Georges River Council's proposal to seek a boundary adjustment to incorporate part of the former Rockdale local government area and part of Canterbury-Bankstown LGA to create a St George Council has failed.
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The proposal put forward by Georges River Council Mayor Sam Elmir was voted down by nine votes to five at last night's (Jue 24) council meeting.
His proposal was to incorporate the part of the Bayside LGA which previously comprised the former Rockdale LGA bounded by the geographical borders of the Georges River, Cooks River, Wolli Creek, and part of the Canterbury Bankstown LGA south of the M5 Motorway, west of King Georges Road and east of Salt Pan Creek.
Speaking against the motion, Deputy Mayor Elise Borg said while she recognised the merits of the St George Council concept she was against the proposal.
"The amalgamation process has been long and challenging for both our community and our staff," Councillor Borg said.
"I believe we have reached the point where stability has been achieved. In my view this proposal would disrupt that hard-earned stability causing undue stress on the community and our employees. The potential benefits do not justify the significant upheaval this process would likely cause and therefore I cannot support it."
Councillor Kathryn Landsberry also spoke against the proposal describing it as just another attempt to burgle neighbouring councils.
"I have experienced the disruption of an amalgamation process. It wasn't a successful outcome for many councils. It was an incredibly flawed process," she said.
"From a political standpoint this could be seen as being advantageous for Labor. That doesn't sway my view. I think it's a terrible idea. It's the wrong time for us to be discussing this with two-and-a-half months to go to the local government elections.
"If this process was to go ahead we would be leaving behind a landmine for the incoming council.
"We should be focusing on service delivery for our residents, not a hostile takeover of our neighbours," she said.
Also speaking against the proposal, Cr Nick Katris said, "What is it going to cost the ratepayer? Two-and-a-half months out from an election how do we justify it? It should be left to the new councillors to work out whether they have an appetite for an amalgamation to occur."
Cr Colleen Symington said if felt like a hostile takeover and she was not prepared to support it, while Cr Veronica Ficarra said it was not the role of the residents of Georges River to decide for the residents of Canterbury-Bankstown or Bayside what local government area they live in,
Cr Nick Smerdely was in support of the proposal.
"Two sets of councils, two sets of problems, one big headache," he said. This is the opportunity to get this right and make things better."
Cr Lou Konjarski also spoke in support of the proposal.
"This is not a merger or demerger of either council," he said. "Demergers do cost residents and ratepayers. This is a boundary adjustment which is decided by the Commissioner and they are responsible for the costs. This is just opening dialogue with the community, with Ministers and with the Office of Local Government to consult with the community, residents and ratepayers to see if this is in fact what they are after," he said.
Mayor Sam Elmir, speaking in support of his Motion before it was voted down said,"We have a community that recognises itself as the St George area.
"As an independent mayor, this might be the only opportunity where politics could be put to one side for one moment - where Labor, Liberal and independents could all come together and put this case forward for the Boundaries Commission to undertake a study and ask the community what their thoughts are.
"Would they like to see a community that is bound under one banner, to have council policies that cover the broader St George region rather than having to navigate two different councils policies.
"There is an obligation to set that dialogue up and to present that to the NSW Government for the Minister to refer that to the Boundaries Commission to undertake all the necessary studies across the region on what the community's thoughts are, what the feasibility is and what the costs are. Everyone has a right to see what the feedback is," he said.
"This is an opportunity that I think we will pass by. It will go for a very long time before we have this opportunity to come up again. This is where I believe the future of our area can really thrive."
