NSW Government announces local council merger plans

MORE than 40 councils are to be wiped out in NSW under sweeping merger plans announced by Premier Mike Baird.

Council mergers have proved controversial in NSW. Picture: Braden Fastier

MORE than 40 local councils will disappear across NSW under local government merger plans confirmed by Premier Mike Baird.

New large councils will be created in the Northern Beaches, Inner West, Central Coast and Canterbury-Bankstown with Parramatta growing to gobble up parts of its neighbours.

A council covering the Eastern Suburbs is also on the cards but has yet to be signed off.

Councils including Marrickville, Manly, Randwick, Rockdale, Holroyd, Ryde, Lane Cove, Gosford, Pittwater and Dubbo will disappear.

Stronger councils has created an interactive map if you want to see what’s happening to your local council.

On Thursday, Mr Baird confirmed the first tranche of mergers. “The most comprehensive local government reform in more than 100 years will result in 19 new councils beginning operations from today.”

A further nine councils will be created pending court action from disgruntled mayors.

The changes come with a hefty price tag of $500 million but Mr Baird said it was worth paying.

“Reducing waste and red tape through local government mergers could free up close to $2 billion over the next 20 years, allowing councils to fund better services and new infrastructure for communities or lower rates,” he said.

One of the councils that will be merged out of existence is western Sydney’s Auburn of which property developer Salim Mehajer was formerly deputy mayor.

Mr Mehajer, along with all the other Auburn councillors, lost his role in February when the NSW Government appointed an administrator to run the local authority and announced a public inquiry to investigate allegations councillors may have misused their position to benefit themselves or relatives.

Even if Mr Mehajer and the other councillors are given the all clear, there will be no council to go back to with Auburn to be divided up between a new Cumberland Council and an enlarged Parramatta Council.

Could Salim Mehajer return as mayor of the new Cumberland Council? Picture: John Grainger

Several proposed mergers, including those of the Hills Shire and Hawkesbury City in Sydney’s north, Shoalhaven and Kiama in the Illawarra, and Walcha and Tamworth in New England are reported to have been overturned.

Larger councils including City of Sydney, Liverpool, Penrith, Sutherland Shire, Wagga Wagga and Albury are largely safe.

NSW’s smallest council, Hunters Hill, has been given a stay of execution. The north shore municipality has a population of only 13,000 and is a minnow compared to Blacktown, the state’s largest council, which has more than 300,000 residents.

It was slated to be part of a three-way merger with Lane Cove and Ryde but a final decision has yet to be made. The jury is also still out on an Eastern Suburbs “mega council” which would have Bondi Beach at its core.

A new Northern Beaches council will be created stretching from Manly to Palm Beach, where Home and Away is filmed.

Ashfield, Marrickville and Leichhardt will come together to form a new council covering much of the city’s Inner West while Gosford and Wyong will form a new Central Coast council.

Rockdale’s plans to merge with Hurstville and Kogarah, to form a St George council, have been turned down. A decision to now merge it into Botany Bay to form a new council bisected by the runways of Sydney Airport, has been criticised by councillors in both areas.

Parramatta Town Hall will now be the seat of local government for a far wider area including chunks of Auburn, Holroyd, the Hills and Hornsby.

The government will appoint administrators to take day-to-day control of the merged councils with elections not due until September 2017.

Current councillors and mayors will be invited to join “local representation committees” but there’s a catch — only those who support the mergers can apply.

“The knowledge, skills and experience of existing mayors and councillors will be an enormous asset to the new councils that will begin operation today,” Mr Baird said.

“Councillors who have shown a commitment to making the new council a success will have the opportunity to get involved.”

The government has also announced a plan whereby dishonest councillors will be forced to hand over their “ill-gotten gains”.

“We want the community to have confidence in councils again,” Mr Baird said.

“Unfortunately this confidence has been shaken recently by councillors who have put self-interest ahead of community interest.”

Decisions made on planning applications lodged with a council in which a councillor or general manager, their spouse or relative has a financial interest will have to be made independently of the council.

Under the legislation, councillors could be forced to hand over any money they receive if they vote on a council decision they have a financial benefit in.

The government’s local council reforms, called “Fit for the Future” have proved controversial with many mayors and residents angry at a process that they say has been rushed and will mean mega town halls will lose their local focus.

The Minister has announced that he will proceed with the formation of the following councils:

• Armidale Regional Council (Armidale Dumaresq and Guyra)
• Canterbury-Bankstown Council (Bankstown and Canterbury)
• Central Coast Council (Gosford and Wyong)
• City of Parramatta Council (P’matta and part of Hills, Auburn, Holroyd and Hornsby)
• Cumberland Council (Auburn and Holroyd)
• Edward River Council (Conargo and Deniliquin)
• Federation Council (Corowa and Urana)
• Georges River Council (Hurstville and Kogarah)
• Gundagai Council (Cootamundra and Gundagai)
• Snowy Monaro Regional Council (Bombala, Cooma Monaro and Snowy River)
• Hilltops Council (Boorowa, Harden and Young)
• Inner West Council (Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville)
• Mid-Coast Council (Gloucester, Great Lakes and Greater Taree)
• Murray River Council (Murray and Wakool)
• Murrumbidgee Council (Jerilderie and Murrumbidgee)
• Northern Beaches Council (Manly, Pittwater and Warringah)
• Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (Queanbeyan and Palerang)
• Snowy Valleys Council (Tumut and Tumbarumba)
• Western Plains Regional Council (Dubbo and Wellington)

Subject to the decisions of the courts, the Minister has announced his in principle support for the following mergers:

• Botany and Rockdale
• Randwick, Waverly and Woollahra
• Bathurst and Oberon
• Ku-ring-gai and Hornsby
• Mosman, North Sydney and Willoughby
• Blayney, Cabonne and Orange
• Hunters Hill, Lane Cove and Ryde
• Burwood, Canada Bay and Strathfield
• Shellharbour and Wollongong
• Merger Proposals Pending
• Newcastle and Port Stephens
• Dungog and Maitland
• Armidale-Dumaresq, Guyra, Walcha and Uralla

Merger Proposals not proceeding:

• Berrigan and Jerilderie (part)
• Boorowa and Young
• Cootamundra Shire, Gundagai and
• Harden
• Corowa, Lockhart Shire, Urana
• Dungog and Gloucester
• Goulburn Mulwaree and Palerang (part)
• Hawkesbury and The Hills (part)
• Jerilderie (part) and Murrumbidgee