Adelaide Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor calls for council amalgamations

Adelaide Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor says there are too many councils in South Australia. Do you agree? Take our poll.

The number of councils in South Australia needs to be culled, says Adelaide Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor.

Ms Verschoor says it is time to “seriously consider” reviewing council boundaries across the state, including expanding Adelaide City Council into surrounding suburbs.

Writing in The Advertiser, the former local government executive says amalgamating councils will create greater efficiencies and savings for ratepayers.

“Sixty-eight councils for a population of 1.7 million is not only confusing for the public, it’s also an inefficient use of ratepayers’ money and resources,” she says.

“If the events of the past 12 months have taught us anything, it’s that we need to do things differently.

“We need to be creative with how we plan and deliver services for and on behalf of our community. We need to shake up the status quo and be brave in our decision making.”

Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor chairing a meeting of the Adelaide City Council with chief executive Mark Goldstone. Picture: Colin James

Ms Verschoor says the Adelaide City Council should become bigger, similar to other capital city councils such as Melbourne and Brisbane.

“By amalgamating councils, efficiencies and savings could be generated by removing duplication and streamlining everything we do,” she says.

“This would allow money to be redirected into new services and jobs for greater community benefit.”

Ms Verschoor was responding to criticism of measures being taken by her council to improve its poor financial position, including selling assets.

“The City of Adelaide has been, and continues to take, a very well-measured and rational approach to our finances,” she says.

“We have been very open and transparent about our financial position and the impact that COVID-19 has had on our bottom line.”

A meeting of the Adelaide City Council meeting at the Adelaide Town Hall. Picture: Colin James

Ms Verschoor says the council has undertaken a comprehensive review over the past four years of its $300m property portfolio.

She says the review is “a clear example” of her council’s “good financial management”.

“It makes sense to consider taking to market some underperforming properties,” she says. “After all, why hold on to investment properties if you’re not getting commercial return?

Ms Verschoor says while her council’s borrowings – forecast to reach $93m this financial year – remain “well within our prudential limit, we need to ensure we are getting maximum return on our investments.

“As a capital-city council, our assets need to be working harder for us given almost half of our revenue comes from our own commercial operations,” she says.

Ms Verschoor declined to comment on which councils she thought should be merged with Adelaide.

“We could go east, west, north, south, I don’t know but it needs to happen,” she said.