A new three-directorate organisational structure for Macedon Ranges Shire Council has been finalised.
The changes involved reducing director positions from four to three – and realigning departments and senior manager roles – and will come into effect from July 1.
The three new directorates are Planning and Environment, Corporate and Community, and Assets and Operations.
An examination of the functions of units within the former Community Wellbeing directorate was undertaken to inform where those functions would best sit under the new three-directorate structure.
Following the announcement of the proposed changes to staff in March, discussions on the new structure were held with staff both face-to-face and online.
More than 100 submissions were received from staff keen to have input into the process.
In a press release issued to media on Friday, council CEO Margot Stork said the restructure had not been “an exercise with a focus on finding redundancies”.
“Ten positions under the old structure have been made redundant, however it is important to note these have been replaced by 10 new roles, so there has been no net loss of jobs,” Ms Stork said.
The press release indicated that four of the roles to be made redundant “are currently vacant”, however when the Express enquired as to how and when the four roles were vacated, we were told “three vacancies in the management structure are as a result of staff leaving the organisation over a period of months”.
No explanation as to how and when the fourth role had been vacated was offered.
“Six staff whose roles are not in the new structure are now able to apply for new roles through an Expression of Interest process, which is currently underway,” the press release said.
“If the new roles are not filled at the end of this time, they will be advertised,” it said.
Ms Stork said the changes would assist in creating an organisation that was better able to deliver on the community’s evolving needs and expectations.
Mayor, Cr Janet Pearce said the new organisation structure reflected council’s focus on becoming more efficient and responsive.
Cr Pearce said the CEO had kept councillors well briefed during the organisational review and the transition to a new three-directorate structure.
