The Office of Local Government will take no action against Clarence Valley Council following a fact-finding mission triggered by a significant number of complaints.

In November 2025, the Office of Local Government (OLG) announced it would be conducting a review into Clarence Valley Council following multiple complaints and concerns about the operation of Council.

During November, representatives of the OLG met with Councillors and community members to hear their concerns.

OLG Deputy Secretary Brett Whitworth then sent a letter to the community members and Councillors in December stating the information provided had been reviewed, which has taken some time given both the nature of the information provided and the volume of information received.

“It is clear to OLG there are clear and ongoing concerns raised over the nature of personal interactions between Councillors and Council staff,” the letter stated.

“These interactions appear to be having an impact on people personally and are influencing the governance and decision making of Council.”

The OLG assessment identified several recurring themes, the letter stated, including: Councillor and staff conduct and culture: Evidence of strained relationships among Councillors and staff, frequent code of conduct complaints, and reports of hostile or intimidating behaviour.

Transparency and accountability: Concerns about access to information and questions regarding disclosure of legal and financial matters.

Community impacts: loss of public trust, allegations of inadequate consultation, and escalating disorder at Council meetings.

Mr Whitworth said he intended to address Councillors in person, early in the new year, to discuss these matters.

“In the interim, we are preparing advice for the Minister for Local Government,” Mr Whitworth said.

“This advice may consist of recommendations for actions under the Local Government Act 1993, which could include.

“Authorising an investigation under Section 430 into the performance of Council.

“Issuing a Performance Improvement Order under Section 438A should systemic issues be confirmed.

“Monitoring the performance of Council by other means.”

On April 9, Mr Whitworth came to speak to Clarence Valley Councillors about what he described as a “fact finding mission”.

In an interview on Loving Life FM 103.1 aired on Monday, April 13, Mr Whitworth explained why he spoke to Councillors and what the OLG would be doing.

“I made a commitment to come up and talk to the Councillors as a follow-on from the process that we undertook last year when we went out and spoke to a lot of people,” he said.

“It wasn’t an investigation, it wasn’t an intervention, we didn’t use any of our formal powers under the Local Government Act, but we did undertake a fact-finding activity.

“We wanted to talk to people to understand some of the issues and concerns that we were being sent, and, as a result of that I made a commitment at the end of last year that I would come up and talk to the Council to give them feedback on what we had identified.

“I don’t think it’s a secret that Clarence Valley has had the second highest number of complaints of any Council in the state,” he said.

“We look at numbers, but we also understand that complaints can be driven by certain campaigns, and so we wanted to understand what was underneath the complaints in terms of whether there were a small number of highly contentious matters that were impacting a number of people.

“Whether we had individuals that were making multiple complaints about the same issues.”

Mr Whitworth said he wanted to understand what the concerns were and he had been talking to both the General Manager, and the Mayor.

“There were a number of disrupted meetings for example, and the Mayor reached out to seek some advice on how to manage that,” he said.

“So, I knew there was something bubbling away at Clarence Valley.”

Mr Whitworth said he wouldn’t characterise what he said to the Council as “there was nothing to worry about”, as he said a few things when he addressed the Council on Thursday, April 9.

He said the Clarence Valley was quite a large Council area that has an extensive amount of infrastructure that had to be maintained.

“Firstly, the Council is making decisions, it’s getting through its meeting agenda, so it’s able to function effectively,” he said.

“The Council is financially secure, it has a lot of cash, it’s able to use that cash effectively.

“It is showing losses as an accounting loss, because it is identifying that its assets are being used over time…it shows that we can manage the decline in the value of those assets and renew them because there’s plenty of cash on board to renew those assets.

“And it’s still providing services, the bins are being collected, the sewer system is being looked at and managed, the libraries are open.

“So, from a role of a local government authority, the Council is functioning effectively.”

There were concerns about the Council as a governing body, Mr Whitworth said, that were raised by some Councillors but there are mechanisms and processes to deal with those issues.

“The issue around the caravan park leases is still going through a process in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, and that’s the appropriate venue for some of those matters,” he said.

An issue that the OLG has seen being repeatedly raised was the challenge that the Councillors have in talking to each other, Mr Whitworth said, while there are other issues about how Councillors are interacting with Council staff and the General Manager in particular.

Mr Whitworth said Councillors were encouraged to work together on complex issues to determine the best way to address the issue.

This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 17 April 2026.