Inner West Council votes for residents’ demerger referendum

A vote at Inner West Council has called for a referendum which will let residents decide on whether to demerge the local authority in what would be a NSW first.

Inner West councillors have taken the first step to splitting up their mega-council, voting to give ratepayers a choice before presenting their case to the local government minister.

In what would be a NSW first, the Inner West Council has vowed to revert back to the Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville councils of pre-2016 if its residents say so after an almost two hour debate in the chamber on Monday night.

The move, pushed by its Deputy Mayor Vic Macri, will allow ratepayers to also vote on whether they want to split the council up when they vote for their local government representatives in September.

Deputy mayor Vic Macri recently described the former Marrickville LGA as the mega-council’s “cash cow” in calling for a split.

“The reluctance of this council to deal with some issues concerns some people, we don’t want to be like the Central Coast Council,” Cr Macri said.

The council has been beset by a series of controversies including its Mayor awaiting the result of a disciplinary tribunal later this month, the Auditor General probing delays to the opening of Dawn Fraser Baths after a series of bungles and the departure of two general managers in dramatic fashion.

Documents provided to councillors show they are forecasting a $7 million deficit in the budget and that de-merging would cost $34 million in the first year alone and up to $15 million annually after that.

Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne voted against letting the public vote on the split. Picture: AAP/Jordan Shields

The deputy mayor is pinning his hopes on the State Government footing that bill on amendments to legislation passed in both houses that states the government has to pay the costs if they decide to split.

Mayor Darcy Byrne opposed the move with his fellow Labor councillors and two Liberals but they were defeated in a joint effort by the Greens and the council’s three independents.

“The majority of councillors did not want this council to work,” Liberal councillor Julie Passas said.

Shelley Hancock said there were “real problems” at Inner West Council. Picture: Christian Gilles/NCA NewsWire

“It’s not because we don’t have the staff or machinery it’s because we’ve had five general managers in five years and the council’s been in turmoil.

“I haven’t shut up about this since 2016.”

“Well look inner west has some issues, and we are monitoring inner west but we’re not at the stage yet we’re even considering taking any serious action,” Local government minister Shelley Hancock said when asked about de-merger plans.

“There are some real problems there as there are at Dubbo Council, and other councils,” she said.