He described it as “clearly a significant issue in the community,” having met with stakeholders in his first month.

The council owns 86 light vehicles, including passenger cars and utes. Out of these, 44 are available for private use for staff as leaseback vehicles.

“I have concerns that the quality and standard of the vehicles purchased for private lease are beyond the business needs of Council,” he stated in his report.

“A large number of the other vehicles are given to staff for ‘take home use’ with no charge to the user. Fringe benefit costs are in excess of $100,000 per annum for private use of vehicles.”

The council buys about 30 vehicles a year. But Mr Bennett has put a stop on purchases this financial year until the policy is reviewed.

He noted that some staff were “very protective of their vehicles” and did not volunteer their use by other staff during work time.

“This needs to change as they are Council vehicles,” Mr Bennett wrote in his report.

He’s recommending a policy that better reflects community expectation.

Currently, staff pay a base fee for private use which is calculated on the car’s value. It also allows holiday travel at no additional charge.

Mr Bennett is proposing that a rate of 15 cents per kilometre apply for travel beyond 200km from Goulburn from December 1 this year.

He’s recommending a raft of other changes including:

Mr Bennett said his proposal required full consultation with staff and unions