Latest news with #councilmerger
ABC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Former minister says WA government could easily enact shire takeover
Former local government minister Tony Simpson says a so-called boundary adjustment could be sealed with the "stroke of a pen", amid concerns from ratepayers about the proposed tie-up of two councils in regional Western Australia. The Shire of Coolgardie in WA's Goldfields is fighting for survival amid debts of more than $27.5 million and a government-led push to merge with its much larger neighbour, the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Representatives from both councils met this week in Perth with Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley, who also has her hands full with the troubled City of Nedlands. The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder is yet to publicly reveal if it is for or against the proposed tie-up, while the Shire of Coolgardie has threatened possible legal action. "I would think, given their financial situation, they would have better things to spend their money on," Ms Beazley told reporters on Wednesday. The government's language has carefully avoided the words merger or amalgamation, despite the end result being effectively the same, with the Shire of Coolgardie dissolved. Ms Beazley said the process would include public consultation. "They are two very different things; it's just because one entity is adjusting the boundaries, only affecting one other, so it is not affecting multiple local government areas." Under WA's Local Government Act, a merger or amalgamation requires majority support from ratepayers in both local government areas. But Mr Simpson said the boundary adjustment put forward for Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie-Boulder could be accomplished with the "stroke of a pen". "In a merger, local government goes to the polls and if 50 per cent of a community turns up and says no, you've got yourself into a corner where you can't force it any further," he said. Mr Simpson, who is a City of Karratha councillor, said he tried unsuccessfully during his time as minister to reduce the number of Perth councils from 30 to 15. "I failed miserably, for a number of reasons," he said. "Local governments put up a very good battle." Mr Simpson said the combination of the Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie-Boulder councils would make the Goldfields region stronger. "A larger local government has a stronger capacity to deliver more services and keep rates flowing. That is proven over and over, so I think it would be worthwhile," he said. "If the debt is the only issue, we should put that aside in the business case and have a look at the strength of the two local governments coming together." Former Kalgoorlie-Boulder mayor John Bowler, also a former local government minister in the Carpenter government, said there was little incentive for the larger city to take on Coolgardie. Mr Bowler said the Shire of Coolgardie's plan to sell council-owned workers' accommodation should be allowed to play out to see if it could return debt to manageable levels. "I don't think anything's going to happen while there's unrecovered debt," he said. "Why should the ratepayers of Kalgoorlie-Boulder pay for the mistakes of Coolgardie? "First of all, I think we have to let Coolgardie see how they go with the sale of that camp." Mr Bowler said he was approached to play a role in the tie-up, but said he would not consider getting involved until the Shire of Coolgardie's debt was retired. "The trouble is the size of Kalgoorlie-Boulder is about 10 times bigger and it really wouldn't be a joint, equal merger," he said. A long-time resident of the tiny community of Widgiemooltha and former Coolgardie shire councillor, Jan McLeod, said any takeover by Kalgoorlie-Boulder would limit her community's voice. "Any representation on council will be lost by sheer weight of numbers," she said. "It's not good for local government, which is the government closest to the people." Ms McLeod said there would be a loss of identity for residents. "The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder does not service any regional towns; there will be staffing issues," she said. Ms Beazley denied there would be staffing issues. "That's the solutions and options we're working through at the moment," she said. "There would still need to be local services and a footprint in Coolgardie to ensure that community is well served."
ABC News
18-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Cootamundra-Gundagai demerger ignites hope for other NSW councils
A decision to split a merged council has offered hope to other New South Wales shires fighting for the same cause. The Cootamundra and Gundagai councils were forced to merge in 2016 when the state government created 19 new councils from the amalgamation of 44 existing councils. A decade-long campaign to demerge ensued and on Thursday locals got their wish. "It was a great day for local democracy," Demerge NSW Alliance coordinator and Save Bombala president Grantley Ingram said. "The minister has listened to the community of Gundagai and Cootamundra and he's acted on their wishes." The 2016 decision to amalgamate councils was made by the former Coalition government to improve efficiency and reduce administrative costs. But Mr Ingram said that was "nonsense", and "roads, rates and rubbish" were common issues faced by merged councils, as well as the loss of council-run aged care facilities and staff turnover. He said people had wanted out in his town of Bombala, which was forced to merge into the Snowy Monaro Regional Council. "It's just not working," he said. Snowy Valleys Council was also among the 19 newly created councils, combining the Tumut Shire and Tumbarumba Shire councils. Councillor and former Tumut mayor Trina Thomson said both communities had different wants and needs. "It's like trying to run two separate councils under one umbrella," she said. "We believe that going forward, a demerger would enable us to have that independent, unique identity." The sentiment is not shared in the NSW western plains, where Dubbo Regional councillor Matthew Dickerson believes most people have accepted the merger between Dubbo and Wellington shires. "The eggs have been broken, the omelettes have been made," he said. "I think that moment has gone and I don't think there is any appetite for a de-amalgamation. "We're moving on in the world." During Thursday's announcement, Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig said there was now a legislative pathway for other merged councils to consider splitting. "We will not forcibly merge or demerge councils," he said. "These are decisions for communities, they are not decisions for governments. "[Governments] need to get their nose out of local government and their nose out of local communities that are more than capable of managing their own affairs. "The responsibility on effecting the demerger is in the hands of the democratically elected councillors." Mr Ingram agreed that councils were best to lead the process of demerging, and community consultation was paramount. "While I think it's a disaster, there may be others that quite like our regional council," he said. "We need to assess the wishes of the community."
