Subiaco Library will close indefinitely today.
Camera IconSubiaco Library will close indefinitely today. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

City of Subiaco considers increasing council members as part of a public ward review

Victoria RificiWestern Suburbs Weekly

ADDING a 13th council member is among options being considered by the City of Subiaco as part of a review of ward boundaries and elected member representation.

A discussion paper considered by councillors on Tuesday night included abolishing or reducing the number of wards and decreasing the number of councillors.

The paper included five options but Cr David McMullen successfully suggested adding a sixth choice that would involve keeping four wards and having 12 councillors plus the mayor.

PerthNow Digital Edition.
Your local paper, whenever you want it.

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

“This may give the community something to mull over when they consider local representation,” Cr McMullen said.

Cr Stephanie Stroud also suggested an amendment to include the roles and responsibilities of local council members.

“There is little about councillors and what we do and I recommend we have our roles as councillors defined in the Local Government Act so I recommend the amendment,” Cr Stroud said.

However, Cr Malcolm Mummery said it was a distraction to what council was seeking from public comment.

“We’re trying to find out the important question about representation and this amendment seeks to in affect attribute the city and is a distraction of grabbing people’s attention,” he said.

Councillors supported Cr Stroud’s amendment and also agreed to exclude the “approximately $25,000” annual allowance fee figure, which was put forward by Cr McMullen.

The discussion paper will be released for public comment tomorrow until November 6.

A six-week consultation period was conducted in September 2016, where 83 per cent of respondents chose the option in the discussion paper to support reducing councillor numbers.

Council also recommended increasing the number of offices from 11 to 12 in November 2016 but it was rejected by the Local Government Advisory Board.