Marion Council scraps boundary reform investigation

Marion Council ihas backed out of a plan to expand into Onkaparinga after discovering it could have to pay Onkaparinga Council millions of dollars in compensation.

• Marion mayor Kris Hanna wants to back out of boundary reform
• Marion Council votes in favour of exploring boundary changes
• Marion mayor wants to poach 20,000 Onkaparinga residents

Marion Council has voted to scrap an investigation into boundary reform.

The council decided to revoke its decision to investigate expanding its southern hills boundary, after discovering it could have to pay Onkaparinga Council millions of dollars in compensation.

Marion had wanted to shift its boundary to take in the suburbs of Flagstaff Hill, Aberfoyle Park, O’Halloran Hill and part of Darlington.

However, the council was facing a $250,000 charge for a consultant — chosen by the Office of Local Government and the Boundaries Reform Commission — to assess its proposal and determine how much Marion should pay for assets such as community centres, sporting grounds, the Hub Library and stormwater infrastructure.

Ultimately, the council decided this was too high a price to pay.

“We can ask our own staff to do a mountain of work, pay $250,000 for consultants we don’t choose, wait a year to get a report, only to find that the price tag put on the boundary change (for Marion ratepayers to pay) is poor value or even prohibitive,” Mayor Kris Hanna said in his motion to scrap the investigation.

“Appreciating this fact alone, why would we undertake the expensive exercise on such a risky basis?”

Mayor Kris Hanna. Picture: AAP/Emma Brasier.

He was backed by a majority of councillors, many of whom said they were keen to see the boundaries changed, but could not justify spending $250,000 of ratepayers’ money on an investigation that might reveal it would be too costly to proceed.

Councillor Tim Pfeiffer said he had been “enthusiastic” about the prospect of boundary reform but this didn’t “pass the test” in his view.

“I genuinely wish this could happen,” Cr Pfeiffer said.

“We are talking about a very large area with a lot of roads and stormwater infrastructure — if we have to pay for that, crikey.”

He and Mr Hanna said they believed the process needed to be simplified by the State Government so boundary reform could be explored without the hefty price tag.

Southern hills ward councillor Matthew Shilling told the Advertiser he was disappointed by the decision as many residents in the area identified more with Marion than Onkaparinga.

“The assets in question are already owned by the community and the council is just the caretaker, why should the community have to repurchase what they already own?” Cr Shilling said.

“I have been contacted by many residents from across the border who have been wanting this change, especially residents from O’Halloran Hill, as half of this suburb falls within the ward I represent.

“It would have been better for (the) council to be presented with the initial report and then vote to go no further, rather than to simply rescind the motion.”

Onkaparinga councillor Marion Themeliotis, who represents the region, said she was also disappointed.

Onkaparinga councillor Marion Themeliotis. Picture: AAP/ Keryn Stevens.

Cr Themeliotis and fellow ward councillor Geoff Eaton asked Onkaparinga staff to explore possible boundary change in the region earlier this year.

“A report to (the) council outlining the risks and opportunities would have been a stronger, evidence based way for the council to fully understand boundary reform, rather than rescind a motion,” Cr Themeliotis said.

“It seems that Mayor Hanna is more interested in personal interests, than that of the community.

“It would seem that Mayor Hanna was too far out of his depth and jumped the gun without fully understanding the full process of boundary reform.

“The commission would never allow a council to undertake boundary reform if it was to put that council in a detrimental financial position.”