Local Government NSW (LGNSW) President and Inner West Council Mayor, Darcy Byrne, is calling on the State Government to ensure council fuel supplies are prioritised, warning that essential community services will be at risk without guaranteed supplies.
President Byrne has written to NSW Environment Minister, Penny Sharpe, urging her to prioritise access to fuel supply for essential local government services and functions, particularly should emergency fuel supply declarations be made.
“I have today requested that the NSW Government take action to guarantee the supply of fuel to councils so that the critical services we deliver are protected,” he said.
President Byrne said council garbage collection, water and sewerage services, aged care, community-run transport services, and road works could be impacted by fuel shortages.
“Apart from pricing pressures across the board, the impacts are being most acutely felt by some of the most remote councils in NSW, which are already under significant financial sustainability pressures,” he said.
“A bad situation will be made much worse if garbage collection and water and sewage services are disrupted in vulnerable, remote communities because councils begin to run out of fuel.
“Compounding the issue is that rural and regional areas in NSW have a higher proportion of independent fuel retailers than other states.
“In some cases, independent service stations are the only fuel providers. When they come under pressure, it has a direct impact on councils’ ability to keep essential services running.”
President Byrne represented the local government sector at the recent NSW Fuel Security Roundtable in Sydney with NSW Premier Chris Minns, Government ministers, department secretaries, industry, and representative groups.
