‘There was an idea we could bring some of the services into line with each other, and for Nedlands, it could share some planning policies with Claremont,’ Nedlands Mayor Max Hipkins said.
Chief executives of Nedlands, Cambridge, Cottesloe, Claremont, Peppermint Grove and Mosman Park councils will investigate how to make Wesroc more formal, after it was established in 1991 to co-ordinate services, policies and strategic planning.
Wesroc’s role was subsequently subverted by merger talks and preparations for amalgamations in the past six years.
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READ NOWThe seven councils already share some services, including rangers, planning and building officers, the jointly-funded The Grove library and Shine aged care.
Cottesloe, Claremont, Peppermint Grove, Subiaco and Mosman Park rubbish is sent to the councils’ DiCom recycling plant in Shenton Park.
It has been identified that more sharing could be done in IT services, environmental health and rangers.
However, state governments, developers and builders have previously raised concerns about the lack of planning and building rules between Wesroc councils.
Mayors discussed this issue at a meeting last Thursday.
The Government flagged the possibility of councils investigating cross-border sharing and some funding for initiatives after polls last month rejected proposed mergers across the metropolitan area.
Cottesloe Mayor Jo Dawkins said the Wesroc initiative was not the result of the Government telling councils to share more services and instead it was being driven by the organisation’s member councils.
‘We all agree it needs to be renewed,’ Ms Dawkins said.