What the council is working on
Recent deliveries, what's underway now, and what's planned next — drawn from the council's own plans, budgets and project pages. We report what the council has publicly said it's doing; every item links to its source.
The council's stated direction
Berrigan Shire's direction is set out in its Community Strategic Plan 'Berrigan Shire 2040' and a Delivery Program 2025–2029 with an annual Operational Plan and budget, currently shaped by the staged 'Future Tocumwal' town-centre transformation, a water and sewer strategy across all four towns, and sustained advocacy on cross-border service access.
The council manages local roads, water and sewer, waste, parks, libraries, swimming pools, two airfields and planning across a 2,066 km² southern Riverina LGA of about 8,700 people, on an economy of irrigated cropping, dairying and grazing plus Murray River tourism at Tocumwal and Barooga. It is a member of the Riverina and Murray Joint Organisation (RAMJO), which represents 12 councils and more than 160,000 residents from Wentworth to Albury and is the vehicle for much of its regional procurement and advocacy.
The council reported an operating deficit in 2023–24 (performance ratio −9.9%) and an own-source revenue ratio of 52.2%, below the OLG's >60% benchmark, alongside a 24.4-month cash buffer and infrastructure ratios that all clear their benchmarks. Its Long Term Financial Plan 2026–2034 and Asset Management Strategy sit under the Delivery Program in the Integrated Planning & Reporting framework, and external grant programs — for example the $1.35 million Sustainable Communities Program award for Tocumwal in June 2026 — carry a significant share of its capital works.
Underway now
Future Tocumwal — Town Centre Transformation
Adopted October 2025; Stage One funded June 2026; a 20-year visionA long-term plan, developed with the community and adopted by Council in October 2025, to renew Tocumwal's town centre in stages — pedestrian access, traffic flow, public spaces, landscaping and streetscape amenity. In June 2026 Council secured $1,354,945 under Round 2 of the Sustainable Communities Program (a joint Australian and NSW Government initiative for the southern Murray–Darling Basin) to deliver Stage One, the Tocumwal Town Centre Infrastructure Project: improved parking, upgraded drainage, new footpaths and streetscaping.
Source: Berrigan Shire Council — $1.35 million to deliver Stage One of 'Future Tocumwal'
Water and Sewer Strategy for Barooga, Tocumwal, Finley and Berrigan
In preparation (listed as a current project, 2026)Council has engaged Public Works Australia to prepare a strategic plan for water and sewerage services across all four towns, aligned to the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water regulatory and assurance framework. Council lists it alongside other current works including drainage and road reconstruction in Hill Street, Tocumwal and Wells Street, Finley, and the undergrounding of overhead power in the commercial block of Chanter Street, Berrigan.
Recently delivered
Three-bin kerbside service, procured through RAMJO
Community information sessions June 2024; 10-year collection contractTo meet the NSW Government's mandate for organics recycling in every LGA by 1 July 2025, Council tendered jointly with the other Riverina and Murray Joint Organisation councils for a combined kerbside service — a weekly green organics bin plus fortnightly red general-waste and yellow recycling bins. Council said the joint tender attracted grant funding for the tendering process and community education (through Halve Waste) and secured better pricing than tendering alone, on a 10-year contract. Green-waste vouchers issued to support the transition closed on 31 July 2026.
Source: Berrigan Shire Council — Council Rolls Out Organics Recycling