Council welcomes a new asset manager and an engineer

Cobar Shire Council has recently welcomed two new staff members with Brett Richards taking on the role of Asset and Facilities Manager and Niduku Wijewicks new Water & Sewer Engi-

Brett is tasked with compiling and registering a comprehensive list of all council assets, developing an Asset Management Plan detailing life cycle, planned/preventative maintenance and a replacement plan and the Fleet Management of all council plant equipment which entails planned/scheduled maintenance, life cycle planning/budgeting and a replacement ve recently returned from Port Moresby, year stint at the Australian High Commission where This also entailed supervising and mentor-

Prior to that I held a Facilities position at BlueScope Steel in Hastings, Victoria for nine

Brett feels his military background of 11 years spent in the Army will be of benefit also. I believe that my ability to think logically as well as my attention to detail should serve me

Also having spent the last three years living and working in PNG and having to navigate some challenging situations, both culturally and physically, should hopefully stand me in good stead to adapt to most situations that I’m presented with,” he said.

“With Cobar Shire being the second biggest shire in NSW, the sheer area of the shire and the amount of undocumented assets that need to captured is a little daunting.

“I’ll be approaching this a bit like eating an elephant – take one bite at a time,” he said.

Brett said living and working in a regional area like Cobar appealed to him.

“After growing up in a small country town in Victoria and then living and working in Sydney and Melbourne over the last 30+ years, the chance to get back to my roots in the country was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

“I’m a mad keen golfer, and 4WD enthusiast and someone that loves getting out in the backyard and pottering around the veggie garden –I’m a big fan of eating seasonally and eating primally.

“You’ll often find me in the backyard cooking up a storm on one of many different types of barbecues (charcoal, smoker or gas) with music blaring away in the background,” he said.

Niduka said he was very happy to be able to come and work for Cobar Shire.

“I have over five years of experience in the water supply industry and have worked as a site engineer/project engineer (in both government and private organizations) managing and delivering the design and construction of largescale water supply facilities.

“Before coming to Cobar I spent five months in Melbourne working as a geotechnician, and previously I was in Colombo, Sri Lanka,” Niduka told The Cobar Weekly

Niduka said he’d been looking for opportunities in the water supply industry in regional areas as he wanted to escape the hustle and bustle of city life.

After living in Melbourne, the hot summers in Cobar also appealed to him.

At council Niduka will be assisting Water & 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.