• Private certifier gets nailed – depaNews November 2010
  • Wake up and don't worry - depaNews February 2011
  • HR professionals – depaNews January 2009
  • Upper Hunter gets coy – depaNews March 2011
  • BPB kills off B1 & B2 - depaNews July 2009
  • Councillors behaving badly Part One - depaNews December 2009
  • Councillors behaving badly Part Two - depaNews December 2009
  • Who is Peter Hurst? - depaNews August 2010
  • It's time to go, Peter Part One - depaNews September 2006
  • It's time to go Peter Part Two - depaNews December 2006
  • BPB survey on accreditation – depaNews November 2008
  • Improbable things start to come true – depaNews June 2010
  • Sex, lies and development – depaNews February 2008
  • Pizza man feeds non-members – depaNews April 2011
  • Bankstown wins HR Award – depaNews December 2010
  • Love him or loathe him - depaNews October 2007
  • Good Bad & Ugly issue – depaNews November 2010
  • Upper Hunter lets the dogs out - depaNews February 2011
  • IRC puts brakes on belligerent seven – depaNews June 2009
  • It's Tweedledum and not Tweedledumber - depaNews March 2007
  • 28 April International Day of Mourning - depaNews April 2009
  • IRC orders Hurst 'apology' published - depaNews December 2010
  • Debate on IR policy – depaNews August 2007
  • Developer agrees to apologise – depaNews November 2010
  • OH&S Day of Mourning – depaNews April 2009

The Development and Environmental Professionals' Association (depa)

Welcome to the depa website. We are an industrial organisation representing professional employees working in local government in New South Wales in a variety of jobs in the fields of environmental health, public health, building and development control and planning.

We take a broad approach to our responsibilities to members and give advice and assistance on professional issues as well as industrial and workplace issues. We understand what members do at work and that allows us to take a holistic approach. Read more about us...

This site will keep you up-to-date with union news and the diverse range of workplace advocacy issues we deal with daily. We have made it easy for members to contact us with online forms. Join depa online now

Committee of Management 2024

 

These are the members of the Committee of Management elected to take office from 1 May 2024, and their policy statements are prepared for that election.*

 
Steven Cook
President
 
 
 

In January 2005 I started working forward Tumut Shire Council as a Cadet Town Planner. On my second day in the job I joined depa. From Tumut Shire Council I moved to Wagga Wagga City Council where I have worked for the past 16 years and am currently employed as a Senior Town Planner. I am the depa delegate and chair of the Consultative Committee.

I first joined the Committee of Management in 2018 and have served as President since 2020. I am proud of the role that depa plays in local government, always on the front foot and busy taking action, while others are often still wondering what to do. The union is respected in both the industry and government and is always in the fight for its members.

I am seeking re-election as President so I continue to help contribute to the strategic operation of the union and to achieve positive outcomes for the benefit of the whole membership. Local government continues to face resourcing challenges, and I am keen to keep playing a role as part of the depa Committee of Management highlighting these challenges.

 
Phone: 6926 9550
Email:
 

   

 
Vince Galletto
Vice President
 
 

I am a health and building surveyor and have been in local government for the last 45 years. I have been a long-standing member of the Development and Environmental Professionals Association (depa) and have been on the committee of Management for a number of years.

I have a strong conviction in protecting the interests and rights of development and environmental professionals in local government. I have been the Chair and depa delegate on my Council’s Consultative Committee for the last 20 years and have advocated and advised depa members on many workplace disputes and restructures that have occurred over the years.

I look forward to continuing my role on the depa Committee of Management if re-elected.

 
Phone: 9952 8233
Email:
 

   

 
Ian Robertson
Secretary
Ian Robertson
 
 
*The secretary has a four-year term and was not up for re-election

14 May 2024 will be 40 years working for depa and for almost 38 of those years, we've been fighting term contracts. The first article was published in the December 1986 issue of what was then called Health Surveyors’ News and now, building on the historic consensus with LGNSW and the unions, we are so close to having legislative changes that will revert senior staff (other than the GM) to coverage under the Award, I almost taste it - confidently, by the end of the year and potentially earlier.

We were the most vigorous opponents of private certification (we ensured existing members went into accreditation levels on the recommendation of their councils) we can claim responsibility for the provisions in the 2020 Award requiring councils to provide "adequate staff and other resources to enable employees to carry out their duties and functions over the course of working hours that are not unreasonable", and the 2023 Award provides a right to disconnect that only 12 months or so later started to be contemplated in the Fair Work Commission.

The commitment to fight something for 38 years and our dogged determination generally means no one can claim depa doesn't have true grit.

Phone: 9712 5255
Email: 


   

 
Lorena Blacklock
Committee Member
Lorena Blacklock
 
 
 

I am woman hear me roar!

