A council presence will soon be in Byford to accommodate staff while simultaneously addressing some community needs.
In the most recent ordinary council meeting on June 16, the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale unanimously passed the motion of shire offices to reside in shop one in Byford Village.
However, David Atwell from Mundijong said he couldn’t understand why there was a need for the shire to spend extra money on the facilities.
“I’m quite bewildered why the shire is actually wanting to put a presence in Byford at this time of the Shire’s involvement,” he said.
“I mean, 20 years ago I can understand it when people were less mobile, didn’t have phones, didn’t pay things by phone accounts.
“I find it rather ridiculous that we’re paying about $126,000 for a lease of a room, $40,000 for outgoings, plus who knows what to relocate down there.
“As I said, I just really cannot understand why you would divide the area by putting a new council presence in Byford when the whole world has mechanised itself so far now that it seems superfluous.”
Councilor Nathan Bishop also had some questions to raise during the council meeting about the proposed officer recommendations.
“Just to the points raised by Mr Atwell, I take the point there may not be a community need, but I understand the item does address staff accommodation issues,” he said.
“Obviously there’s quite a significant cost fit out associated. To what extend do those costs relate to turning this facility into a customer-facing facility versus purely being staff accommodation?
“Recognising there may not be a distinct need for a customer center in Byford that interacts with the public, to what extent might there be cost savings if the space was purely for the staff accommodation?”
Mr Bishop also questioned if splurging on an office space in Byford was the best way to accommodate shire staff.
“What kind of level of confidence does the shire have that this is one of, if not the most cost-effective solution available to the shire?”
Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale chief executive officer Paul Martin said the high costs associated with the proposed shire offices in Byford would cater up to 20 staff and includes a small boardroom for staff and community usage and a customer service front desk.
“Many of the costs are actually costs for what would be staff accommodation and desks. My understanding is it’s only a relatively small customer service counter,” he said,
“Many of the costs are actually going towards accommodating staff, furniture, IT equipment, security.
“We’ve done a lot of work in this space over the many years in regard to how staff are accommodated.
“We think this is actually a pretty reasonable comparative cost for accommodating those staff members, whilst also providing some benefit to the community in terms of access to services and staff being available in Byford.
“All the options come at a cost, and this is a pretty reasonable one we think that also goes some way towards addressing some of the needs of the community as well and providing better services.”
The motion was moved by cr Bishop and seconded by deputy president Tricia Duggin.
