Former General Manager of Bourke Shire Council Geoff Wise has returned to Dubbo to fill the role of Chair of the Western Lands Advisory Council.

He is taking over from Jenny McLennan who spent seven years in the role.

Mr Wise has more than four decades’ experience in rural areas, beginning as a veterinarian in Dubbo with the NSW Department of Agriculture in 1969.

Mr Wise said one of his main priorities would be to ensure the western district had a voice in the Local Land Services review, local government review, review of crown lands and the planning review.

Interestingly Mr Wise said 10 per cent (more than 93,000km square) of north-western NSW had no local government being called the unincorporated area. 

“Because this is all crown land we have to have input into the future of where crown land should go,” he said.

Mr Wise, after spending seven years in one of the most drought stricken shires in NSW, was indifferent to taking up the role after a couple of good seasons.

“Droughts and flooding rains are part of the natural cycle in the western division,” he said.

“It was really tough times at the start of this century for everyone out there.

“So much of the (farming) work is reactionary but with better seasons they can be more proactive and do more planning.

“We know that droughts are an inevitable part of western NSW so the wheel will turn again.”

Mr Wise went on to explain how his veterinary career led to his roles in governance.

“My veterinarian career started out hands-on with animals that lead me into managing disease programs, which lead me into management,’’ he said.

“From that I guess I just kept climbing a ladder.

“If you’re going to manage disease programs you’ve got to manage people.

“To manage people you’ve got to manage budgets and I guess my regional veterinarian career with the Department of Agriculture led me to becoming the regional director of agriculture for the Orana and the far west which spans from Mudgee to Broken Hill and the Queensland border.

Mr Wise wanted a challenge to take on a different role in a rural interest which meant moving over to natural resources.

“I was in it for over a decade as regional director of land and water conservation and department of natural resources and half a dozen other names through the decade and that simultaneously included the western lands division role,” he said.

“It was just an opportunity I guess to use my broader base and grassroots experience and I guess the privilege I’ve had of learning from rural people about how they operated and equally how government operated to be able to do different things.”