In This Section

Our organisation

 

Who we were

Prior to 1 July 2016, three separately constituted county councils serviced the Northern Rivers region known as Rous Water, Far North Coast Weeds and Richmond River County Council. By proclamation of the NSW Governor, Far North Coast Weeds and Richmond River County Council dissolved and Rous County Council reformed and assumed the responsibilities of bulk water supply, noxious weeds, and flood mitigation in the Northern Rivers. 

Who we are

Rous County Council is constituted under the Local Government Act 1993, and has three main functions in the Northern Rivers, NSW: 

Bulk water supply
It is the regional water supply authority providing water in bulk to the council areas of: Ballina (excluding Wardell); Byron (excluding Mullumbimby); Lismore (excluding Nimbin); and Richmond Valley (excluding land to the west of Coraki). The regional supply network includes approximately 40,100 connections within the reticulation areas of these constituent councils, and around 2,030 retail connections to the Rous trunk main system. A population of around 100,000 is serviced by this water supply system with the actual area of operations being approximately 3,000km2. The principal source of our supply network is Rocky Creek Dam, situated 25 kilometres north of Lismore near the village of Dunoon.
Weed biosecurity
Rous undertakes a wide range of activities to combat the spread of targeted weeds across the local government areas of Ballina, Byron, Lismore and Richmond Valley. Rous also does this on behalf of Kyogle and Tweed Shire as part of a fee for service arrangement. Rous is the Local Control Authority responsible for administering the Biosecurity Act 2015, working with landholders and the community throughout the Northern Rivers region to address weed biosecurity matters.
Flood mitigation
Rous is a flood mitigation authority operating across the local government areas of Ballina, Byron, Lismore and Richmond Valley. It is responsible for the construction and replacement of flood mitigation infrastructure, including the routine maintenance of various canals and floodgates and related natural resource management activities.
What else do we do?
Council has a range of commercial property interests.

Our mission

Partner with our constituent councils to provide quality services that support a sustainable and productive region.

Our vision

Thrive and evolve as a valued regional service provider.

Our values

As an organisation we have developed and adopted a set of values that we collectively believe in:

  • Safety - safety first 24/7
  • Teamwork - one team, one purpose
  • Accountability - own it, solve it, achieve it
  • Respect - be honest, be fair

Our organisation and our people will conduct our day-to-day business in alignment with these values.

What a county council is

County councils, like Rous, are different to local councils; they are specifically set up or delegated to provide one or more functions of a local council. This means that they have quite specific functions that they undertake for the local councils of the areas within which they operate. These councils are referred to as ‘constituent councils’.