Water security, childcare, workforce: huge items heading to council

From plugging a severe worker shortage to a floundering water recycling plan, here are the most important issues councillors are set to discuss on Tuesday, April 23.

A decision from Baiada Poultry to build its own water recycling facility on the site of its new $300 million poultry processing facility in Westdale has put Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) in hot water.

With the major water consumer jumping ship, council says its plan to build a 12 megalitre facility to protect the region's water security is no longer economically viable.

TRC has spent three years trying to get funding and planning approvals for its proposed Water Purification Facility (WPF) and so far has sunk $1.8 million into it, according to a report going to councillors on Tuesday.

"It is extremely frustrating that delays associated with obtaining approval for government funding for the Council owned WPF has led to a point where the key customer, Baiada believes it has no choice but to abandon the proposed facility and build their own on site," the report says.

There is an option on the table for council to pursue a smaller, 5 megalitre WPF, and the report says the planning work council has done with the NSW Government will "help Council in the future when it inevitably contemplates the use of purified water in some form".

Baiada has proposed to buy 13 hectares of council land to use in building its own purified water plant.

The report says TRC has serious concerns with Baiada building its own on-site water facility, including water treatment "not [being] core business for Baiada" and a lack of contingency plans if the company's plant fails.

Councillors will consider Baiada's land purchase proposal as a separate item in a meeting closed to the public.

Councillors will discuss whether to adopt a new plan to address skills and labour shortages in the region.

The Namoi Workforce Attraction and Retention Strategy supports long-term settlement for newcomers by setting up a "welcome network" to make them feel more at home and deepen their ties to the region.

The strategy identifies recent and new international migrants as a "key target group" and recommends several actions ranging from targeted marketing campaigns to improving local training opportunities.

The strategy is one of the last projects the Namoi Unlimited Joint Organisation - a coalition of councils from Gunnedah, Gwydir, Liverpool Plains, Tamworth and Walcha - will develop before shutting down.

The objective of the strategy is to bring an influx of talent to the Namoi region over the coming decade to maximise local benefits from the region's long-held status as a prime agricultural hub.

A proposal for a 120-place child care facility on Calala Lane has stirred some controversy among residents.

Council says it received 19 submissions objecting to the childcare centre, 14 of which relate to traffic on the suburb's busy main road.

These concerns were raised to the developer who then worked with council on an amended plan which adds a right-turn median to Calala Lane and requires a 'left-out only' egress for cars exiting the centre.

The amended plans gained the approval of council's local traffic committee and council staff are recommending the approval of the update plans - subject to a total of 86 development conditions.

The second largest issue for residents [10 submissions] is increased demand for staff placing strain on other centres that are already short-staffed, but a council report says finding staff "is not an issue that forms part of council's assessment".