Clarence City Council will consider its submission to the Local Government Board Review’s Future of Local Government Stage Two Interim Report for endorsement at its meeting on Monday night.
The submission, which was made public within council’s agenda on Thursday, noted above all, Council’s primary concern is the long-term sustainability of any amalgamation scenario. It is, and always has been council’s belief that any amalgamation must be sustainable through three key considerations, being:
- sufficient population (any current or amalgamated council must have sufficient population to ensure it can respond effectively and efficiently to the needs of its community in both the short and long-term)
- diverse rates base (any current or amalgamated council must have a sufficient rates base to meet the growth and service demands of its community)
- growing asset base (any current or amalgamated council must have a sufficient and well-maintained asset base upon which to invest and borrow against).
It is council’s firm belief that Clarence City Council currently meets all three of these considerations.
There has been a period of considered analysis of multiple scenarios provided both by the Board, as well as others identified internally by Council. These have been:
- Status quo – no change to Clarence City Council boundaries
- Scenario 1 – Establishing a single council encompassing Clarence, the urban areas from Sorell to Primrose Sands, plus Forcett and Richmond
- Scenario 2 – Establishing a single council combining the existing Clarence and Brighton LGAs
- Scenario 3 – Establishing a single council area encompassing the current council areas of Clarence, Sorell and Tasman
- Scenario 4 – Clarence, Brighton, Sorell LGAs, with some possible minor boundary adjustments
- Scenario 5 – Scenario 4 plus Tasman LGA.
While each scenario comes with its own unique set of opportunities and challenges, our basic analysis confirms that scenarios 1 to 5 demonstrate that there is a balance to be struck between population, land area and assets. However, there has been no details provided behind these scenarios, and without proper assessment it is impossible to determine if there is a single scenario which would be most beneficial for our community.
Considering the scenarios provided above, based on council’s growing population, strong asset base and sound performance, it is council’s current opinion that maintaining the status quo represents the best outcome for our community at this time.
The Mayor and CEO will be presenting Council’s submission to the Review Board on Friday, 4 August, and will have more to say on the matter following the council meeting on Monday, 7 August.
The agenda for council’s 7 August can be viewed here.