What if - North Sydney and Mosman

Mosman shares a border with North Sydney Council along Spofforth and MacPherson streets. It is a ten minute walk from Neutral Bay shops to the west and Spit Junction to the east. Mosman, Cremorne, Neutral Bay, Cammeray, Wollstonecraft, North Sydney are the same community, we supermarket shop at Neutral Bay, Cremorne and Bridgepoint, we eat out in Neutral  Bay, Crows Nest, Milsons Point and Mosman, we enjoy the same natural environment, the harbour foreshores and  parks, including Cremorne Point, Spit Reserve, Rosherville Reserve, Balmoral, Balls Head and the new Headland Park at Middle Head.

We share the benefits and problems of being essentially an inner city suburb,with our proximity to Sydney's CBD and the North Side Economic Zone. We have the same public transport issues and we suffer Sydney's second slowest road, Military Rd.

Compared to a merger with Manly or Warringah Councils, a merger of Mosman and North Sydney Councils makes so much sense.

Scale and Capacity

Mosman Council is the second smallest council in Sydney with a population of around 29,000 people.   The Council's income is a modest $40M a year. A combined North Sydney\Mosman council would have an income in the order of $130 M ($91m + $40m) and a population of 94,000 (64,795 + 29,232).   (2012 figures)

The rates paid by residents in each council are similar and the merged Council would have a robust balance sheet, drawing revenue from a range of sources. Commercial rates would comprise approximately 30% of rates revenue, compared to Mosman's 5%.

There are benefits to us all from sharing and contributing to services across a wider area. These include:

• North Sydney’s fortnightly Household Cleanup Collection service,
• Streets Alive program,
• Coal Loader Sustainability Centre,
• Primrose Park Art & Craft Centre,
• North Sydney Library
• Mosman Library
• Community Gardens in both suburbs
• Community Centres in all major centres
• North Sydney Harvest Project and
• North Sydney’s Precinct Committees
• Mosman Art Gallery
• Mosman Community Centre
• Mosman Pool and North Sydney Pool
• Middle Head Mens Shed
• Foreshore reserve parking

Both council areas would continue their  strong traditions of place making and community participation through volunteering, community organisations, local markets and community centres.

Importantly the merged council would have greater scale and capacity, which is now required by the NSW Government.

Merging Mosman and North Sydney Councils would be a good compromise to the ILGRP (Independent Local Government Review Panel) plan to merge Willougby, Lane Cove, Hunters Hill, parts of Ryde, North Sydney and Mosman.

It would be in the interests of residents for Mosman Council to explore this option.