‘Having met with the Local Government Advisory Board (LGAB) last week, we have the assurance it is determined to act independently and assess all submissions independent from the Government, and it’s appropriate for the council to now move quickly to participate in the process,’ Mayor Ron Norris said.
At a special meeting last Tuesday, the council considered its reply to the board after councillors rejected the Government’s proposal of a G7-plus council.
They also supported a G4 proposal that included North Fremantle homes and a third-ranked preference was Cambridge Council’s proposal of two councils in the western suburbs.
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READ NOWMosman Park hired a consultant at a cost of $15,000 to advise on a submission to the board before March 13 and created a separate four-member committee to potentially write a proposal for a ‘G4 plus North Fremantle’ concept.
The Government rejected placing North Fremantle in a western suburbs council when it proposed a ‘G7 plus three Stirling suburbs’ organisation last year.
‘(Mosman Park) haven’t contacted us and we would strongly oppose it because North Fremantle needs to be part of greater Fremantle for port planning and the buffer zone, and (any new proposal) could be counter-productive to an emerging consensus of where local government borders should be,’ Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettit said.
LGAB chairman Mel Congerton said Mosman Park had to act ‘quickly’ on a submission and any new proposal would be considered alongside 34 others from councils and the Government.
Mr Congerton said recent meetings of the board with western suburbs councils highlighted the number and differences in their planning schemes, but any new council or councils in the area had the right to keep those schemes.
He again refuted criticism that the nine-member board was not independent of the Government.
‘At some of those meetings, board members have been prohibited from attending because they work or are ratepayers in that area, including me because I am City of Swan deputy mayor, so I’ve been concentrating on the western and southern suburb councils,’ Mr Congerton said.