Nahan scorns City campaign

Dr Nahan said the campaign was an attempt to shut down democratic choice, not enhance it.

He said the Local Government Advisory Board’s (LGAB) recommendation up for consideration was to remove Parkwood, Riverton, Rossmoyne, Shelley, Willetton and the Canning Vale industrial area from the City of Melville’s Proposal 10.

‘It was dependent on the City of Canning to include arguments to the LGAB to remain as it is and they failed to do so,’ Mr Nahan said.

‘Instead, they put forward a strong recommendation to merge with Gosnells.

‘Given that the LGAB has no choice but to follow Canning’s strong recommendation, the Save Canning campaign is nothing more than a political ruse to hide Canning’s complicity in the process.’

Canning commissioner Linton Reynolds said the City was attempting to get the community involved in the reform process and inject a level of democracy.

‘LGAB’s intended recommendation – City of Melville Proposal 10 (revised) is a good outcome for Canning. The proposal represents our best chance to retain our current boundaries and is a very positive development for the City,’ Mr Reynolds said.

He said recent community meetings had given locals a chance to hear an objective view on what the community wanted.

‘This has been a very confusing and difficult process with a number of different messages coming from various parties, all with their own agendas and views on what the City’s future should look like,’ Mr Reynolds said.

‘Our position is that the community view is the most important and that is what the fight for Canning is all about.’

ABOUT 630 local residents recently attended two community meetings on local government reform held by the City of Canning.

The meetings were about Canning’s continued fight to remain stand-alone.

Canning commissioner Linton Reynolds said the overwhelming response at the meeting was that the people want the City of Canning to remain unchanged.

‘In spite of what is being said by some, the fight for Canning campaign is designed to give the people of Canning a voice,’ he said.

‘This is not a political campaign, but a community engagement exercise, designed to give people the opportunity to have their say on what are possibly the most significant changes in the history of the City of Canning.’

However, Riverton MLA Mike Nahan said he refused to attend any of Canning’s political meetings on principle.

‘The commissioner should not be using ratepayers’ money for political action like this,’ Dr Nahan said.

‘I call on the commissioner to stop wasting ratepayer’s funds and to stop bringing party politics into the City of Canning.’