The week CEO Jane Stroud realised how deep Kiama Council's problems ran
A rare interview on crisis, recovery and what's next for Kiama.
At Kiama Council’s staff Christmas party in 2021, employees were celebrating the end of another difficult year.
What they didn’t know was that their newly appointed CEO, Jane Stroud, hadn’t drawn a wage that week and wasn’t sure whether the council would be able to meet payroll the following week.
“I walked into the room at the Pavilion. They had put on this lovely Christmas party, and people were so happy,” Stroud said.
“And I had this terrible sinking feeling that in a week’s time, I wasn’t quite sure how we were going to pay them again. It was absolutely heartbreaking.”
In an interview with The Pulse Illawarra, Ms Stroud reflected on five years spent steering a council through one of the most turbulent periods in its history.
In November 2022 the NSW Minister for Local Government put Kiama Council under a Performance Improvement Order (PIO), which has now been extended to 2027/28.
Stroud moved to Kiama from Queensland with her two young children in the middle of the Covid pandemic in June 2021, taking on a role she knew would be challenging, but with little idea how difficult it would become.
She explained that after months of requesting financial information and things feeling “off”, she discovered accounts hadn’t been reconciled in nine months.
“Auditors were screaming at us, raising concerns,” she said.
“I got the financial report, and we struggled to make the pay run,” she said.
The situation was so serious that Stroud sought advice from experienced local government chief executives: “What do you do if you think your council is trading insolvent?” she asked.
Her third phone call was to the Deputy Secretary of the Office of Local Government to begin the lengthy disclosure process.
“I made a conscious decision to be as public as I could with the information, because I felt that even though it was difficult, people had the right to know.”
Stroud spoke to The Pulse Illawarra on a Friday afternoon, just hours before she was due to take some leave.
The day before, Kiama Council voted unanimously to accept the proposed variation to its PIO. It was the same week Kiama won the NSW Tourism Association’s Top Town Award - for the third year in a row.
Stroud laughs when she talks about the effort that goes into the award submission.
“What makes this the top tourism town is that there’s something for everyone to do, whether or not you’re a kid or an older person, somebody wants to come for a picnic or somebody who is looking for the high-end experience and wants to keep returning,” she said.
“There’s just that little bit of magic about the town that really draws people in. “
The town’s natural beauty, welcoming community and visitor economy are its greatest strengths. They are also part of the challenge.
“Every community wants more services and the grass to be kept just so. Tourism is our biggest employer; it matters how the town looks, feels, and people value the existing level of service,” she said.
But while Kiama continues to attract visitors and accolades, the council remains under pressure to find new revenue sources after years of financial turmoil.
Stroud said the council’s budget deficit had fallen from $26.6 million three years ago to about $4.5 million as it worked towards a balanced budget, aided by governance reforms and the sale of aged care facility Blue Haven Bonaira.
Rates are council’s biggest source of revenue. With population growth sitting below one per cent, Stroud says one of the biggest opportunities for future revenue sits at Bombo Quarry and its surrounds.
The site has long been identified as a major opportunity for housing and employment land. Boral and NSW Transport Asset Manager are jointly pursuing a State Significant Development Pathway to rehabilitate the site with a potential 2,000 homes.
Kiama Council holds nine hectares at Spring Creek near the site, which the council says cannot be unlocked due to a restrictive covenant tied to ongoing quarrying activities. Last year, a similar covenant was lifted on five lots on nearby Glenbrook Drive.
“It’s a legacy maker and a game changer for us financially,” she says. “What stops that is a decision about when the quarry will end,” she says.
“Transport for New South Wales owns that question and needs to answer that question.”
Stroud said the risk was development occurring in a piecemeal way.
“What don’t want to end up with is kind of a half-scrambled egg.”
Even then, Spring Creek is only one piece of a much larger puzzle.
As discussion continues around housing targets and future growth, Stroud points to another constraint.
“We don’t have a sewage treatment plant that can cope with 2,000 houses.”
The Bombo Wastewater Treatment Plant, water infrastructure, road capacity, and public transport all feature heavily in the council’s advocacy to the state government.
“You can’t grow without water and sewage,” she says. “That’s just a fundamental human right and a need.”
The challenges confronting Kiama are no longer confined to the council’s balance sheet and governance.
Today, much of her attention is devoted to advocating beyond it, for sewerage upgrades, infrastructure funding, planning certainty, and the future of Spring Creek.
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