Planning for the future

Our biggest challenge

Over the past 30 years, Wyong Shire has changed from being a holiday and retirement destination to being the urban fringe of Sydney.

With a population over 150,000 and growing at 1.5% each year Wyong Shire is now one of the biggest councils in the state, covering 820km2 of land, and managing over $2 billion in assets.

Staying viable into the future

Council has increased its services over the years to meet our community’s needs, but like many NSW councils, our income has not kept up with the increases in costs.

To make ends meet we have applied for grants and developed land holdings to pay our operating costs. But in the long run these are actions that cannot be sustained.

In the five years to June 30, 2010, our operating shortfalls have ranged from $3 million to $30 million.

Councillors and staff all agree that there is now no greater challenge facing Wyong Shire Council than the need to become sustainable - financially, socially, and environmentally.

We are working hard to change the way we operate and doing our best to limit the impacts on our residents and staff. Our plan is to find ways to do things differently - and we are confident we will achieve our goal.

Substantial operating shortfalls cannot continue in the long-term. The results shown in the above graph differ to the operating deficit by removing capital grants.

Planning for 2011/12

Council services at a glance

Parks and reserves	409
Community facilities	114
Annual landfill per person	887 kg
Water supply customers	150,000
Sporting facility participation	27,500
Libraries	5
Playgrounds	151
Kerb and guttering	898 km
Local sealed roads	1,001 km
Shared pathways	110 km
Water mains	1,120 km

Our Annual Plan and budget, including proposed fees and charges, are currently being prepared for 2011/12.

These critical documents, which embed our new approach, will go on public exhibition in May to come into effect from 1 July 2011.

We encourage you to take the time to review and comment on the Plan during the exhibition period.

Copies will be available on our website, at our Customer Contact centre and libraries.

Central Coast Water Corporation

The formation of the Central Coast Water Corporation on 1 July 2011 will have a financial impact on both Wyong and Gosford Councils. Separating resources that have long been shared and ensuring all three organisations are financially viable is a major challenge in the coming years.

Changing for the future - our path to financial sustainability

What we are trying to do	For example	What would that look like?
Boost and diversify our income We need to look at ways of increasing income from all sources and make our existing assests return more	Council owns over 2,500 pieces of land. We can review our land holdings, their zonings, controls and current uses to help establish a property investment portfolio	Council-owned land may be developed or rented out and a new and regular income stream would help us to pay for local services Fees for childcare, facility hire, filming, certificates ot other services might increase
Reordering our priorities We have to take a hard look at what we do and increase or decrease spending where it would be considered acceptable by community consultation.	Councillors have already made a public commitment to increase spending on local roads by $5m per year for the next four years	Roads may be noticeably improved in some areas, but tge time it takes our staff to answer your phone calls or process a Development Application may increase.
Working smarter We need to find ways to do things more efficiently but without losing quality. We can look at where we can share resources or work in partnership with others.	Lifeguards are using mobile phones to collect and report on beach conditions and incidents. this is proving to be a big saver of time and paper, and allows lifeguards to focus on their most important job - keeping people safe.	New technology could be seen  - mobile phones for lifeguards, laptops for truck drivers, or using video cameras to survey traffic numbers. Council may partner more often with Gosford or Lake Macquarie Councils to deliver services.
Changing the way we manage our business We've already made an enormous effort to plan better, and we are changing the way we report our performance to help us know exactly where we stand and where we can improve.	The way we prepare our budget and performance targets have already changed to help us ensure that every cent we spend is fully justified and no duplication is occuring.	This may not be obvious to residents and ratepayers but will help us to target our spending. Our annual plan, budget and quarterly performance reports will be easier to understand.

If you would like more information on our finacial situation and our approach to addressing it, please feel free to call, email or write to us.

Download a copy of the  Planning for the future - Changing how we do business (188.09 KB) handout.