Tony Herbert calls for organisational review into Warrnambool City Council

The organisation-wide review was an "imperative" because the council was "unsustainable in its current form", he said.

Crs Herbert and Peter Hulin were out-voted 2-5 in applying to the Essential Services Commission for the 4.5 per cent increase for the next three years at a special meeting on Monday night.

"A whole organisation review is not about sacking people, it's about what we offer, what we maybe don't need to do anymore and what can we offer into the future," he said.

"That all says something about facilities, staffing and budgets. The ship is in the process of slightly changing course and I think that's a really good thing. Whenever there is a significant change like this I think it's responsible and prudent to look at the whole organisation."

He said a sustainable council could be achieved.

"If there's services that are already provided by the private sector why necessarily would council need to be competing in that space?" he asked.

"They are the first areas that need to be looked at. You just can't keep going on without drilling down into the detail of all that we do.

"Rate capping has changed the way we need to do business and we have to respond to that. If we all get behind this and support it, and there might be some hard decisions, but if we all remain positive about it we will get through it with a much better organisation. If we are wishing that we can carry on the same way - it's not going to happen."

Cr Herbert said some savings had been made, but it was "the tip of the iceberg".

He said money was needed to renew council assets across the municipality. 

If the ESC approves the application the higher cap is expected to raise $2.1 million over the three years.

"We have an incredible amount of infrastructure," he said.

"We have over 60 playgrounds in Warrnambool. A lot of them are in need of replacement or repair. There are also significant services that we run. We just can't do everything." 

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