Here is a report from a Queenslander who experienced forced amalgamation. I have changed the names of the towns, councils and shires to names of chocolates. What can I say? I like chocolate...
"I am very pleased to pass on the experiences of forced amalgamations. My former shire of Kit Kat is now one of the members of the amalgamated council of Picnic Regional Council (after a name change from Flake Regional Council as at the time of the first election, the name of Flake was opposed from the very beginning because it was a former town council at the centre of the donut but the government would not listen. However people power in the last couple of months sought the change and was successful). I am now a bystander from the amalgamations as I relocated to the neighbouring Cherry Ripe Shire which was relatively unaffected by amalgamation apart from having a reduction of representatives from nine councillors plus the Mayor (at which I was successful) to four plus the Mayor.
As far as I can see there is no benefit as yet from the process only lots of cost (in the millions) large increases in rates to cover the costs as the government will not give any assistance to the blow-outs because they are flat broke!!
The town of Crunchie, which was the administrative centre for the Kit Kat Shire, is suffering badly as the office which was once a vital hub for all the activities now has the feeling of a morgue. The people of the shire are totally demoralised, rarely see a representative (the old council area did not get one elected representative on the new council, where formerly they had nine plus the Mayor).
Services are just about non-existent , road maintenance has declined to a point where roads that were identified as priority one and would be graded twice a year now have been graded once in 18 months, robust plant replacement programs have been trashed and a directive to purchase second hand machinery and rebuilds for major breakdowns are across the board, school enrolment declined from around the stable 100 for many years dropped to 50/60 in twelve months, houses vacant everywhere whereas before council had to move in houses to meet the demand.
All major repairs for machinery is done in Flake (machinery freighted to central workshop). I quite often talk to my old work colleagues and they are totally demoralized and where they went that extra mile for the old council they tell me they do not have the inclination to do one bit more than they are paid to do as the community spirit is no longer there. They tell me the communication is appalling and half the time they do not know what they are supposed to be doing.
I could go on for ever, I am so sad ,as the little Kit Kat Shire was identified in the highest category for sustainability for a rural shire and there was no good reason to see it amalgamated with any other shire apart from to prop up shires that had been categorised as unsustainable. Now all amalgamation has achieved is one larger unsustainable council.
Similarly, I received the following comment from a Qld CEO of a Shire not amalgamated:
'The Queensland reform is yet to provide any benefits , as I see it. The cost of amalgamation has been huge for the affected Councils. Very large increases in rate levies have been a result over the past two budgets across the State. The cost of wages equalization alone resulted in an impost of several million dollars for some Council’s.
Then the cost of IT mergers is huge also , with the annual expense of rental on the lines running into several hundred thousand dollars.'
From discussion with affected CEO’s , it will take years to get back to some semblance of order , and the staff morale is extremely low" .
Sounds promising, doesn't it?
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Interview with Minister Castrilli
This interview with the Minister for Local Government, John Castrilli was held on 13th March 2009.
Click here
After listening, click the BACK button on your browser to return to my blog.
I can't believe that someone could repeat themselves so much no matter what question is ask
The interviewer tried to push him on his stance on forcing amalgamations and no way would he even rule out the option. He just kept repeating the same thing over and over and over again!
The minister is being a typical politician and saying something without saying anything at all.
Click here
After listening, click the BACK button on your browser to return to my blog.
I can't believe that someone could repeat themselves so much no matter what question is ask
The interviewer tried to push him on his stance on forcing amalgamations and no way would he even rule out the option. He just kept repeating the same thing over and over and over again!
The minister is being a typical politician and saying something without saying anything at all.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Blog to stay open!
I've received advice from WALGA about my blog:
"With regard to your enquiry concerning the keeping of a blog, it is not uncommon for elected members to express their personal views by whatever method or media they choose. The Association advises elected members to take care any comment they make is not in contradiction with role of a President/Mayor, to speak on behalf of the Local Government, nor to do any thing that may contravene the Local Government (Rules of Conduct) Regulations 2007."
