Even though the much touted $42,000 organisational review at Warrnambool City Council has effectively been shelved, the ratepayer group still wants to know details of its workforce plans.
New rules under the Local Government Act meant all councils were required to produce a workforce plan by the end of last year which the council said "effectively superseded" the previous organisational review.
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The council had spent $42,000 on the review in 2019 but it was never enacted, although it said the review contributed to the foundation work for its new workforce plan.
Last week, Warrnambool Ratepayers Association president Joan Kelson said the public was still yet to see the outcome of the organisational review and what that meant for staffing and services offered by the council.
"So all that money that we paid... people want to see something for their money if that $42,000 has been spent," Mrs Kelson said.
"I understand it has now gone to a workforce plan, but people want to know that their dollar has been spent as wisely as it can with the numbers of people and whether we've got them in the right areas or not.
"It would be great if the public knew some of those results so they can see where their money is being spent. It doesn't have to be a negative."
An organisational review into resourcing levels at the council was carried out after a number of councillors raised concerns the city's operations were unsustainable. The new workforce plan describes the organisational structure of the council and specifies the projected staffing requirements for a period of at least four years while setting out measures to seek to ensure gender equality, diversity and inclusiveness, the council said.
"All councils are constantly reviewing how resources - both human and financial - are allocated," it said. "The council team changes as demands for services, programs and infrastructure change. As an example, the introduction of subsidised kindergarten for three-year-olds will bring about changes to the hours our early childhood team will need to deliver.
"And as vacancies naturally arise, councils have an opportunity to look at how roles are performed and how improvements might be achieved."
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Katrina Lovell
Katrina Lovell is a senior journalist at The Standard who covers council news and human interest stories.
Katrina Lovell is a senior journalist at The Standard who covers council news and human interest stories.
