Inner West Council submits demerger business case to NSW government

By ERIN MODARO

The Inner West Council submitted a debated business case for a council demerger to the NSW government last week. Council resolved to hand over the business case to the state government at a December 6 council meeting, following months of debate over the Morrison Low report.

The business case is a pathway for the Inner West Council to demerge back into three separate councils; Ashfield, Leichhardt and Balmain, which were forced to combine into one council in 2016.

The case will be handed over to the Local Government Boundaries Commission, an independent body responsible for matters relating to council boundaries, for review. The push to demerge follows a community poll in 2021 which found that 62.5% of residents were in favour of de-amalgamation.

Government needs to fund Inner West de-merger, says Mayor

The business case states that the NSW government must front the cost associated with demerging. In a letter sent to Local Government Minister Wendy Tuckerman from Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne, two terms are clearly set, should the demerger take place.

One term says that the “full costs of the de-amalgamation, being between $178 million and $190 million, be paid in full by the NSW government”. Additionally the Mayor requests that the cost be paid before the demerger takes place, and at no cost to ratepayers.

Secondly, the letter says that councillors must remain in office to oversee the demerger, and that the government does not “install an interim unelected administrator”.

Council has debated the details of the demerger throughout the year, which questions arising over the efficacy of the business case prepared by firm Morrison Low. As the case was put up for public exhibition, criticism over the length and complexity of the document, as well as misconstrued data and an inflated overall cost for demerging, arose.

Inner West Labor Councillors defended the business case and have been key in pushing it forward, while highlighting issues surrounding cost and efficiency of de-amalgamating.

Independents and Greens Councillors have called for the business case to be scrapped, and replaced with a more viable pathway to splitting the Inner West Council back into three.

After Tuckerman has reviewed the business case, the document will return to council for further discussion after a response comes from the Minister. Tuckerman has final say and all legal power associated with demerging.

Other councils have been met with success in demerging this year. In August, Tuckerman gave the go ahead for rural council Cootamudra-Gundagai to demerge.

In October, NSW Labor delegates spoke with community groups in favour of de-amalgamation, and gave support for council de-mergers across the state. NSW Demerger Alliance spokesperson Grantley Ingram told CityHub that the group were met with “very positive engagement” from Labor delegates at the state Labor Conference.

The Inner West’s case will be reviewed by Tuckerman in coming weeks.