“We need to do something,” she said.

“There is too much money on offer for us to sit back and argue about what we're putting up.

“We need shovel-ready projects, we need to show we are committed.”

General manager Russ Pigg said existing staff are capable of performing the duty of researching available grants, and encouraging staff to prioritise certain projects on this basis, however, this would mean dropping the ball on other tasks.

“Something has to give,” he said.

Cr Bob Proudfoot praised Cr White for the suggestion.

“Some councils are criticised for having fat to cut but this council's becoming so lean it's a bit mean,” he said.

Meanwhile, Cr Annette Alldrick suggested council employs the help of consultants to carry out community consultation for large or potentially controversial council projects.

“We are constantly being told by community members that they didn’t know about projects proposed by council, despite community consultation being carried out,” she said via council agenda.

“This results in criticism of council, and stalling of projects.”

Her motion was backed by all in attendance except for Crs Nina Cheyne, Mitchell Pakes and Mark Kitchener.