Useful Shire of East Pilbara Contacts

Welcome to the Shire of East Pilbara, the Heart of the Pilbara

The Shire of East Pilbara provides a variety of services and activities for the residents, ratepayers and visitors in the Shire. Professional and dedicated staff are employed to provide and maintain these services.

The overall management of the Shire rests with the Chief Executive Officer. The staff act on resolutions of Council by developing and putting into practice the policy development responsibility of the Councillors and their resolutions.

Of the three tiers of government which make decisions on behalf of the community, local government is the closest to the people they represent. Councils manage the things that affect your every day lifestyle – like roads, streets and footpaths, waste removal, recreation areas, parks and gardens, libraries, building regulations and so on.

Council

The Council is made up of members of the local community who are elected by the residents and ratepayers of the respective wards they represent.

In the Shire there are 11 Councillors representing six wards, South, North, North West, Central, Lower Central and East. The Shire President and Deputy President are elected by the Councillors.

Council meetings are generally held alternatively between Newman, Marble Bar and Nullagine usually on the 4th Friday of each month. Council meeting dates can be found on the Shire's website.

Council's Vision

The Shire of East Pilbara is not just about resources – it’s also about resourcefulness. From our Indigenous people to early pastoralists and miners, and through to the present day, people have shown their capacity to not only survive but thrive in the heart of the Pilbara.

Strategic Community Plan

The plan aims to meet our community needs while also addressing the expectations of State Government – requiring all local government authorities to develop a strategy and planning document that reflects community and local government aspirations and priorities over a period of 10+ years.

The development of this Strategic Community Plan is to be part of an integrated framework designed to:

• Ensure community input is explicitly and reliably generated
• Provide the capacity for location specific planning, where appropriate
• Inform the long-term objectives of the local government with these inputs
• Identify the resourcing required to deliver against these objectives
• Clearly articulate long-term financial implications and strategies

Our Strategic Community Plan prioritises community aspirations, giving consideration to social, economic, environmental and governance objectives. The essence of this plan can be summarised as a community response to three questions:

1. Where are we now?
2. Where do we want to be?
3. How do we get there?

Representations To Government & Industry

An important function of the Council is to represent the population in discussions with government and industry. One of the aims of this process is to maximise the Council’s share of grant funds.

A Council’s role is to:

• govern the local government’s affairs;
• be responsible for the performance of the local government’s functions;
• oversee the allocation of the local government’s finances and resources; and
• determine the local government’s policies.

A Councillor’s role is to:

• represent the interests of the electors, ratepayers and residents;
• provide leadership and guidance to the community;
• facilitate communication between the community and the council and vice versa; and
• participate in decision-making processes at meetings.