Council mergers announced

Councils across New South Wales were handed their amalgamation fate today while others remain pending.

Alex Dalland

The fate of Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai councils remain uncertain as NSW Premier Mike Baird and the Minister for Local Government Paul Toole have announced the creation of 19 merged councils in NSW.

While the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai merger remains pending, the announcement is set to affect a range of council’s across northern Sydney. Bordering Hornsby Shire Council to the north, Gosford City Council and Wyong Shire Council have merged to form Central Coast council. To the west, portions of Parramatta City Council, The Hills Shire Council, Auburn City Council, Holroyd City Council and Hornsby Shire Council have all formed a new City of Parramatta Council composed of parts of Epping, Rydalmere, North Rocks, Winston Hills and Parramatta, stretching to Olympic Park in the south.

In the east, Manly, Warringah and Pittwater have merged to form Northern Beaches Council, encompassing the area from Duffy’s Forest in the west to the ocean and stretching from Palm Beach in the north to Manly and Sydney Harbour in the far south.

The announcement of the Northern Beaches Council merger has also removed doubt about Mosman entering into a merger with Manly and Warringah, with Mosman now proposed to join North Sydney and Willoughby Councils.

Accompanying the news, the NSW Government has also announced 15 million dollars for each new council to invest in community projects, 10 million dollars to streamline administration and a four year freeze on rate payment increases under any new council. With further mergers supported by the Minister for Local Government but requiring the decision of the courts, the future of other local councils across NSW remains uncertain.

For more information on the latest Council merger announcement visit https://www.strongercouncils.nsw.gov.au/