LAUNCESTON Mayor Albert van Zetten doubts the government's political will on local government amalgamations, saying any change must come from the top.
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Local Government Minister Peter Gutwein will start meeting the state's 29 councils to discuss voluntary amalgamations, but says he will not force the issue.
Alderman van Zetten said he wanted to see the government take a more determined stance.
"If they were serious about amalgamations, then the only way it's going to happen is if the government says 'we are going to have amalgamations'," he said.
"If you're talking about voluntary all the time and expecting other councils to do it, it's just not going to happen."
Alderman van Zetten, who also sits on the Local Government Association's management committee, said the government was lacking political will to tackle the issue.
"We believe that amalgamations and working on boundaries is a critical issues," he said.
The Launceston City Council was providing services for several other municipalities, Alderman van Zetten said.
"We have a lot of regional facilities that are funded by the Launceston City Council when a lot of people right around, from Riverside and Prospect, who are not in the council area [use them]," he said.
Mr Gutwein said the meetings would be guided by the principles of changes being in the interest of ratepayers, improving services, preserving local representation and keeping councils financially viable.
"There is no doubt there has been a shift in community perceptions around the need for structural reform in local government," he said.
"I urge all mayors to undertake community consultation as part of this process to ensure we get good outcomes for councils and the communities they represent."
Mr Gutwein said 12 councils had already expressed interest in the possibility of mergers.