ABC News
17-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Minister approves Cootamundra-Gundagai council split to undo 'disaster' merger
The New South Wales government will split a local council for the first time since dozens were controversially merged almost a decade ago. The Cootamundra Shire and Gundagai Shire Councils in southern NSW were combined by the then-Coalition government to improve efficiency and reduce administrative costs. The Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council (CGRC) was among 19 new councils created from the amalgamation of 44 existing councils, including Snowy Valleys Council, Armidale Regional Council and Central Coast Council. Announcing the planned split in Gundagai on Thursday, Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig said the forced merger was a "disaster". "Merging councils for merging's sake does not work," he said. Cr Hoenig said the policy of forced council mergers should be "dispensed with in the dustbin of history". "This has been a long fight for Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council and the people of this particular region," he said. The Coalition's planned council mergers were troubled from the outset, with the government making multiple amendments to its plan during its term. In 2017, then premier Gladys Berejiklian allowed 14 other councils, that were fighting the merger push in court, to remain separate. Then in 2022, the Coalition announced it would split CGRC, in a move local media dubbed "Independence Day". In 2024, the new Labor government introduced legislation which provided a new pathway for NSW councils seeking to demerge. Councils are now required to develop a robust business case up-front, undertake community consultation and undergo a review by the NSW Local Government Boundaries Commission. CGRC Mayor Abb McAlister became emotional as news of the demerger was announced and said the road had been challenging. "The journey we've had has been tough, but it's all-inspiring and it's one of those life experiences you have," he said. "We finally got the result we wanted." The council will now establish a transition office as work to formalise the split begins. It will oversee the division of assets, liabilities, funding, staffing, services, and determining the councils' future structure. Meanwhile, the state government will draft the legal paperwork required to re-establish the two separate councils. The Office of Local Government will also assist the council through the process, including by working to identify funding to support the transition. Cr McAlister said it could be another 12 months before the councils were completely demerged, but he expressed faith in the state government in finalising the split. "We now start another journey the minister has given us to demerge, and he will fully support us," he said.
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
West Berkshire Council says no to Reading's 'land grab' plans
A council has described a neighbouring authority's bid to expand its borders as a "hostile act".Reading Borough Council wants permission from the government to let it swallow up five villages on its western in Calcot, Tilehurst, Purley-on-Thames, Pangbourne and Theale currently have their bins emptied, schools run and potholes filled by West Berkshire may change though as the two councils jockey for both position and power as part of a wider shake-up of local government. It will be several years before anything actually changes in the Royal County but the cracks are already starting to appear in what appears - to outside eyes at least - to be the rather genteel world of local authorities. It all started back in the spring when West Berkshire Council announced - out of the blue - that it was looking to join forces with the Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire to create a new bigger, combined council. The government says many local authorities are too small to deliver services cost-effectively and should merge to form larger councils that represent more Berkshire had not been instructed to merge with any other local authorities. However, with the government considering wider reorganisation, it said now would be a good time to join forces with the Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire. So it proposed bringing the three predominantly rural councils together under what would be known as Ridgeway months Berkshire's other councils stood on the sidelines, saying nothing - in public at least. That was until Reading stepped out of the shadows saying it wanted to absorb the five West Berkshire villages into its own authority. It argued that many of the people living there already spent much of their time shopping, having fun and working in Reading. Speaking on BBC Radio Berkshire's breakfast show, West Berkshire Council's leader, the Liberal Democrat Jeff Brooks, bristled at the idea that people would be happier being looked after by Reading. He said his staff planned to go door-to-door to see how people really felt about the idea."It's a hostile act," he said. "It's unwelcome to all the people in those parishes and it's all part of this ambition of Reading to be a city, the 'Greater Reading' they want it to added: "What happens next? Do Reading then say 'oh, we'll have a piece of Earley as well?" His counterpart in Reading, Liz Terry, had already told BBC Radio Berkshire the council only started to think about expanding its western borders after West Berkshire made its move in March. She said: "Our belief is that Oxfordshire's final reorganisation proposals for the creation of a new Ridgeway Council should be considered by the secretary of state in conjunction with a review of existing boundaries between Reading and West Berkshire, because one markedly affects the other." This may seem trivial to some. The fact that two Berkshire councils have both appeared on their local radio station on consecutive days to make the case that they are the most natural fit for their current residents is not exactly earth-shattering again, a couple of years from now people could well find themselves saying "hold on a sec, why are I am paying more council tax to a local authority I didn't even know existed until a few months ago?"
