The Wagga council will continue to rent an office for Sydney-based staff unwilling to relocate after resolving to extend the lease last month.
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The council announced mid last year that it would set up an office in Sydney to address problems it was having filling vacant positions.
At the time council general manager Peter Thompson said the "all or nothing" choice to relocate to a regional area was off-putting for many Sydney workers with desired specialist skill sets, and the aim was to see workers at the Sydney office eventually choose to relocate to Wagga.
In January this year, the council said it had hired seven employees as a result of the Sydney office including engineers with expertise in flood management and traffic flow management.
Councils including Tamworth, Port Macquarie and Parkes have placed staff in the office, a Wagga-led initiative.
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The original plan in 2019 saw the council sign a one-year lease with two one year options with Property NSW.
The original lease expired in late October with staff able to continue working there until a new arrangement was made.
At the November 23 council meeting, it was resolved to extend the lease for at least a further 12 months.
A council spokesperson said this decision was made based on the benefits the Sydney staff were beginning to provide.
"The staff recruited to the Sydney office are providing high quality specialist expertise and Council is starting to see the benefits of these appointments," the spokesperson said.
NSW Government workers who previously shared the space with the council staff have relocated, with Property NSW offering a smaller office space for the Wagga staff to now move into for the next 12 months to save costs.
PNSW have waived the first three months rent.
Council documents show the Sydney based staff indicated they preferred to work from the office space rather than alternatives such as working from home.