By JESSE GRAHAM
YARRA Ranges Council has defended itself against claims of unfairness in contracting, after a local businessman questioned its processes.
Last week, the Mail reported that Healesville businessman Garry Christie was calling on Yarra Ranges Council to reveal how much of its contracted works were undertaken by local contractors.
Mr Christie, a former council employee, criticised the council for contracting out basic concreting and footpath works, which he said could have been completed by council staff.
“It cannot be cheaper to have a contractor doing footpath works, which are relatively straightforward – my question is why aren’t shire staff doing these works?” he said.
Mr Christie, who also runs the Facebook page Healesville Matters, also demanded the council reveal if they considered the locality of contractors before approving them to do works on the council.
But Yarra Ranges Council’s Director of Environment and Engineering, Mark Varmalis told the Mail this week that the council contracted out expensive work through tenders.
He said that works valued over $200,000 were put out to public tender, while works less than that amount were tendered to a prequalified panel.
“Each job is then quoted on by selected contractors from the panel, to ensure competitive tender rates,” he said.
Mr Varmalis said the council had 33 footpaths under construction in the 2014-’15 financial year, at a total cost of $3.8 million, and that many were being constructed at the same time.
“To ensure value for our residents in delivering a large value program, we need the flexibility of contractors to be able to deliver multiple projects at the same time,” he said.
In response to Mr Christie’s questions about the locality of contractors, Mr Varmalis said the locality of contractors and their employees was taken into consideration during the tendering process.
“This is one consideration in the tendering process,” he said.
