Comment: Sydney Towards Tomorrow

“The times they are a-changing”. How true this is for the Central Coast, where we have been included in the projections for the greater Sydney areas population growth, from 4.4 million to 10 million by 2050. This dramatic increase will affect many facets of our lifestyle on the Central Coast, as it will strain the limits of our infrastructure and demand improvements to services and education. This pressing issue will have direct repercussions on all residents of our community, and hence has attracted attention from many levels of government.

In response ACEA has proposed the amalgamation of Gosford and Wyong councils as a part of the Sydney Towards Tomorrow Plan. This will generate benefits from better resourced engineering departments, planning departments and produce a generally more efficient management of the councils. However, while this recommendation offers numerous benefits, it may also manifest detrimental effects. Many council and community members are divided on this issue, so as Edgar Adams wrote, “It’s time to start the debate.”

Perhaps the most substantial argument opposing the amalgamation is the physical size of the proposed council. This appears to be the stance held by Mayor Chris Holstein who believes, “It wouldn’t be realistic or practical”. The Central Coast has a population of over 300,000 people, and covers an area of 1140 square kilometres, greater than that of Canberra. To cover this area would demand an increase to 30 councillors, which Councillor Holstein believes “would be unworkable.”

While the amalgamation of multiple councils has proved successful in past cases, our different circumstances do not guarantee a similar outcome. Whilst the merging of Windsor and Cola councils in 1981 worked effectively, this can be attributed to the smaller council being absorbed by the larger. “It’s difficult when you have two councils of an almost equal size” Ray Rawson former general manager of the aforementioned council stated. “Amalgamating Gosford and Wyong councils will be a bad thing… You get better decision making in smaller groups.”

This raises another primary concern; the notion of identity. Many believe that in combining the two councils “You wouldn’t get the same personal attention”. Issues are also being raised in regards to adequate representation. Wyong Mayor, Bob Grahame in particular has voiced such concerns saying, “I have great concerns about democracy on the coast if you had to represent everyone from Patonga to Gwandalan in one organisation.” The lack of representation could be attributed to the part time councillors. Councillor Graham says that the proposal is “impossible” and “the only way it would work was if the councils were like Queensland councils with full time representatives.”

While perhaps the separate identities of Gosford and Wyong councils may begin to blur, the amalgamation would induce a powerful regional identity for the Central Coast with a “much stronger voice”. This would subsequently ensure our independence from the Sydney area. Our local area would be given considerably more power within the state, and greater attention would be drawn to issues directly affecting our area.

A more united front would deliver an integrated approach to financial management, growth management, economic development and service delivery. We would be better equipped to deal with long term issues that we must address now in order to deal with an increasing, aging population in dire need of improved infrastructure and increased employment opportunities. “It’d be great to see a greater unity between the Gosford and Wyong councils. More cooperation and sharing of our equipment and our resources”.

An advantage of the amalgamation according to both the ACEA report and former Wyong Council general manager John Dawson would be increased productivity, resulting in an expected 20 percent savings in administration costs. The merging of councils would reduce costs not only by removing reels of ‘red tape’, but also removing the need for a regional planning committee as a separate entity from the council. The costs of inter-council communication and planning would no longer be an issue.

The successful amalgamation of the Noosa Maroochy and Caloundra local Councils into the Sunshine coast regional council is an example of this cost reduction. In August 2009 the Council announced a “$60M in savings in the region’s sewage transport, treatment and infrastructure costs over the life of the infrastructure.”

“With the council amalgamation, we’ve had the opportunity to review our sewerage network from a regional perspective in terms of solutions to solve capacity issues and reduce the cost of future infrastructure,” stated Sunshine Coast Council’s Major Projects Portfolio head Cr Debbie Blumel. However, whether or not these savings would occur in the larger Central Coast council, as opposed to the smaller Sydney ones, is yet to be determined.

If we want to achieve “well resourced engineering departments”, “well resourced planning departments” and efficient management of council’s social, revenue and financial funds”, we must also examine other ideas in conjunction with an amalgamation. In our interview with Councillor Holstein, we discussed a wide range of alternatives, including less cost-shifting from State Governments onto Local Councils, greater communication between State and Local Government, and the implementation of a user pays system. Of late, costs for local councils have been on the rise, however they have been limited in their ability to raise rates which is in direct opposition to the ACEA suggestion of a user pays system.

For the smaller Sydney councils, an amalgamation is a necessity, as their small size is detrimental to effective governance. On the other hand, the way forward is not so clear cut for the Central Coast because of our unique demographic. However, one thing is certain: the Central Coast is in dire need of long term infrastructure planning and implementation. Ultimately, this is a complex and multifaceted issue, which will require much research, and an involved and informed Central Coast community.

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