Message From Our Chief Executive Officer

A message from our Chief Executive Officer

Just as it dominated the daily news cycle during the past year, COVID-19 is also the unavoidable headline in the City of Newcastle’s (CN) 2020/21 Annual Report. Despite lowering our revenue forecasts by $11.5m for the Adopted Budget in recognition of the pandemic, revenue fell a further $8.5m throughout the financial year. A $20 million hit to forecast income is one that many councils would not be able to absorb. Fortunately, many years of responsible financial management meant that City of Newcastle was able to call upon its savings to ensure that programs and services were still delivered, and no jobs were lost. In a decision that was contrarian to the majority of local councils in NSW, CN made a deliberate decision not to conserve cash but instead to significantly expand its infrastructure program by more than $20 million or 25% of the draft capital works program, to help limit the local economic impact of COVID-19 related restrictions.

When the pandemic was declared last year, CN moved quickly to deliver social, economic and well-being outcomes that would support our community through the impacts that were still to come. The result was our $5.5 million Community and Economic Resilience Package (CERP), which was earlier this year formally acknowledged as the best response from a local government anywhere in NSW. It was one of many awards our staff would receive throughout the year. A survey of the community indicated strong support for our response to the pandemic, with 88% believing that CN has a role to play in responding to the economic impact of the pandemic. Seventy percent of the community agreed that the COVID-19 CERP helped our city get through last year’s national recession, while 74% indicated that CN’s response met or exceeded their expectations One of the most surprising elements of the pandemic was the significant boost in development applications (DA) that were lodged with the city last year. The rise can at least be partly explained by the various state and federal stimulus programs that provided grants of up to $25,000 for those undertaking home renovations. The number of DAs lodged in 2020/21 was 1,494. This is a 23% increase on the previous year’s 1,219. Importantly the number of DAs determined also lifted to a record high of 1,645, which was a 15% increase on the previous year. And perhaps most importantly of all given the customer centric focus of our organisation, community satisfaction last year rose to an all-time high of 3.7 (out of 5), a 9% improvement, and the fourth time out of the past five years customer satisfaction with CN has risen. I thank our councillors, staff and stakeholders for their efforts to ensure Newcastle’s growth and development continues in a way that benefits our entire community. In what has been a year quite literally like no other, we have not only looked after our city but also each other. I could not be prouder of our effort to lift our city to its rightful place as one of the most sort after cities in Australia, to call home.

Jeremy Bath

Chief Executive Officer