New Mayors To Merge On Council Amalgamations

By Marcus Braid on November 3, 2014 in News

Eastern Suburbs political leaders are gearing up for the potentially fractious debate over council amalgamations, which will likely form a crux issue over the coming year.

The forewarning came after Liberal councillor Sally Betts was re-elected as Mayor of Waverley and Cr Ted Seng took over the mayorship in Randwick.

Cr Seng, a Kingsford resident and councillor since 1995, said the biggest issue facing all councils in NSW is council amalgamations.
“I will spend the next six months preoccupied with debates on this particular issue,” he said.

“Size does matter in local government. Unfortunately, Council’s resolution is that we’d prefer to keep the status quo.”

Councils will consult with their respective communities over the state government’s ‘Fit For Future’ reforms, which offer financial incentives for councils to amalgamate. Councils will report back to the government with a proposal by June 30 next year.

“I believe that many councils are too small. In fact, too many of them are financially considered to be in a poor position,” Cr Seng said.

“Randwick Council is considered as being in a strong position financially, but many councils are technically bankrupt, because they’re not spending money on infrastructure.

“There’s a huge infrastructure backlog. You can have your budget balanced if you just don’t spend and leave it for future generations to deal with the problem. That’s one other issue we have to be dealing with.”

Cr Seng said there are number of issues he will focus on over the coming 12 months, but one of the primary concerns will be light rail.

Outgoing mayor Scott Nash signed the Light Rail Development Agreement to further assist the integration of the CBD & South East Light Rail project into Randwick City in late September.

“Light rail is coming,” Cr Seng said. “The development agreement has just been signed; I’ll be looking at the issues surrounding that.

“I think light rail will bring huge benefits to the local community, besides some shortcomings which we are aware of – a lot of parking along Anzac Parade will be lost. That’s the reason why Council is taking immediate measures to look for parking replacement.”

Cr Seng paid tribute to the work of Cr Nash, who was Randwick Mayor for two years and will continue on as a councillor.

“He’s done an excellent job negotiating with Transport for NSW with regard to the development agreement, and I would say it is a huge achievement on his part,” Cr Seng said.

The incoming Randwick leader also warned that the Urban Activation Precinct (UAP) project had attracted “strong opposition”.

“Randwick City is supposed to have two precincts: one is the Randwick UAP and the other is the South Maroubra UAP,” he said.

“We don’t know what’s happening with it. At the moment, they are being temporarily suspended.

“I don’t think any of us would welcome the proposed high-rise rezoning of our city, particularly along the path of the light rail. I don’t think residents would welcome that.”

The re-election of Cr Betts marks her sixth term as Waverley Mayor in a career that has spanned nearly 20 years as a councillor.
“I am delighted my colleagues have again supported me,” Cr Betts said.

“During the past two years this council has worked very hard to tighten its belt to put us in a good financial position.”

There are several key projects on Waverley Council’s agenda for the next 12 months aside from the Fit For Future submission, including the Bondi Park, Beach and Pavilion Plan of Management, exploring the option of synthetic turf at Waverley Park and considering options to improve access to the Bondi Junction Transport Interchange.

“We have a lot of great initiatives underway and planned, which makes for an exciting year ahead,” Cr Betts said.