Local government mergers in the inner west create two super councils as Strathfield threatens legal action
The political landscape of the inner west will undergo a dramatic change over the next year with six councils replaced with two mega councils.
Inner West
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The political landscape of the inner west will undergo a dramatic change over the next year with six councils replaced with two mega councils as part of the State Government’s controversial local government reforms.
Leichhardt, Marrickville, and Ashfield Councils will merge into a yet to be named council while Canada Bay and Burwood will amalgamate with Strathfield.
Announcing the statewide reform, Premier Mike Baird and Local Government Minister Paul Toole said Strathfield would be forced to merge regardless of its fight to stand alone.
Strathfield Council had earlier agreed it would take legal action to stop the amalgamation after receiving advice the government’s actions would be unlawful.
Marrickville Mayor Sam Iskandar said it was a disappointing ruling and maintained his position his council should stand alone.
“Marrickville, Leichardt and Ashfield have been declared unfit, yes the merger is happening but our position to stand alone remains the same,” Cr Iskandar said.
“Jobs for now are protected under the Local Government Act which will get councillors through to the next election. The government will now map out how they are going to commence with these mergers so that we all have time to study it and consult with residents and councillors.”
Leichhardt Mayor Darcy Byrne said Leichhardt Council would put its long held position to the
electoral Boundaries Commission that it should stand alone.
“If it is to be pushed upon us then our preferred partners are Ashfield and Marrickville.”
He said he believed the government had grossly underestimated the cost of merging three local government areas and the ongoing cost to residents had not been properly calculated.
“It will be a huge logistical exercise and they need to get it right.”
Ashfield Mayor Lucille McKenna said the mergers still had to go before the electoral Boundaries Commission and it was a convoluted process.
“We are still in the dark about a lot of the detail but is going to cost a fortune and $10 million will not cover it.”
“The million and millions we will spend on this process will soak up any benefits to the community for years to come,” Cr McKenna said.
“We have to merge I.T. systems and rate systems and culture and staff.”
“We still maintain that our council was okay to stay as it was but we have nowhere else to go in this process.”
Canada Bay has called an extraordinary council meeting on Wednesday following the merger announcement.
Mayor Angelo Tsirekas said it was outrageous that the merger proposal put forward by his council was rejected without any explanation; contrary to previous advice from State Government.
Canada Bay had put forward a submission to join with Burwood and Auburn but the government has grouped the others with Strathfield instead of Auburn.
“We have shown leadership throughout this process and have continued to act in the best long-term interest of our community by submitting our merger proposal,” Cr Tzirekas said.
This proposal was assessed by IPART as being fit; however it has now been discarded and makes a mockery of the entire process.”
Burwood Mayor John Faker said he was satisfied with the outcome.
“When the minister told us we couldn’t stand alone we put in a proposal - and we always preferred Burwood, Canada Bay and Strathfield (to Burwood, Canada Bay and Auburn),” Cr Faker said.
“We have communities of interest together and each has positives that we can add to a new council together.”
Cr Faker said an amalgamated council’s name would have to come from consultation.
“How about Burfield Bay?” he quipped.
“Seriously, we could look historically at what’s in our area and pick up a name there – maybe our Aboriginal history as well.”
Strathfield Independent councillor Helen McLucas said the premier had given council workers a bad Christmas present.
“The feedback period (on amalgamations) opens on January 3, so instead of having family time, council workers who are uncertain about their futures will be coming in to fill out more papers that the state government won’t take any notice of,” Cr McLucas said.
“We’ll talk with other councils - this is the start of the fight. They haven’t seen anything yet.”
Despite voting to investigate legal action, Strathfield Mayor Sang Ok conceded that he did not think the state government’s proposal was a bad idea.
Cr Ok and fellow Liberal councillors Gulian Vaccari and Stephanie Kokkolis had previously lost a motion to open merger discussions with Canada Bay and Burwood, to the exclusion of Auburn.
“Now we know what the proposal is, we will have a meeting and discuss it again,” Cr Ok said.
“The government clearly decided they are going through with it, they will use the Boundaries Commission to achieve their proposal and we will see what happens.”
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