Tweed Shire Council is inviting feedback on how the community's long term strategic plan and 4-year delivery plan will be resourced over the next financial year with a $430m budget.
These plans are set out in a suite of documents now on public exhibition, but many of the priorities are increasingly aspirational given current global challenges.
General Manager Troy Green said Council's planned works and services were, as always, part of a coordinated approach, not a series of isolated decisions.
"Council's works and services do not happen by accident. They are planned through a clear, strategic framework so the projects we deliver, the services we provide and the resources we allocate all work together to help achieve the Tweed community's long-term vision," Mr Green said.
"However, with the ongoing global uncertainty, the cost of providing Council services and delivering our capital works program is on the rise. This means our Draft Delivery Program 2025-2029 and Operational Plan 2026-2027 and budget is now aspirational in some respects.
"We are closely monitoring the effect of oil-based products that may impact our delivery of some programs and services.
"This includes not just fuel price and supply, but also oil-based products such as bitumen, plant hire, haulage, quarry materials, poly pipe and other key construction products," Mr Green said.
Council may need to adjust what we can deliver in line with the budget we have available if these costs continue to increase.
Management is not recommending a special rate variation or further increases to our fees and charges to meet these additional costs.
"Where financial impacts occur, we will manage them through other measures - which may include deferring, rescoping or reprioritising some projects.
"Our focus is on minimising community disruption while remaining financially responsible," Mr Green said.
Council is working with Local Government New South Wales to ensure the State and Commonwealth understand that Council services such as water, wastewater and waste collection are essential should fuel need to be rationed due to global supplies.
At the heart of Council's planning is the Community Strategic Plan 2025-2035, which is built around the community's long-term vision for the Tweed.
Last year, we collaborated with the community to refine a shared vision to guide Council over the next 10 years. One message came through clearly: the importance of recognising the Tweed's economy alongside its lifestyle, environment and strong sense of place. As a result, the shared vision was updated to: The Tweed is recognised for its desirable lifestyle, diverse economy, unique character and environment and the opportunities its residents enjoy.
To help bring that vision to life, Council's work is guided by 4 key streams: Protecting, Living, Thriving and Growing. Each stream includes an outcome statement developed with the community, which describes what success looks like:
- Protecting: A healthy natural environment.
- Living: To be safe at home and in the community with reliable essential services and infrastructure.
- Thriving: The Tweed's people, businesses and places to thrive.
- Growing: To work together to plan for the future so the Tweed grows and evolves in a sustainable way.
Each of these outcome statements has a set of goals that help turn our community's vision into reality and Council's 53 services are strategically aligned with one of these goals.
The 4-year Delivery Program turns these goals into action, outlining how each service will work towards its guiding goal and track progress against our outcome statement's goals. Council's progress is reported twice a year through our Operational Plan progress review (6 month progress) and the final Annual Report.
The Operational Plan (part of the Delivery Program and Operational Plan document) and Resourcing Strategy focus on what actions Council will undertake in the next financial year and how projects will be resourced, supported by a suite of financial documents. These documents look at the big picture vision and show how we can practically achieve our community's goals.
Council's $430m budget is made up of 3 funds: a $303m general fund, $62m water fund and $65m sewer fund. These funds will help Council deliver major projects for the Tweed, including:
- widening Tweed Coast Road
- flood restoration
- wastewater treatment plant upgrades
- maintaining our water supply network
- Tweed Holiday Park upgrades.
Key documents open for community feedback include:
- Draft Delivery Program 2025-2029 and Operational Plan 2026-2027
- Draft Resourcing Strategy 2025-2035
- Draft Budget 2026-2027
- Draft Revenue Policy and Statement 2026-2027
- Draft Fees and Charges 2026-2027
This suite of documents is part of the Office of Local Government's Integrated Planning & Reporting Framework, which all councils in NSW are required to follow.
These 5 documents are all on public exhibition, with submissions open until 4pm Friday 22 May 2026. This process allows an opportunity for the community to review the documents and make a submission before they are adopted by the Tweed's elected Councillors.
You can provide feedback in the following ways:
- Online: using the submission form at www.yoursaytweed.com.au/delivering-our-future