BBC News
02-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Three options proposed for reshaping Derbyshire
A consultation has been launched on plans to merge Derbyshire's borough and district councils as part of an upcoming shake-up of local government announced in December it wants to reorganise local authorities in an attempt to streamline services, and councils have been tasked with coming up with residents are being asked to pick from three options - all of which split the region into two unitary the proposals, existing authority areas would merge to form new northern and southern councils - and one of the options put forward would see Amber Valley split between the consultation will run until 10 August and a final submission to government will be made on 28 November, with the existing councils being scrapped and replaced with two larger authorities in 2028. Option A This would involve Amber Valley, Derbyshire Dales, High Peak, Chesterfield, Bolsover, North East Derbyshire merging to form one unitary authority in the north of the City, South Derbyshire and Erewash would combine to establish a this proposal, the northern council would have a population of 584, smaller authority would have a population of 494,000. Option B This option would involve, Derbyshire Dales, High Peak, Chesterfield, Bolsover, North East Derbyshire merging to form one unitary authority in the north of the Valley, Derby City, South Derbyshire and Erewash would combine to establish a southern this proposal, the southern council would have a population of 622, smaller northern authority would have a population of 456,000. Option C Option C includes a north/south split of the county, with different parishes from Amber Valley joining each of the two the northern council, this option would include High Peak, Derbyshire Dales, North East Derbyshire, Chesterfield and of Amber Valley in this council would include: Shipley, Heanor and Loscoe, Denby, Kilburn, Belper, Hazelwood, Shottle and Postern, Idridgehay and Alton, Ashleyhay, Alderwasley, Ripley, Codnor, Aldercar and Langley Mill, Ironville, Riddings, Somercotes, Alfreton, Swanwick, Pentrich, South Wingfield, Crich, Dethick and Lea, and this option, the southern council would include Derby City, Erewash, South of Amber Valley in this council would include Kirk Langley, Mackworth, Kedleston, Ravensdale Park, Weston Underwood, Quarndon, Turnditch and Windley, Duffield, Holbrook, Horsley, Horsley Woodhouse, Smalley and northern council would have a population of 567,000 whereas the southern council would have 511,000 residents. In December, the government published plans to merge areas where there are currently more than one tier of local authority - like English Devolution White Paper, also opened the door to boundaries being completely redrawn, and made clear that ministers favour single-tier, or unitary, the moment, there are two different systems depending on where you city of Derby itself is run by Derby City Council - a unitary authority meaning it is in charge of all services in the city however, there is a two-tiered County Council is in charge of some services - like social care and road maintenance - while smaller district and borough councils take care of things like bin collections and leisure government thinks this should be streamlined and hence the proposal to split the county into two unitary county council leader, Conservative Barry Lewis, was in favour of a districts and borough merging together to create a large council with Derby City Council maintaining its existing the May elections saw Reform UK take over the administration and it is understood the new leaders in County Hall in Matlock do not support a county-wide model and are generally supportive of the north/south split proposed by the other councils. The Amber Valley question Amber Valley Borough Council (AVBC) leader Chris Emmas-Williams, told the BBC option C on the consultation was a non-starter for the said Derby City Council could not get a motion passed on how best to proceed where "other districts and boroughs could".Emmas-Williams said the city council came back with a version of option C in splitting Amber Valley. AVBC negotiated a different split and adopted the option for consultation to "go forward with a case to the government". "The splitting of Amber Valley, we do not agree to at all," he said."The majority of our towns and parishes look to the north and in some instances, Nottingham rather than Derby."Most of the towns and surrounding areas are ex-mining areas so it's something that those places have to been close to over the years and that's why a lot of the residents here are leaning towards the north." Asked why option C on splitting the borough was not the best proposal, Emmas-Williams added: "It's down to the amount of work that would have to be put in over the next two years with all of the different systems with council tax and what not which would be a massive change."With the resources we've got we're really struggling to cope with the amount of work we've got to do already as it stands now without the borough being split into two."The views of people and organisations will feed into the development of final proposals, which must be considered by existing councils and submitted to government by 28 government will then review the proposals for Derbyshire, and for 20 other county areas across England, before making final decisions in the summer of the government accepts the proposals for Derbyshire, elections for the new shadow authorities would take place in 2027 and new councils would start to operate by April 2028.
