New South Wales Greens MLC Amanda Cohn presented a bill on November 22, which would provide a pathway for councils to de-amalgamate. It seeks to give voice to the many communities across NSW who say the forced amalgamations of 2016 have not worked.
罢丑别听聽aims to remove roadblocks on councils. Specifically, it would enable the de-amalgamation of Cootamundra-Gundagai Shire Council, as recommended by the NSW Boundaries Commission and approved by the previous Minister for Local Government.
The bill, which was developed in conjunction with communities across the state, has the support of cross bench MPs. It will be debated next year and the Demerge NSW Alliance is seeking to talk to Labor and Liberal MPs about supporting it.
The bill sets out a plebiscite process for communities to have a direct say in聽whether to de-amalgamate. It would allow councils to demerge if 10% of the聽residents聽vote that way.聽It affirms that the NSW government, not the individual council, would pay the one-off cost to demerge.
If a plebiscite returns a majority saying Yes to demerge, the minister must recommend聽de-amalgamation聽to the governor within 28 days.
The bill would also allow the minister to act without a plebiscite聽if there is clear evidence of聽residents鈥 views 鈥 such as in the NSW Electoral Commission-run council poll in Inner West Council in 2021.
鈥淭he bill would allow for the Inner West community to either seek to have the 2021 poll recognised, or start a new plebiscite,鈥 Brian Halstead, from Demerge NSW Alliance, told 麻豆传媒.
鈥淚t would also allow聽residents聽of one of the former council areas, such as Leichhardt, to gather enough signatures to hold a poll and, if successful, re-establish the old council boundaries.鈥
He said the one-off聽de-amalgamation聽costs would cover the immediate costs of the plebiscite and聽de-amalgamation. He anticipated that to be much less than the $10 million and $15 million grants made to councils when they were forcibly amalgamated.
鈥淭his bill marks years of community work for more transparent and representative councils,鈥 Halstead said, adding he hopes that Labor would see that communities are not going to let it slide. 鈥淭his bill has been framed with NSW Labor policy in mind.鈥
Meanwhile, the NSW Boundaries Commission聽is holding a on the Inner West Council鈥檚 flawed business case to demerge on December 6.