New tourism staffing structure
Changes to Council’s organisation structure will take place from August following a review which will ensure the structure aligns with the priorities of the new Council and the community.
Council’s General Manager Dr Catherine Dale says that Councils are required to regularly review their organisation structure.
“We have critically examined the way our teams are configured, who they work with, who they report to and how decisions are made. This has taken into account the priorities, services and projects in the revised Community Strategic Plan, and Council’s 4 year Delivery Program and annual Operational Plan which have been developed with extensive community involvement.
"Overall, our aim was to look at if the structure supported the most efficient way to deliver the services and we considered aspects such as the key priorities for our Councillors, the our balance of work load between directorates and divisions, and what our community is telling us about their priorities and issues. "Service areas within Council that will see some changes include tourism, events, business development, recreation, communication and engagement, integrated planning and reporting, procurement, commercial services and property,” said Dr Dale
Council’s tourism, events and business services staff will become part of Lindsay Usher’s Directorate of Planning and Environment under Divisional Manager Strategic and Sustainable Growth Liz Rankin who has recently been appointed.
"Strategic services, business and tourism staff already work together across their divisions on some projects and bringing them together in a more formal way will streamline the delivery of all economic development activities. Specific reporting lines for all staff in the tourism, events and business development services areas can be seen in the organisational structure (for these services only). View here.
Dr Catherine Dale said, “We have allocated additional staff resources to tourism and a new dedicated tourism and events manager position will be advertised soon to ensure this important service is better resourced.
"The Communications and Engagement division headed by Cath Reilly and Property and Commercial Services headed by Andrew Greenway are also important priorities for Council and the changes will support a greater focus on delivering services in these areas as Cath and Andrew step away from delivering the tourism, business development and events services.
"Recreation, including open space, sport and leisure is an important service that significantly enhances well-being and health outcomes for many in our community. Engagement undertaken for our Community Strategic Plan and other consultation highlights how highly our community values formal sporting activity, informal recreation, open space and recreation facilities and associated infrastructure.
"A new Recreation Division will be created within the Community Arts and Recreation Services Directorate to provide a stronger focus and clarity around the delivery of all aspects of recreation management including infrastructure, community engagement, planning, clear lines of contact for community groups, organisations and individuals and a coordinated and integrated team with recreation as its priority. Procurement will also be moved to align with corporate functions." Source
