The existing boundaries of Councils in the local area should be reviewed, according to Local Member of Parliament Mr Tony Piccolo.
Speaking in State Parliament last week in support of a new law to encourage the review of Council boundaries, Mr Piccolo stated that the existing boundaries of Gawler should be allowed to be modified to incorporate parts of the Light Regional and Barossa Councils.
“This is nothing new; I have been saying this since I was on the council many years ago, but the existing legal framework prevents that from occurring,” Mr Piccolo said.
“We need a system that encourages councils to be able to review that also provides some certainty,”
“Some of the existing boundaries go back to the horse and buggy days.
”Communities have grown over time and Council boundaries should reflect the new communities of interest.”
“The essence of this bill is about ensuring that council boundaries reflect those community boundaries.” “That is very important. That is important from a planning point of view, in other words planning for your community.”
“That includes things like physical planning, and also transport corridors, transport routes and planning for delivery of services.”
“This bill will enable that to happen.”
“It should not be amalgamation for the sake of amalgamation either.”
Mr Piccolo said he believes “boundaries need to be changed to make sure we have the best possible opportunities for communities to engage with their local government authority, to provide the best use of limited resources in that community and also to ensure that the boundaries reflect an opportunity for those communities to plan effectively,”
“In the case of Gawler, for example, I am not talking out of school when I say that most people think Hewett is part of the Gawler community,”
“The boundaries of the Councils in the local area should be reviewed,”
“That is also true for the Barossa: there are parts of the Barossa Council between Light and the Barossa that should change to ensure that the Barossa Council reflects the true Barossa region,”
“It would be silly to say there is no room for change,”
“Importantly, this proposal puts it in the hands of local government and an independent commission. It is not for us [parliament] to decide: it will be decided at the local level, which is very important,”
“I also support the voluntary nature of the proposed law.”
“This bill goes a long way to enabling those sorts of boundary changes to take place, enabling those councils that believe things could be improved in regions to take place.”
“The critical factor in deciding whether council boundaries ought to be changed or amalgamated is the issue of how communities can be best served.”
“This is an issue that deserves attention and debate, and that simply has not happened in a formal, constructive manner for nearly 20 years.” he said.