Nearly half of Tasmania's councils should explore voluntary amalgamation, a review body says, just months after the state government ruled out forced mergers.
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The Local Government Board has also developed an alternative blueprint for potentially cutting the 29 councils to 15 over time and recommended changes to council operations, including adopting a common IT system and sharing key professional staff.
It warned doing nothing would damage the state's future prosperity.
The board's final report from its long-running review recommends initially exploring voluntary amalgamations involving 12 councils across five areas.
They would involve
- The West Coast, Waratah-Wynyard and Circular Head councils;
- the Kentish and Latrobe councils;
- the Break O'Day, Glamorgan Spring Bay and Sorell councils;
- the Hobart and Glenorchy city councils; and
- the Kingborough and Huon Valley councils.
The board - chaired by former Central Coast mayor and ex-Legislative Council president Sue Smith - had been pushing hard for forced amalgamations before Premier Jeremy Rockliff intervened in July and ruled out forcing mergers.
The board's final report to Local Government Minister Nic Street said the government had committed to not changing council boundaries unless there was support from the councils and their communities.
"Many Tasmanian councils currently oppose forced boundary changes," it said.
"In these circumstances, we are recommending a program of voluntary reform."
It said the 12 councils listed above had expressed openness to considering and discussing mergers or boundary changes.
The blueprint to reduce councils to 15 would include:
- A Cradle Coast council comprising Burnie, Central Coast, Devonport, Kentish and Latrobe;
- a Tamar Valley council including West Tamar, most of Launceston and George Town and parts of Meander Valley;
- an extended West Coast Council taking in Waratah and Savage River;
- leaving King Island and Flinders as separate council areas;
- and more.
Failure warning
Mrs Smith warned government support, strong and courageous political leadership and "community buy-in" would be needed to get local government ready for coming challenges and opportunities.
"Structural reform - even where it is voluntary and supported by councils and communities - will need to be coupled with a properly resourced transition plan to smooth impacts for individual ratepayers in a transparent and equitable way," she told Mr Street in a letter accompanying the report.
"Without this, individual councils will understandably seek to retain the status quo rather than act in the long-term interests of their local communities and the state as a whole.
"This will lead to reform failure."
The report said councils needed the right capabilities to perform their roles well and "provide the high-quality representation, services, and infrastructure that Tasmanians deserve".
" ... if councils lack the capability to support their local communities, the state's future prosperity will be compromised."
The board made 37 recommendations.
Mr Street said: "It's now time for councils and the community to let the government know what they think of these recommendations, as this will inform the government's response."
"From the beginning, this review has highlighted councils' role in supporting strong local communities.
"The government will maintain a focus on the community as we consider the report and prepare a government response."
That is not expected before next year.
Mr Street said the final report would be open for comment until February 29.
It would be available at www.futurelocal.tas.gov.au
Sean Ford
The Advocate Newspaper, Tasmania. Business, economics, politics, crime.
The Advocate Newspaper, Tasmania. Business, economics, politics, crime.
