Bayside Council has taken delivery of $3 million in new work vehicles to replace the once derelict fleet it inherited from the former Botany Bay Council.
The delivery is the first stage of what will be a total replacement of the fleet which will cost $9.2 million to be replaced over a 15-month period.
Bayside Mayor Bill Saravinovski says the new Bayside Council is investing millions to upgrade a once derelict fleet of work vehicles.
“We’ve spent over $3 million and there are millions more on back order that will fully replace, the worst and oldest council fleet I have ever seen,” Cr Saravinovski said.
“Our valued workers and residents deserve to have the best fleet to do the best jobs.
Bayside Council is one council, united by major roads, business and Sydney International Airport, it is vital that we maintain a level of service that is fair to everyone,” Cr Bill Saravinovski said.
Following the merger of Rockdale and Botany Bay councils, a complete audit found the average age of the fleet was above 10 years which was outside the industry standard for best practice fleet management of three to seven years.
This posed a significant risk in terms of driver safety, maintenance costs and productivity due to vehicle downtime.
Many of the fleet’s vehicles were no longer in production which caused excessive delays in sourcing replacement parts.
Some of the vehicles were only being held together by tape, prompting the United Services Union to write to Bayside Council in January on behalf of their members raising concerns about the safety of the vehicles.
Other vehicles had no air-conditioning, making working conditions uncomfortable.
The findings so alarmed the council it ordered an accelerated plants and commercial vehicle replacement program for Bayside East, transferring $3 million in funds from the reserves of the previous Rockdale Council.
Another $4.4million will be sourced from the council’s plant reserves and $1.6 million from its capital budgets.
This means the fleet replacement program is fully funded.
“This will increase staff morale, provide employees with safer and more efficient vehicles, reduce maintenance and downtime and improve productivity,” a council report stated.
Heffron MP Ron Hoenig, former Botany Bay Council mayor, thanked Cr Saravinovski in State Parliament recently for his services to the Bayside community.
“Cr Saravinovski has now taken on the job of leading a newly-merged council, which has completely different demographics and service levels—an enormous task,” he said.