Council buys local and boosts business

Published on 24 November 2016

Rockhampton Regional Council’s Local Preference Policy is paying dividends with nearly $60m injected into the local economy in the past 12 months.

Acting Mayor Councillor Cherie Rutherford said the figures indicated the policy was proving successful and reinforced that Council will consider local businesses first when sourcing goods and services.

“Council injected $59.6m into local businesses from a total spend of $77.3m by sourcing local goods and services for our many projects - that’s 77% sourced within the Rockhampton Region,” Cr Rutherford said.

“We said we’d commit to local businesses and help nurture and grow our region’s economy, and we’ll continue to do so wherever possible given the needs of the projects we deliver.

“Road marking materials, plant and equipment, and trade services were sourced locally 96% of the time, or $23.7m from a total spend of $24.6m, which is also quite significant,” she said.

“On top of that, we also spent an additional $2m with local Council areas surrounding our boundaries, so all in all we have been supporting our local and Central Queensland businesses.”

Each year, the Local Preference Policy is reviewed and there have been some changes for contractors supporting local business.

“The contracts greater than $1m will attract a minimum 5% weighting for local preference, but if their project commits to using local suppliers and sub-contractors they will also then attract the 10% Contractor Local Content weighting.

“There is a fine balance between value for money, continuous improvement and supporting our local businesses and services, and we think we’ve achieved that balance for the next 12 months.”