George Town residents won't benefit from merger options, says Mayor Greg Kieser

He said it would be Council's preference not to go ahead with any of the merger options.

George Town has been presented with four scenarios across the North East catchment and the Tamar Valley.

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The first scenario would see the merging of George Town and Dorset with the inclusion of Lebrina.

The second would see one Council capturing the existing West Tamar, George Town and Launceston LGAs, extending to incorporate Prospect Vale and Blackstone Heights.

The third would combine the existing West Tamar, George Town and Launceston LGAs with Hadspen, Carrick, Longford, Perth, Evandale and their immediate surrounds.

The fourth scenario would create a new council area of West Tamar, George Town, and Launceston, most of the existing Meander Valley LGA, towns such as Westbury, Deloraine and surrounding agricultural land west of the Tamar Valley.

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The local government review's information pack notes that the board "is interested in views on whether George Town is better aligned with communities in the Tamar or communities in the North-East Catchment."

The data presented by the board "paint at best a tenuous level of connectivity" between George Town, Launceston and West Tamar, Cr Kieser said.

That is a "very loose premise" on which to contemplate amalgamation, which has a profound, long-lasting impact on a community, he said.

Basing connectivity on commercial movements "is a very poor basis to undertake this exercise."

Having this as the "exclusive basis" for amalgamation is "almost unbelievable" and would guarantee "a poor result for Tasmania," he said.

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Cr Kieser agreed with comments from Break O Day and Dorset that the regions have little in common.

There is not enough evidence to make this level of determination, and councils are being asked to align without any real data.

George Town's residents are most concerned that they will "lose their voice" and their capacity "to shape their immediate community," he said.

The area's capacity to influence "would be almost zero", and that level of representation would be a "deal breaker," he said.

While the Council wants to support the process, they are concerned by its "deficiencies," the mayor said.

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However, Cr Kieser said that George Town would be inclined to look closer at two scenarios if they were presented with more data and a more robust business case.

The first would combine East and West Tamar with certain "preconditions", and the second would combine George Town, West Tamar and Launceston with certain "must have" conditions.

Amalgamation is an expensive long-term exercise, and every ratepayer wants to understand how it's going to affect their rates, he said.

Cr Kieser said the whole purpose of the review was to future-proof local government and to overcome challenges over the coming decades.

"That's been lost in the wind."

The Tasmanian public wants to see a rigorous exercise, informed by data, which shows a clear path to cost saving and better outcomes, he said.

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