Murray Bridge council watch: Round House shed demolition roundly criticised

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Has a heritage-listed shed at Murray Bridge’s Round House been demolished by mistake?

Local resident Peter Harden, who knows more than most about local history, believes so.

At the city council’s May meeting, staff were asked about the replacement of the shed – which Mr Harden claimed had been 125 years old – with a modern galvanised structure.

Infrastructure and assets general manager Thuyen Vi-Alternetti said the old shed had been leaky, and that the new one had been designed to mimic it as much as possible.

She did not believe the old shed had been heritage listed, but promised to report back with an update.

AI could make councils easier to deal with

Artificial intelligence could soon make local councils easier to deal with, Murray Bridge council CEO Heather Barclay has suggested.

“Does that mean we’re going to get a robot mayor?” quipped Cr Andrew Baltensperger at the council’s May meeting.

No – but chatbots may soon be able to dig through council computer systems to answer simple questions at any hour of the day or night, such as those from locals asking about a pothole or a planning application.

An AI-powered interface might also provide council customer service reps with more information about members of the public, bringing them up to speed on conversations they may have had with other council staff members.

Applications like that could improve productivity at the council and give ratepayers more bang for their buck, audit committee chair Peter Brass suggested.

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