Canterbury-Bankstown demerger: Council to stop demerger planning until NSW government foots bill

A fiery debate erupted over the decision to halt work on a southwest Sydney council demerger, with one councillor pointing out the hefty costs ratepayers would be slugged with, but one resident said they feel “overlooked”.

Members of the Residents for Demerger of Canterbury Bankstown group gathered in the gallery on Tuesday night.

A fiery debate erupted at a southwest Sydney council over the decision to halt work on a council demerger, with a resident action group saying they feel “betrayed” and “overlooked”.

Labour councillor Khal Asfour tabled a motion at the Canterbury-Bankstown council meeting on Tuesday for the council to stop work on a demerger until the NSW Government could provide an “ironclad commitment” to paying for the split.

The business case ordered by the council in 2022 claimed the minimum upfront costs of unwinding the forced amalgamation of the former Canterbury and Bankstown councils in 2016 would tally $66.2m.

Ratepayers in Canterbury would face an average $175 yearly increase in rates, while Bankstown residents would be slugged an extra $166 per year in rates, according to the modelling.

Mr Asfour said he supported a demerger “on the provision that the government pays for the costs, as no person wants an increase to rates”.

Former Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour supporters a demerger – but only if the NSW Government foots the $66m bill.

“You’re not getting your streets swept more often, you’re not getting anything from it … the only thing you’re getting is another rate with a different name at the top.

“No one wanted to merge, but it did happen, and the egg has cracked, and it’s very hard to put the egg back together.”

The motion was carried, and councillors Barbara Coorey, Charlie Ishac, Charbel Abouraad, George Zakhia, and Jessie Nguyen voted against it.

Independent councillor Barbara Coorey slammed the motion and said it “wasn’t right” to abandon the demerger as “residents wanted to break away”.

“I have a lot of people who want to go back to Canterbury because it’s not working,” she said.

Labor councillor Karl Saleh said the motion wasn’t about blaming “Labour or Liberals” but “talking about a community need and every resident in our council needs to be heard”.

“I was elected to council in 2004. My electorate was 15,000, now 30,000. We are too big,” he said.

“The people’s voice is power. It’s about the people’s vote.”

Members of the community group Residents for Demerger of Canterbury Bankstown showed their support for a demerger at Tuesday's council meeting.

Members of the Residents for Demerger of Canterbury Bankstown gathered in the gallery, including Belmore resident Joe Sinacori, 62, who was “disappointed” in the council’s decision.

“The sentiment around the area is they want the demerger, and a lot of people are frustrated with the over-development in the area,” he said.

“Everyone is focused on the Bankstown end, nothing on our Canterbury end.”

Canterbury resident Bill said, “We’ve always been Canterbury, we’ve never been Bankstown”.

“We used to have an identity … it’s time for something to change,” he said.

Minister for Local Government Ron Hoenig said if Canterbury-Bankstown council wished to put forward a business case for a demerger, he would “follow the legal process in place”.

“But any council that wants to demerge must be able to prove they will be financially sustainable and can stand up on their own two feet without compromising the crucial services and infrastructure councils should be providing to their communities,” he said.

“The state has interfered with local government for far too long, and I am not interested in allowing the state to continue undermining the third tier of government and its elected officials.”