NSW council mergers: Mike Baird unveils his new-look councils as state map is redrawn

PREMIER Mike Baird came in for accusations of boundary-rigging after redrawing the administrative map of NSW. There will be 19 councils and those sacked today will be run by administrators until September 2017.

• One northern beaches council to be formed
• Merger of Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville councils approved
• Parramatta councillors yet to be told they have been sacked
• Canterbury-Bankstown to merge
• North Sydney and Mosman escape chopping block

THE councils to be merged by Premier Mike Baird have been sacked and administrators brought in to run them until elections in September 2017, the NSW government has announced.

Mr Baird announced the mergers today, claiming it was the “most comprehensive local government reform in 100 years.”

He said amalgamations were in the interest of ratepayers from “one end of the state to the other”.

The NSW Governor has signed off on the plan and new councils have already renamed.

In the biggest changes, Marrickville, Ashfield and Leichhardt councils will be renamed Inner West Council; Auburn and Holroyd will be renamed Cumberland Council; Hurstville and Kogarah will be renamed Georges River Council; and Manly, Pittwater and Warringah will be called Northern Beaches Council.

NSW Premier Mike Baird has had to make some compromises in his bid to reduce bureaucracy.

The creation of a single Northern Beaches Council on his doorstep was one of the most controversial.

Wyong and Gosford councils have also made way for a new Super Central Coast body.

Hawkesbury and the Hills, Kiama and Shoalhaven and Walcha and Tamworth councils were spared despite earlier plans.

However, the plan has met with expectedly fierce opposition.

“What we’ve seen is the greatest act of boundary-rigging in Australian politics since Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s notorious gerrymander of the 1970s.” Opposition leader Luke Foley said.

He added that Labor would allow affected residents to determine their councils’ future “democratically”.

Shooters Fishers and Farmers MLC Robert Brown leads the opposition to the changes at Parliament House. Picture: Twitter.

Greens MLC David Shoebridge said: “Mike Baird has delivered a hell of a mess for local government across the state. We can unwind the damage Baird has done.”

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party MLC Robert Brown vowed to vote against any future legislation Mr Baird’s government puts forward, saying the premier has risked losing control of the upper house.

“Go to buggery,” he said. “You’ve made a bad mistake.”

Leichhardt mayor Darcy Byrne chimed in: “Every other elected Councillor in Leichhardt, Marrickville and Ashfield has also been sacked. A hand picked Liberal Party Dictator has been appointed by Baird to rule the Inner West for at least 18 months.”

Councils spared include Walcha and Tamworth, after public lobbying from Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce, who is fighting to retain the seat of New England from Independent Tony Windsor.

“We’ve seen these reforms in other jurisdictions... and the sky hasn’t fallen in,” Mr Baird told reporters in Sydney today.

“We have absolute confidence in what’s gone before us and we have confidence in what’s before us now.”

New councils across the Sydney area shaded in green.

New councils across NSW shaded in green.

Merged councils are set to get funding to ease the process and to invest in new infrastructure.

Deputy Premier Troy Grant acknowledged that the mergers were “not welcomed by everyone” in regional NSW but said councils will be stronger for the reforms.

Mr Baird left out nine mergers which involve councils currently engaged in legal action against the government, such as Woollahra and Botany. This is only until those cases are resolved.

The government hopes a Land and Environment Court challenge from Woollahra council to amalgamate it with Randwick will fall over, with a judgment due soon, and other litigious councils will then pull out.

The new boundary of Parramatta City Council.

Merging councils will go to polls next March, the others will go to election in September. It is understood the Boundaries Commission has produced its reports to cabinet about the suitability of the mergers.

The proposed merger of Kiama and Shoalhaven has caused a storm in that electorate, with Kiama MP Gareth Ward understood to have lobbied the Premier hard to stop it going ahead and big public meetings occurring.

City of Sydney will remain untouched, although there is a push on from Botany to ­acquire some of the City of Sydney’s land.

The plan was to reduce 152 councils in NSW down to 113. It will reduce Sydney councils from 43 to 25. That number will now become 115.

A proposed Port Stephens-Newcastle merger will be considered for longer after Port Stephens proposed merging with Dungog.

THE LIST IN FULL

Councils proceeding

Armidale Regional Council: Amalgamation of Armidale Dumaresq and Guyra Shire councils

Canterbury-Bankstown Council: Bankstown City and Canterbury City councils

Central Coast Council: Gosford City and Wyong Shire councils

City of Parramatta Council: Paramatta City*, The Hills Shire*, Auburn City*, Holroyd City* and Hornsby Shire* councils

Cumberland Council: Parramatta City*, Auburn City* and Holroyd City* councils

Edward River Council: Conargo Shire and Deniliquin councils

Federation Council: Corowa Shire and Urana Shire councils

Georges River Council: Hurstville City and Kogarah City councils

Gundagai Council: Cootamundra Shire and Gundagai Shire councils

Hilltops Council: Boorowa, Harden Shire and Young Shire councils

Inner West Council: Ashfield, Leichhardt Municipal and Marrickville councils

Mid-Coast Council: Gloucester Shire, Great Lakes and Greater Taree City councils

Murray River Council: Murray Shire and Wakool Shire councils

Murrumbidgee Council: Jerilderie Shire and Murrumbidgee Shire councils

Northern Beaches Council: Manly, Pittwater and Warringah councils

Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council: Palerang and Queanbeyan City councils

Snowy Monaro Regional Council: Bombala, Cooma-Monaro Shire and Snowy River Shire councils

Snowy Valleys Council: Tumbarumba Shire and Tumut Shire councils

Western Plains Regional Council: Dubbo City and Wellington councils

Merger proposals pending

Armidale Dumaresq, Guyra Shire, Uralla Shire and Walcha councils

Bathurst Regional and Oberon councils

Blayney Shire, Cabonne and Orange City councils

Burwood, City of Canada Bay and Strathfield Municipal councils

City of Botany Bay and Rockdale City council

Dungog Shire and Maitland City councils

Pending councils across the Sydney area.

Hornsby Shire* and Ku-ring-gai councils

Hunter’s Hill, Lane Cove and City of Ryde councils

Mosman Municipal, North Sydney and Willoughby City councils

Newcastle City and Port Stephens councils

Randwick City, Waverley and Woollahra Municipal councils

Shellharbour City and Wollongong City councils

Merger proposals not commencing

Berrigan Shire and Jerilderie Shire* councils

Boorowa and Young Shire councils

Cootamundra Shire, Gundagai Shire and Harden Shire councils

Corowa Shire, Lockhart Shire, Urana Shire councils

Dungog Shire and Gloucester Shire councils

Goulburn Mulwaree and Palerang* councils

Hawkesbury City and The Hills Shire* councils

Jerilderie Shire* and Murrumbidgee Shire councils

Kiama Municipal and Shoalhaven City councils

Manly, Mosman Municipal and Warringah* councils

North Sydney and Willoughby City councils

Palerang* and Queanbeyan City councils

Pittwater and Warringah* councils

Tamworth Regional and Walcha councils

Where an * is displayed next to a council name this means it is a part of that council area.