Annual Report 2005-2006 - Waverley Council

Waverley Council
A Message From The General Manager, Kim Anson
Each year Council prepares an Annual Report that reviews our progress
during the previous financial year. While this Report is a statutory
requirement, it also provides an important way for Council to ensure it is
continuing to work towards the community’s vision for Waverley. This is
particularly so in 2005/2006, the first year in which actions and targets set out
in the Management Plan have been aligned with key elements from Council’s
vision.
In 2005/2006 we set a range of ambitious targets and made excellent
progress on meeting those targets. The preparation and adoption of the
Waverley Together Strategic Plan, which sets out directions and strategies for
the next 12 years, has been a significant milestone. Waverley Together, when combined with
Council’s Management Plan and budget, shows how direct alignment can be achieved between
strategic, management and budgetary planning. Together these plans ensure a high level of concrete
commitment from Council and also from senior staff to the community’s and Council vision, the latter
via our performance management system.
Important achievements in 2005/2006 include:
• completion of our Community Safety Pan, successful implementation of the Youth Safety Protocol
and continued accreditation of a number of our highly valued community services, including Child
Care Centres;
• preparation of a draft Tree Management Plan and adoption of the innovative Greenlinks program;
• continuation of and refinement to our best practice parking program, completion of design work for
Stage 2 of the Bike Plan and the commencement of our behaviour change programs to support
goals in the Transport Policy such as encouraging more walking and cycling;
• ongoing improvement in our processing times for development applications;
• installation of new signage for the Coastal Walk, beaches and coastal parks and consultation on
public domain improvement plans for our village centres.
Council also made significant progress on a range of organisational activities that provide us with
improved capacity to serve the community. These include
• successful implementation of our organisational restructure, with the new departmental structure in
place and key positions filled;
• completion of our first Strategic Asset Management Plan, one of the first in NSW, which offers
substantial benefits in planning for the future of Council’s assets;
• implementation of our Communications Action Plan and particularly the development of visual
identity and communications guidelines and templates;
• rolling out the activities from our Human Resources Strategic Plan, including improvements to
induction processes and the introduction of a stronger performance management system for
Divisional Managers;
• integration of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Access and Equity Policy within the
Management Plan, to address issues identified in Council’s Social Plan.
In the small number of cases where Management Plan targets were not achieved we have carefully
reviewed activities to address issues. The results of these reviews will also be used in planning for
future implementation of the Strategic Plan and in the continual improvement of our services and
activities.
Kim Anson,
General Manager
A vibrant, welcoming and inspiring place to live, work and play
Annual Report 2005/2006 9