A new council of mayors

The Southern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (SSROC) has submitted a consultation paper to the Local Government Independent Review Panel in an move that could see the creation of a council of mayors.

SSROC’s submission titled ‘Better, Stronger Local Government’ proposes a new regional structure, where a new governance framework will see SSROC gain more legislative recognition and raise the strategic capacity of local government across the region.

According to the consultation paper, the model is aimed at “increasing the strategic capacity of councils by delivering a range of services on a shared basis”.

Randwick Mayor Tony Bowen said these shared services are beneficial and cost effective.

“I think it is a good idea and it has unanimous support from the members of SSROC … where you have a council of mayors leading the way in terms of advocacy and ideas, [consulting] the government at a high level,” he said.

Waverley Mayor Sally Betts said the new proposal will help improve council performance.

“The SSROC submission will [re-examine] itself and the whole structure … and see how we can perform in a better way with the suggestion to both the independent panel and the Minister for Local Government [Don Page] that the SSROC should be given legislative recognition.

“If we have a mayors’ forum where we can meet with the premier on a regular basis to discuss regional issues every couple of months, then this would be very good for our local areas,” she said.

SSROC is an association of 16 councils that includes Waverley, Woollahra and Randwick City Councils. Their regions cover up to 600 square kilometres, with a population in excess of 1.4 million delivering over $20 billion in local infrastructure.

Woollahra Mayor Andrew Petrie endorsed the cooperative nature of SSROC and their value in improving the efficiency of local government. “Without trying to get too far right and too far left, SSROC is a co-op that discusses thoughts on proposals [allowing] for councils to reduce costs,” he said.

The submission to the Independent Review Panel was made in response to the State Government’s push for amalgamation on a voluntary basis, and looks to explore “every other potential structure change options” available.

These SSROC structural changes will be used as a pilot program in a move that could see other metropolitan regions form a council of mayors rather than amalgamate.

“The SSROC has a proven track record … it is a practical solution to deliver efficiency whilst building on existing structure … rather than starting afresh with amalgamated councils,” said Mr Bowen.

However, Ms Betts believes the structural changes to SSROC should happen irrespective of council amalgamation.

“Anything SSROC does to save its member councils’ money is going to help us. Therefore, it should continue no matter what happens anywhere else,” she said.

Ms Betts said more information needs to be provided by the State Government on the benefits of amalgamating.

“I don’t think any council should consider amalgamation unless, for a start, it can deliver better services for the residents and is financially viable,” she said.

Mr Petrie is adamant amalgamation is unnecessary for the Woollahra Council region.

“If they could [only] give us some evidence of the delivery that we cannot deliver ourselves … [but they have] never been able to tell us why bigger is better,” he said.

The proposed SSROC model is still under consideration. While the State Government has assured local councils that amalgamation is possible only a voluntary basis, it remains to be seen whether the O’Farrell Government runs for the March 2014 election on a mandate of forced council amalgamation.

Meanwhile, up to 14 mayors from metropolitan councils, including the City of Sydney, have recently proposed a Metropolitan Mayors Association (MMA) in a similar fashion to SSROC. It is a move attempting to prevent amalgamation and create a peak body to lobby the State and Federal Governments on their behalf.