Toowoomba council loses water, waste general manager Damian Platts amid 242 staff vacancies

The Toowoomba council’s chief executive says he “can’t do much more” to fill the organisation’s hundreds of vacancies, after the sudden departure of a top general manager.

One of the Toowoomba Regional Council’s top bureaucrats has departed suddenly, as its chief executive revealed he “can’t do much more” to fill the nearly 250 vacancies across the organisation.

Water and waste general manager Damian Platts, who was part of the council’s leadership team, has left after more than six years in the role.

Mr Platts had been on extended leave for some time, with Jaek Passier acting in his role for many months.

While the reasons for his departure haven’t been revealed, the experienced public servant’s exodus leaves a massive hole in the organisation that is already struggling with financial pressuresand a significant labour shortage.

Damian Platts is leaving the Toowoomba Regional Council

Chief executive Brian Pidgeon told councillors at last week’s ordinary meeting the TRC was doing all it can to fill the 242 vacancies it had across its workforce.

More than a third of them (99) are within the infrastructure department, with some roles paying upwards of $123,000 and leave loading of 17.5 per cent.

But Mr Pidgeon said the council had been forced to use consultants and external contractors to plug holes in its labour force, which had created affordability issues.

“The reality is there have been no breaks put on recruitment at all to the existing vacancies,” he said.

“We haven’t been able to fill those with recruiting, there have been multiple attempts to do that and we’ve had to supplement those through external consultancies and there are components of overtime.

“We can’t do much more about filling the vacancies that we actually have at this point of time.

“The affordability and the number of staff we have is still below what we can afford at the moment, but that difference is being taken up by consultancy labour.”

The response came after councillor Nancy Sommerfield posed whether the council should reset its workforce number, arguing carrying more than 200 vacancies had budget implications.

CEO Brian Pidgeon (left) and Cr Geoff McDonald. Picture: Kevin Farmer

In a response to questions from News Corp, Mr Pidgeon blamed the issue on a “challenging job market”, while pointing to the council’s upcoming enterprise bargaining negotiations with unions.

“Council continues its efforts in recruitment and retention in filling roles in a challenging jobs market,” he said.

“Like any larger organisation, council will always be carrying a level of vacancies.

“There are more than 50 roles currently advertised on Council’s web site and I would encourage prospective job seekers to consider a career with TRC as an employer of choice.

“With negotiations now underway for a new enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA), council will continue to balance employee expectations with affordability for ratepayers.”

The negotiations could become a major sticking point for the new council, with mayor Geoff McDonald indicating the organisation might have to hit its debt borrowing cap of $300m with the Queensland Treasury Corporation if it can’t secure a bailout from the state government for the cost of massive Cressbrook Dam spillway upgrades.