Peninsula Community Access Edition 380
News Phone 4325 7369 Fax 4321 0940
9 November 2015
Scott calls for community action on merger Action by the community is the only thing that could save Gosford Council from being forced by the NSW Government into a merger with Wyong, according to Labor councillor Vicki Scott. Cr Scott said she would be addressing a community rally that was to be held on Saturday, November 7 on the forecourt of the Gosford Council building in Gosford. “Parts of the Coast, like the Peninsula, already feel like they are under-represented,” Cr Scott said. “Imagine dealing with a council for an area as big as Canberra with as many people as the Northern Territory and only 10 or a maximum of 15 councillors instead of 20,” Cr Scott said. “This is bigger than the tax office and Gosford waterfront. “This is huge. “It is about the absolute future of this region and it will affect us for generations,” she said. Following years of speculation and in spite of statements to the contrary, local councils across NSW have been given one month to show why the recommendations of IPART regarding their forced amalgamation should not be adopted. A group of concerned locals, calling themselves Our City, Our Council, Our Choice, organised Saturday’s peaceful rally to encourage and support Gosford Council in perusing its continuance as a standalone entity. In June, Gosford Council unanimously declared it believed it was fit for the future and its submission to IPART expressed its arguments for continuing as a stand-alone council. In October, IPART released its report card which declared Gosford “unfit” for the future and recommended it amalgamate with Wyong or form a joint organisation. Wyong Council was also declared unfit but has since declared, by one vote, a preference to amalgamate with Gosford to form a new Greater Central Coast Regional Council which would take in Wyee and abolish the Joint
Jeff Sundstrom demonstrates at Gosford Council in support of Vicki Scott’s call for community action to stop forced amalgamation
Regional Planning Panel. “I think the community probably largely doesn’t know what is going on but really there is a great need for the community to be aware of what the effect of this is going to be,” Cr Scott said. According to Cr Scott, an amalgamation would result in lower levels of community representation and less contact between the community and council staff. Ms Scott said she believed the amalgamation could have a negative impact on community centres and all the other services
and facilities that Gosford Council has been known to deliver. “It will change the way we go about getting funding and will lead to even more detachment of communities at the edges of the region, including the Peninsula,” she said. “It is never too late; we have got until November 18 and the community can use its voice, that is why the rally was held.” Cr Scott said she did not think a bigger council would result in better infrastructure for the region. “What’s that saying about size?’
she said. “Blacktown Council is the biggest council in NSW and it is having financial troubles,” she said. Wyong jumped too early to make its preferences known to the NSW Government, according to Cr Scott. “The big problem for this region now is five people in Wyong made a decision that will have a big impact on the community of Wyong and potentially on the people of Gosford, without delving in to the other side of the argument,” she
said. Gosford Council decided to continue to explore its options in the time available before declaring its intentions to the NSW Government on November 18. Gosford mayor Cr Lawrie McKinna said the examination of options included having an ongoing dialogue with Wyong Council and conducting due diligence into all available options. Cr Scott said “no one has told me how I should vote on the issue of amalgamation but the conservatives are being told, by someone outside their community, how to vote and I think that is a shame for the people they represent.” In terms of what a new amalgamated council would mean for issues such as the future of Gosford Council’s Coastal Open Spaces Scheme, Cr Scott said no one from the state government or at a local level seemed to know the answers to such questions. “Every four years, every time there is a change in local government, there is a very real chance that things like COSS could disappear so the chance is there in an amalgamation too,” she said. Cr Scott said she thinks there has to be “some greater reason” for the NSW Government’s amalgamation push. “It is horrendous when you think about the cost, it could be $100 million -- and that money, if we want infrastructure, give both councils $50 million each and we will get the infrastructure we need. “Or for the next 20 years we will be feeling our way around figuring out which councillor belongs to which ward and it will cripple us for a long time. “That $100 million will be a line item on every budget. “A large council is a dispassionate council and the one thing that can stop it is the voice of the people,” she said. Media release, 4 Nov 2014 Jeff Sundstrom, Our City, Our Council, Our Choice Interview, 4 Nov 2015 Vicki Scott, Gosford Council READ MORE Pages 6 and 7
THIS ISSUE contains 56 articles - Read more news items for this issue at www.peninsulanews.info Office: 120c Erina Street, Gosford Phone: 4325 7369 Fax: 4321 0940 Mail: PO Box 1056, Gosford 2250 E-mail: editorial@centralcoastnews.net Website: www.centralcoastnews.net