Mayor's Message

Published on 13 August 2021

Keeping the community informed of Council’s COVID response

With the increase in COVID cases across NSW, and snap lockdowns occurring regularly in regional NSW, Uralla Shire Council’s managers monitor the situation daily and make changes to the way Council Services are run based on the latest Public Health Orders.

Staff availability is another consideration, as at different times, staff may be affected by lockdown restrictions due to places where they may live or have visited, or they may be isolating after COVID-19 testing.

Available staff from other service areas may be asked to cover for their colleagues in an area that they may be less familiar with to keep essential services continuing for the community.

It is likely that the situation will remain changeable for a while yet. Council will keep the community informed as it responds to different situations. 

Any significant changes to Council Services will be posted by a Public Notice to the website: uralla.nsw.gov.au. The latest three Public Notices can be found on the home page, or click the Public Notices tab to see more.

Regular updates are made to Council’s COVID-19 information page and/or Services and Facilities update pages, so you might like to bookmark these on your browser.

Announcements may also be made directly from service areas to customers who use them, and may also be shared with media contacts (like this message has been) to reach more people in the community.

Customer service staff will be managing phones between 8.30am – 4.30pm each weekday (with a break for lunch between 1pm and 2pm) so if you don’t have access to the internet or would prefer to speak with one of the helpful staff members, they will continue to be contactable on (02) 6778 6300 even if the doors themselves may need to be opened and closed at different times. In times of high call volume, you may be asked to leave a message. Please make sure you provide your name and number so they can return your call.

Over the coming weeks, Council will also be reviewing the way it offers different services to look for opportunities to minimise disruption to the community as restrictions change.

If you have any suggestions as to how we can serve you better under the changing environment, I invite you to provide any feedback that you would like to give, either by email to council@uralla.nsw.gov.au or to the Office of the General Manager, PO Box 106 Uralla NSW 2358.

Council’s Executive team will monitor the situation over the weekend to assist with the planning of Council Services for next week.

We will issue a Public Notice and update on Monday to let you know whether we will be able to resume some of the services that were on-hold this week – I am hoping that may be the case.

And as always, NSW Health is the place to go to for the latest information about rules and restrictions, case locations, and where you can get tested or vaccinated: nsw.gov.au/covid-19

Yours in service,

Mayor Michael Pearce