Clarence Valley’s councillors are likely to endorse the expansion of general manager Ashley Lindsay’s delegated powers at the May 26 Clarence Valley council (CVC) meeting.

An extra paragraph will be added to Mr Lindsay’s delegation of authority agreement, “to cover temporary legislation and regulations in response to state and federal declared disasters, emergency responses and recovery activities”, the officer writes in the agenda for next week’s meeting.

The agreement states that the general manager is granted “the powers, functions, duties and authorities of the Council as specified in the Local Government Act and Regulations, and all other Acts and Regulations under which Council has powers, authorities, duties and functions, including but not limited to:..

The extra paragraph reads: “implementing the provisions of various temporary legislation and regulation enacted in response to State and Federal declared disasters and/or emergency response and recovery activities, provided there is no conflict with the limitations identified in Schedule 2.”

The report to council advises that local governments have “been experiencing many crises over the last eight months including drought, bushfires, flood and now the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These crises have caused [CVC], in particular, to act quickly in response to these varying conditions, for the safety and well-being of our community.

“Currently the state and federal governments have also responded quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic and to this end have been establishing new guidelines, regulations and legislation for councils to enact.

“..The amended delegation enables the General Manager to implement legislative changes in a timely manner…”