Geelong council to hire more staff

THE City of Greater Geelong will get more staff, with the council approving $858,000 towards hiring more people to respond to record population growth in the municipality.

The funding will be used for additional staff in the city’s planning, engineering and social infrastructure departments, as well as for advocacy and business improvement roles within the organisation.

The allocation will fund increased resourcing for the remainder of the 2018-19 year. The report also recommended that the additional resourcing continues in the city’s long-term financial plan.

A broad review of the organisation’s functions and services in 2018 revealed a need for additional staff in these areas to meet the demands of the growing municipality.

Geelong is facing record population growth, with significant increases over the last eight years in planning applications as well drainage and open space requirements.

The city’s Settlement Strategy predicts the Greater Geelong population will grow from 238,603 in 2018 to 387,900 in 2036.

Major housing developments required to meet this growth include the full development of Armstrong Creek, which will add the equivalent of the population of Greater Shepparton (64,000 people), plus the new Northern and Western Growth areas, which together will add the equivalent of Ballarat (110,000 people).

Details of the new roles will be finalised in the coming weeks.

“While there is a cost to increase resources within the organisation, it is estimated the improved efficiencies will deliver operational savings of up to $2 million per year over the next decade,” Geelong mayor Bruce Harwood said.

“We’ve listened to community feedback about the challenges that residents and developers have faced in the planning approvals process, and the first step to improving these services is providing more adequate resourcing.

“The rapid growth in our region is exciting and we need to step up our service levels to meet the demand for more efficient and responsive planning support.

“Our current staff levels in the planning and engineering departments are not able to meet the current growth demand, which is why as a council we have agreed to allocate funding for necessary increased resourcing.”