The Mayors and General Managers of the City of Canada Bay, Ashfield, Burwood, Leichhardt and Marrickville councils have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work together to prepare responses for the State Government and to voice their concerns about the potential of forced amalgamations.
The five councils have been grouped together, along with Strathfield Council, as part of the State Government’s plans to overhaul local government in NSW. Strathfield Council has not signed the MOU.
“We are doing all that has been asked of us by the State Government in terms of talking to each other, assessing our credentials and talking to our community as best we can – with the limited information we have,” the Mayors said in a joint statement.
“We are asking our local members in our council areas to also talk to their community and let them know what evidence-based facts the State Government has to indicate why amalgamation is the way to go. Our community deserves to be fully informed as this process unfolds.
“Our communities deserve to know why this is considered the best option. What will the benefits be? Will their rates rise? Will they lose contact with local representation? Will they lose access to many of the current community facilities and services the Councils offer? We simply do not know as the State Government has not provided this information.”
All the inner west councils are concerned about the lack of information provided to date and the lack of community involvement in the decision-making process.
“We do not believe a super council will service the needs of our communities and there does not appear to be evidence that such a drastic change will bring cheaper rates and better services,” they said.
The proposed amalgamation will see a council looking after 342,000 residents, equating to an average increase of around 300 per cent in the current populations of the inner west council areas. It will also take in areas stretching from Sydney Airport to Bankstown and Glebe.
The five inner west councils that are working together strongly oppose forced amalgamations but are undertaking joint research on the economic and social impacts on any move to bring the councils together.
The five councils have also agreed to develop shared modelling, to answer the Government’s criteria, with additional analysis on advocacy, representation, good governance and social and environmental issues, as well as developing an education and community engagement program.