Now I have your attention, I'll leave the roaring to Helen Reddy and use my inside voice to tell you about me.

I have 30 years of wisdom gained as a town planner in roles from Trainee to Manager and currently Coordinator Land-Use Planning and Spatial Services.  My work has taken me from Goulburn, Gosford, Queanbeyan, Hilltops to Queanbeyan-Palerang Councils, with short sojourns into state and federal government, just to confirm why local government is for me.

Here, I thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to be a depa delegate at Queanbeyan-Palerang, identifying issues and solutions, while also giving me the chance to get my "legislation/legal nerd" hat on, to go through our Award conditions.

A big part of my role as a town planner when looking at development and land-use change, is giving a voice to the environment, the future generations and the voiceless. I bring that skill and purpose in nominating for the Committee of Management. I would love the opportunity to give back to depa and contribute to the Committee by speaking up for those who need support and adding volume and weight for those quiet voices.

I'm here, listening.

 
Phone:  6285 6524

   

 
Bruce Dunlop
Committee Member
 
 
 

In working for local government in South Western Sydney for over 25 years, my role in strategic infrastructure planning in one of Australia's fastest growing areas has focused on facilitating planning for infrastructure in support of financially sustainable urban growth. What I've observed over that time is the ongoing need for improvement in the local government industry to develop and support the skilled workforce required, in retaining the resources needed to serve local communities.

Having been a depa member for over 12 years, a member of depa's Committee of Management for 2+ years and a delegate on the Council’s Consultative Committee for the last five years, in re-nominating as a depa Committee Member, I would offer the statement that it is the people that work in local government, but make a Council part of its local community. To this end, depa represents in its members all those virtues that would see local government as an industry of choice for any workforce. As a depa member, I would welcome the opportunity to continue to positively contribute towards depa's Committee of Management in supporting the ongoing service to all depa members across NSW.

 
Phone: 4645 5163
Email: 

   

 
Jamie Loader
Committee Member
 
 

I have over twenty-five years of experience in Local Government, working in a range of positions including Building Surveying, Planning, and Environmental Health. I have also worked in a range of Councils including small rural Councils (Bland and Junee Shire), metropolitan (Parramatta City) and large regional Councils (Wyong Shire and now Central Coast).

I believe that my experience in Local Government allows me to better understand the issues faced by depa members and the industry in general. I have also been the depa delegate at Parramatta City and Bland Shire Councils so I've had considerable experience representing members on various workplace reform committees, consultative committees and in the IRC.

I am extremely proud of the role that depa plays within the industrial framework of Local Government and our reputation, whilst hard-earned, speaks for itself. If we're involved, there's a fight to be fought.

I've been a member of the Committee of Management for fifteen years now, nine of those as Vice President. During this time I've been involved in setting the strategic direction of the association, as well as representing the Union in a number of forums. I look forward to continuing my role on the depa Committee of Management.

 
Phone: 4350 5180
Email:
 

   

 
Bryce Weedon
Committee member
 
 
 

I am a Senior town planner working in Strategic Planning at Hilltops Council since 2018.

I have been nominated for re-election into a second term as a member of the Committee of Management.

As a rural Council planner, I understand the wearing of different hats and doing different roles as well as the pressures of city planners from previous local government experience.

I am currently the Chair and depa delegate on my Councils Consultative Committee where I raise questions from members, facilitate meetings and clarify feedback between the Committee members and the Council’s Executive and HR departments. I have advocated and advised depa members as Council went through a Workplace Change restructure in 2020 one. This involved discussing the proposed changes and supporting members to preserve their rights and the benefits of working in local government. I assisted in preparing submissions, meeting alongside members as well as representing depa throughout the Workplace Change process.

I look forward to continuing my role on the depa Committee of Management if re-elected.


Phone: 6384 2539
Email:


   

Contacts

Payments and general membership enquiries:

Mark Bayliss

Office Manager


Advice and assistance on employment and other issues:

Ian Robertson

Secretary


Office address: 
106/118 Great North Road Five Dock NSW 2046

Phone: (02) 9712 5255


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Committee of Management

 

These are the members of the Committee of Management elected to take office from 1 May 2024, and their policy statements are prepared for that election.*

 
Steven Cook
President
 
 
 

I have been a member of depa since 2005 when I commenced work as a Cadet Town Planner with Tumut Shire Council. I have worked for Wagga Wagga City Council for the past 14 years, where I am a delegate and chair of the Consultative Committee, and am currently employed as a Senior Town Planner.

I first joined the Committee of Management in 2018 and have served as President since 2020. I am proud of the role that depa plays in local government, always on the front foot and busy taking action, while others are often still wondering what to do. The union is respected in both the industry and government and is always in the fight for its members.

