I was incredibly proud of the Goodooga community and the Council team after a number of successful and significant events in Goodooga over the past month.
The Goodooga Indigenous Games saw over 1,500 visitors descend on the tiny community over the two-day event. On behalf of Goodooga Central School, Principal Malcolm Banks passed on his sincerest thanks to Council and Council staff for their support and assistance in ensuring the Goodooga township could successfully host the event. The recently acquired Goodooga Hall also accommodated four schools for their overnight stay. An event this size in a town with only 300 people is a massive achievement and is a reflection on the whole Shire.
Similarly, Phyllis Cubby extended a hug thank you to Council for our contribution for the Black Diggers Kokoda Track Memorial Services held at the Goodooga Aboriginal Reserve. Council once again supplied lunch as well as undertaking the works around the memorial site park to ensure it was ready for the day.
This service is held annually to honour all those that served and remember servicemen from the Goodooga District. It is hosted by John Paul-Young and a small committee of volunteers in the Goodooga community who do a great job to ensure it’s an annual event.
A big thank you to all involved.
There has been some confusion recently around road maintenance and repairs, particularly around flood damage funding and emergency repairs. When Council receives natural disaster funding that funding is specifically to return the infrastructure to its previous state. In these instances, we are unfortunately unable improve on the road structure or condition with this type of funding – the Federal and State governments are very clear on this.
To improve and upgrade roads, we need betterment funding. Council’s team are constantly exploring opportunities and applying for additional funding for road betterment projects but so too are virtually every local government organisation across the country. These are incredibly competitive but understand we have fantastic team at Brewarrina Council doing all they can to maintain, improve and upgrade our roads, and this work is widely recognised and acknowledged by the higher powers – most recently when we were awarded Walgett Shire’s RMCC contracts.
The team are also currently exploring how we can improve on our communications with the community regarding road projects, maintence, grading and upgrades, in real time. So watch this space!
But in the meantime, I can confirm recent grading works, both flood damage emergency works and scheduled maintenance works, recently completed included:
If there is a road you would like further information on, I encourage you to complete an online request form on our website, brewarrina.nsw.gov.au or email breshire@brewarrina.nsw.gov.au
Last year Councillor’s endorsed a request to investigate costings for a proposed upgrade of the Brewarrina Showground and Racecourse. The suggested project aimed to significantly improve the amenities, accessibility and functionality of the site for both locals and visitors and included the sealing of the carpark, upgrading facilities and adding paid powered caravan and camping sites.
After investigating expected costings required to undertake the upgrades, it was agreed it would be in Council’s best interest to only move forward on the project should external grant funding become available. Although the upgrades would provide long-term benefits to the community and the region, the large costs and the low financial return, mean it is not financially viable for us to allocate Council funds at this time.
We will continue to monitor potential funding opportunities and hope to see this fantastic project come to fruition in the future.
To make sure we can address current and future staffing requirements and deliver efficient and cost-effective community focused services for the Brewarrina Shire, Council have developed a Workforce Management Plan.
The Workforce Management Plan (WMP) is designed to attract, retain and develop a skilled and diverse workforce to provide for our community. Like many regional Council’s, we face a range of challenges that can make fulfilling our workforce difficult. Specifically, for us, attracting skilled staff due to the remote location and housing limitations is particularly challenging, alongside an ageing workforce, skills shortages and an underrepresentation of women in operational roles.
Based on this, our key focus areas and how we plan to address the challenges include targeted recruitment, Indigenous employment pathways, diversity initiatives, succession planning and digital upskilling.
The WMP is aligned with the Council’s broader strategic plans to ensure long-term workforce capability and service continuity. We want to improve employer branding, staff development and workplace diversity while integrating with financial and asset management plans to align workforce resources with financial sustainability.
It’s important we have plans and policies in place, like the Workforce Management Plan, to ensure we can be a stable organisation, deliver the services that keep our community thriving while also committing to inclusive employment practices.
As per our requirement under the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW), Brewarrina Shire Council’s newly appointed independent Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee (ARIC) met for their first meeting and have been busy establishing governance requirements and key foundational documents.
Essentially the aim of the ARIC it to provide independent assurances, monitoring and advice that Council’s is doing the right thing and doing it well.
We are lucky to have a very experienced and dedicated committee for the next four years. I look forward to working with the committee and continuing to progress our Shire in the best way possible.
Elected to Council – 2024
Elected to Council – 2024
Elected to Council – 2024
Committees – Roads and Maritime Services Regional Consultative Committee & Western Regional Weeds Committee
Elected to Council – 2021
Elected to Council – 2021
Committee – Tourism & Cultural Committee
Elected to Council – 2021
Committees – Murray Darling Association, Big Sky Library, Brewarrina General Cemetery Committee, Water Users & Tourism & Culture Committee.
Elected to Council – 2021
Committees – Aged Care, Brewarrina General Cemetery Committee & Heritage Committee.
Elected to Council – 2008
Email- markbrown2839@gmail.com
Committees- Aged Care Committee, Big Sky Library & Traffic Committee.
Elected to Council – 2008
Committees – Brewarrina General Cemetery, Tourism & Cultural Committee.
Elected to Council 2017
