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Council welcomes a new asset manager and an engineer Cobar Shire Council has recently wel- “I’ll be approaching this a bit like eating an comed two new staff members with Brett elephant – take one bite at a time,” he said. Richards taking on the role of Asset and Brett said living and working in a regional Facilities Manager and Niduku Wijewick- area like Cobar appealed to him. rama is Council’s new Water & Sewer Engi- “After growing up in a small country town in neer. Victoria and then living and working in SydBrett is tasked with compiling and registering ney and Melbourne over the last 30+ years, the a comprehensive list of all council assets, de- chance to get back to my roots in the country veloping an Asset Management Plan detailing was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.” life cycle, planned/preventative maintenance “I’m a mad keen golfer, and 4WD enthusiast and a replacement plan and the Fleet Manage- and someone that loves getting out in the backment of all council plant equipment which yard and pottering around the veggie garden – entails planned/scheduled maintenance, life I’m a big fan of eating seasonally and eating cycle planning/budgeting and a replacement primally. regime. “You’ll often find me in the backyard cook“I’ve recently returned from Port Moresby, ing up a storm on one of many different types Papua New Guinea, where I did a three-year of barbecues (charcoal, smoker or gas) with stint at the Australian High Commission where music blaring away in the background,” he I held a similar position,” Brett said. said. “This also entailed supervising and mentor- Niduka said he was very happy to be able to ing local staff members. come and work for Cobar Shire. “Prior to that I held a Facilities position at “I have over five years of experience in the BlueScope Steel in Hastings, Victoria for nine water supply industry and have worked as a and a half years.” site engineer/project engineer (in both governBrett feels his military background of 11 ment and private organizations) managing and years spent in the Army will be of benefit also. delivering the design and construction of large“I believe that my ability to think logically as scale water supply facilities. well as my attention to detail should serve me “Before coming to Cobar I spent five months well in this role. in Melbourne working as a geotechnician, and “Also having spent the last three years living previously I was in Colombo, Sri Lanka,” and working in PNG and having to navigate Niduka told The Cobar Weekly. some challenging situations, both culturally Niduka said he’d been looking for opportuniCobar Shire Council has recently and physically, should hopefully stand me in ties in the water supply industry in regional welcomed new Water & Sewer Engineer, good stead to adapt to most situations that I’m areas as he wanted to escape the hustle and Niduka Wijewickrama and Asset Manager presented with,” he said. bustle of city life. Brett Richards to their staff. The pair are “With Cobar Shire being the second biggest After living in Melbourne, the hot summers pictured last week with acting general shire in NSW, the sheer area of the shire and in Cobar also appealed to him. the amount of undocumented assets that need At council Niduka will be assisting Water & manager Kym Miller (at centre). to captured is a little daunting. Sewer Manager Victor Papierniak to ensure the safe, compliant and efficient delivery of water and sewer services, and also implement new water and sewer projects. Niduka said his technical knowledge of the industry, his project management and planning skills and experience in preparing tender documents will be of help in his role with council. One challenge he does face is that after only being in Australia for five months, he’s still struggling to understand Australian accents and he’s finding Australians are also struggling sometimes to understand his. Outside of work Niduka said he likes to watch movies, read books and travel. He’s also keen to play cricket when the next Cobar competition begins. “I used to be a competitive cricketer and played as an allrounder in my college,” he said. Both Brett and Niduka said their first impressions of Cobar have been good. Both have also found their work colleagues and the Cobar community to be very friendly and welcoming.
LUNCH DELIVERY Tuesdays and Thursdays $20 Meals More info call 6836 4492 Mine Delivery available for bulk orders! Page 4 The Cobar Weekly Wednesday July 19, 2023
