Former minister says WA government could easily enact shire takeover
The Shire of Coolgardie in WA's Goldfields is fighting for survival amid debts of more than $27.5 million and a government-led push to merge with its much larger neighbour, the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
Representatives from both councils met this week in Perth with Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley, who also has her hands full with the troubled City of Nedlands.
The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder is yet to publicly reveal if it is for or against the proposed tie-up, while the Shire of Coolgardie has threatened possible legal action.
"I would think, given their financial situation, they would have better things to spend their money on," Ms Beazley told reporters on Wednesday.
The government's language has carefully avoided the words merger or amalgamation, despite the end result being effectively the same, with the Shire of Coolgardie dissolved.
Ms Beazley said the process would include public consultation.
"They are two very different things; it's just because one entity is adjusting the boundaries, only affecting one other, so it is not affecting multiple local government areas."
Under WA's Local Government Act, a merger or amalgamation requires majority support from ratepayers in both local government areas.
But Mr Simpson said the boundary adjustment put forward for Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie-Boulder could be accomplished with the "stroke of a pen".
"In a merger, local government goes to the polls and if 50 per cent of a community turns up and says no, you've got yourself into a corner where you can't force it any further," he said.
Mr Simpson, who is a City of Karratha councillor, said he tried unsuccessfully during his time as minister to reduce the number of Perth councils from 30 to 15.
"I failed miserably, for a number of reasons," he said.
"Local governments put up a very good battle."
Mr Simpson said the combination of the Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie-Boulder councils would make the Goldfields region stronger.
"A larger local government has a stronger capacity to deliver more services and keep rates flowing. That is proven over and over, so I think it would be worthwhile," he said.
"If the debt is the only issue, we should put that aside in the business case and have a look at the strength of the two local governments coming together."
Former Kalgoorlie-Boulder mayor John Bowler, also a former local government minister in the Carpenter government, said there was little incentive for the larger city to take on Coolgardie.
Mr Bowler said the Shire of Coolgardie's plan to sell council-owned workers' accommodation should be allowed to play out to see if it could return debt to manageable levels.
"I don't think anything's going to happen while there's unrecovered debt," he said.
"Why should the ratepayers of Kalgoorlie-Boulder pay for the mistakes of Coolgardie?
"First of all, I think we have to let Coolgardie see how they go with the sale of that camp."
Mr Bowler said he was approached to play a role in the tie-up, but said he would not consider getting involved until the Shire of Coolgardie's debt was retired.
"The trouble is the size of Kalgoorlie-Boulder is about 10 times bigger and it really wouldn't be a joint, equal merger," he said.
A long-time resident of the tiny community of Widgiemooltha and former Coolgardie shire councillor, Jan McLeod, said any takeover by Kalgoorlie-Boulder would limit her community's voice.
"Any representation on council will be lost by sheer weight of numbers," she said.
"It's not good for local government, which is the government closest to the people."
Ms McLeod said there would be a loss of identity for residents.
"The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder does not service any regional towns; there will be staffing issues," she said.
Ms Beazley denied there would be staffing issues.
"That's the solutions and options we're working through at the moment," she said.
"There would still need to be local services and a footprint in Coolgardie to ensure that community is well served."
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