While this is almost universally acknowledged across the community and despite four years of admirable attempts with a government policy encouraging voluntary amalgamation, no real improvement is apparent. There are plenty of reports, but no progress. 

The latest example where promising discussions between George Town and West Tamar failed shows the voluntary pathway has not worked and is unlikely to. 

The path to local government reform is not easy– no matter which avenue is chosen it courts controversy.

Tasmania last experienced substantive local government reform in 1993, when 46 councils were amalgamated into the current 29. 

Prior to that, there hadn’t been any restructure since 1907, when 149 councils were condensed into 53. Many of those old boundaries still exist, such as that very old one between the-then Beaconsfield Council (now West Tamar) and Launceston. 

It is clear existing boundaries between councils and their relative size bears no relevance to present-day Tasmania and where our economic and social futures lie. 

Bigger councils do work – successful resource sharing models between some councils prove this point. Bigger councils with better boundary alignments can work even better. 

Small councils are not financially sustainable without significant external subsidy and our cities are not big enough to justify multiple councils within one city’s populated boundary. 

If not for the federal government’s allocation of funding to local government through the State Grants Commission, few existing councils could operate without substantial increases in rates.

In recent decades, many things have changed that alter the way local government operates. 

Remote areas are better accessed, communications are exponentially better, systems of management are more efficient and population density has shifted away from rural areas to cities and their immediate surrounds. 

The current trajectory of economic growth shows there is an opportunity to make positive change without the duress of economic hard times – decisions can be made for a prosperous future rather than bailing out a sinking ship. 

Now the time is right to review and restructure our system of local government to better reflect our present needs and future aspirations and this should be proactively led by the state government.  

It is important to counter the argument that a blanket increase in council size lowers representation below what is now the case. 

There are proven models which can deliver representation to acceptable levels; in many cases better than is currently the situation.

Prior to 1993 many councils had a ward system with defined localities within a municipality, each having a representative, known as a warden. 

Several states on mainland Australia have reintroduced the ward system as part of their reform process, resulting in fewer councils combined with the introduction of wards to deliver acceptable levels of representation.

The policy of encouraging voluntary reform through an incentive model with an open-ended time frame, while admirable in its aspirations, isn’t delivering meaningful reform and on current form, is unlikely to. 

It is increasingly apparent that expectations within business and the broader community are changing, with a growing view that sensible, timely and community-focused reform is not only acceptable, but desirable.