I am seeking re-election as President so I can continue to help contribute to the strategic operation of the union and to achieve positive outcomes for the benefit of the whole membership. Having lived with cancer for the past nine years, I believe that I bring a unique insight to the Committee, as an individual balancing a serious medical condition with full-time work.

 
Phone: 6926 9550
Email:
 

   

 
Vince Galletto
Vice President
 
 

I'm a long-standing member of this association and have an interest in protecting the rights and benefits of local government employees and in particular the planning, development and environmental health and building professionals which depa represents.

Further, I have a strong conviction in limiting any further erosion of the regulatory oversight of the building and development industry that has occurred over the years which has resulted in poor, unsafe building practices and a lack of consumer protection. I would be privileged to be given the opportunity to continue my association and work with depa as a member of the Committee of Management.

 
Phone: 9952 8233
Email:
 

   

 
Ian Robertson
Secretary
Ian Robertson
 
 
*The secretary has a four-year term and was not up for re-election

14 May 2024 will be 40 years working for depa and for almost 38 of those years, we've been fighting term contracts. The first article was published in the December 1986 issue of what was then called Health Surveyors’ News and now, building on the historic consensus with LGNSW and the unions, we are so close to having legislative changes that will revert senior staff (other than the GM) to coverage under the Award, I almost taste it - confidently, by the end of the year and potentially earlier.

We were the most vigorous opponents of private certification (we ensured existing members went into accreditation levels on the recommendation of their councils) we can claim responsibility for the provisions in the 2020 Award requiring councils to provide "adequate staff and other resources to enable employees to carry out their duties and functions over the course of working hours that are not unreasonable", and the 2023 Award provides a right to disconnect that only 12 months or so later started to be contemplated in the Fair Work Commission.

The commitment to fight something for 38 years and our dogged determination generally means no one can claim depa doesn't have true grit.

Phone: 9712 5255
Email: 


   

 
Bruce Dunlop
Committee Member
 
 
 

In working for local government in Western Sydney for almost 25 years, my role in infrastructure planning for some of Australia's fastest-growing areas, has focussed on facilitating planning for infrastructure in support of financially sustainable urban growth. What I've observed over that time, is the opportunity for improvement in the local government industry to support the skillset needed, in retaining the resources required to serve local communities to that end.

Having been a depa member for over 10 years, and a delegate on Council's Consultative Committee for the last 3 years, in nominating as a depa Committee Member, I would offer the following statement for consideration:

"The opportunity of working in local government can be both challenging and rewarding in equal measure, but at the end of the day, it's the people (Council staff) that make the difference. In this regard, depa continues to represent for its members all those virtues that would see local government as an industry of choice of any workforce. In this regard, I would welcome the opportunity to positively contribute toward depa's Committee of Management in supporting the ongoing service to all depa members across NSW".

 
Phone: 4645 5163
Email: 

   

 
Yael Lang
Committee Member
 
 
 

l am an Environmental Health Officer at Blacktown City Council and have been for over 15 years. Coming from a strong union minded community, I joined depa upon my first few days of starting my career at Blacktown. I found the courage to volunteer myself as a delegate some 7 years later, which has allowed me some amazing experiences. During this time I have represented members of the Staff Consultative Committee, participated in policy review, and have been involved in negotiating Enterprise Agreements, as well as a range of other activities.

I hold a deep appreciation and respect for the work of unions and am especially proud of the role depa plays in local government and its commitment to its members. Being the newbie amongst a team of experienced and professional members I can only proclaim to give it my very best!

I very much look forward to continuing on as part of the Committee of Management tor depa.

 
Phone: 9839 6352
Email:
 

   

 
Jamie Loader
Committee Member
 
 

I have over twenty-five years of experience in Local Government, working in a range of positions including Building Surveying, Planning, and Environmental Health. I have also worked in a range of Councils including small rural Councils (Bland and Junee Shire), metropolitan (Parramatta City) and large regional Councils (Wyong Shire and now Central Coast).

I believe that my experience in Local Government allows me to better understand the issues faced by depa members and the industry in general. I have also been the depa delegate at Parramatta City and Bland Shire Councils so I've had considerable experience representing members on various workplace reform committees, consultative committees and in the IRC.

I am extremely proud of the role that depa plays within the industrial framework of Local Government and our reputation, whilst hard-earned, speaks for itself. If we're involved, there's a fight to be fought.

I've been a member of the Committee of Management for thirteen years now, nine of those as Vice President. During this time I've been involved in setting the strategic direction of the association, as well as representing the Union in a number of forums. I look forward to continuing my role on the depa Committee of Management.

