The battle has become bloody after Parramatta Council released its Fit for the Future vision for a Greater Parramatta that would swallow Holroyd whole and gouge suburbs from the Hills, Auburn and Ryde.
The council decision, not agreed to by all councillors, has fired up Holroyd mayor Greg Cummings and Hills mayor Andrew Jefferies.
Holroyd is so fired up; it is referring Parramatta’s handling of the matter to the Ombudsman.
Clr Ross Grove said his council was concerned about Parramatta Council’s failure to attach the submission to its agenda four business days prior to the last council meeting as required under the Local Government Act.
He said the failure to disclose was not reasonable conduct from a major council seeking to double its size, aspiring to be a city of nearly half a million people.
But Parramatta Council said there were often late documents that needed to be circulated just prior to council meetings and that was the case with its Fit for the Future submission.
“Council has received legal advice in relation to the availability to the public and councillors, of the draft ‘Fit for the Future’ submission prior to the council meeting on June 22,” a council spokesman said.
“Council is satisfied that it complied with all legal obligations required of it under the Local Government Act.”
Mind you, both Holroyd’s and Hills’ Fit for the Future submissions to the State Government see them grab parts of Parramatta - in Holroyd’s case, just “tidying up boundaries” and for the Hills, in the name of “natural boundaries and community identity”.
Clr Jefferies said Parramatta was “robbing Peter to pay Paul”.
Parramatta’s submission also suggests the city takes over parts of Auburn, Ryde and Hornsby council areas, but it is the Holroyd and Hills mayors most bowled over by Parramatta’s plan.
Parramatta Lord Mayor Scott Lloyd is calling his council’s submission “a once in a generation opportunity to redefine the future of local government in NSW and is strongly aligned with the Government’s Metropolitan Strategy, A Plan for Growing Sydney.
“We believe the current scale and capacity of our council make is difficult to maximise Parramatta’s potential as Sydney’s dual CBD and an expanded council should be created with a stronger revenue base and improved resources,” he said.
“A new LGA would bring with it a significantly expanded residential, commercial and industrial rate base capable of generating at least $500 million a year in revenue to provide improved services for the community. It would also allow the council to become a true partner to the State and Federal Governments in supporting the ongoing growth in the geographic centre of global Sydney.”
Parramatta’s submission did not draw exact lines as per the government’s proposed merger model as lack of support from Holroyd, Auburn, Ryde and Hills made an analysis difficult, Clr Lloyd said.
Clr Lloyd said Parramatta will ask the State Government to establish specific legislation for the new council similar to the arrangements currently in place under the ‘City of Sydney Act’.
This would recognise the administrative and economic importance of the Parramatta region, and facilitate a coordinated approach to planning, transport and traffic management.
Council will work with the government to define its boundaries.
“In terms of the future of Parramatta, doing nothing is inconceivable,” Clr Lloyd said.
Mayor Jefferies said his council’s preferred option, endorsed by 74 per cent of 1208 respondents in a recent survey, would unite the currently divided suburbs of Northmead,
Carlingford, Winston Hills, Baulkham Hills and North Rocks under The Hills Shire Council, while Oatlands would go entirely to Parramatta.
"The Hills Shire Council has no debt, delivered 14 straight years of surplus budgets and was given a strong financial rating from Treasury Corporation,” Clr Jefferies said.
“Parramatta only has a moderate rating and carries significant debt. Parramatta's plan, by cutting the Hills off at the M2, only hurts Hills ratepayers."
Mayor Greg Cummings has warned that Holroyd’s community services would be threatened if Parramatta’s plan went through.
He also warned that if councils merged, rates and charges for residents and businesses would increase as they had in Queensland when councils were amalgamated.
“As we’ve said time and time again, bigger councils don’t make better councils,” Clr Cummings said.
WHAT IS FIT FOR FUTURE?
● Fit for the Future is a proforma document to be filled out by councils, proving they are financially fit to stand alone or merge with neighbours.
● Local Government Minister Paul Toole has not ruled out forced mergers
● Hands Off Holroyd was one of Sydney’s most active anti-merger campaigns with 9000 signatures from residents in support.
● Christian Democrats, with cross-bench support, launched an Upper House inquiry into government’s amalgamation plans.
