He said he felt amalgamations were forced and Armadale’s biggest issue was where the $6 million-plus he expected the transition would cost would come from.
‘If we’ve got to take the bad medicine, how do we get the best out of it?’ he said.
He believed the merged council would continue big projects such as the Tonkin Highway and railway extensions and would review unfunded projects.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOW‘I don’t see any particular change in terms of their planning policies or rating structure in the short term,’ Cr ZElones said.
‘My view is they’ve probably got more to gain than we do.’
He said the two councils had 23 councillors between them and would aim to keep 14 or 15 to ensure ward representation continued.
Cr Zelones said he had a name for the merged council in mind but was keeping it private for now.
He said Cr Moore’s suggestions were ones already in use in the Serpentine Jarrahdale Shire and Cr Zelones felt a name that did not reflect a single entity would be more appropriate.
‘The Department of Local Government suggested looking at Aboriginal names, which I think is worth considering,’ he said.