Council mergers shot down

Earlier: A Tasmanians for Reform rally at Parliament, here

A NEW report on local government reform in the North has knocked council amalgamations on the head, with the author saying the “evidence against it is so overwhelming”.

The 200-page report by academic Brian Dollery from the University of New England was commissioned by Northern Tasmanian Development which represents the eight Northern councils.

The report makes two key recommendations around greater resource sharing and increasing “regional advocacy.

“In the report I looked at amalgamations as a possibility. The evidence against it is so overwhelming I then look at shared services and there is reasonable evidence it will work out quite well,” Professor Dollery said.

The report will come as a blow to the Hobart-based Tasmanians For Reform which is actively lobbying for council mergers.

But Mr Dollery said forced mergers on the mainland, most recently in Queensland and the Northern Territory, where more than 60 councils were merged in to eight, “had been abject failures”. “The lessons of these forced amalgamation episodes on the mainland seem to have been lost on Tasmanians for Reform,” he said.

Instead of `”radical mergers” it was better to look at services that could be shared.

Rest:

http://www.examiner.com.au/news/local/news/general/council-mergers-shot-down/2615373.aspx