In an environment of shop closures and struggling businesses, there was a breath of fresh air on the activity front in Tenterfield with Service NSW opening its one-stop-shop approach to state government services.
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It was more of a soft opening on Wednesday during a break in the monthly council meeting, with Mayor Peter Petty officiating in the absence of MP Adam Marshall. Mr Marshall was supposed to cut the ribbon, but was otherwise detained in dealing with arsenic contamination of the Uralla water supply.
Mr Marshall will be back early next year to officially unveil the new premises, which should well-and-truly have overcome any teething problems by then.
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Service NSW regional manager Jeremy Conlan was on hand to show the councillors around. He said one could walk into the Wynyard service centre (in Sydney's CBD) and the fit out would look exactly the same. In fact he said the two current staff members enjoy the biggest lunch room he's seen, and the centre includes video conferencing facilities for off-site consultations and a meeting room which can be made available for community use.
Staff members Katie Taylor and Barice Lewis have moved over from the old Motor Registry office at the Tenterfield Courthouse, which can claim to be the last of its kind in the state.
"This is very different from the old Courthouse," Mr Conlan said.
"The front was pretty ordinary, but the back was even worse."
The new centre boasts longer opening hours, from 9am to 4pm, with no lunchtime closures. Mr Conlan is currently going through the process of recruiting a third staff member, with the position attracting more than 60 applications.
Tenterfield is the 107th Service NSW facility to open. Mr Conlan said it had been a long journey to fulfill a 2015 election commitment, but the team had been busy opening new offices at the rate of one every 18.5 working days.
Former MP Thomas George was on hand to enjoy the culmination of his efforts to see the service centre opened.
"This opens Tenterfield up to every service in the NSW Government," he said.
"Before, people had to travel, but not any more."
Cr Petty said it had been a long road and that Tenterfield had had a tough couple of years.
"It's great to see the confidence in opening up a shop like this, when business is doing it tough," he said.
"It will be well utilised."
A staff member aims to greet clients at the door so that any quick queries can be dealt with efficiently. There are so-called self-service computers for those who choose to do their transaction online, although staff are nearby to assist.
Mr Conlan said those who prefer old-fashioned face-to-face service are also catered for. Security screens no longer come between the client and staff member serving them, for a more personal interaction.
Driving tests are still done on a regular basis, according to demand, with a designated parking bay near the Plaza's car park entrance (for an easier exit under examination conditions) for those undergoing testing.
A comprehensive list of the services offered is available online. With more than 1000 services offered and expanding all the time, Mr Conlan said a list printed on a Monday would be out-of-date by the end of the week.
