THE Southern Grampians Shire (SGSC) has recently flagged winding up the Economic Development and Tourism Unit (EDTU), with three positions attached to the division being made redundant.

A long document was sent to staff earlier this week detailing internal restructuring and changes to chains of responsibility, with one position being made available to cover the three.

The Shire only released a short statement referring to the changes, with chief executive Tony Doyle replying to a request for comment by The Spectator.

“As an incoming CEO, I have spent the past 12 months focused on understanding the strategies and goals detailed in our Council Plan as well as resourcing needs within the organisation, considering staff and stakeholder feedback and overlaying that against community expectations,” he said.

“I have recently undertaken a review of organisational structure, and have presented a proposed structure to our staff this week to consider and provide feedback.”

However, one local business managing director, Wayne Schild of Grange Garlic in Croxton East, said the decision didn’t appear to make a whole lot of sense to him, as he had experienced the two extremes of local government business support, and SGSC and the EDTU especially had been a great example of how to attract and support ventures.

A winner in the manufacturing category at the Shire’s Business Awards just over a week ago, Mr Schild said the motivation behind the relocation of his sawmill business to the area from Healesville in Melbourne’s outer east and then the entrepreneurial expansion into horticulture was an exercise in contrasts for him.

“We came out of an unbelievably aggressive Shire and we found this property here,” he said.

“After getting here, we started to look at opportunities if we could do with our smallholding and after coming out of such a toxic, legal, drawn out, exhausting process, the last thing I was going to do was start up a new business venture and walk straight into the same sort of moronic council structure.”

“The complete opposite is what we have experienced since.”

Mr Schild only had praise for the ETDU, even singling out economic development and tourism manager, Hugh Koch, in his acceptance speech at the award ceremony.

He said the support he received from the Shire was incredible and included being invited to participate by them at the Hort Connections horticultural conference in Brisbane just over three months ago.

“I’m here to tell you that out of the entire Australian Shire group, ours was the only one there in amongst the entire national horticultural spectrum,” Mr Schild said.

“Here is our Shire, promoting our virtues and we were there with them demonstrating what can be done and also promoting the area.”

Mr Schild said he hoped the decision would not end up having any negative impact, as he loved what had been made possible for his family and his innovative food crop so close to the area he grew up in as a child.

“We have a very supportive economic development arena,” he said.

“We’ve experienced nothing but support. If this is the Shire’s choice, I hope and trust that they have a very good alternative that’s going to deliver the same or more.”

Mr Doyle said the details of the decision were still being worked out.

“This has been a challenging and complex process for everyone involved,” he said.

“The structure is very much subject to change and will not be confirmed until all feedback from staff is properly understood and considered.”