Covid impacts cause delays across Council services

Tweed Shire Council

Residents and other customers may experience delays when dealing with Council this month as the effects of the Omicron COVID-19 variant hit the Tweed.

Like many local businesses, groups and organisations, Council is also being affected by COVID-19 staffing impacts across Council’s 52 services, leading to longer response times.

General Manager Troy Green said new Treasury modelling, based on NSW, predicted up to one-in-10 workers would be absent due to Omicron at any one time during peaks.

“We are certainly seeing this played at a local level,” Mr Green said.

So Council can provide the best levels of service with available staff resources and to support our customers, Customer Service counters at Tweed Heads and Murwillumbah are closed from today for 3 weeks, from Friday 13 January until Friday 4 February.

Phone, live chat (from Monday 17 January) and social media services are still available and there are plenty of other ways you can contact and connect with Council. For more, visit www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/contact-us

You are still able to report Council issues, make a payment, check what bin goes out, report a lost pet, check the Emergency Dashboard, see where you can walk your dog, view the DA Tracker, book a household cleanup, check current vacancies, change your mailing address, get your notices electronically, book an inspection or check a tender.

Mr Green said it was understandable people could become frustrated with changes, delays or reduced service hours.

“We understand it’s tough for everyone at the moment but when dealing with our staff who are able to be at work, we ask that you be patient and be kind,” Mr Green said.

“We are still here and still serving the community in a COVID-safe way. We aim to do our best to get to your request as soon as we can.

“Please only call if necessary and use our call back feature as we will be experiencing delays due to staff shortages.

“In more positive news, we are pleased to see the Federal Crisis Cabinet relax isolation rules for our critical workers in water, wastewater and waste. This means they would not have to quarantine immediately if they were an asymptomatic close contact who returned a negative rapid antigen test (RAT).

“This will greatly assist Council in ensuring these critical community services remain operational,” Mr Green said.

In other adjustments to maintain services, operating hours at Tweed Regional Gallery have been reduced to 10:30 am to 2:30pm (Wednesday to Sunday). Daily guided tours are at 11:30 am – 11:50 am (maximum of 4 attendees per tour) and the café will be open 8:30 am – 3 pm.

Face masks must be worn inside the Gallery, QR check-in is required on arrival and the 2 square metre rule applies. Please stay 1.5 metres apart and stay home if you are feeling unwell.

Operating hours and squad availability have been affected this across the 3 pools at Tweed Regional Aquatic Centre (TRAC). Please follow TRAC’s Facebook page to be alerted of any further changes.

/Public Release. View in full here.