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Council amalgamations rock the regions From 111 to 98 in regional NSW ... and counting 20 March 2004 REGIONAL ARTS BOARDS ACROSS THE STATE will have to wait at least three months to know the full effects of a wave of regional council amalgamations announced by the NSW Minister for Local Government, Tony Kelly in the past five weeks. Twenty five regional councils have either been dissolved or had their elections postponed until later this year as they undergo mergers, and the Government has refused to rule out further amalgamations after the 27 March poll. While the amalgamations are expected to result in significant savings for local government (Mr Kelly says the creation of the new Peel Regional Council, for instance, will deliver annual savings of $1.8 million), exactly what the impact will be on the Regional Arts NSW network remains to be seen — pending negotiations by Regional Arts Boards with new councils, now and in the future. Last year there were 111 local councils and shires in regional, rural and remote NSW, with 100 of these making a financial contribution to a Regional Arts Board and Regional Arts Development Officer program. After the latest reshuffle the total number of councils in regional NSW now stands at 98, with both the number of councils contributing to each program and the levels of funding to be committed now largely up in the air. Regional Arts Boards across the state must now enter into new discussions with councils — old and new — as they move into the budget process and finalise their management plans for 2004—2005. But the situation is even more tentative where amalgamations are yet to be decided. While most of the amalgamations have been agreed to by the councils, the final decision is that of the Minister, on the advice of the Boundaries Commission, and Mr Kelly has refused to rule out further amalgamations. “There are continuing proposals that the Boundaries Commission will look at and they’ll systematically give them to me later on in the year,” he told ABC Regional Radio on 18 March. A spokeswoman for the NSW Department of Local Government told Regional Arts NSW that there is no final target for the number of amalgamations or total number of local governments in the state, and that the process of reviewing amalgamation proposals will to continue for the foreseeable future. Brace for more rumblings — and tell your councillor how much you value your local regional arts program. The Amalgamations
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