Shocked and dismayed was how Kiama Mayor Brian Petschler described his reaction to the state government’s proposal to merge his council with Shoalhaven City Council.
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“The announcement came from left field,” he said.
“We have been working with consultants to show the government that we are able to stand alone and were in the process of preparing that when this was announced.
“There was never any talk of us merging. It was an off the cuff comment.
“I think this announcement could definitely damage the government in this area."
- Kiama Mayor Brian Petschler
“We were shaken - it took the wind out of our sails.
“We will continue to try and make our case to the government to stand alone. We have the character and financial capabilities to stand alone.
“We will be Fit for the Future and this announcement was a complete shock.”
He has already received calls from sections of the community outraged, who intend to let the government know their feelings.
“I think this announcement could definitely damage the government in this area,” he said.
“The independent review stated due to the character of the area we should be left alone. The IPART report said on their analysis, they had no identified evidence for a better alternative to our proposal to stand alone.
“And we can financially show we can do that.”
He said questions over the municipality’s financial status had been raised but that was because council was looking into a major retirement project for the area, an industry council had been a strong player in for 50 years, and questions were raised over the length of time it may take to repay those loans.
Kiama municipality has a population of 24,000 which triples and sometime quadruples at holiday time.
Cr Petschler said council would continued to put its case and questioned the boundary commission.
“We were told verbally the government would appoint delegates who would hear individual and group submissions and then report to the commission,” he said.
“If that is the case it is extremely worrying. We won’t be directly talking to the commission or be able to put our case to them. It will have to go through a delegate.
“That would be a threat to proper democratic practices being able to play out.”
He said the government’s proposal to create 20 new country councils from merging 42 current councils and 15 new city councils by merging 33 councils was a massive undertaking.
“We have nothing against Shoalhaven City Council, we have a great relationship with them. They are a very competent council and one of the biggest in the state,” he said.
“I have no criticism of Shoalhaven council but really we have no community interests or links with people in Ulladulla or even Nowra for that matter.
“We have not even looked at merging with anyone and if we had it definitely wouldn’t have been from the south.
“I have spoken briefly to Mayor Joanna Gash and I’m sure we will have meetings in coming days.”
He said although his council works closely with Shellharbour Council, an amalgamation between the two northern neighbours would not benefit either community.