Susanna Freymark
Richmond Valley Council monthly meeting is at 6pm tonight, Tuesday, April 21 at the council chambers in Casino.
Read the agenda here.
Below is a summary of the March 17 council meeting.
Councillors present at the meeting: Robert Mustow, Stephen Morrissey, Robert Hayes, Sandra Humphrys, John Walker.
Absent: Lyndall Murray, Sam Cornish
Driving on Airforce Beach
An update was given on the options for the management of Airforce Beach and the possibility of moving the access road. Read that story here.
Mistake/oversight in IT budget
At the February council meeting, Mr Walker pointed out a budget item for more than $680,000 for the council’s Information Technology budget.
“We are told it was a significant oversight in the budget,” Mr Walker said.
“We should have been discussing how $681, 718 could be spent.”
General manager Vaughan Macdonald said he took responsibility for the mistake.
“A mistake was made and I appreciate councillor Walker highlighting it,” Mr Macdonald said.
“We will ensure it does not happen again.”
Five pages of the agenda is dedicated to explaining this mistake.
The money was part of the IT Software and Services budget with regard to software licensing costs with TechnologyOne.
The council’s total Information Technology operational expenditure is $3.9million a year with software licensing and cloud services making up 42% of the costs.
Changes to TechnologyOne’s platform including cloud services and security has resulted in the increase. The details are included in the report.
The report concluded with this statement:
‘A significant increase in licencing and expenditure was omitted from the original budget due to an oversight, however these costs are unavoidable to ensure our systems and processes remain best practice, and due to good investment practices these increased costs can be funded from investment earnings which have exceeded the forecast budget.’
Tourism and events up until 2030
The council enlisted Destination Store to develop an updated Destination Management Plan through to 2030. The new plan will be presented to the council in June.
Here’s how the summer was assessed according to Destination Store:
- High demand for accomodation in Evans Head with a positive spillover into broader Mid Richmond area
- Coraki Riverside Caravan park performs strongly with an average length of stay between 2—4 nights.
- High traffic volumes on December 31at Woodburn Evans Head Road with 5259 cars recorded and at Broadwater Evans Head Road 3292 cars were recorded. Throughout the holiday period, traffic volumes remained well above baseline levels giving a clear indication of visitor numbers.
- Visitor spending during school holidays was estimated at $1.2million.
Other stats from the report include:
Beef Week Festival: The council has renewed its sponsorship agreement with the Beef Week Committee supporting the festival with $30,000 a year in cash and in-kind assistance.
Casino Truck Show: In 2025, an estimated 40,000 attended. The event generated an estimated $4.9million in economic activity. Friday Night Lights was a standout enhancement of the event.
Council grant applications
The council has applied for $150,000 in funding from the NSW Office of Sport for a $529,000 project for lighting upgrades at Stan Payne Oval. The council would cover the rest.
Grants received by council include:
$3.5million for Casino Footbridge
$5million towards the Woodburn Evans Head Shared Pathway costing a total of $7million
$7million annual allocation of a Financial Assistance grant from the Federal Government
Funding for youth
Mr Mustow said he was supportive of increasing the budget for youth.
“Youth engagement is a critical issue for council,” Mr Walker said.
“This recommendation is a token one.”
Increasing the allocation from $7000 to $20,000 isn’t enough, he said.
The council ’s current youth engagement budget is $7000 for the year. Half of that money is spent on matching the funding for NSW Youth Week Funding.
Extra money needed for youth events and programs would need to come from rates revenue.
There are 5383 young people aged 12 to 24 years living in Richmond Valley.
One of the options the council is considering is to create a youth support role within the council.
There are pages of information in the report that can be read here (starts page 20).
The plan for disability inclusion
The council is remaking its Disability Inclusion Action Plan and has set out 20 proposed actions that assist people with a disability to participate fully in community life.
Out of the 23,565 Richmond Valley residents, more than a quarter are aged over 65 and live with a long term health condition. 944 residents (under the age of 65) receive support through the NDIS.
The draft Richmond Valley Disability Inclusion Plan 2026-2029 will be placed on public exhibition for community feedback.