Campbelltown votes to push Adelaide Hills suburbs takeover

Residents have slammed an “un-Australian” move by an Adelaide council to absorb two suburbs into its borders.

Campbelltown City Council will proceed with plans for a boundary change with a neighbouring council despite major opposition from affected residents.

Elected members voted Tuesday night to commit to stage two of a boundary realignment with Adelaide Hills Council. The council will now write to the Boundaries Commission to take on parts of Woodforde and Rostrevor, worth about $1.16 million in rate revenue.

The decision was met with outrage from about 50 residents attending the meeting, some of whom brought signs opposing the motion.

The strong community kickback follows a $14,000 survey, independently commissioned by Campbelltown last year, which found that 62 per cent of residents surveyed did not support a boundary realignment. It mirrored a similar result to a survey conducted by the Adelaide Hills Council in 2019.

Kathleen Graham from Rostrevor opposes the proposed boundary reform by Campbelltown Council.

Rostrevor resident Steve Swann said he was shocked by Campbelltown’s decision to push ahead.

“The survey was very clear. The overwhelming majority of residents do not want this boundary change … so why isn’t Campbelltown listening?

“They say it’s not about money, but what else could it be?

“We will continue to fight this as they can’t just ignore the wishes of the community.”

Rostrevor resident Dan Fitzgerald said he was worried a boundary realignment would mean higher rates for Hills homeowners.

“If the boundary realignment were to proceed, Adelaide Hills Council would be further negatively impacted, with Campbelltown taking $1 million-plus in rates revenue by annexing our area,” he said.

Sixty-two per cent of Campbelltown Council residents surveyed opposed redrawing boundaries to include part of the Adelaide Hills Council catchment. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe.

“This, to me, seems un-Australian, and also against the spirit of legislation, to prey on the rates revenue of a neighbouring council – particularly when the Adelaide Hills Council and residents have expressed their clear opposition.”

Adelaide Hills Council mayor Jan-Claire Wisdom also attended the meeting, together with deputy mayor Nathan Daniell and councillors Leith Mudge and Mark Osterstock.

Ms Wisdom, who put forward a deputation, appealed to Campbelltown councillors to support the majority vote of the community.

“The report presented to you (last night) publicly presents for the first time the results of the McGregor Tan (MT) survey provided to Campbelltown City Council in January this year,” she said.

“The Executive Summary survey clearly states in bold text that the “majority of the respondents are not in favour of the boundary change and one in two residents strongly oppose the boundary change proposal”.

“These results are consistent with (and comprehensively validate) the results of the Adelaide Hills Council survey done over a year earlier.

“This is a strong message to you from the affected community, not just once, but now for a second time.”

A map of the proposed boundary changes. Picture: Supplied

The decision to push ahead comes after research showed support from ratepayers under the age of 45 and residents new to the area.

While they represented a minority of the 222 residents surveyed, a council report argued that the statistic warranted further exploration.

A further survey of 164 Campbelltown residents also showed more than three quarters supported the further investigation into a boundary realignment and 17 per cent opposed it.

Campbelltown councillor Therese Britton - La Salle, who moved Tuesday night’s motion, said she believed community opposition to be based on ill-founded information.

This, she said, included the wide-held believe that the move was money driven and that the council would start subdividing valuable land.

“This (issue) is very contentious (and) when I had a look thoroughly at the report...there was a common denominator there - fear!,” she said.

“Fear of the remanent infill, fear of losing that beautiful open space.

“I can understand any fear of what’s happened similarly in Campbelltown (but) what happened in Campbelltown wasn’t our doing; it was a government initiative to stimulate growth in our area, that’s why we had very tiny allotment sizes.

“But we’ve changed this...Campbelltown’s rampant infill has ended.”