Former president exonerated, but Shire criticised over sea wall errors

Former Carnarvon Shire president Karl Brandenburg has been cleared of any wrongdoing by a WA Government inquiry. The Department of Local Government conducted the inquiry into the Shire’s $19 million fascine wall project — a steel-plate sea wall built with inferior materials in 2011. The report severely censures project manager Brian Wall. “Mr Wall’s qualifications at the time of his appointment as the project manager were in horticulture,” the report says. “His experience in engineering was limited to assisting the director of engineering at his previous employment.” It also censures the then-Shire chief executive Maurice Battilana for delegating the job to Mr Wall. “It seems incomprehensible that an experienced engineering project manager was not engaged to manage the whole project,” it says. “However, the project was left to be managed by a person with no existing qualifications in this field.” The inquiry was hampered by the lack of proper records — partly, it says, because the Shire did not follow its own record-keeping plan. A 2016 virus attack after Mr Battilana and Mr Wall had left the Shire meant more records were lost before the Shire changed service providers, making many deleted emails inaccessible. The inquiry made eight findings in all: four against Mr Battilana for inadequate record-keeping and preservation; and failure to adequately manage, supervise and direct employees, including Mr Wall. An additional two were made against Mr Wall for failing “to undergo any due diligence” when he approved the cheaper inferior steel plate, and for bias in favour of construction company The Curnow Group. It also found “lack of proper oversight and monitoring of the contractor or the contract” led to a likely cost to the State and Shire of “a significant amount of money” relating to the project. Finally, “the administration of the Shire of Carnarvon” failed to adhere to its own purchasing policy when engaging the company Carnarvon Hardrock. Local Government Minister David Templeman has directed councillors and staff to do governance and accountability training. Council agrees to comply on training