THE community is expected to get its say on Gawler Council’s boundary expansion plans in September and October, despite costs associated with the move remaining unknown.
Council held its ordinary meeting last night – after The Bunyip’s print deadline – where elected members deliberated whether to proceed to a public consultation phase of its bold proposal to take a number of neighbouring suburbs into its jurisdiction.
It comes two weeks after the independent Boundaries Commission, responsible for judging council jurisdiction reform proposals, knocked back Light Regional Council’s (LRC) own reform bid which would have dissolved Gawler Council.
The motion presented last night, which includes provisions to begin public consultation for six weeks in September and October, is expected to pass along the same voting lines as previous boundary reform reports.
According to a report presented at last night’s meeting, the public consultation process is set to invite public submissions on the issue, as well as open community forums, letter box drops and an online information campaign.
Council staff have also drafted a discussion letter, which was also expected to be adopted last night.
The draft letter stated the cost to council to move forward with its proposal, and the possible effects on ratepayers moving into a new council are both unknown.
“This information will become clearer as we progress through the boundary reform process and council will evaluate the financial viability of each stage of the process once costs are known,” the letter read.
“This is a new process for the State Government and timeframes are unknown. However, it is a significant matter to consider and is expected to take some time, possibly one to two years.”
According the report, Gawler Council’s proposal is the only in the state to progress to a “stage two” submission.
Gawler Mayor Karen Redman first introduced her boundary reform plans in May last year, with council quick to endorse them and begin the brand-new process of jurisdiction change.
Under the plan, Hewett and portions of Gawler Belt and Reid would join Gawler from LRC; the Concordia growth area and a portion of Kalbeeba would come from Barossa Council and slices of Hillier and Evanston Park would be taken from Playford Council.
