Lower North Shore Councils Meet

North Sydney Council Council meeting agenda for the 3rd June includes a report on a meeting of Mayors and General Managers from the five lower north shore councils.

Agenda  (333KB)

"The meeting of Mayors and General Managers of the five lower north Shore
Councils was held at North Sydney Council on 29 May 2013. At the meeting,
there was a wide-ranging discussion about all aspects of the Future Directions
document. At the end of the meeting, the five Mayors agreed on a number of
points as follows:

 We reject the Sansom report with respect to amalgamations as not providing evidence or a case for improving Council services and finances.
 We reaffirm our support for the state government’s position that there should be no forced amalgamations.
 We support regional organizations of councils as the instrument of shared services.
 We support in principle the merger of NSROC and SHOROC.
 That the GMs be asked to investigate (a) a structure that would make the ROC more effective and ( b) to identify further shared services possibilities."

It is interesting that the meeting rejected  the Samson report (ILGRP)  because it had not provided evidence or case for improving Council services and finances.  This is fair comment and most commentators say that amalgamations are not about improving services or finances.  The principle reason for the ILGRP recommending amalgamations is to

"Create high capacity councils that can better represent and serve their local communities on metropolitan issues, and be true partners of State and federal agencies."

 The meeting, or its formal outcome, appears to have avoided the main issue.

Good news about merging NSROC and SHOROC. Mosman's big picture planning issues, transport, health, education, jobs (metropolitan issues) are closely aligned to North Sydney and Willoughby and less so the Northern Beaches councils.

Willoughby Councillor Nic Wright Calls For United Voice

This is an article in the North Shore Times/Mosman Daily.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/north-shore/nic-wright-calls-for-north-shore-councils-to-create-a-united-vision-regarding-council-amalgamations/story-fngr8h9d-1226642311801

THE five north shore councils proposed for a "super" council need to meet to form a united voice on the issue, says Willoughby councillor Nic Wright

A draft proposal from the local government review panel suggests Willoughby, Lane Cove, Mosman, North Sydney and Hunters Hill merge into one council a plan that has divided council opinion.

But Cr Wright said it was vital the councils discussed the proposal.

"It is important the councils meet in order to take a leading role in creating a united vision for the future of the lower north shore," Cr Wright said. "There are substantial similarities but also significant differences between the residents of the councils suggested to amalgamate."

Cr Wright said the forum would allow the councils to discuss the implications for residents under a merger.

Councils would get incentives including rate-pegging relief for voluntary mergers.

But residents were concerned mergers would cause rate hikes and the government needed to explain the proposal, Cr Wright said.

He said costs of amalgamation would be borne by ratepayers, meaning higher charges and more demand from childcare to sport facilities to garbage collection.

Should Mosman Council Amalgamate And What Are Our Options?

This blog was started in May 2013 out of a need to see some independent analysis of the Governments proposal to amalgamate Mosman Council with North Sydney, Willoughby,  Lane Cove and Hunters Hill.  There was little  available from my council, Mosman, which was only providing residents with a one sided account.

I wanted to see some background  and be given the real arguments for and against. Surely there must be some good reasons to amalgamate, the situation couldn't be just one sided. So I set out to research the question  - Should Mosman Council amalgamate and what are our options?

Mosman Council is one of the smallest councils in Australia and opposition to any amalgamation has been a long standing. The council has conducted six polls, the most recent in conjunction with the council elections in September 2012.

Polls 1962 to 2012
1962 – 91% of voters against
1974 – 90.7% of voters against
1977 – 87.3% of voters against
1983 – 89.2% of voters against
2004 – 79.4% of voters against
2012 -  81 % of voters against

These polls represent a strong body of opinion but how well informed were these voters as they went to the polls.  There has never been a concrete proposal put us.

Meanwhile the NSW Government has created the Independent Local Government Review Panel. They have concluded that the number of local councils in the Sydney basin should be significantly reduced, especially in the inner and eastern suburbs, on the lower North Shore and around Parramatta and Liverpool.

'The Panel remains of the view that for Sydney to remain Australasia’s pre-eminent global city, very substantial changes are needed to the way the region is governed at both local and State levels.' (page 44   Future Directions for NSW Local Government)

The panel has prepared or made available 19 reports and papers, the most recent being Future Directions for NSW Local Government released in late April 2103. This paper sets out the latest thinking of the Independent Local Government Review Panel and they will submit their final report in September 2013.  So the next few months are going to be interesting.


One of many different proposals is to  amalgamate Mosman, North Sydney, Lane Cove, Willoughby and Hunters Hill Councils. Similar amalgamated councils are proposed for greater Sydney.

At this early stage it would appear that our five councils do not have a united approach. Taking public comments at face value, North Sydney, Willoughby and Lane Cove have an open mind or wait and see approach. Mosman is vehemently against any form of amalgamation and Hunters Hill wants to preserve their historic council boundaries. (see more in the 'Councils For and Against Tab).  These positions will undoubtable evolve over time.

I was particularly impressed by  Willoughby's Mayor Pat Reilly.

"a decision on amalgamations should be made from the "bottom up"."My point is pretty clear everything is worth looking at, but I don't think any amalgamations should take place without a referendum," he said."People need to be fully educated on what it will mean for them. Once they know the cases of 'yes' and 'no', they should be able to make a decision."

The extent of the metro amalgamations is shown on this map reproduced from page 47.  (full report Future Directions for NSW Local Government)