I think that my blog satisifies the above criteria, so I will keep it. I've had many, many positive comments from people both within and outside our Shire about the concept of a blog as well as the content that I have entered.
My intention is to inform, educate and express my opinion. People are welcome to comment and disagree with my opinion, so I feel this is a fair process.
"With regard to your enquiry concerning the keeping of a blog, it is not uncommon for elected members to express their personal views by whatever method or media they choose. The Association advises elected members to take care any comment they make is not in contradiction with role of a President/Mayor, to speak on behalf of the Local Government, nor to do any thing that may contravene the Local Government (Rules of Conduct) Regulations 2007."
I think that my blog satisifies the above criteria, so I will keep it. I've had many, many positive comments from people both within and outside our Shire about the concept of a blog as well as the content that I have entered.
My intention is to inform, educate and express my opinion. People are welcome to comment and disagree with my opinion, so I feel this is a fair process.
The South Australian Amalgamation Experience
If you are still thinking that amalgamation is a positive experience for our Shire and others like it, you may be interested to read the following. This is an excerpt from a person in South Australia who has experienced amalgamation:
"The District Council of Yorke Peninsula was formed in Feb 1997.The Council covers an area of 5,834 sq kms, has a distance of approximately 175 kms between its northern and southern boundaries, and being a Peninsula, has a varying width east to west averaging approximately 30 kms.
The Council is unique in comparison to other Local Government Authorities in that it is bordered by sea on three sides and as such has 435 kms of coast line. The Council shares its northern boundary with the District Council of the Copper Coast, District Council of Barunga West and the Wakefield Regional Council.
BRIEF:
At the time of amalgamation we were lead to believe we would be basically rolling 4 into 1. That Minlaton being the more central location would be upgraded to accommodate extra senior staff and become the main office premises and the other 3 offices would close and become “shop front” only, for customer service requests, dog registration etc. Later, major renovations were carried out at Minlaton increasing the size for extra staff... staff that we didn’t know we had to have... THEN, renovations elsewhere followed with an upgrade of the offices in Yorketown , then the renovation of the Minlaton Town Hall Supper Room to become a Council Chamber. (Yes we had 4 very good council chambers but suddenly none considered suitable.)
Maitland not to be out done then had the Council offices updated. The upstairs of Minlaton Town Hall (formerly used as a picture theatre) was turned into offices. Followed by the building of a totally new office complex attached to the existing Yorketown offices. And still, now some 12 years on we continue to have renovations and extensions to offices that were to be non existent but are more than well utilized and cater for the ever growing number of staff.
I have been present at meetings where the Council have been asked how many current employees, they have...the answer is usually ...around 150. However they will never give the break down of inside workers to outside workers. Eg white collar to Blue collar. We have far too many secretaries and assistants, managers and pa’s. We have 2 full time IT “specialists”.
Things that come to mind since amalgamation
NO maintenance is done on the local halls. Every town has an Institute or Hall which is Council property. Towns now desperate and setting up public committees and raising funds as halls in such bad state of repair and must be fixed. Small communities are proud of their local hall.
Town ovals and facilities have been let go, little or no maintenance. Sporting Clubs being charged increasing fees for use of playing fields and club rooms, while having to undertake repairs and maintenance as well.
Each community has had to raise funds to upgrade their own town playgrounds...Very little / if any, financial help from LG.
Several communities have a Tidy Towns Group who carry out maintenance and gardening in their relevant town. Again very little if any financial help from LG and very little if any service from them. Eg..volunteers now water and mow ovals, prune town roses , clean town barbecues etc.etc.
Excess machinery and vehicles were sold off after amalgamation....only to find a year or so later that we didn’t have enough and that the plant we had, had to be shifted further distances. Unproductive work days.
Gravel roads are graded less. No gravel on roads, so when they are graded, nothing is achieved.
We have a northern and Southern work depot and work gang... up to 2 hours a day can be lost in their travel to and fro a job and shifting equipment.
Many tens of thousands of dollars and voluntary hours have been contributed to the success of these parks. There will be no return to the community. In Stansbury’s case there is threat to loose the Visitor Centre as the funds from park support this and the town office.
