It may seem unusual to hear this coming from a member of local government, but I honestly believe that our state has far too many local government areas.
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With many regional councils like ours facing an ageing and flat-lining or declining population, we have to consider the long-term sustainability of the current 29 municipal area model.
In 1993 amalgamations occurred and the sun came up the next day. This involved 46 LGAs becoming 29 LGAs and included combining the Portland and Fingal LGAs to become Break O'Day.
I have a different perspective that, I believe, can enhance council operations and potentially make the community feel more comfortable with the idea of amalgamations, that is boundary adjustment.
For example three council areas could use boundary adjustment and become two councils; this is still amalgamation.
Simply put, we need to examine whether the lines on a map are as relevant today as they were when amalgamations last happened.
We need a holistic approach that looks at the natural movement of the population in different areas, where they are accessing services, where there are synergies between areas like industry and community sentiment as well as what other growth has occurred since 1993.
Times have certainly changed since LGAs were formed in Tasmania, and even since amalgamations in 1993, for example we have increased access to information via online platforms, and there are more ways to resource share.
With this in mind, I would like to see voluntary amalgamations and voluntary boundary adjustment looked at more seriously within local government and I urge councillors to start these conversations with their communities.
Change in this space, I believe, needs to be pushed by the community.
As an example, Break O'Day Council in 2017 contracted KPMG to provide a report examining boundary adjustment with Glamorgan-Spring Bay which would see Break O'Day acquire the area from Denison River to the top of Cherry Tree Hill including Freycinet Peninsula and Bicheno; Sorell would then take the bottom half creating two from three LGAs. This area was selected because of the natural synergies between the areas, like coastal location and a strong dependence on tourism.
This study didn't happen in isolation. At the time a study also examined options involving Sorell, Tasman, Clarence City and Glamorgan-Spring Bay councils amalgamating.
The KPMG report found that there would actually be savings for councils if this was to occur. But this is dependent on basic infrastructure maintenance and upgrades. There were other benefits too. Modelling showed there were: no staff losses, greater efficiencies with council operation, increased opportunities for resource sharing and an increase in council presence.
This increased presence came from examining having a council shop front in Bicheno with managers and staff available certain days of the week as well as being able to utilise video teleconferencing like Skype services.
Based on our own research and community consultation from GSB, boundary adjustment is largely supported in the GSB area. In talking to residents and business owners in the area, they have told me they already travel north to our area for many services including many students travelling to our area for school and sport, as well as residents traveling for shopping and other services.
The most common reason I hear people talking against amalgamations is due to their fear of not being represented locally. I can understand this however, there is a simple solution, and no I am not talking about a ward system as I am not a believer that system works. I believe representatives of an area need to work for the whole area to ensure a genuine understanding of the issues and strong have connection with their community.
Based on the election process we have in place now which, is based on quotas, if we did end up with the proposed boundary adjustment with GSB we could end up with at least two councillors from the area. This comes from the modelling of the KPMG report which found we would gain an additional 1300 plus rate payers. Based on the last election return rate of 72.14 per cent and quota of around 400, if we use the votes at the ballot box, this would deliver two councillors for the area.
I am a big believer in community which is why I became involved in local government, and I also believe that any good local government representative worth their salt will listen to their community as we are elected to serve our community and there is no room for self-serving politics.
Whilst you will never be able to please everyone no matter what you do, we must look to the future and make sure we can deliver long term sustainable councils and as it stands, I am not convinced that small councils will remain viable and relevant in the future if we do not start examining ways to counter challenges like population decline and an increase in the age of our population
