The Bugle 4 April 2020
A fortnightly celebration of people and places on the Upper South Coast of NSW Serving the communities of Kiama, Gerringong, Jamberoo, Kiama Downs, Minnamurra and Gerroa and now at www.thebugleonline.com
Council working to provide its services Around 40 per cent of Kiama Council’s indoor staff are working from home, with the rest working at a network of Council sites, as Kiama’s largest employer adapts to the new reality. “The only facilities that have closed that have a staff impact are the Leisure Centre, the Library, the Visitor Information Centre and the Youth Centre,” says General Manager Kerry McMurray. Ruling out standing people down, he says he is maximising the opportunities for the redeployment of staff. “We are working on ways to redeploy some of those staff, and we already have staff spending significant time finding and establishing different means of delivery in this environment.” Examples of this ‘reimagining’ is a system developed for the click and collect of library books and the online delivery of exercise classes by Leisure Centre instructors.
Some staff may move to outdoor roles, and others may take over some roles previously undertaken by Blue Haven volunteers. Spare capacity is also being utilised by projects such as scanning old DA files and digitalising other records, and improving the website. “We are very much of the view that, whatever level of lock down we may or may not reach, we are an essential service and will continue to deliver the services we always have.” Outdoor staff are continuing with their roles, within the safety constraints. “In everything that Council is doing, the utmost priority is the safety of our community and our staff,” says Mr McMurray. “That is at the forefront of every decision.” At time of writing, no special subsidies have been announced for councils and they do not qualify for the
Onus is on everyone
Kiama Council’s General Manager is appealing to the public to comply with the new regulations governing public places. “We’ve closed playgrounds, skateparks, rockpools and outdoor fitness equipment, but we can only put up so much signage and so much fencing,” says Mr McMurray. “Members of the community need to accept personal responsibility and not use these facilities, as well as adhering to social distancing and group restrictions. “We are providing a notifiying service where we can, but members of the community have an onus to do the right thing.” As Council has no regulatory powers to enforce the restrictions, any reports of non-compliance need to be made to the Police via Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.
From the Editor
Given the constantly evolving situation the world is currently experiencing, please keep yourself up to date with other reliable news sources and health.nsw.gov.au We remain committed to keeping you informed about local news, at a time when our community spirit will serve us well. Stay safe, and help others stay safe. We are all in this together.
Inside this issue Stay home p3 L’Etape powers on for November p 3
Job Keeper program. At the same time, Council is being hit by drops in revenue by the closure of its tourism parks, suspension of fee revenue from licences and down turn in other business activities. “There is very little doubt the impact of the tourism park closures and the tourism decrease is having a significant impact on Council’s financial situation,” says Mr McMurray. “As everything keeps changing we’ll need to keep monitoring and modelling the ongoing impact of this situation, but it will be significant.” Council’s Response Team, comprising the Executive and other staff members, is meeting twice daily to review and respond to the latest developments.
“General managers from councils across the Illawarra are working collaboratively to develop consistent responses on a regional basis where at all possible, so we are consistent and not creating confusion between communities,” says Mr McMurray. “Every second day we wait for the National Cabinet to meet and see what we have to implement as a result of the latest decisions.” The April meeting of Council will be conducted using video conferencing, and will be streamed live as per usual practice. At time of writing, the process for Public Access, where the public can make their cases on items in the Business Paper, is yet to be determined. Various options are being assessed.
Sharee and Jade are still busy handling customer enquiries for Council
Harbour to be model for State Within six months, Kiama is to have a framework for the long awaited revitalisation of its harbour. Transport for NSW will be partnering with Kiama Council to develop what is hoped will become a new model for improving regional harbours across the state. In announcing the project, the Member for Kiama Gareth Ward said, “We will be developing a strategic framework to identify opportunities to enhance connectivity between the
Tips on managing your business remotely p 7 Don’t get bored get busy p 9 Initiatives to keep connected to local food producers p10
Continued on p4
Did you know...
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Enquire about becoming a foster carer today.