Inner West Public Hearings and written submissions
Written submissions are invited from members of the public. Submissions should preferably address one or more of the factors listed in section 263(3) of the Act and should identify if the submitter is a resident and/or ratepayer of the affected local government area.
Submissions can be made by email to eo@lgbc.nsw.gov.au or by mail to LGBC Executive Officer Locked Bag 3015, Nowra NSW 2541 must be received by COB 31 January 2024.
Inner West Public Hearings (6 Nov 2023) – https://www.olg.nsw.gov.au/commissions-and-tribunals/local-government-boundaries-commission/
Inner West Council – Business case for de-amalgamation
- Minister’s letter referring the Proposal to the Boundaries Commission
- Inner West Business case for De-amalgamation
- Notice of Public Inquiry and call for written submissions – 6 November 2023 – PDF
- LGBC summary of key findings from Deloitte’s Analysis of the Financial Implications – PDF
https://www.olg.nsw.gov.au/commissions-and-tribunals/local-government-boundaries-commission/
Extracts from LGBC (Local Goverment Boundaries Commission Analysis) by Deloittes
 | |
| Deloittes analysis |
 |
| Deloittes analysis |
 |
| Deloittes analysis |
 |
| Deloittes analysis |
History
Inner West LGA largely taking on the outer bondaries of these three LGAs - the border on the western edge was amended to put PLC girls school all in Burwood LGA. The school has subsequently purchased property in the Inner West LGA.
The Inner West Council was placed in administration, initially, and the Administrators report is available at https://www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/ArticleDocuments/1423/Administrator%20End%20of%20Term%20Report.pdf.aspx
16 February, 2017: "NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s decision on Tuesday to dump six regional council mergers and push ahead with Sydney metropolitan mergers concludes another chapter in what has been a terribly managed process. Forcibly merging local councils was never going to be easy but former NSW Premier Mike Baird and Local Government Minister Paul Toole set in motion a sequence of events that further tarnished the public’s view of politicians, irritated councils and angered councillors, all while swallowing a huge amount of time, effort and mon"...Forced council mergers: How the NSW government got it so wrong 16 February, 2017 https://www.governmentnews.com.au/forced-council-mergers-nsw-government-got-wrong/
Inner West Elected Council
In September 2017, 15 Councillors were elected to the new council representing 182,043 people in 35 km2 (13.5 sq mi)[3]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_West_Council
"Workforce reform in three amalgamated councils 1 May 2019
The Inner West Council and the Snowy Monaro and Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Councils have all made progress towards efficient organisational structures following the amalgamation of their former council areas in 2016, according to a report released today by the Auditor-General of New South Wales.
All three councils are now operating with a single workforce and have largely achieved the milestones they planned for the first stage of their amalgamations. None have finished reviewing and aligning services across their former council areas nor integrated their ICT systems. They need to do this to be in a position to implement an optimal structure."...https://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/our-work/reports/workforce-reform-in-three-amalgamated-councils
Amalgamated Councils
In Leichhardt LGA 12 Councillors represented 52,198 people 11 km2 (4.2 sq mi) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipality_of_Leichhardt
in Ashfield LGA 12 Councillors represented 41,214 people in 8 km2 (3.1 sq mi) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipality_of_Ashfield
In Marrickville 12 Councillors represented 76,500 people in 17 km2 (6.6 sq mi) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marrickville_Council
 |
LGBC summary of key findings from Deloitte’s Analysis of the Financial Implications – PDF:
largely due to the revaluation of Council assets. IWC has also undertaken investment
activities since 2016 which have contributed to the net increase in IPPE, funded by grants,cash reserves and borrowings, including:
o $85 million in funding secured from FY18 – FY22 for roads, footpaths and
stormwater drains;
o $65 million invested in parks and recreation facilities from FY18 – FY21;
o $46 million Ashfield Aquatic Centre Redevelopment (funded via TCorp financing
of $40 million) (previously within Ashfield LGA);
o $7 million contribution to commencing the GreenWay central links, and $7.5
million to deliver the Urban Amenity Improvement Program (Parramatta Road and
surrounds);
o $40 million Marrickville Library upgrade (previously within Marrickville LGA); and
o $76 million invested in properties ($55 million in FY23) which utilised funds from
the sale of Tempe Lands in FY20 (previously within Marrickville LGA)"... https://www.olg.nsw.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/LGBC-summary-of-key-findings-from-Deloittes-Analysis-of-the-Financial-Implications.pdf
Costs and Impacts of Amalgamation
- Limited Notification of Development (loss of planning alerts) - tech oned
- CRM is residential address based rather than asset/map based - tech one
- FOGO rollout to Houses (scheduled 9 Oct)was too big
 |
- staff who did not comprehend the Waste Calendar System
- Did not know which houses had a Green Bin
- Failed to manage the collections
- Underestimated the education demands
- Underestimated the Waste Busters demand
- Failed to comprehend the waste calendar for MUDs had changed with no notification to Residents or Owners
- question about number of houses - taken on notice 9 November Council meeting.
Costs of Councils (aka Municipal or Local Government)
- perform diverse and coal face functions specific to their local area. [Despite
- "Brisbane council, TechOne settle IT stoush in secret By Allie Coyne Dec 5 2017 2:00PM"
- "Inner West Council has signed a contract with TechnologyOne
that will allow Council to take a quantum leap forward in customer
service, systems integration and business processes...
“We know that this will enable us to improve services for our communities,” Mr Hart added.
The implementation of the new system is expected to take two years."..https://www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/about/news/media-releases/2017-media-releases/council-s-quantum-leap "Inner West Council spends $9.4m on IT contracts, but says no tender was needed By Jacob Saulwick Updated first published at https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/inner-west-council-spends-94m-on-it-contracts-but-says-no-tender-was-needed-20170604-gwk2an.html]
- need more strategic support from state agencies (especially for functions that are common eg Finance).
- Local Government Amalgamations Ordered to be printed 16 December 2003 according to the Resolution of the [NSW]House https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/inquiries/2318/Local%20Government%20Amalgamations%20Report.pdf
- Do mergers make for better councils? The evidence is against ‘bigger is better’ for local government Published: March 31, 2016 6.11am AEDT https://theconversation.com/do-mergers-make-for-better-councils-the-evidence-is-against-bigger-is-better-for-local-government-56813Do Amalgamations Make a Difference? What We can Learn from Evaluating the Policy Success of a Large Scale Forced Amalgamation of Local Government.
- Deteriorating financial sustainability of local governments internationally has resulted in increased implementation of structural reform programs as a potential solution. https://openurl.ebsco.com/EPDB%3Agcd%3A8%3A15731880/detailv2?sid=ebsco%3Aplink%3Ascholar&id=ebsco%3Agcd%3A152647467&crl=c
- "Joseph Drew, Associate Professor of Local Government at the UTS Institute for Public Policy and Governance, believes botched amalgamations not only left councils struggling to this day but are affecting residents across the state who are now being forced to bail them out." https://www.governmentnews.com.au/research-reveals-true-cost-of-amalgamation/
