I guess it can’t be said to have come as a great surprise, but as I have said elsewhere, it was certainly a disappointing outcome, to say the least. With independent financial advice provided to both Councils indicating that a merger would be ill-advised, and in the face of the recommendation from the Independent Local Government Review Panel that mergers should proceed only where they can be shown to make, amongst other things, a “substantial contribution to addressing financial problems” the NSW Government went its own way. (more…)
The QPR Blog
…local government stuff you never even thought to ask about…
Property Valuations
In the last couple of months, all Palerang residents should have received a Notice of Valuation from the NSW Valuer General, so I thought it might be worthwhile going over how these valuations are derived and how they are used by Council in determining council rates. (more…)
Community Committees
It’s been a pretty torrid month, dealing with all the issues arising from merger proposals and their associated inquiries and submissions. In the process, however, I had occasion to reflect on the ways in which a Council interacts with its community. Of course, this happens in various ways, some perhaps more welcome than others. (more…)
Local Government Reform (Update 01/16)
They say a week’s a long time in politics, and local government in NSW is no exception at the moment. The local government reform process has moved rather quickly since IPART released its assessment of NSW Councils back in November. (more…)