FAQs

This is a commercial public building that has been designed to serve our community for generations. It has a 1,600 sqm footprint that includes a council chamber, public foyer, meeting rooms, office space and amenities for approximately 70 staff .

The $9.2 million estimate includes a considerable amount of contingency, as well as statutory charges, furniture and fittings. The building and site works have been estimated to cost $5.8 million which is not far off the $5.5 million target that was set by Council. The additional $3.2 million estimate consists of contingency (unforeseen costs such as materials and last-minute modest changes to design), statutory charges and furniture and fittings. We won’t know the final price until we receive formal expressions of interest to build the new centre.

The decision to undertake this project will not impact on other priorities such as roads expenditure or have a negative impact on Council’s finances. The decision has been considered as part of Council’s long-term financial planning. The Council is currently in a strong financial situation.

No. There will be no reduction in council services whatsoever as a result of the proposed development. The proposed new development represents a sound financial investment and would be funded through council borrowings at a low-interest rate, with no impact on the operating budget that funds ongoing council services.

The proposed new development would be funded through a long-term low interest loan from the Local Government Association. This will result in minimal impact to ratepayers.

There will be minimal impact to ratepayers as a result of the project being funded through low-cost loans.

In 2018 Council engaged an architect to explore the option of renovating and expanding our existing site. A detailed investigation was undertaken and concluded this option would not address several fundamental structural faults with the existing 90-year-old building, and there was limited space available to expand. Expansion or renovation was not a viable option in comparison to building a new facility.

The decision on whether to proceed with the development will be made by the Elected Members. The Elected Members will undoubtedly consider the view of the community in making this decision.

In July 2020 Council made the decision to seek the communities view on the site selection and undertook public consultation. Several sites were considered including the current Council Office in George Street with the majority supporting the proposed site.

The ultimate decision to build the new Service Centre will be made by the new Council in early 2023. Council consulted with the community on site selection in 2020, but was not able to share its vision of the final design until July 2022 when the concept designs were finalised. Your views, questions, thoughts and ideas will be taken on board to help with the final decision which will be made by the Elected Members that you have chosen to represent you.

Council did consider an existing building in the form of the Millicent Community Club, however it was found to be a more expensive option in terms of the renovation costs and still would have had issues in meeting car parking requirements. No other site would have been large enough to accommodate the needs unless the proposal was developed as a multi-level development which would come at a significant cost.

Council did consider alternative options in site selection for its new service centre including the redevelopment of our current site. Four sites – the former netball area, Apex Park, Jubilee Park, and the current George Street office - were shortlisted as possible sites for redevelopment or development of a new Council office.

Between July and August 2020, Council did public consultation on these four site options. This was undertaken via a survey, which was broadly promoted on Council’s website, Facebook feed/page and through local media with the consultation closing on 26 August 2020.

The results of the consultation (tabled at the Ordinary Meeting on 8 September 2020 ) showed the majority of the 419 respondents (163 individuals or 39%) chose the former netball precinct as the preferred option for the future location and development of the Council’s administration offices.

Millicent has a significant amount of public open space and as such the decision to develop a new Council office on this site is not seen as inappropriate.  The new building and car parking will take up about two-thirds of the site, with the remainder to be landscaped for public use. The portion to the north of the drain will continue to be developed as community use.

Council provides hundreds of different services to the community, and many of them are not obvious to the average rate payer. It is also governed by dozens of different legislative frameworks that make a significant amount of unavoidable ‘red tape’. All of these services and compliance obligations require people who predominantly work in an office.

In order to maintain council services for the community as well as expected increased demand from Federal and State Government compliance regulations, Council requires a Service Centre that will not only meet existing staff levels but any future growth of the community.

A detailed traffic management report has been prepared as part of the planning application. The assessment did not identify any major concern. It did recommend consideration for a traffic management device and turning treatment at North Tce and Williams Road which will form part of the development.

Council is yet to make a decision on what to do with the existing building.

Council officers have made direct contact with the President of Millicent Croquet Club. The club has not indicated any objection to the proposed development. In the discussion, the Club President was particularly supportive of the potential for off-street parking which would be provided for the new offices, saying this would provide off-street parking for club members out of office hours.

We won’t know until we review future tenders, however Council will have a preference for local suppliers and contracts as part any tender evaluation process.
Council’s procurement policy is based on principles which consider local employment and purchasing whilst also providing value for money for the community.

We won’t know until we review future tenders, however Council will have a preference for local suppliers and contracts as part of any tender evaluation process.