Stupid call on merger
Clarence mayor stands defiant on losing out to neighbour
CLARENCE mayor Doug Chipman has come out swinging at the prospect of losing the areas of Cambridge and Richmond to a new southeastern council, saying the point of council amalgamation was “not hurting large, successful ones”.
Neighbouring council Sorell and fellow East Coast council Tasman are moving closer to becoming the first voluntary council amalgamation since the State Government put the issue back on the agenda in 2014 with a Local Government Board undertaking an inquiry into a merger between the two.
The board has called for submissions in relation to the potential amalgamation and Ald Chipman said Clarence would more than likely make a submission to the board to en- sure that the interests of its community were protected.
At a public meeting at Coles Bay earlier this year, in which a proposed boundary adjustment involving Break O’Day and Glamorgan Spring Bay was being discussed, Sorell mayor Kerry Vincent said there could be a possibility that Cambridge and Richmond would fall under an adjustment of the eastern municipalities.
Ald Vincent said this was entirely speculative but in a response from the board that Clarence aldermen will hear at a council meeting tonight, the chair of the board, Greg Preece, said if a merger option which included part of another municipal area being annexed would present a viable option, then it would be highlighted in its findings and recommendations to the Planning and Local Government Minister, Peter Gutwein.
Ald Chipman warned that it would be a stupid decision to take Cambridge and Richmond away from Clarence.
“We have invested very heavily in the Coal River region and Cambridge over the last couple of decades,” he said.
“There is still more to be done but they really need a strong, prosperous council, not one that needs them to be propped up.
“Why would you want to start breaking large, successful councils up? Amalgamation should be about helping smaller ones that are struggling.”
Written submissions to the board on the proposed merger close on April 6 while there will be hearings in Hobart on March 26, Tasman on March 27 and Sorell on March 28.