Marion mayor Kris Hanna wants to back out of boundary reform after learning it could cost millions

Marion Mayor Kris Hanna no longer wants his council to expand into Onkaparinga after learning it could cost millions.

• Marion mayor wants to poach 20,000 Onkaparinga residents
• Marion Council votes in favour of exploring boundary changes

Marion Mayor Kris Hanna wants his council to “cut its losses” rather than persist with a plan to expand into Onkaparinga after discovering it could cost Marion Council millions of dollars.

In April, the council approved a plan put forward by Mr Hanna to explore altering the council’s boundaries to take in approximately 20,000 residents from Happy Valley, Aberfoyle Park, Flagstaff Hill, O’Halloran Hill and part of Darlington.

However, Mr Hanna has now put forward a motion — to be decided at Tuesday night’s meeting — to revoke this decision.

In his motion, Mr Hanna says in order to change the boundaries the council would have to overcome several costly obstacles including paying $250,000 for consultants to assess the proposal and then potentially having to pay Onkaparinga Council for any assets acquired such as the Hub Library as well as local sport and community centres and playgrounds.

“I attended a briefing about this process from the Office of Local Government and the

Boundaries Reform Commission organised by the LGA ... One of the most significant points made at the briefing, which I had not previously appreciated, was that any ‘acquiring’ council must pay for what it acquires,” Mr Hanna said.

Mayor Kris Hanna. Picture: AAP/Emma Brasier.

“So, for example, if Marion was to acquire 10 per cent of Onkaparinga’s infrastructure, the Boundary Review consultant might determine that Marion has to pay up to 10 per cent of Onkaparinga’s asset base.

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

The Hub Library in Aberfoyle Park.

Mr Hanna said Onkaparinga Council’s management was also “strongly” opposed to the idea and now that it had introduced a fortnightly green bin service, residents may be less likely to want to join Marion.

He added that Liberal MP for Davenport Steve Murray was also no longer supportive of the proposal.

“The member for Davenport is of the same political party as the Minister for Local Government (Stephan Knoll) — one must question the likelihood of the

Minister signing off on a major proposal without the support of his backbench colleague in the local area,” Mr Hanna said.

“(The) council may well consider it is better to cut our losses right now.”

Elected members will decide whether to scrap the investigation at tonight’s council meeting.