The Community's Tidy Towns Group, who were finalists in Australia’s Tidiest Town will be without funds and the successful Seaside Markets will be lucky to do another summer season as marketing and admin are sponsored by the Progress. Ruthless...Council just see the dollar... and see it as theirs. "
So, our fears aren't imaginary, they're very, very real.
"The District Council of Yorke Peninsula was formed in Feb 1997.The Council covers an area of 5,834 sq kms, has a distance of approximately 175 kms between its northern and southern boundaries, and being a Peninsula, has a varying width east to west averaging approximately 30 kms.
The Council is unique in comparison to other Local Government Authorities in that it is bordered by sea on three sides and as such has 435 kms of coast line. The Council shares its northern boundary with the District Council of the Copper Coast, District Council of Barunga West and the Wakefield Regional Council.
BRIEF:
At the time of amalgamation we were lead to believe we would be basically rolling 4 into 1. That Minlaton being the more central location would be upgraded to accommodate extra senior staff and become the main office premises and the other 3 offices would close and become “shop front” only, for customer service requests, dog registration etc. Later, major renovations were carried out at Minlaton increasing the size for extra staff... staff that we didn’t know we had to have... THEN, renovations elsewhere followed with an upgrade of the offices in Yorketown , then the renovation of the Minlaton Town Hall Supper Room to become a Council Chamber. (Yes we had 4 very good council chambers but suddenly none considered suitable.)
Maitland not to be out done then had the Council offices updated. The upstairs of Minlaton Town Hall (formerly used as a picture theatre) was turned into offices. Followed by the building of a totally new office complex attached to the existing Yorketown offices. And still, now some 12 years on we continue to have renovations and extensions to offices that were to be non existent but are more than well utilized and cater for the ever growing number of staff.
I have been present at meetings where the Council have been asked how many current employees, they have...the answer is usually ...around 150. However they will never give the break down of inside workers to outside workers. Eg white collar to Blue collar. We have far too many secretaries and assistants, managers and pa’s. We have 2 full time IT “specialists”.
Things that come to mind since amalgamation
NO maintenance is done on the local halls. Every town has an Institute or Hall which is Council property. Towns now desperate and setting up public committees and raising funds as halls in such bad state of repair and must be fixed. Small communities are proud of their local hall.
Town ovals and facilities have been let go, little or no maintenance. Sporting Clubs being charged increasing fees for use of playing fields and club rooms, while having to undertake repairs and maintenance as well.
Each community has had to raise funds to upgrade their own town playgrounds...Very little / if any, financial help from LG.
Several communities have a Tidy Towns Group who carry out maintenance and gardening in their relevant town. Again very little if any financial help from LG and very little if any service from them. Eg..volunteers now water and mow ovals, prune town roses , clean town barbecues etc.etc.
Excess machinery and vehicles were sold off after amalgamation....only to find a year or so later that we didn’t have enough and that the plant we had, had to be shifted further distances. Unproductive work days.
Gravel roads are graded less. No gravel on roads, so when they are graded, nothing is achieved.
We have a northern and Southern work depot and work gang... up to 2 hours a day can be lost in their travel to and fro a job and shifting equipment.
Many tens of thousands of dollars and voluntary hours have been contributed to the success of these parks. There will be no return to the community. In Stansbury’s case there is threat to loose the Visitor Centre as the funds from park support this and the town office.
The Community's Tidy Towns Group, who were finalists in Australia’s Tidiest Town will be without funds and the successful Seaside Markets will be lucky to do another summer season as marketing and admin are sponsored by the Progress. Ruthless...Council just see the dollar... and see it as theirs. "
So, our fears aren't imaginary, they're very, very real.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Survey
People within the Shire of Kent will receive a survey this week asking them to indicate a preferred option should the Shire be forced to amalgamate.
This has come about from information that came out of Local Government Week. Cr's Skipsey, Grant-Williams and I attended this year. Both the Minister for Local Government and the Premier indicated that VROC's were not acceptable as a structural reform option. Much discussion was had with some of our neighbouring shires. The general feeling was that some form of amalgamation was inevitable. Therefore it was in our own interest to indicate where our preferences for amalgamation lay.
