We have to tell them what we are doing and I know that council has been proactive in releasing a lot of documents around Warnervale Airport and others. I strongly support that sense of open government and transparency.
It has been said that state government’s are increasingly shifting costs on to local councils. Have you seen this during your time in local governments?
Yes, if you look at reports that local government NSW have put out over the years and some of the figures that they have done. I am also aware that IPART (Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal Home) conducted a report that was about 2016 into the regulatory burdens of local government so there’s documented evidence there.
It’s something that local government as a sector needs to keep banging the drum because there is a limit as to what the community can bare and the State Government needs to be really mindful of the impact to local government and the resident and ratepayers with the decisions they make.
We had a lot of questions in our reader poll regarding kerb and guttering. Are you keen to address the overall look of the Coast?
I call them the whingey bits, so there are certain things — hygiene factors — we do need to address. I know the council is looking at graffiti for example and there are issues with littering.
In terms of kerb and gutters we’ve got over 2000km of roads and if we had to kerb and gutter every single one of them that would be a huge cost. It’s important that we tell our story and explain to the community the challenges we face and why we do up certain streets and why we don’t do up others so people can understand. They may not be happy with the outcome but if we can explain a bit better about our decision making and how we balance our expenditure, then I think that’s a good outcome.