General News
1 September, 2020
CCRC Employee Awarded Young Manager of the Year
Cassowary Coast Regional Council has been recognised for excellence at an award ceremony week hosted by the Local Government Managers Australia (LGMA) Queensland, with Council’s Business Opportunities and Improvement Lead, Daniel Bradford declared Young Manager of the Year.
In a ceremony live streamed from Brisbane last week, the LGMA Awards for Excellence also recognised innovations in Council’s management of unsealed roads, as well as teamwork in a Natural Environment project which were both announced as finalists in their categories.
Cassowary Coast Regional Council Mayor, Mark Nolan was thrilled with the outcome which acknowledged the hard work and dedication of Council staff.
“We must unite and embrace this fantastic result with our man Dan taking out the title of Young Manager across all Queensland Councils,” said Mayor Nolan.
“Council holds $1.9B in assets but our wonderful staff are no doubt our most valuable asset, a fact which was emphasised by this award.”
Finalist Innovation Award: Unsealed Roads Management
A finalist in the Innovation category was Council’s ‘Unsealed Roads Management’ program, a management system which ensures funding for gravel roads is utilised to the best value for ratepayers.
Six years in the making, the software actively tracks the status of roads to ensure maintenance and renewal are prioritised by need and risk, a key component of an overall transformation of the unsealed roads management on the Cassowary Coast.
Cassowary Coast has 526km of unsealed roads and spend $1.4M per year on maintenance and $3M in renewal projects across the region. This provides for around 400km of maintenance grading and 35km of resheeting.
Finalist Teamwork Award: Skilling Queenslanders for Work Natural Environment Project
Council’s ‘Skilling Queenslanders for Work Natural Environment Project’ was recognised in the Teamwork category. A partnership with Mamu Aboriginal Corporation saw the creation of a team to form a Traditional Owner natural area, create pathways to connect with the land, respond to natural environment needs and readiness to respond to emerging pressures such as declared weeds and diseases.
The project recruited eight trainees and a supervisor to be immersed in Council teams over three departments to provide participants with a range of work activities in building skills and knowledge to align with their prospective traineeships.
About LGMA Awards
As an association of managers and aspiring managers in local government, LGMA is committed to the development and improvement of local government management in Queensland. They are also committed to maintaining high professional and ethical standards throughout the profession, ensuring that members are at the forefront of innovation and change.
One of the ways in which LGMA support councils and individual officers in achieving excellence is through the Local Government Awards for Excellence programme offered annually across Queensland councils.
In 2020, a record number of nominations were received, however due to social distancing and restrictions for events, the original Gala Dinner was cancelled to be replaced with a live-streamed ceremony last night.
For further information about the LGMA Awards go to https://www.lgmaqld.org.au/Awards-for-excellence.
