Water and Sewerage Governance Kicks off

The working group, formed to consider governance issues associated with the
possible move to a single water and sewerage corporation, met yesterday for the first
time at Campbell Town.

Chaired by the Mayor of Brighton, Councillor Tony Foster, the working group
considered a range of matters that need to be addressed by owner councils in
respect of their deliberations on a single entity.

“The meeting was very productive, with two representatives of owner councils from
each region, along with the Chair of the current water and sewerage corporations
and the CEO of the Local Government Association in attendance,” Mayor Foster
said.

“Councils have had concerns from the beginning about the amount of input they have
into this sector as the owners of the entities. The governance proposals under
consideration are about ensuring that as owners, Local Government has a more
direct relationship with the board(s) and corporation(s),” he said.

“Selection processes, board structure and numbers, communication between the
Board and owners, accountability and reporting along with the basis for dividend
distribution are key matters for the working group to address.”

“We would hope to be in a position to finalise a suite of proposals to distribute to
owner councils in the coming weeks, with a view to reaching final positions on
governance matters and a structure for the water and sewerage corporations in early
June,” Mayor Foster said.

“The working group has been extremely professional, diligent and committed in its
dissection of the issues and has brought an extremely mature consideration to the
matters at hand.”

“I am very confident that owner councils will be provided with a comprehensive and
definitive suite of proposals that will allow them to thoroughly assess and reach a
considered position on the future governance arrangements for the water and
sewerage sector in Tasmania,” he said.
Local Government Association Australia