Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig said on Friday that he had accepted a recommendation from the NSW Boundaries Commission to leave Inner West Council in place.
“I have been clear and on the record that I will not allow councils to demerge if they cannot prove they will be financially viable,” he said.
“Consigning three new councils to budget deficits each year until at least 2028 would not be in the best interests of the inner west community.”
Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne welcomed the decision,saying it was “time for all Inner West councillors to come together and commit to working to make Inner West Council even more effective and progressive”.
The Boundaries Commission was unequivocal in its finding that splitting the council would be a mistake. It found that each of the three reformed councils would have a “sustainability gap” of between $4.8 million and $12 million to 2028,a position that would be “largely unsustainable” without service cuts or rate rises.
“If this proposal were to be recommended,the ongoing costs of this de-amalgamation process will be borne by the community in the current LGA,one way or another,” the commission wrote in its analysis.
“Accepting that some 62 per cent of those who cast a vote in favour of de-amalgamation in the non-binding plebiscite,the other 37 per cent of the community will still be impacted.