Armidale Regional Council administrator Ian Tiley wants more community input into decisions made by Council.

“This is part of my overall philosophy and intent to engage more effectively with community,” Dr Tiley said.

Under the restructure, council has dissolved 12 former committees and amalgamated four former Guyra Shire Council committees with their Armidale counterparts.

Many of those committees are redundant. But others, such as the Autumn Festival committee, will see a reduced role for Council.

While Council will continue to organise the event, the committee will be open to ratepayers, as well as former councillors, in a bid to make the festival more relevant to the community. “[The Autumn Festival] is a community event and the community ought to be having more say in how it happens,” Dr Tiley said.

Among the committees to survive the restructure include the Gayinyaga Aboriginal Committee, the newly named civic, traffic, regional marketing and growth, community and safety, environmental sustainability and arts and cultural advisory committees.

Local area committees abolished include Dangarsleigh, East Armidale, Herbert Park Road, Lyndhurst and Puddledock, while Boorolong, Ebor, Hillgrove and Wollomombi LACs will remain.

With the merger of the two councils it was appropriate the committee structure be reviewed, Dr Tiley said. 

There was a need to rationalise the number of committees and broaden the scope of some committees to give a holistic and strategic focus, he said.

The final restructure that council adopts today will function until the next local government elections on September 9, 2017.