Northern Beaches Council merger put under microscope as new report praises achievements
Heated debate erupted over the council’s merger report, with calls for it to be deferred over “concerns from the community” and “inaccurate” information. The report praised the success of the merger of Manly, Pittwater and Warringah council’s four years ago.
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A hotly-debated report about the amalgamation of Northern Beaches Council has received support from councillors, despite fierce calls to knock it back by some because it was seen as “inaccurate”.
The controversial decision to merge Manly, Warringah and Pittwater councils to form the Northern Beaches Council took place four years ago under the former Liberal Premier Mike Baird.
It was a move which was strongly opposed by Pittwater residents who objected to the report at the council meeting on Tuesday night.
“With at most a week to read this report, it’s hard for residents to tell how much of the self-congratulations are justified,” Miranda Korzy stated on behalf of the Protect Pittwater Association.
“Some of the financial figures and statistics look impressive. But harmonising services from the previous councils is not an improvement on what was offered in the past and does not take into account what has been lost.
“The report needs to be exhibited with time for residents to digest and comment on the extensive financial and other results. We therefore believe this item should be deferred until that consultation has occurred and no thanks sent to the State Government at this time.”
According to the report, the council estimated to save $161.6 million over 10 years from the amalgamation, which is more than double the State Government’s $76.3m estimated savings.
Some of those savings have since been reinvested back into projects including new footpaths.
The report also boasted positive survey results from 2019 which revealed 90 per cent of residents were satisfied with the council, up from 86 per cent the previous year.
This is despite defecits in the budget due to a loss in revenue and increased support for businesses during the pandemic and the repaying of $63m in loans the new council inherited.
Councillor Vincent De Luca also urged the council to defer the motion for three months over “concerns from the community”.
“I agree with the community that it [the report] is inaccurate, I agree with the community they have not been part of it. Prior to amalgamation, he [Mayor Michael Regan] campaigned on the basis that rates would go down,” he said at the council meeting.
“He also promised the bureaucracy and red tape would be cut. Councillor Regan has broken his promises because every year rates have gone up significantly and bureaucracy has increased dramatically.
“If we’re looking at the amount of outstanding works for footpaths, we need half a million to fix existing ones and $15m for new footpaths. Looking at the truth, the amalgamation of Pittwater Council has been a complete failure.”
He told the Manly Daily the report failed “to make comparisons to better performing Councils that were not merged and do not have the bloated bureaucracy and salary expenses we have”.
However, Mayor Michael Regan argued the report benchmarked 115 councils — metro and regional, merged and not merged
Meanwhile, Cr Sarah Grattan stated she was “really proud” of the council’s achievements.
“When we arrived we were struggling with the merger. We hired a new CEO and have emerged as a sector-leading organisation with support from the community,” Cr Grattan said at the meeting.
“We’ve just heard about the amount of capital investment increase for $71m to $93m, this is on top of reducing the amount of debt.
“I understand that some people disagreed with amalgamation but considering this information the (council) is a successful organisation with many achievements in its short life.”
Cr Sue Heins explained why the community had “no say” in the report.
“It is what it is — a list of what’s been done so far,” Cr Heins said.
“This is a report that the community has no say in because none of us actually knew what was going on in the amalgamated council until we got in 18 months later.”
Cr Regan said the council “have turned around and it is turning around”.
“There is savings there and the community is seeing that back through footpaths. It’s not perfect but the reality is overall we are making savings which were important and the basis of amalgamation,” Cr Regan said.
“None of that is possible with three councils losing money and increasing rates. We should give ourselves a pat on the back.”
The council voted to write to the NSW Premier and Minister Local Government, “acknowledging the success” of the merger and will make the report available to the public to “invite comment” as a precursor to the Northern Beaches Council service review.