City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Shane Sali said the report highlighted council’s achievements amid the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the community.
“The past 12 months have been a challenging yet rewarding one for our region,” Cr Sali said.
“The region came to a complete standstill in August 2021; however, the strength of our community prevailed as we stood together and provided food, supplies and support.
“We welcomed some major events to the region that provided a welcome economic boost, including the inaugural Illuminate festival, bringing crowds of more than 20,000 across two nights, and we also hosted White Night, which had an incredible 32,000 people attend the free event.
“During the 2021-2022 financial year we have succeeded in achieving performance measures across all themes from the council plan.
“Council will continue to advocate for our region to assist in our region’s growth and development.”
In the report’s performance results, the only item marked as not meeting the target was implementation of the annual capital budget.
Out of 128 capital projects in the annual budget, only 96 were completed, due to challenges including the timing of state government funding for major roads projects, availability of contractors and materials due to COVID-19, and delays to works to minimise the impact on local businesses.
It meant $19.73 million of works was carried forward into the 2022/23 budget.
To view the annual report, visit greatershepparton.com.au/annual-report
