The NSW Labor Government has today given councils and their communities the power to make decisions about their future with the Local Government Amendment (De-amalgamations) Bill 2024 passing both Houses of Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new legislation provides certainty to councils that have been left in limbo due to legal flaws within the Local Government Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the Government\u2019s new laws, councils seeking to demerge must work in close consultation with their community to ensure local democracy is enshrined throughout the entire process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new pathway will require councils to develop a robust business case for de-amalgamation with community input so that residents are adequately informed of potential implications upfront.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The business case should consider the impacts of de-amalgamation including financial ramifications, long-term strategic plans, and the capacity of new councils to deliver services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Minister will then refer the business case to the Local Government Boundaries Commission for independent review and assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the Minister is satisfied by the Boundaries Commission\u2019s recommendation a proposal is sound, a compulsory referendum may then be held to give the community the final say on whether they wish to de-amalgamate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The majority of the community must support this vote for the demerger to proceed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new legislation will also apply to any council that has been amalgamated, removing a provision that placed a 10-year period for councils to enact demerger proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also provides for a mechanism for the Government to contribute to funding the costs of demergers incurred by councils. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following its passage through both Houses of Parliament the Bill will soon be signed into law by the NSW Governor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minister for Local Government Ron Hoenig:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cToday the NSW Labor Government has put an end to a disappointing chapter in local government history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCouncils and communities across the state have suffered for too long without a clear mechanism to undo the amalgamations that were forced upon them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis Bill rightly puts those decisions that directly affect communities back into their hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt provides a legal pathway to achieve de-amalgamation whilst mandating robust engagement with the community throughout the entire process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is to ensure communities understand the consequences and can make an informed decision about their future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhether that is to proceed down the path of de-amalgamation, or to get on with the job of providing for their community, this Bill delivers much-needed certainty.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The NSW Labor Government has today given councils and their communities the power to make decisions about their future with the Local Government Amendment (De-amalgamations) Bill 2024 passing both Houses of Parliament. The new legislation provides certainty to councils that have been left in limbo due to legal flaws within the Local Government Act. Under … Continue reading “Labor\u2019s De-amalgamation Bill passes Parliament”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26539"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26540,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26539\/revisions\/26540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}