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This was published 4 months ago
Pilbara council spends $20k to send 15 councillors and staff south for one-day workshop
The City of Karratha is spending more than $20,000 to send 10 councillors and five staff members to the Novotel Vines Resort in Ellenbrook for a one-day budget workshop.
The trip has raised the eyebrows of some ratepayers in the Pilbara city, who questioned why the workshop couldn’t be held at a local venue.
Karratha councillors and staff will spend a night at the Vines Resort later this month for a budget workshop.Credit: Facebook
Five city executives and 10 councillors will travel to Perth on March 15 for the workshop at a total cost of $20,674.
A city spokesman said off-site workshops allowed councillors and staff to work with fewer distractions.
“This workshop is probably one of the most crucial for councillors as it informs the direction of the city’s activities and budget priorities,” he said.
“While the vast majority of meetings are held locally, it is common for councils and their executive teams to hold off-site meetings in the same way other organisations do, as it allows for deeper and more meaningful dialogue without interruptions and improves productivity.
“Off-site workshops also offer important relationship-building benefits that improve how Councillors work together as an effective team.”
Travel spending of councils has been thrust into the spotlight after WAtoday and 6PR revealed the City of Cockburn planned to spend $114,000 to send its mayor and three councillors on a junket to the seaside Croatian city of Split as part of its sister cities relationship.
The city eventually scrapped the trip after public pressure, determining it was an “unjustifiable” cost with little community benefit.
A plan to allow City of Perth councillors to travel business class on the ratepayers’ dime sailed through the council last month.
The proposed changes to the council’s allowances, fees and entitlements policy involved slashing dozens of clauses and substituting them with new ones, including several governing how elected members should travel.
The City of Karratha’s workshop at The Vines was not an item put before the council.
WAtoday was alerted to the trip by a Karratha council member, who declined to comment on the record but raised concerns about the amount of money the city was spending for such a short trip that could have been held in the Pilbara city.
Return flights from Karratha to Perth cost about $1000 while the cheapest room on a Friday night at The Vines in March is about $260.
The city said attendees would only take part in the workshop and not play golf at the resort’s famed course.
Karratha businessman Gary Fitzgerald questioned why the council cohort was heading south for the meeting when the city could host such events at local facilities including the Red Earth Arts Precinct.
“I can’t see why they need to spend $20,000 when they have the Red Earth facility that everyone can go and sit in there,” he said.
“They’ve got big meeting rooms and they can hold it there without having to run off for a weekend of enjoyment on the taxpayer’s money.
“It’s also got all the facilities and the like, your audio and your TVs and your projectors and everything you possibly need to hold this type of meeting.”
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