Local government wipeout: Castrilli to cull one-third of councils

as posted here

EXCLUSIVE: A once-in-a-century shakeup of local government in Western Australia is likely to see a swathe of shires stretching from the Northern Territory border to the Southern Ocean erased forever from the State's political map.

The revelation means a legion of candidates elected in the upcoming October 17 local government elections will not serve out their full four-year terms.

A list of condemned councils, penned by the powerful Local Government Reform Steering Committee and obtained exclusively by WAtoday.com.au, will see the State's least sustainable shires, cities and towns culled.

The committee was hand-picked by Local Government Minister John Castrilli.

The Department of Local Government has already told at least 45 shires on the secret list that amalgamation is "required".

WA has 139 councils and is the last state in Australia to embark on significant local government reform.

In August, Opposition spokesman Paul Papalia slammed the"bumbling" Mr Castrilli's refusal to release the list.

Under the sweeping reforms, Metropolitan Perth, and possibly the Kimberley, are the only two of WA's 10 regions to avoid the amalgamation spotlight.

Ominously for the Kimberley, the list fails to mention 28 shires, including that region's four councils - though it is known that at least the Shire of Broome has avoided endangered council status.

The department wants the world's largest municipality - the 380,000 square kilometre Shire of East Pilbara - to merge with one of its gigantic council neighbours.

Meanwhile, Australia's smallest shire - the 1.1 square kilometre Peppermint Grove, which sits in Premier Colin Barnett's leafy western Perth electorate of Cottesloe - has been spared the amalgamation axe.

Also in the Premier's electorate, the tiny Town of Cottesloe joins Peppermint Grove, East Fremantle, Mosman Park, Nedlands and Victoria Park as minute municipalities WAtoday.com.au understands have escaped mandatory mergers.

Other councils understood to have only been asked to "consider" mergers are Rockingham, Busselton, Albany, Esperance, Kalamunda, Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Denmark.

A string of Wheatbelt and Great Southern shires have also been placed in this category and are likely to escape the Castrilli cut.

The Perth councils of Subiaco, Vincent, Cambridge and Bassendean are understood to have been spared the amalgamation spectre altogether, achieving a coveted "Category One" rating, indicating they are meeting community needs.

WA's largest city by population, Stirling, and the state capital of Perth are also understood to have achieved this status.

Other Category One councils apparently let off the hook are Armadale, Augusta-Margaret River, Bassendean, Bayswater, Belmont, Joondalup, Gosnells, Harvey, Mandurah, Melville, Mundaring, Murray, Plantagenet, Serpentine-Jarrahdale and Swan.

The list of 45 councils the government wants culled from WA's political landscape is:

Boddington

Boyup Brook

Bruce Rock

Carnamah

Chapman Valley

Chittering

Coolgardie

Coorow

Corrigin

Cuballing

Cue

Cunderdin

Dalwallinu

East Pilbara

Katanning

Kellerberrin

Kent

Kondonin

Koorda

Lake Grace

Laverton

Leonora

Meekatharra

Menzies

Merredin

Mingenew

Morawa

Mukinbudin

Mount Magnet

Mount Marshall

Nannup

Narembeen

Narrogin (Shire)

Nungarin

Perenjori

Ravensthorpe

Sandstone

Three Springs

Toodyay

Upper Gascoyne

Victoria Plains

Wyalkatchem

Yalgoo

Yilgarn

Wiluna


as posted here