Mosman Municipal Council

YES CASE

Views held by current and previous State Governments are reflected in the following:

“As the Premier (Bob Carr) said, we’ve already seen five successful mergers in the last term of government, but I think there is room for more”. (Hon Tony Kelly – Minister for Local Government – AAP 4 June 2003).

“The Government’s approach to boundary adjustment is to see that ratepayers get benefit. That is the whole approach – to get a better deal for ratepayers than they get at the present time”, (The Hon Bob Car Premier – Hansard Article 11 of 14 Oct 2003).

“The NSW Government has called on local government to come up with proposals on the way local government should be reformed. There is nothing to suggest that the existing arrangements, structure, areas and number of local councils are ideal. The Government is pursuing proposals made by the Councils and communities”. (Local Government Minister – Hansard Article 33 of 14 Oct 2003).

“The Government will continue to pursue the reform program because it is committed to ensuring that viable, financially robust councils serve local communities”. (Local Government Minister – Hansard Article 6 of 16 Oct 2003.)

“The Local Government Review Panel will investigate and identify options for governance models, structural arrangements and voluntary boundary changes for local government,” (Hon Don Page, Minister for Local Government
Mar 2012.)

“While the State Government has a policy of no forced amalgamations, there are instances where voluntary amalgamations and/or boundary change make sense and will allow for communities to be better served, and they should be encouraged” (Destination 2036 Draft Action Plan Dec 2011 pg 38)

Hon Don Page Minister for Local Government in Address to Destination 2036 Workshop 17 Aug 2011 :

“I expect the sector to recognise the need for change and to embrace reform… It is clear that things are going to change over the next 5 to 10 years, and some things are going to change dramatically… Smart organisations seek to anticipate change and, where possible, influence the direction of change.”

And he referenced a report by Infrastructure Australia to the Council of Australian Governments requoting

“…the large number of councils, their variable capacity to manage local infrastructure networks, and not infrequently, their apparent reluctance to ‘see the big picture’ and instead focus on local concerns, is a serious constraint on infrastructure, planning and provision”.

“The independent Review Panel will seek to make council’s stronger, more sustainable, and better able to meet the needs of their communities moving forward.”

“Stronger local government will be able to deliver services more efficiently and effectively for residents, providing better governance for communities, and maintain and upgrade their infrastructure.” (Hon Don Page, Minister for Local Government 20 Mar 2012.)

Economies of scale including:

• Rationalisation of senior staff,
• Reduced number of total Councillors and their cost of servicing,
• The sale of surplus properties, including administration buildings and plant,
• Improved utilisation of buildings and plant,
• Greater access to in-house specialists due to larger support staff base, may provide significant cost savings.
• More efficient internal & external audit functions.

”Local” Government is not a privilege we can afford.

Electors may have a greater choice of candidates when drawn from a wider cross-section of the populations.

It is arguable that a Council of a population of 28,500 and 13,100 rateable assessments is not economically viable and does not have the rate base sufficient in size to provide the services required by residents and the community.

NO CASE

An amalgamated authority would be larger in area and population and therefore may result in a loss of identity by Mosman as a suburb and as a community.

Mosman is known in local government as a model Council providing effective and efficient high-quality service delivery and rather than follow a reactive route it has led the industry in its market place approach.

The bigger the local government area the bigger the bureaucracy and the more difficult for the public to access senior staff.

Small is beautiful. Mosman residents place a strong emphasis on preserving the village style and heritage of Mosman. Smaller councils can better understand and apply community sentiments on individual developments and projects. Traffic, heritage, impact on the public domain, clean beaches, bushland regeneration and infrastructure are dominant issues and may be diluted or ignored by a larger council.
An amalgamated council’s administrative centre may be remote from Mosman due to the lack of suitable land available to construct an administration building to accommodate the amalgamated workforce.

An amalgamation would most likely introduce big party politics into the area as candidates would not be able to fund their own campaigns due to the increased size of the Council area and the pre-existing party politics in the adjoining Councils.

Councillor representation for the Mosman community on a new council would most likely be fewer. There is a trend to reduce Councillor numbers, encouraged by the NSW Government ie its determination that Shellharbour, following administration, would have 7 Councillors for a population of 65,000.

The level of service to Mosman residents may be reduced in areas such as library services, street sweeping, waste removal, oval & foreshore reserve maintenance and local usage to name a few.

The Minister for Local Government as part of the Destination 2036 initiative encouraged regional collaboration. Council already is heavily involved in this, benefiting from economies of scale by tendering many services with other SHOROC Councils, eg external audit services & road maintenance. It has joint sharing arrangements for waste disposal & provision of internal audit services and is a member of the Shorelink Library network.

A reason given for amalgamation is to ensure councils remain financially viable. Mosman’s auditors have for the 2009/10 and 2010/11 financial years described Council’s financial position as “satisfactory”. The 2012/22 Long Term Financial Plan forecasts a significant improvement in the key financial indicators from 2012 to 2022
ie Unrestricted Current Ration will improve from 1.33:1 to 1.72:1 & the Debt Service Ratio from 7.09% to 1.04%.

Through tendering and contracting out services over 63% of Council’s total budget is exposed to market forces so as to maximise cost efficiencies and to deliver a high quality of service. The tender specification clearly details the expectation of Council. Adjoining Councils have large day labour staff and therefore do not submit a high % of their works to the market place.

Council’s small day labour staff of 7 together with all neighbouring Councils’ large day labour staff will result in an increase in the total staff per capita ratio ie 2009/10 Mosman 1:173, North Sydney 1:164 & Manly 1:102.

Empirical research shows that big Councils with an emphasis on standardisation and uniformity are not only less responsive to people’s needs and less tolerant of social and cultural diversity, but they are also less conscious of ratepayer expenses and costs and therefore less concerned with efficiency.

Residents may loose the benefits of the existing foreshore reserve free parking system through the removal of free parking or extending it to cover the entire area of the new council therefore increasing parking congestion and reducing income .