MELVILLE council has voted to accept all seven recommendations from the state government inquiry into its operations.

Keen to get the inquiry behind them, councillors voted on the report’s findings as a late item at Tuesday’s meeting.

Chief among the recommendations was for the council to appoint someone independent to review and act on complaints for the next three months, although a staff report noted there’d been no adverse findings in its complaints-handling processes.

Apart from regularly reviewing its question time policy and training senior staff in complaint management and dealing with tricky customers, most other recommendations relate to reviewing and reporting back to the local government department on how things are travelling. Councillors also put aside $150,000 to implement the recommendations.

“Hopefully this provides a reset for the city and all parties can now move forward in a more collaborative and productive manner,” councillor Matthew Woodall said.

by STEVE GRANT