North Sydney Council fights forced merger with debt-ridden neighbours

NORTH Sydney Council has come out fighting at a public meeting against mergers with debt-ridden neighbours.

Outside generic shots of north Sydney Council 2 Jan, 2008. Outside generic shots of north Sydney Council (photo by Danielle B...

NORTH Sydney Council has come out fighting at a public meeting against forced amalgamation.

Under the State Government’s Fit For The Future policy, North Sydney has been earmarked to merge with five neighbouring councils.

The community meeting was held in North Sydney on Monday night to discuss the plans and hundreds of residents turned out.

North Sydney Mayor Jilly Gibson is concerned about representation if the councils merge.

General manager Warwick Winn told the crowd the council had the resources to continue delivering services to the community.

“We are debt-free,” Mr Winn said. “We have some of the lowest residential rates in metropolitan Sydney, lower than all of our neighbours by far and we are financially sound.”

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The five councils on the cards for merging with North Sydney are Mosman, Hunters Hill, Lane Cove, Willoughby and a portion of Ryde.

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The council stated it had the lowest residential rates in the group.

Alongside Lane Cove it had no debt but the debts of the other councils combined was more than $69 million.

North Sydney Council is opposed to joining up with other councils. Picture: Danielle Butters

Mosman Council is one of the possible merger partners. Picture: David Swift

Concern was also raised about the level of elected representation in a super council covering almost 300,000 residents.

“I think it’s rather interesting that we might have one councillor representing 30,000 people,” North Sydney Mayor Jilly Gibson said.

“I’d say good luck ringing your local councillor for a chit-chat about your rubbish collection.”

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North Sydney Council presently offers one councillor per 5327 residents but two positions are vacant after resignations.

City of Sydney was also mooted as a possible merger partner.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore. Picture: Carly Earl

Under the proposed framework the number of councils in Sydney would be reduced from 41 to 18.

There are also cash incentives for councils to amalgamate.

People at the meeting were asked to fill out a survey asking if they supported or opposed the amalgamation.

A total of 83 per cent stated they wanted to maintain the status quo.

Residents stated in their survey their main concerns were loss of local representation and identity, potential increased rates and potential loss of service quality.

Mosman Council is hosting a public meeting on the issue at Mosman Civic Centre on Monday, March 9, at 7pm.

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