Image: Mike Weber.
If there’s one thing about government that people are generally content with, it’s the status quo of their council.
That’s what council peak body Local Government New South Wales (LGNSW) found when it polled 7,416 residents across the state, finding that only 18 per cent of the community supported the “Mega Councils” proposed by the Coalition government.
The polling, conducted by Micromex Research and Consulting, looked at 14 local government areas that house a total population of around one million residents.
In addition to the small number of respondents who supported mergers, the polling also found that more than 60 per cent of Sydneysiders preferred their council to not change at all.
LGNSW’s polling has been prompted by the state government’s push to amalgamate councils under its ‘Fit for the Future’ program, which requires NSW councils to prepare a business case to establish if they are ready for the “future” by 30th June, 2015.
But the program has come under fire from the local government sector as well as council advocates in State Parliament such as MP for Sydney Alex Greenwich.
The polling demonstrates strong opposition to council mergers, and LGNSW President Keith Rhoades has used the results to slam the state government’s push for amalgamations, saying that it has “failed to convince residents that forced amalgamation is a good idea”.
“The majority of residents feel that their local council is doing a good job and they have concerns that the proposed Mega Councils will not have capacity to address local issues,” Mr Rhoades said.
He said local government is the only way the majority of ordinary individuals can have a direct input into the future of their neighbourhoods and the way they live their lives – “and they don’t want any sphere of government riding roughshod over this right”.
“They don’t want to be forced to give way to big developers, or to see their lifestyles impacted by decisions into which they have no meaningful input,” Mr Rhoades said.
He advised that the government “would be wise” to heed this expression of public opinion, and to “think twice” before they force financially sustainable councils to merge against community wishes.
