Board recommendations go to Local Government Minister Tony Simpson.
Camera IconBoard recommendations go to Local Government Minister Tony Simpson. Credit: Supplied/Andrew Ritchie

Public submissions sought

Stephen Miles, Hills GazetteHills Avon Valley Gazette

The board is considering 34 formal proposals that relate to changes affecting all but two of Perth’s 30 metropolitan councils.

Twelve proposals were submitted by the Minister for Local Government, 21 by local governments and one by electors of the City of Cockburn.

The public submission period opened on Tuesday and will continue until 4pm on Thursday, March 13.

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Board chairman Mel Congerton said it was charged with considering each of the proposals and would take into account all the information it received.

‘We will be looking closely at many different elements involved in creating or changing local government boundaries,’ he said.

This includes community interests, economic factors, the history of an area, transport and communication, matters affecting the viability of local governments and the effective delivery of local government services.

‘We will also look at any other matters we feel should be considered and the public submissions will be a key part of this,’ he added.

As part of its formal inquiries, the board will meet with each of the affected councils, with the first meetings scheduled in the middle of this month.

It has been proposed that the City of Swan merge with the Shire of Mundaring, with a separate, three-way plan to merge the City with Mundaring and the Town of Bassendean.

The State Government has asked the Shire of Kalamunda and the Town of Belmont to merge. However, they each submitted their own separate proposal.

Mundaring is amenable to a merger in principle with the City of Swan.

However, Kalamunda and Belmont are at loggerheads after Belmont demanded that the new amalgamated entity had an equal representation of councillors from each of the local government areas.

The board expects to complete its inquiries by the |middle of the year, when it will make recommendations on the proposals to the Minister for Local Government, Tony Simpson.