 
Phone: 4350 5180
Email:
 

   

 
Bryce Weedon
Committee member
 
 
 

I am a senior town planner working in Strategic Planning at Hilltops Council since 2018.

My family moved to rural NSW from Sydney to seek out a different lifestyle and new opportunities. As a lone small rural Council planner, I understand wearing different hats and undertaking a range of projects as well as the grind of metro planners from previous local government experience.

As the depa delegate on my Council's Consultative Committee, I raise questions from members and contribute at meetings to clarify and receive feedback from Council's Executive.

At present, I have been advocating for and advising members as Council goes through a Workplace Change process. This has involved discussing with individual members the impact of the proposed changes and supporting members to preserve their rights and benefits. Also explaining the workplace change process under the Local Government Award and speaking to and seeking clarity from the Council Executive about the impact of proposed changes on members.

I have been nominated for the first time to be a member of the Committee of Management 10 gain experience and learn to advocate for members rights, whilst contributing to support members like depa has for me as a local government planner.


Phone: 6384 2539
Email:


   

Robbo's Pearls...

Je ne regrette rien

Lucky Edith Piaf, not regretting anything. Who wouldn’t like to live their life like that. Here are some of our regrets over the last 33 years:

The first historic consensus opposing the introduction of term contracts for senior staff was in 1991, and included the employers’ organisations as well as the predecessor of Local Government Professionals (sic), the Institute of Municipal Management. We regret the employer’s organisation abandoning that position, and the history of antagonism to getting rid of the concept of senior staff by LG Professionals (sic).

We regret that LGNSW, up until they responded to the recommendations in Operation Dasha, participating in the unfair dismissal of more senior staff and particularly general managers than anyone else, and probably collectively, more than everyone else.

The role of the Cabinet Office in 1998 rolling the recommendation made by the Local Government Minister at the time Ernie Page, in the five year review of the Local Government Act, that term contracts should be removed because of anticipated flowback into the State SES - which was nonsense. And the decision of the Cabinet that fell for it.

The role of the Office of Local Government, and their SES staff who had been provided with permanent tenure by the Government Sector Employment Act 2013 (something that in the local government we knew nothing about) not flowing a similar provision for senior staff in local government when the SES had been a model for that arrangement in 1993.

OLG’s historic defence of their standard contract and assertion in a variety of investigations, including Operation Dasha, supporting “the “termination without reasons clause... in the event that there was a breakdown in the relationship between the Councillors and the general manager”

And in taunting local government that if they ever delivered a consensus view between the employers and the unions, they would deliver that through the Minister, and then failing to do so.

ICAC in 2002 after investigating Rockdale Council and making findings about corrupt councillor behaviour made observations about “the importance of protections for local government employees involved in the development process”, and then did nothing about it.

ICAC in July 2003, considering correspondence from depa identifying “corruptibility issues that arise from term contracts” after both Rockdale and Tweed, and doing nothing about it, and in a meeting with us in July that year having some pious wanker reject our concerns which he asserted “to some extent that’s the obligation of public service”.

The ICAC 2016 report in Operation Farra at Mid-Western Council observed “the ‘no reason’ provisions in the standard contract, however, could create an uncertain employment environment for a general manager. The Commission’s concern is that such uncertainty could be used to improperly influence the action of a general manager” and, then did nothing about it.

And in Operation Dasha ignoring the submission depa had made about problems with planning and the employment relationships of senior staff, with recommendations for change, that included repealing section 340. We should have been called to give evidence.

We were not able to reach agreement between the unions and LGNSW on transitional arrangements for senior staff similar to the employment protections in section 354D of the Local Government Act continuing senior staff on “the same terms and conditions that applied to the staff member immediately before the transfer day.” This had been the unions’ collective position for a number of months until abandoned in a meeting depa could not attend on 19 March, when an agreement was made by everyone else for what is in the current arrangements.

And obviously I regret spending an hour and a half at the dentist that day and being unable to argue against that happening, and forgetting the first rule of politics - “be there”.

How it could happen that this legislation was carried without dissent, with the support of the Liberal/Coalition Opposition and all Independents, who for most of those years opposed doing anything about this, but who nevertheless subsequently found an interest in doing something about unfair employment practices for senior staff and thought they should trumpet as if it were a revelation, and their idea.

Nevertheless, we record our appreciation and acknowledgement of three people and their critical role in moving LGNSW towards this position in 2021 - President Linda Scott, CEO Scott Phillips and Director Workforce and Legal, Adam Dansie, notwithstanding his awful advice given to Campbelltown to unfairly legitimise disadvantage against a group of employees, predominantly our members.

The LGEA has participated in support over this time, and the USU which, while they were late to the party, they brought a connection to Government, without which this would not have happened. And the new CEO of OLG, doing his best to get over the abject failures and connivance of the past.

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