Builders and developers have welcomed a commitment from Wagga City Council to improve its communication with the local construction industry.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Council has resolved to investigate ways to increase engagement with the sector, including potentially holding quarterly forums, following a notice of motion from councillor Richard Foley.
Cr Foley, who also works as a plasterer, said "quite a few" members of the construction industry had approached him with complaints about the current levels of engagement and excessive red tape.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Over the next few months a report will be put together, auditing the current engagement with the industry and considering quarterly "breakfast forums" where industry stakeholders can speak directly with senior council staff.
"It's certainly not my intention to drag out staff members to be castigated by building workers and developers," Cr Foley said.
"It's fundamentally to try and see if we can open those lines of communication on a more informal basis."
Currently, almost all engagement between the construction industry and council is done through emails, which local builder Glenn Maslin said results in crucial information slipping through the cracks.
"Builders get so many emails and often they don't have time to read them because they're so in-depth," Mr Maslin said.
"Because of that, we find out some rule changes are going through once they have already happened or are about to happen and then it's too late for us to do anything about it."
Mr Maslin said having more conversational engagement, either through online or in-person forums, would significantly improve the engagement.
The move to enhance the dialogue between council and the industry comes at a crucial time as the region navigates the affordable housing crisis.
Cr Foley suggested these potential meetings could also be used for discussion between council and developers on potential solutions to the crisis, a sentiment which was shared by Wagga City Council general manager Peter Thompson.
"We have been confronted with an affordable housing issue ... we need the ideas of people who are actually constructing the dwellings as to how we can make them more affordable or available to people who are entering the rental market," Mr Thompson said.
The notice of motion was supported by all nine councillors and the report will be put before the council later this year.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Download our app from the Apple Store or Google Play
- Bookmark dailyadvertiser.com.au
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters