G5 not swell for Cott ratepayers

‘We are stuck in a position where the State Government is forcing a (larger) G7, when our preference is for a G4-plus, and we will have to work with our neighbours to achieve the best possible outcome, and that may be a G5, which is still a lot better than a G7,’ Mayor Jo Dawkins said.

Mrs Dawkins said the council would not send a proposal for a G5 to the Local Government Advisory Board (LGAB), after a 127-signature ratepayers’ petition concerned about a lack of consultation on the concept last week.

Residents’ ire rose after the council supported the G5 proposal from Mosman Park Council as a late item at its February 24 meeting.

‘People are upset about the lack of process and the lack of consultation,’ SOS chairwoman Yvonne Hart said.

Mrs Dawkins said the board would now get a letter reaffirming the council’s December resolution supporting a G4 and in-principle support for a G5 if the G4 was rejected.

The G5 is Cottesloe, Mosman Park, Peppermint Grove, Claremont, Nedlands councils, allowing Cambridge and Subiaco to create a G2.

Ratepayers have until Thursday to make submissions to the board but councils have until the end of next month to comment on the 35 proposals for new boundaries across Perth, before the board recommends changes to the Government mid-year.

Last week, Mosman Park Council told the board a report by consultants Planning Context found a G5 merger better fulfilled the Government’s criteria, with a G5 having a more cohesive community of interest and suburbs sharing topographies, economies and histories.

Claremont will hold a special meeting tonight in response to a letter from the Cottesloe and Mosman Park mayors asking that it joins the towns in submitting a two-council model for the western suburbs, to the LGAB.

Claremont officers have recommended the Town not reconsider its current position of remaining independent but support a ‘proper assessment’ of the G5 proposal.