At the recent June ordinary meeting of Western Plains Regional Council administrator Michael Kneipp formed 14 new groups.

Twenty committees of the former Dubbo City Council and four from Wellington Council were scrapped.

The reformed groups are: saleyards advisory committee, audit and risk management committee, companion animals advisory committee, floodplain management committee, geographical names ad hoc committee, Western Plains Regional Council code of conduct committee, Dubbo Day Awards committee, Rainbow Cottage Childcare Centre committee, sister cities advisory committee, Dubbo Multicultural Festival advisory committee, rural consultative working party, Australia Day working party, Wellington caves advisory group and Wellington bicentenary committee.

Mr Kneipp said some of the former working groups had to be trimmed.

“The opinion was that they were not working,” he said.

“But we also use other forums to stay updated. I regularly meeting with the Chamber of Commerce in Wellington and Dubbo, so there’s quite a number of venues where I can get advice and hear what the community wants.”

The new groups were in addition to the local representation committee,  Mr Kneipp said.

“We’re meeting monthly and the main purpose of that is for those wise ex-councillors to give me advice on a number of matters and to be a bit of a sounding board,” he said. 

Where applicable council will call for expressions of interest on the committees for determination by the administrator.

The committees were created or abandoned based on a review which assessed their effectiveness, how often they met and their relevance under the new local government area.

Abandoned groups include the Dubbo Showground Advisory Committee, Wongarbon Community Hall Committee, Old Dubbo Gaol Committee and Wellington’s Crime Prevention Committee.