By BELINDA PARKES
LOCAL suppliers will be the preferred choice of business partner for Tweed Shire Council under a new policy designed to strengthen the local economy.
Councillors have unanimously endorsed a policy, subject to external expert financial advice, that will see Tweed-based businesses given a head start on assessment criteria.
Of the $99 million worth of goods and services council procured in 2011-’12 financial year, just over 25 per cent, or $23 million worth, was sourced locally.
Councillor Gary Bagnall got the ball rolling late last year when he asked council’s operations director Patrick Knight to bring back a report looking at options, and legal issues, for improving economic sustainability, including preferencing local suppliers.
Cr Bagnall was thrilled with the outcome of the report, saying the Tweed economy could be given a boost worth tens of millions of dollars if even a portion of the $73 million spent outside the shire was to now be spent within it.
“I hope the business community has a look and maybe sees opportunities to start up new businesses to supply to council or to compete with businesses outside our shire,” he said.
“Not everyone can compete with the big operators in South-East Queensland and this will give them the boost they need.”
Cr Bagnall predicted it would go on to be ‘one of the greatest economic boosts our shire has seen’ if local businesses took up the opportunity to compete for the work and managed to win a few Tweed Shire Council contracts.
Cr Warren Polglase said the policy was a way of trying to counteract the current imbalance between what was sourced locally and what business was done outside the shire or interstate.
“We are playing with a lot of money here – it will fill a lot of potholes,” he said.
But the policy does have some potential pitfalls, including the possibility the council will have to pay more to secure local suppliers, who will be given up to 10 per cent leeway on tender prices – but with the understanding it is in the economic interests of the region.
Mr Knight told the council it could impact on the council’s finances by pushing up its operating costs and forcing budget cuts to planned works and projects.
He said a balance had to be found between boosting the local economy and giving ratepayers their best value for their money.
“If it works too well it may be great on one hand, but send our council operations broke,” Mr Knight said.
“We don’t want to make all our works and services too expensive.”
The council has looked into legislation surrounding fair trading and anti-competitiveness issues but many other regions have a local procurement policy of some form including the Gold Coast and Lismore, so those issues should be able to be overcome.
Mayor Barry Longland said more economic development initiatives had come forward in the past two months than in the whole of the previous year.
“Word is reaching the business community that we are serious about this,” Cr Longland said.
Councillors voted unanimously to support the policy, which is out on public exhibition, subject to advice from its auditors about the potential costs to the council and the likely effectiveness of stimulating the local economy.
