Golden Plains Shire Council has welcomed the State Government’s announcement that its partnership council group has successfully secured a $4.5 million Rural Councils Transformation Program grant.
The successful grant was the result of several months of research and collaboration between six of the Central Highlands Councils Victoria (CHCV) councils: Golden Plains, Ballarat, Ararat, Central Goldfields, Hepburn and Pyrenees Councils. The Central Highlands Councils Victoria Regional Shared Services project will create a new shared digital platform, reducing duplication of predominantly statutory service functions across the region.
The CHCV project will redesign services to better meet the needs and expectations of residents, and embed significant savings and productivity benefits into improving service delivery. The project will initially focus on financial systems followed by regulatory services of statutory planning, building services, environmental health and strategic land use. This will be followed by the areas of governance, procurement and fleet, waste management, payroll, records and information management, and safety and risk management.
Mayor Cr Owen Sharkey says the funding commitments from the Rural Councils Transformation Project will have far-reaching positive effects for the successful councils.
“Golden Plains has joined Councils across Victoria to actively lobby for more State Government funding in this rate-capping environment, and the Rural Councils Transformation Program is an excellent initiative to support the business and budgets of rural and regional councils.
“Digital transformation is very important for rural and regional councils, as we explore new ways to use technology to streamline operations and improve our services. When we reduce the time that our officers in specialist areas spend on administration and paperwork, we increase the time they are out in the community, working directly with our residents.
“The successful development and implementation of the Central Highlands Councils Victoria Regional Shared Services project will improve the financial sustainability and service delivery, better serving the needs and expectations of our communities. There is the added benefit of attracting quality employees for specialised positions to further their careers working in local government in rural and regional communities, with a unique approach to looking beyond our municipal boundaries to take a regional approach to delivering quality local services.
“Golden Plains Shire Council has a strong and sustained relationship with our Central Highlands Councils Victoria partners and neighbours in the north of the Shire, which resulted in the development of an exceptional proposal for this program. With the $4.5 million grant, we will work together to develop an innovative digital platform that saves our councils’ valuable time and money.”