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City braces for legal fight

STIRLING city council will consult lawyers on the legality of council mergers that will see the city’s boundaries shrink by up to 17 per cent.

The council will also write to premier Colin Barnett requesting a poll of residents in suburbs to be annexed by neighbouring councils, including residents in Mt Lawley, Inglewood and Dianella.

Mayor Giovanni Italiano says the mergers could cost its ratepayers millions.

“Today, the minister has told all mayors there is very little money set aside to finance this state government decision and that those impacted should finance the cost via taking out loans,” he says.

“The state government expects our ratepayers to finance the cost of their decision—a decision they have not costed, nor budgeted for.

“The tab is likely to cost our ratepayers millions.

Cr Italiano adds he will do everything in his power to keep rates down.

Veteran councillor Terry Tyzack, who tabled the motion to take legal advice on the mergers, says there is a perception that decisions made by government ministers cannot be challenged.

“This is not the case—ministers are not all powerful or supreme,” he says.

Under the mergers, Inglewood and parts of Dianella, Mount Lawley, Menora and Yokine (east of Alexander Drive) will shift from Stirling to the new Bayswater-Bassendean super council.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK

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One response to “City braces for legal fight”

  1. juantrak Avatar
    juantrak

    Colin Barnett has truly shown his ignorance and arrogance with this unwanted, un-asked-for, and ill-considered council amalgamation move.

    As residents of Inglewood for 25 years, my wife and I have been 100% happy with Stirling Councils performance and low debt levels.
    Now Barnetts arrogance and lack of consultation, and his thumbing his nose at democratic processes, will see us moved into another council that has huge debt levels and poorer services – and which will see our council rates rocket over our current levels.

    To add to this total outrage, Barnett is now also going to remove all our pensioner concessions, because his spendthrift ways have left the State saddled with massive debt and unable to afford even basic pensioner concessions that the other states offer.

    To say that our fury towards this lying, blustering, promise-breaking Premier is white-hot is an understatement.
    He has overseen, and been responsible for, monstrous losses in our power generation systems overhauls, and the totally unnecessary corporate re-structuring in the same area – and here he is once again putting his stamp of arrogant incompetence, on a totally unnecessary council restructuring, that will achieve nothing, apart from landowners and residents fury, and increased living costs for those landowners and residents.

    Ron Nash,
    Inglewood.

    Reply

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