Council announces $113 million injection into the local economy
Published on 08 December 2020
A new record has been set for Rockhampton Regional Council’s Local Buy policy, with a report to Council today revealing a whopping 80% of Council’s goods and services expenditure over the past twelve months has been spent locally.
The report, which was presented in this morning’s Council meeting, has shown that of the $141.4 million spent by Council in total, $113.3 million has been spent within the Rockhampton Region.
Rockhampton Region Acting Mayor Neil Fisher said he was thrilled to announce the continued benefits of Council’s longstanding Local Preference Policy.
“It has undoubtedly been a very trying year for many businesses as a result of Covid-19, so these figures, and Council’s ongoing commitment to supporting the Region’s economy is something we are incredibly proud of,” Acting Mayor Fisher said.
“Whenever we as a Council need to spend money – whether that be on a large-scale project the likes of building the new art gallery or smaller-scale like upgrading a road or buying stationery or printing supplies – wherever possible, we try and spend it locally.
“We have a policy in place that helps guide our decisions in this space and we have also developed a document to assist local contractors and suppliers do business with Council.
“There are of course times when items or services aren’t available locally, but we are always working toward strengthening the local economy wherever possible – and this is our way of putting our money where our mouth is.”
Acting Mayor Fisher said that along with the 80% of local spend overall, a breakdown of the report reveals sections of Council’s spending with almost 100% local buy.
“Over the last twelve months, Council spent $21.8 million on the hire of construction plant and equipment, trade services and roadmaking material.
“Of this total amount, 97% of this has gone to our local businesses, many of which are our valuable small businesses who employ locally and are family operated.
“As well as this, we also spent an additional $4.5m with local Council areas surrounding our boundaries, so when we couldn’t spend it within our own area we still aimed to keep the money in Central Queensland.
“Overall, there is a fine balance between value for money, continuous improvement and supporting our local businesses and services, and we are confident we have achieved this.”
About Council’s Local Preference Policy:
Council’s longstanding Local Preference Policy benefits the Region’s economy by providing clear direction to buy local and support the local economy.
The policy gives local businss a 12 per cent weighting for projects under $1 million and 5 per cent weighting for greater than $1 million.
For projects over $150,000, tenderers who nominate local suppliers and sub-contractors for goods and services for use in the project to a minimum value of 50% of the tendered sum also receive a weighting of 10 per cent.
The policy is available on Council’s website here.