By MATT NICHOLLS
SHANE Burns said he was proud of his achievements in his 13 years as head of the Armidale Dumaresq Councillor.
The former general manager said his last five years were particularly satisfying as he helped lead the city’s push towards the National Broadband Network and increased efficiencies.
“Council has copped criticism in recent times with people opposed to the special rate variation and concerns that it was not operating efficiently,” Mr Burns said.
“It is a shame that the work that council has been doing in this space over many years is unrecognised and undervalued within the broader community.
“Council has over the past four to five years been undertaking considerable work on process mapping, process and systems analysis and process re-engineeing to identify and implement the most efficient business processes.
“This work has covered all functions apart from Transport, which is currently being undertaken.”
Mr Burns said the Armidale Dumaresq Council had been able to reduce its staff from 262 to 230 without negatively impacting on service provision to the community.
“In fact we have seen improving service level response times,” he said.
“Council is recognised within the industry as a leader in the application of field technology.
“(It) is up there with leaders within the industry with online service access and has successfully implemented the most advanced corporate shared service within local government in Australia.
“Armidale is often visited by other councils to review the work that has been undertaken in this area and is often complimented by consultants on this work that has been done.”
Former Member for New England Tony Windsor said Mr Burns was a key player in driving the NBN to Armidale.
“There were a lot of people involved, but Shane in particular pushed for the new technology,” Mr Windsor said.
Mr Burns said Armidale was fortunate to be the first mainland city in Australia to be fully fibred under the NBN program.
“This provides enormous opportunities for Armidale and the region and gives our city a competitive advantage during the digital revolution that is being experienced,” he said.
“It is important that council drives the digital strategy that has been developed, one project being the data centre which will encourage other businesses to set up in Armidale.”
On a final note, Mr Burns paid tribute to his former colleagues.
“I would like to thank the council staff for the enormous support I have received,” he said.
“The significant amount of best wishes received from many members of the broader community during this unpleasant saga was well received.
“While my preference was to see my contract out to September, I have to accept the wish to make change, despite the reasons not being clear.
“At least I can take comfort knowing it has been recognised on a numerous occasions that I am not leaving on performance grounds.”