This was further galvanised when the Shire of Katanning released their draft submission which looked at including the town of Nyabing in its 75km radius sweep.
The Shire of Kent is still committed to upholding it's constituent's wishes that we do not amalgamate. What we are requesting from the survey is, that if we are forced to amalgamate, which current Shire/s would you prefer to join?
I'm still totally against amalgamation for our Shire. I can't see the benefits at all. We are in a healthy financial position and since we are a farming community, our rate base is stable. Our communities are full of strong, forward thinking people. I believe we are perfectly capable of taking our community into the future without the need to join another shire or group of shires.
To me, amalgamation means huge expense with little result. The main beneficiary seems to be the major town in the group. Amalgamation won't mean we'll have more people living in our towns, it won't create employment in our towns (in fact, jobs will be lost!), there won't be more services in our towns, so what's the point?
For the 'Other' option, in our shire survey, I'm putting "No other option - no amalgamation".
I urge you to do the same.
This has come about from information that came out of Local Government Week. Cr's Skipsey, Grant-Williams and I attended this year. Both the Minister for Local Government and the Premier indicated that VROC's were not acceptable as a structural reform option. Much discussion was had with some of our neighbouring shires. The general feeling was that some form of amalgamation was inevitable. Therefore it was in our own interest to indicate where our preferences for amalgamation lay.
This was further galvanised when the Shire of Katanning released their draft submission which looked at including the town of Nyabing in its 75km radius sweep.
The Shire of Kent is still committed to upholding it's constituent's wishes that we do not amalgamate. What we are requesting from the survey is, that if we are forced to amalgamate, which current Shire/s would you prefer to join?
I'm still totally against amalgamation for our Shire. I can't see the benefits at all. We are in a healthy financial position and since we are a farming community, our rate base is stable. Our communities are full of strong, forward thinking people. I believe we are perfectly capable of taking our community into the future without the need to join another shire or group of shires.
To me, amalgamation means huge expense with little result. The main beneficiary seems to be the major town in the group. Amalgamation won't mean we'll have more people living in our towns, it won't create employment in our towns (in fact, jobs will be lost!), there won't be more services in our towns, so what's the point?
For the 'Other' option, in our shire survey, I'm putting "No other option - no amalgamation".
I urge you to do the same.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Independent Public Schools
Nyabing Primary School has the opportunity to be a pilot school for the new Independent Public Schools Programme being trialled in WA.
WOW! What an opportunity!
As a small country school, we can show how proactive our community is - a small town with big ideas! We're not stuck in the past, but we're looking to securing our future. We can have more of a say in how we run our school because, as a community, we will own it. We will have the ability to shape our school to match our unique requirements, not other people's ideas of our requirements.
One of the Primary Schools in the Shire of Kent is looking at leading the way with change and allowing it's community to be a part of that process.
What does this tell our neighbours and our State Government? Yes, we will embrace change only if we are able to see major benefits from making those changes. We want empowerment, not subservience.
I urge the Nyabing community to get behind this great opportunity and fill out their surveys. Please return them to the school ASAP before Monday 31st August.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Blog may have to close...
I'm getting some legal advice from our local government association, WALGA on the legal aspect of having a blog as a councillor.
It was brought up at our monthly council meeting this week about whether I'm liable because I'm making public comments considering my position as a local government councillor.
It's sad when it gets to this. I thought we had a right to free speech no matter what position we hold in society. I've not made any comments on behalf of council, only my own thoughts on issues of council that affect us all as a community.
I sincerely hope that WALGA are able to clarify the issue and I can be allowed to continue keeping you all informed in this manner.
It was brought up at our monthly council meeting this week about whether I'm liable because I'm making public comments considering my position as a local government councillor.
It's sad when it gets to this. I thought we had a right to free speech no matter what position we hold in society. I've not made any comments on behalf of council, only my own thoughts on issues of council that affect us all as a community.
I sincerely hope that WALGA are able to clarify the issue and I can be allowed to continue keeping you all informed in this manner.
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