I guess it can’t be said to have come as a great surprise, but as I have said elsewhere, it was certainly a disappointing outcome, to say the least. With independent financial advice provided to both Councils indicating that a merger would be ill-advised, and in the face of the recommendation from the Independent Local Government Review Panel that mergers should proceed only where they can be shown to make, amongst other things, a “substantial contribution to addressing financial problems” the NSW Government went its own way.
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At 12.10 pm on Thursday 12 May, with the metaphorical stroke of a pen, Palerang and Queanbeyan City Councils ceased to exist. Whether or not there was any real motive in the exercise, or whether perhaps we are just collateral damage in the machinations of a much larger political enterprise, we may never know.
So, where to now? I’m not sure anyone knows exactly. The whole reform process has produced more questions than answers, and nothing seems to have changed in the last few days.
What we do know is that we now have a new Local Government Area—the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council. However, given that Palerang Council began its life as the Eastern Capital City Regional Council that name could well change in the near future.
The new organisation—I say organisation rather than Council because there will be no elected body in the immediate future—will be run by an Administrator until Council elections are held in September 2017 (yes, for 16 months). The Administrator, the Mayor of the former Queanbeyan City Council (QCC) Tim Overall, will hold the functions of an elected Council and Mayor during that period. The new local government organisation will by run by an interim General Manager (GM), the GM of the former QCC Peter Tegart with the GM of the former Palerang Council, Peter Bascomb as his deputy.
The Delegate who presided over the inquiry into the merger, in his report to the Minister, recommended quite strongly that the new organisation be headquartered in Bungendore, as a more central location than Queanbeyan, but time will tell if anything comes of that quite sound recommendation.
The new Council, when elected, will comprise 11 councillors in a single area electorate (no wards) and the Mayor of the new Council, for the first term at least, will be elected by councillors from within their number (not by the voting population in a separate Mayoral election).
Codes, plans, strategies and policies will be, as far as practicable, a composite of those of the former councils. The PLEP will remain in force for the area of the former Palerang Council until a new LEP is prepared by the new Council. Given that both of the current Palerang and Queanbeyan LEPs are based on the Standard Instrument, this should be more straightforward than our recent exercise, but it could still take several years. Development Control Plans and contributions plans will remain in force for the relevant areas until repealed or amended by the new Council.
For the most part, operations should continue uninterrupted. Works will continue to be carried out as they have been, services will continue to be delivered as they have been, and DAs will continue to be processed as they have been. The same staff members will generally be dealing with the same matters as they were prior to the merger. The only real change you should see in the short term is in the letterhead of correspondence.
The rating structure and rating categories for land will remain as they were prior to the merger until reviewed by the new Council, following the first election of the Council.
It is understood that the Administrator will establish an Implementation Advisory Group, comprising members of the former Councils, to provide consolidated advice for the new LGA’s Implementation Plan.
Local Representation Committees, one for each of the former Council areas, will also be established by the Administrator to support the implementation of the new Council structure. These committees, which may also include members of the former Councils, will provide advice on local views and issues.
Administrators and interim GMs have spent the weekend in Sydney being briefed on their responsibilities and relevant processes. We may have a clearer picture of the way ahead when they return.
If this is sounding all too familiar, you were probably somewhere close by 12 years ago…
