- In short: A range of potential scenarios has been released as Tasmania grapples with the vexed issue of cutting back on its number of councils.
- What’s next? Final recommendations, including potential mergers, will be made at the end of October.
Forced council amalgamations — these words alone are enough to make the blood of many Tasmanians boil.
Past attempts to merge local governments have been roundly rejected.
As a policy, it was credited with contributing to the Rundle government’s 1998 election loss, and it again proved unpopular in 2019 when almost 70 per cent of Tasman residents voted against merging with their neighbour.
But as the Local Government Board draws up its suggestions for new council boundaries, could forced amalgamations finally become a reality?
The latest suggestions on how they could be done have now been published, with people encouraged to have their say.
With a population of just over half a million, Tasmania is the smallest of the six states.
The island state is home to 29 individual councils, which is just two fewer than Melbourne (31) and 28 more than Brisbane, which has one council for a population of more than a million.
To put it in perspective, there are almost 10 times the number of people living in metropolitan Melbourne as there is in the entire state of Tasmania.
Tasmania’s 29 councils translate to one council for every 18,600 people. In metropolitan Melbourne, it is one for every 160,000 people.
But “big changes” are on the way for Tasmania and there’s good a chance they could include forced amalgamations — a decision unlikely to win many hearts.
Community scenarios released
It’s a policy the Liberal government has shied away from for a long time, preferring instead to support voluntary amalgamations.
But after almost a decade in office, there appears to be a shift in the rhetoric.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff, who has described himself as a “reformist”, has repeatedly said overhauling local government is on his agenda.
Supporting this reformist agenda is a review being done by the Local Government Board.
Last month an interim report recommended the state’s council boundaries be redrawn and their number significantly cut.
“Reform must be designed collaboratively but once settled, implementation must be mandated by the State Government,” it said.
The final report is due at the end of September.
In the meantime, the board has put forward a series of proposed amalgamations to help cut the number of councils.
It divides communities across the state into nine catchments.
But they are not the proposed amalgamations.
Each group has up to four amalgamation scenarios.
One such scenario suggests Hobart City Council merge with Glenorchy and Kingborough, while also extending north and north-east to incorporate New Norfolk and Brighton.
The report notes that it would create a “very large council by Tasmanian standards” with a population of about 160,000 — 28 per cent of the state’s population.
It said the larger council would have better resources and capabilities to respond to current and emerging community needs, such as “planning, housing, strained transport networks, and climate change mitigation”.
“These benefits will need to be considered against ensuring representation for all areas, balancing rates, and that the large size of this council does not disadvantage other areas of the state,” it said.
One suggestion in the north was to establish a council area that comprised West Tamar, George Town and Launceston, and extend it to include the commuting areas of Hadspen, Carrick, Longford, Perth, Evandale and immediate surrounds.
The report said this was one of the largest potential councils discussed in its information packs and noted that 60 per cent of residents in Carrick, Longford, Perth and Evandale now worked in Launceston.
It said amalgamations would build on many of the service-sharing arrangements already in place and streamline planning initiatives.
The board also wants councils to consider how they can better share resources, though notes that some arrangements may “become unnecessary or redundant” because of a reduction in the number of councils.
Community consultation is open until August 2.
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