Shadow Minister for Local Government Peter Primrose is demanding Minister Toole come clean on his plans for council amalgamations and reveal whether he stands by his claim of “no forced amalgamations.”
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Upon being sworn in as Minister for Local Government on 23 April 2014, Mr Toole said: “The government has stated there will be no forced amalgamations and I aim to honour that, but there are also some councils who have already indicated they want to take up voluntary amalgamations with support from the state government to work through the process.” Western Advocate, 23/4/14
“As the ‘Fit for the Future’ deadline approaches, councils are moving to amalgamate because they feel they have no choice – but the Minister has been notably quiet,” said Mr Primrose. “It’s time for Mr Toole to answer one simple question: does he stand by his pledge of no forced amalgamations? Or is the Minister now backing away from his commitment?”
Mr Primrose said “If he can’t answer the question, perhaps Mr Toole can ask his colleague Andrew Constance who famously said the Government will “have to pull out the stick” if councils don’t take the carrot.
“Communities across the state are wondering what happens to councils deemed ‘unfit for the future’ – Mr Toole should clarify whether his Government will be getting the stick out.”
Mr Primrose raised Mr Toole’s pledge at a Save Our Councils rally against forced amalgamations. At the rally, Mr Primrose asked: “Was he lying then, or is he lying now?”
The ‘Save Our Councils’ community group launched a campaign to keep local government local, is supported by every political party in the NSW Parliament except the Coalition. The launch was well attended with the chant, “Save our councils” ringing out over the Domain.
Save Our Councils is a non-aligned network of community groups, residents, business organisations, councillors and mayors from across the political spectrum publicly committed to resisting forced local council amalgamations.
The NSW Upper House has set up an inquiry into local government to examine the Government’s ‘Fit for the Future’ agenda and prioritise the needs of local councils and communities.
Greens MP and Local Government Spokesperson David Shoebridge said “Forced amalgamations are so unpopular, so anti-democratic, that everyone from the Christian Democrats to Labor to the Shooters and the Greens are standing together to oppose them in Parliament. Residents want to retain the local character and identity of their neighbourhoods, not see that lost in a one-size-fits-all mega-council.”
“Larger councils mean less representation and advocacy, less of a voice on planning proposals, less access to your local government, and poorer services” he said.
Across NSW the average council has just over 50,000 residents which is almost double the OECD average of 27,224. In Sydney, the average council has 104,000 residents and is almost four times the OECD average.
“There’s never been a cogent case for forced amalgamations. If the residents want it, there is provision for them to apply to merge. But the overwhelming reaction throughout NSW is that residents deeply oppose the idea of losing their local councils” said Mr Shoebridge. “On no level, whether economic, social or environmental, is there a rational case to super-size NSW councils.”
Minister for Local Government Paul Toole has released the 2013/14 Your Council Report on the performance and characteristics of the NSW local government sector, together with the results for every council. While the majority of councils still operating in the red, Palerang did show a $625 surplus in operating expenses over revenue.
This is the 24th edition of the report that provides the community with facts on a range of performance indicators so they can see how the sector has performed. The accompanying council results means they can also see how their individual council stacks up. The report and the accompanying results for each council is available on the Office of Local Government’s website at www.olg.nsw.gov.au