Chamber welcomes McKew support on council amalgamations

31 May 2010

The Sydney Business Chamber has welcomed the support of the Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government for a debate on local government in Sydney and whether 41 councils is too many to govern Sydney properly.

The Hon Maxine McKew MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government said;

''Sydney has to get its act together and that has to involve a discussion about what role local government plays and about whether 42 councils continue to be viable, which they can if they are forward-looking, but not if they are going to be blockers.''

– Sydney Morning Herald, 29 May 2010.

Sydney Business Chamber and NSW Business Chamber called for the amalgamation of Sydney’s 41 councils into 10 super councils as part of its pre-election blueprint, “10 Big Ideas to Grow NSW” (www.10bigideas.com.au).

“We strongly support Ms McKew’s call for a debate on Sydney’s local government arrangements – 41 councils are too many for a modern global city to function effectively,” said Patricia Forsythe, Executive Director of the Sydney Business Chamber.

“We need vibrant, forward-looking local councils that want to engage their communities on big-picture issues such as strategic planning, infrastructure and transport, rather than what we currently have which is a narrow-minded focus on issues such as if a carport is five centimetres too long.”

Mrs Forsythe said that the NSW Government had divided Sydney into 10 subregions as part of the Metropolitan Strategy with specific housing and employment targets for each region.  It made more sense to have 10 matching super councils rather than 41 smaller voices advocating for their little patch of ground.

“We want to see a comprehensive overhaul of local government. Not just amalgamations but better governance structures through 120 full-time councillors instead of 520 part-time councillors, and a review of rate-pegging that has strangled the budgets of local councils.

“Reducing the number of councils in Sydney is about making them stronger, more accountable and transparent and delivering better services to their communities.”