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)