City Elections to be held September 10
BY CHRISTOPHER HARRIS
City of Sydney residents and businesses will go to the polls as normal on September 10 this year, despite the shakeup of council boundaries as part of the state government’s plan to merge NSW councils.
Local government NSW advised the election for City of Sydney will remain on its planned date later in the year, despite most other councils who will be merged having elections in 2017.
The City of Sydney must complete its eletoral roll of business that will vote in the election.
A City of Sydney spokesperson said it was in the process of preparing a non-residential register ahead of the next local government election.
“The NSW Electoral Commission will verify the non-residential roll in early August once a draft roll, taken from the register, is supplied by the City on 1 August.”
The spokesperson said the NSW Electoral Commission will verify the non-residential roll in early August once a draft roll, taken from the register, is supplied by the City on 1 August.
“Businesses, property owners, occupiers and rate-paying lessees of all rateable land within the City’s local government area will be able to vote.”It is expected that the business vote in council could challenge the current makeup of the council.
The makeup could change further under if Botany Bay proposal to a merge with parts of the City of Sydney as well as Randwick.
If Botany Bay’s own submission were successful, it would mean that Waterloo and Green Square residents would have to go to the polls twice in a six month period — in September and then March.
Botany Bay Council’s bid to create a southern Sydney super council is proceeding. Last week the NSW Government appointed delegate Rod Nockles wrote to City of Sydney CEO Monica Barone to discuss the proposal.
He “strongly suggested” that the council makes a submission to the proposal.
The City of Botany put forward its own submission to the Council Boundary Review, which would take up much of Randwick Council as well as 21 per cent of the City of Sydney, including suburbs such as Green Square as well as Waterloo.
The proposal would take 552 hectares of land from the City and would take 2327 hectares from Randwick, or 64 per cent of its current land area.
Botany Bay’s proposal was subject to a Land and Environment Court challenge by the council. The council wanted its submission, which was voted on at an extraordinary council meeting on November 16 last year, to be considered at the same time as part of IPART’s suggestion of merged councils, for which submissions have now closed and public inquiries were heard earlier in the year.
The council lost its bid in the Land and Environment Court to have its submission considered before the council was dissolved. On April 15, the Court of Appeal upheld the Land and Environment’s Court’s decision.
