Woollahra Council ‘unfit’ for the future and given 30 days to propose a merger
WOOLLAHRA Mayor Toni Zeltzer has 30 days to propose a voluntary merger after her council was declared unfit to stand alone.
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WOOLLAHRA Mayor Toni Zeltzer has 30 days to propose a voluntary merger after her council was declared unfit to stand alone and a prime candidate to be absorbed by a “global city” mega council.
Premier Mike Baird released critical advice yesterday from the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART), which found Woollahra Council passed muster on sustainability, infrastructure and efficiency criteria but failed on future “scale and capacity”, with fewer than 60,000 people.
IPART HIT LIST: CITY OF SYDNEY AMONG 60 PER CENT OF COUNCILS ‘UNFIT’
Alternately, IPART estimated the council could share in $283 million in savings and benefits over two decades if it merged with City of Sydney, Waverley, Randwick and Botany — the “global city” proposed by an independent panel in early 2014.
Mr Baird gave councils until November 18 to respond to the report, one of the final steps in his Fit for the Future reforms, designed to slash the number of councils statewide.
“I certainly think we have come to the end of the road in many respects,” Mr Baird said.
Local Government Minister Paul Toole said: “Over the next 30 days we want to see what voluntary mergers will be put forward by councils.”
But Cr Zeltzer indicated she would continue the fight to stand alone. “I anticipate Woollahra will continue to pursue the community’s strong stand to remain independent,” she said.
“We’re most disappointed that the wishes of our community have been ignored.”
The report said Woollahra Council’s submission for independence:
• Was not as good as the “global city” option proposed;
• Did not include a business case for a merger, instead only addressed the individual IPART criteria
It also stated Randwick Council’s submission showed the benefits of the “global city” option could be as high as $416 million over 20 years. IPART’s own consultants, Ernst and Young, estimated the benefits would be $283 million.
Cr Zeltzer has always argued 80 per cent of Woollahra LGA residents preferred to stand alone but IPART stated “we consider the council did not provide a balanced assessment of the proposed reforms.”
CLOVER MOORE SLAMS MERGER REPORT AS A MOCKERY
She also said she was disappointed the council was deemed unfit “simply because we do not meet an arbitrary undisclosed population size”.
But IPART chairman Peter Boxall said “scale and capacity is about more than population.
“We have considered whether (compared to proposed mergers) the proposal demonstrates the council can achieve the key elements of scale and capacity,” Dr Boxall said.
“This has been an independent, rigorous process.”
Cr Zeltzer said last week she would reopen merger talks with City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore after it became clear the government would likely force a merger.
“We have more synergies with the City of Sydney, given our harbourfront location … than with the coastal councils,” she said.
The IPART report stated, while City of Sydney was also unfit to stand alone when compared to the benefits of the “global city” council, it would be fit to remain independent if the government chose not to pursue that option.
Waverley and Randwick councils’ voluntary merger got the thumbs-up from IPART.
Waverley Mayor Sally Betts and Cr Zeltzer are in opposing corners on the issue — Cr Betts would be happy for Woollahra to join Waverley and Randwick but doesn’t want Town Hall.
Mr Baird said just a third of the state’s 152 councils were found to be fit and only nine volunteered to merge.
“We think the community deserves much better than that,” he said.
Councils which merge will get up to $25 million in sweeteners from the state government to help fund the transition and new community infrastructure — that was on top of $2 billion in estimated savings statewide by 2036, Mr Baird said.
He would not comment on whether the government needed new legislation to force amalgamation but indicated that process could be over the by the end of the year.
BETTS GETS READY FOR AMALGAMATION WITH TRANSITION COMMITTEE
By Sean Thompson
Waverley Mayor Sally Betts is ready to take her merger talks with Randwick Council to the next step after IPART deemed the proposal ‘fit for the future’.
Of the 139 proposals received by IPART from councils across NSW, the Waverley-Randwick merger was one of only two found to be in line with the tribunal’s criteria.
Cr Betts said she would start “informal discussions” with Randwick with a view towards a transition committee once the State Government handed down its final recommendation.
“We have put a lot of effort into working out what was best for our community and from a financial perspective our residents would be better off under a merger,” she said. “I’m really confident that we’ve done the best thing for our residents.”
Cr Betts said the council had worked tirelessly to stop Waverley from being part of a global city council. “We successfully persuaded the government that we didn’t want to be part of such a big council with the City of Sydney,” she said.
“From my understanding that’s no longer an option for us because our merger with Randwick was deemed fit.”
Cr Betts said the door was open for Woollahra Council to join Waverley and Randwick in merger talks.
“I understand Woollahra’s concern about rates but there is an agreement the rate structure would not change under a merged council,” she said.
“The government is conducting a rate review and there would be no financial impact on Woollahra residents if they chose to merge with us. I’m confident they would get even better services, much like Randwick.
“Waverley and Woollahra are good friends and I’m happy to talk with them further.”
CLOVER CLAIMS ‘UNFIT’ RULING MAKES A MOKERY OF PROCESS
By Naomi White
Yesterday, Lord Mayor Clover Moore said IPART’s finding that the City of Sydney Council was unfit for a “global city council” made a mockery of the review.
IPART’s Fit for the Future report found the council met the scale and capacity to continue as a stand-alone council.
But it was declared unfit when assessed as a “global city council” which would see it merged with Botany Bay, Woollahra, Waverley and Randwick councils.
Cr Moore said a forced merger had no community support, adding that an independent audit by Pricewaterhouse Coopers that was handed to council on Monday put it “in a strong and stable financial position.”
“To say the City of Sydney is somehow unfit in the face of this strong evidence to the contrary makes a mockery of the entire review process, and throws into question all decisions made as a result,” she said.
IPART’s assessment did not account for the transfer of assets and “responsibility that would be required from the State Government,” Cr Moore said.
“The impact of a forced amalgamation now would risk our 10-year $1.94 billion infrastructure program — as well as $30-40 billion of private development over the next decade.”
She also said a third of objections to amalgamations came from within the LGA.
City of Sydney Council now has 30 days to respond to the findings
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