They say a week’s a long time in politics, and local government in NSW is no exception at the moment. The local government reform process has moved rather quickly since IPART released its assessment of NSW Councils back in November.
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In December 2015 the Minister for Local Government released 35 Merger Proposals, involving 65 NSW councils, and in January 2016 outlined the process by which these Proposals would be assessed. The Proposals have been referred to the Chief Executive of the Office of Local Government (OLG), who has in turn delegated responsibility for their assessment to 18 Delegates whom we understand will report their findings by May 2016. Individual Delegates will hold public inquiries into the Proposals for which they have responsibility during February and prepare their respective reports for comment by the independent Boundaries Commission. The Minister has indicated that he will consider the information so provided and announce his determination before the end of June, with the intention that the new Councils will commence operating on 1 July 2016.
While the precise details are unclear, it is believed that current councillors would most likely be dismissed, and the new Councils would operate under administration until new elections, which would be delayed until March 2017.
Provided the process as outlined is followed, the Minister has plenty of room to move with respect to the decision he ultimately makes—he is under no obligation to adopt any particular recommendation that comes out of the process.
The ‘process’, however, is constrained in the output it can produce. It only allows for the consideration of a Proposal, or a ‘minor amendment’ thereof. It cannot consider anything more.
The Proposal that the Minister presented in relation to Palerang was to divide our LGA between Goulburn and Queanbeyan, in spite of the fact that, for the duration of the Fit for the Future exercise we had been advised that no consideration would be given to boundary adjustments, only full mergers. The main problem here is that a full merger is not considered to be a ‘minor amendment’ to the current Proposal, so the present process cannot comment on whether or not the proposed division of Palerang is more or less appropriate than a full merger. It is in recognition of this fact that Palerang Council has forwarded an alternate Proposal—for the full merger of Palerang and Queanbeyan—to the Minister for consideration.
It is important here to note the difference between a Proposal and the position held by Council on the matter. Council’s resolved position remains to stand alone as an independent Council. The only option presented by the Minister, however, was to divide Palerang between Goulburn and Queanbeyan—he did not provide for the option of merging Palerang wholly with a single neighbour. The only way this option could be considered in the present process was for someone, either the Minister himself, Palerang Council, or residents through a petition, to lodge such a Proposal.
The reason that Council has lodged the full merger Proposal is because it believes this to be a better outcome for our community than dividing the current LGA—it is Council’s preferred fall-back position from its preference to remain as an independent council.
If your head is spinning at this point, I’m sure you’re not alone. I’m not entirely convinced that anyone was ever intended to be able to understand exactly what was going on…
As a footnote that will no doubt please some residents, the Special Rate Variation (SRV) that was under consideration by Council is now firmly off the table. Regardless of Council’s position, the OLG has directed that no council involved in a Merger Proposal will be eligible for an SRV in the coming year. The State Government has also stated that there will be no change to any existing ‘rate path’ for a period of four years following any merger. How outstanding works will be funded in the interim and what financial considerations might come into play at the end of that period will be a matter for consideration by the Council of the day.
The bottom line is that the ball is now very much in the hands of Palerang residents. The only remaining opportunities to influence the Minister’s decision will now be through the Delegates’ public inquiries (see Public Notice elsewhere in this edition) and lobbying the local member, John Barilaro.
For more information refer to the Council Boundary Review website at:
http: //www.councilboundaryreview.nsw.gov.au
