Merger of Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville councils approved
THE former Labor mayors of Leichhardt, Ashfield and Marrickville have blasted plans to amalgamate the three councils.
Inner West
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THE former Labor mayors of Leichhardt, Ashfield and Marrickville have blasted plans to amalgamate the three councils.
The State Government revealed a raft of amalgamations across the state today, which includes a new Inner West Council, and a single council on the northern beaches.
The Inner West Council will have five wards — Marrickville, Stanmore, Leichhardt, Balmain and Ashfield — with three councillors representing each ward.
The population over the 35 sq km area will be 185,990.
Richard Pearson is the council’s administrator, with Ashfield general manager Vanessa Chan serving as the interim general manager.
Leichhardt general manager Peter Head and Marrickville general manager Brian Barrett will serve as deputy general managers.
The decision meant Darcy Byrne (Leichhardt), Lucille McKenna (Ashfield) and Sam Iskandar (Marrickville) were each sacked from their mayoral positions, along with their councillor colleagues.
“We found out we’d been sacked on social media, which is symptomatic of the completely disrespectful way that the Liberal Party and the Baird Government have handled this entire process,” Mr Byrne said.
“We’ve been lied to by the Minister for Local Government (Paul Toole) every step of the way.
“The way that all of our elected representatives have been sacked, without even the basic decency of a phone call, is a sign of things to come.
“The people of the inner west should be afraid of what (the administrator) will do.
“I expect services to be outsourced, overdevelopment to be rushed through and WestConnex to be given the green light.”
Mr Byrne has vowed to fight the decision.
“If they think it’s over today, they’ve got another thing coming.”
Ms McKenna described the decision as “appalling”.
“For the next 18 months, there’s going to be nobody representing the community ... at a time when our community is under threat from so many different projects the State Government have got going,” she said.
“It makes you feel sick.
“In lots of ways I think we’re possibly in this position because we’ve represented our communities so well.
“We were promised by the minister that we would stay in place to until the next election to our faces ... last November.
“And now we find ourselves 18 months out of the next election with no role to play.”
The announcement was made on International Nurses Day, much to the anger of Ms McKenna, a nurse.
“It should be a day of celebration but it’s a day of commiseration for me,” she said.
When asked if she would put her hand up to help out in the new council between now and the new elections, Ms McKenna said: “I’ll do whatever is best for the community.
“I’m not going to support bad administration.
“If there’s a role for us to play, we’ll be there, otherwise we’ll be there as activists.”
She said all legal advice the council received prior to the amalgamation announcement showed there would be no point taking legal action on the issue, as other councils had done.
Mr Iskandar said it was a sad day for the community.
“We’ve been saying to the community that we will work together, the three councils, to help in the transition to shape a good council,” he said.
“Now we discover the promises been given to us, weren’t really promises.
“Let me assure the residents of Marrickville ... we will continue to work together to correct this big, big mistake.”
Each new council will receive up to $15 million for community projects such as sporting facilities, playgrounds and library or pool upgrades.
They will also receive up to $10 million to streamline administrative processes and cut red tape, with unspent funds potentially redirected to community projects.
Ratepayers in new council areas will pay no more for their rates than they would have under their former council for at least four years.
@liamvhogan you mean the Airstrip One Council
— Nick (@kypros1992) May 12, 2016
Mergers have also been announced between Canterbury and Bankstown councils and between Auburn and Holroyd councils.
However, Strathfield’s last-minute decision to proceed with legal action in the Land and Environment Court against the State Government has spared them from amalgamation with Burwood and Canada Bay councils — for now.
The minister announced his support for the merger subject to the outcome of the legal action.
Strathfield mayor Sang Ok said Strathfield residents had made it clear they did not want to amalgamate with any other councils.
“We have listened to our community and will continue to do what we can to represent them,” Cr Ok said.
Premier Mike Baird said the plan for 19 new councils across the state will be supported by a State Government investment of about $500 million.
“We are ensuring our communities have stronger and more efficient councils, which will free up money for important projects such as local roads, parks, playgrounds and footpaths,” he said.
Summer Hill State Labor MP Jo Haylen, who was also a Marrickville councillor, said: “Inner west residents have been well-served by their councils and this decision is the Liberal Party at its worst.
“Our local Mayors and councils have done a fantastic job representing the inner west and they deserve better than this.”
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