Council to create new department focused on advocacy, major projects and economic development

Redland City Council has strengthened its commitment to investment attraction, economic development and major projects by creating a new department dedicated to advocating for and delivering major projects for the city.

The creation of the new department will include a new position of General Manager, Advocacy, Major Projects and Economic Development.

Mayor Karen Williams said with the COVID-19 pandemic highlighting the need for governments to be agile in their response to business continuity and economic recovery, the time was right for this operational change within Council.

“Local governments play an important role in supporting their local economies through attracting investment in local infrastructure and city-building initiatives, through advocacy, and through strategic planning and policy development,” she said.

“The new department will lead and manage the coordination of strategic and major projects, ensuring Council is well equipped to meet future demands and deliver on the economic development vision for Redlands Coast.

“Its key areas of focus will include Economic Development and Investment, Advocacy, External Funding, Asset Management, and include Council’s Portfolio Management Office.

“Drawing these functions together from various existing departments will bring targeted focus on current challenges, and better position Council to create new opportunities to strategically improve how Council manages its capital program over the long term.

“Given Council’s increasingly complex annual capital program and multi-year major projects, the new department will provide Councillors and the community a clearer roadmap for their delivery.

“Council is working on some very exciting region-shaping projects that will require partnerships with other levels of government to deliver, requiring strong advocacy and external funding to help make these projects a reality.

“In the 2020/21 financial year, Council’s external funding team successfully generated $20.7 million in grants and funding.

“This new structure recognises the importance of the city shaping projects being managed by Redlands Investment Corporation as a partner for selected strategic projects.”

Cr Williams said the new department would have minimal impact on Council’s day-to-day operations, with most changes being made to employee reporting lines rather than position or role changes, and minimal impact on Council’s budget.

“The new General Manager position is an upgrade of a vacant Group Manager position, rather than a completely new position,” she said.

“Importantly, there will be no employee redundancies as a result of the changed structure.

“This new department is a positive move for Council and our community as we focus on ensuring the best outcomes for Redlands Coast.”

Redland City Council Chief Executive Officer Andrew Chesterman said; “Great teams change when they are doing well. This new department recognises the excellent work done over the past several years, which has resulted in the need for an organisational structure that sets us up for an exciting decade ahead.”