NARROMINE COUNCIL | Restructure

Councillors decided at the ordinary meeting on Wednesday to reduce the number of council departments from four to three.

Planning and Environmental Services will fall under the Corporate and Community Services Department with the exception of waste management which will go to engineering.

Narromine Shire Council General Manager Greg Lamont suggested the move in his report on Wednesday evening and councillors subsequently moved the motion.

Narromine Shire Mayor Bill McAnally said the move should make council more efficient.

"A lot of (other councils) are getting down to two (departments). We have engineering, corporate and executive services and a Chief Financial Officer," he said.

"There's no redundancies, everyone is working under the directors."

The Department of Planning and Environmental Services has been questioned about its efficiency this year.

The mayor has denied the amalgamation will make it slower.

Mr Lamont said the former Director of Environmental Services would be replaced by a Manager of Health, Building and Environmental service.

He said this position had been offered to a candidate who had verbally accepted.

"It all fits. This has all been done by the existing budget," Mr Lamont said.

"Everyone, well most of our managers and directors live in our shire, I'm the only one who doesn't," he said.

The motion was proposed publicly in the business paper.

The general manager spoke for the motion at the meeting.

Crs Carney and McCutcheon seconded the motion and it was passed.

Cr McAnally said they would give the department amalgamation a couple of years to until the next election to determine its success. "They can have a look how it's going then," he said.