What does Council do?
What Councils Do
Councils decide what services they will provide locally, however, there are some services which Councils are required to provide by legislation.
These include:
- planning and development services, including building assessment
- some environmental health services, such as monitoring cooling towers for Legionnaire's Disease
- fire prevention (some building inspection, and some bushfire prevention planning functions are a duty, others are discretionary)
- some administrative requirements, such as preparing strategic plans for the area, maintaining an office, employing a Chief Executive Officer and supporting the elected Council.
Discretionary Services Provided for the Wakefield Regional Council Community
- Abandoned and impounded vehicles
- Administration of area (including special events; political lobbying, etc).
- Aged care services (eg passenger transport)
- Animals and keeping of non-domestic pets
- Animal and plant control (agriculture) through the local board
- BBQ's in parks and reserves
- Building applications
- Business development
- By-Laws
- Car parks
- Clean air controls
- Citizenship
- Community bus
- Community care
- Community functions (eg Australia Day)
- Community grants
- Community halls and centres
- Community information
- Community services directory
- Council newsletter
- Council property
- Cycle and walking tracks
- Economic development
- Emergency services levy on council property
- Environmental health matters
- Environmental issues
- European wasp
- Financial loans for community groups
- Fire prevention
- Footpaths
- Grant procurement - capital projects
- Grants - community assistance
- Home maintenance assistance (government program)
- Immunisation
- Insurance - community buildings and other assets
- Insurance - public liability (cost in 2007/2008 $76,397.00)
- Land development - residential
- Legislative enforcement - general
- Library services
- Lighting - streets/public places
- Litter control
- Local history
- Noticeboards (public)
- Ovals, Parks and Reserves
- Parking bays
- Parking controls
- Patrol grading
- Planning consent and court appeals
- Playgrounds
- Property searches (land agent enquiries etc)
- Public cemeteries
- Public seating
- Public toilets
- Recreational/Sporting facilities
- Road management
- Rubbish collection
- Rubbish disposal - transfer stations and landfill
- Signs - moveable/permanent
- Street closures
- Street lighting
- Street sweeping
- Street tree planting
- Stormwater drainage (eg catchment facilities, kerbing, etc)
- Swimming pools (public)
- Tourism promotion
- Traffic control devices
- Tree trimming (roadsides and other public places)