Indigo Shire Council appoints new CEO

Lending an ear, acting with integrity and always having the interests of the community at heart are some of the key promises of the newly appointed Indigo Shire chief executive officer. Beechworth’s Gael Evans-Barr, who takes up the role in February next year, is deputy chief executive officer at AlburyCity, and an experienced regional executive with a career covering local and state government, public health, higher education, community development, and the not-for-profit sector. A long-time interest to be chief executive officer at Indigo Shire Council is now a lived dream and reality for the Beechworthian. “Indigo is home and when the opportunity arose, I couldn’t pass it up,” Ms Evans-Barr said. “I have a genuine interest in the public service and while it can be both demanding and has constant and competing expectations, I love the opportunity to work with people and undertake something that makes a difference to the community." Ms Evans-Barr will be the first female CEO to be appointed in Indigo Shire Council’s 42-year history. Ms Evans-Barr said when she takes up the post in February next year, her first task is to listen and understand what is working and identify opportunities. Among the new CEO’s principles is for Indigo to be financially sustainable, resilient, connected and confident about its future. “This is a challenging time for government and particularly local government,” she said. “Indigo has a large and dispersed asset base supported by a relatively small population and rate base, while balancing growth, heritage, housing, infrastructure renewal and financial sustainability. “We need to be prepared to look beyond traditional income sources and explore responsible new opportunities, without losing sight of community values.” Community prosperity is more than economics for Ms Evans-Barr. “It is about health, education, participation, connection and resilience and I want our townships to build each other up and for a stronger Indigo to contribute to a stronger region,” she said. Ms Evans-Barr said with her diverse experience she has seen communities and government from different perspectives. “I’ve also worked through bushfire recovery, COVID response and resilience, major government programs, governance and risk, community engagement, financial sustainability and economic and community development,” she said. Ms Evans-Barr said her public health background has shaped the way she thinks about communities and what helps them thrive, such as housing as an example affecting businesses in attracting staff. “Transport and connectivity also influence access to work, education and health services,” she said. “Good community infrastructure encourages participation and pride in where we live and this all contributes to the strength of a community.” Ms Evans-Barr is preparing to submit her PhD focused on volunteerism, ageing and health, bringing together her interests in public health, community and business. “Living in the shire has given me a personal stake in Indigo and an appreciation that every community has its own character, history and priorities,” she said. Besides connections across the shire, Ms Evans-Barr has spent many years involved with Beechworth Secondary College and Beechworth Health Service. “Being local gives me connection, but it’s my responsibility to make sure that connection benefits the whole shire,” she said. “I come into the role with enormous respect for outgoing CEO Trevor Ierino and his leadership and I want to build on that strong foundation.” With a love of living in the community, Ms Evans-Barr said Indigo represented something special about humanity. “People look out for each other, have pride in where they live and are prepared to contribute," she said. “That’s worth protecting and is a wonderful place to be given the privilege of leading.” Indigo Shire Mayor Sophie Price said Ms Evans-Barr’s appointment had received overwhelming support from shire communities. “We knew we had made the right choice, but resounding congratulations confirmed our choice,” she said. “The breadth of experience Gael is bringing to the role is fantastic and the fact that she lives in, and loves our community is the cherry on top. “We’re so excited to be introducing her to the broader community when she starts next year.”

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