Adelaide Hills Council pushes for law changes over boundary dispute with Campbelltown
Adelaide Hills Council is pushing for new laws to stop future “predatory takeovers” from neighbours who want more ratepayers.
Adelaide Hills
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Legislative changes to boundary reforms could be on the cards for SA – prompted by a council’s plan to take about 600 Hills homes despite strong objections.
Elected members this week backed a motion by Adelaide Hills Councillor Mark Osterstock to lobby for changes to the Local Government Act 1999.
Proposed changes force councils to consult with communities as part of any stage-one boundary reform process.
It would also prevent councils from being able to proceed with a stage-two application if affected residents are substantially opposed.
A submission requesting the changes will be send to the Greater Adelaide Region of Councils and the Local Government Association for consideration at their respective meetings next month.
The move by Cr Osterstock comes as Campbelltown Council decided to pursue its plans to annex about 600 Hills homes in Rostrevor and Woodford, despite strong community opposition.
A $14,000 survey independently commissioned by Campbelltown last year found 62 per cent of residents did not support a boundary shift.
It was a result mirrored in a survey conducted by the Adelaide Hills Council in 2019.
“Clearly, if legislative change was adopted by the State government, the predicament that the Woodford and Rostrevor residents of the Adelaide Hills Council find themselves in today would not be occurring because (Campbelltown’s) stage-one submission would not have been entertained,” Cr Osterstock said.
“If legislative amendments would be forthcoming, in a way this motion hopes to achieve, residents’ views would be listened to and the proposal for boundary realignment would not proceed.
“The only way this will be changed for future councils is with legislative amendment that reflects community submissions and position.
“So let’s see if we can get the local government association to advocate on our behalf and the behalf of the sector generally for legislative amendment to avoid such predatory takeover to another council’s district.”
Under the current legislation, community consultation needs to occur only as part of Stage 2 applications relating to boundary reforms.
This means councils can pursue boundary changes regardless of community sentiment.
Campbelltown Council chief executive officer Paul Di Lulio said he would not comment on another council’s position “on a particular matter”.
He did, however, reject claims that his council’s boundary realignment push was predatory.
“We are disappointed with this assertion, as all we have been doing is following the guidelines in the legislation in a respectful way, and our preference would have been to work together with Adelaide Hills Council on this,” he said.
Mr Di Lulio said Campbelltown was in the process of preparing its Stage 2 proposal, which was expected to be submitted to the Commission by July.
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