There’s barely a ratepayer in Bathurst who doesn’t have at least one firm opinion about what council should be doing better or shouldn’t be doing at all.

But some weeks, and this last week was one of them, you do have to stand back and appreciate the breadth of work for which council is responsible.

In the past seven days, council oversaw the start of work on the redevelopment of its Scallywags Child Care Centre; announced that it had found a temporary solution to the loss of a bridge that was washed away in a storm north of Bathurst at the start of this month; and presented Mark Renshaw as the ambassador for the upcoming Bathurst Cycling Classic.

And then at the end of the week, council staff helped ensure the awards ceremony on Friday night and citizenship ceremony on Saturday morning for Australia Day went off successfully.

That’s infrastructure, tourism and community all covered – and they were only the highlights of the week.

Council, like any organisation that relies on public funds, should always be prepared to face scrutiny and should always be prepared to cop criticism when it does a poor job.

But it’s worth remembering every now and then what a mixed bag of responsibilities is overseen from the big building in Russell Street these days.

It’s certainly a lot more than the old days of roads and rubbish.