This was the title of a breakfast meeting that CEO Peter Bentley and Cr's Stephens, Crosby and I attended in Perth last week.
Lawyers from the company, Kott Gunning gave the presentation. Before joining Kott Gunning, Anne Wood, one of the presenters, was the Policy Advisor for a number of local government Ministers.
The analysis was based on some of the 25 recommendations in the Local Government Advisory Board. The recommendations dealing with legislative change to the 'forced amalgamation provisions' are the ones that were analysed.
These recommendations deal with changing legislation ie. The Local Government Act 1995, to empower the Minister to to target those Local Governments which either did not want to amalgamate, eg. Kent, Narrogin, Bassendean or, those that did, but couldn't find partners - eg. Katanning, Bunbury.
It appears at first glance, that the Local Government Advisory Board consists of 5 members, with only two being nominated by the Minister.. However, the other three people are still chosen by the Minister, from a list submitted by WALGA (WA Local Govt Association which represents councillors) or LGMA (Local Govt Managers Association which represents Senior Staff).
So, in essence, they are handpicked by the Minister.
Rather than go through all the horribly boring details of the Act and it's meaning for us, suffice to say,
WALGA are fighting on behalf of local governments against the changes the Minister wants to make to the Act.
Forced Amalgamation: How Big is the Threat?
Strategic Plan
I have been remiss in not keeping this blog up to date. My apologies to readers who like to keep up with Shire of Kent happenings.
There are regular newsletters in our local newsletters for local people to keep informed, but for those outside of the Shire, I will attempt to be more consistent with my blog entries.
The Shire has undertaken a major revision of the Strategic Plan. Council employed the services of Darren Long to engage the community through a workshop in each town. Council then had a series of workshops with Mr Long which resulted in the Draft Strategic Plan for 2010 to 2015.
It was an interesting process which took us through 7 Key Focus areas - Organisational Development & Governance, Technology, Economy, Business and Land Use, Infrastructure Development, Community and Social and Environment. Each area has a number of objectives which we will aim to achieve within the timeframe of the plan.
Much of Council's own observations and desires for the Shire reflected those of the community, which Mr Long found surprisingly refreshing. It shows that Council is on the right track and is moving forward in the direction that their community wishes them to.
The Strategic Plan will be available for public comment. It's a very readable document and I urge you to take the time to pick up a copy from the Shire Office in Richmond St, Nyabing and read it. Council are keen to hear what the public feel about the Draft Strategic Plan.
