Published on 27 May 2026
May Mayor's Message
On 6 May Council held an Extraordinary Meeting to approve putting our suite of draft integrated plans out for public exhibition. Well, you may ask, what does that actually mean?
Every year, councils across NSW are required to publish and seek feedback from their communities on the following:
Last year when we released our plans, I noted concerns that our long-term financial plan indicated that there may be some difficult financial times ahead. Over the last year council has undertaken work to transition to a new contemporary accounting system. As part of the transition our accounts have been closely reviewed and I am pleased to share that we are in a better than anticipated position. However, this is not to say that we are completely out of the woods. Councils, particularly small ones such as ours with a small rate base, continue to operate in a constrained financial environment.
Over the next year, under the leadership of our CEO Cameron Boardman, council will be looking for efficiencies and opportunities to hold us in good stead for the future. This will include leveraging the significant and essential investment we have made in technology uplift to not only future-proof but reduce manual and time-consuming work arounds. We will also be working to ensure that staff are realistic in what can be achieved within our resources and that our capital spend has the right mix of asset upgrade, renewal and new projects.
Council staff have also reviewed our Delivery Program and Operational Plans this year to ensure that they align with our Community Strategic Plan which reflects what the community has told us they want to see in Berrigan Shire.
If you would like to hear more about the plans please contact council directly and watch out on our social media for more specific detail on how to interpret the various documents. We welcome submissions in relation to any or all of these plans. Submissions close at 4PM on Thursday 4 June.
Dr Julia Cornwell McKean
MAYOR BERRIGAN SHIRE COUNCIL