Randwick and Waverley have been declared FIT for the Future

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE
RANDWICK CITY COUNCIL
WAVERLEY COUNCIL

21 October 2015

The NSW Government and the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal declared that the Randwick Waverley Councils merger proposal as ‘fit’ for the future.

Randwick Mayor Noel D’Souza and Waverley Mayor Sally Betts have together welcomed the announcement by Premier Mike Baird and Minister for Local Government Paul Toole and say it has safeguarded our eastern beaches identity.

Randwick Mayor, Noel D’Souza said:

“We listened to our community, who clearly told us earlier this year that they value our eastern beaches identity and strongly oppose becoming part of a global city council with the City of Sydney, as originally proposed by the Independent Local Government Review Panel,” he said.

“Merging our two Councils will protect us from the threat of a global city while further uniting our eastern beaches community and delivering cost savings of up to $103M in the first 10 years alone. This is money we can directly invest into extra services for our residents.

“This announcement paves the way for a strong, eastern beaches council and I am pleased to see all our hard work and leadership has paid off,” Mayor D’Souza said.

Waverley Mayor Sally Betts said:

“A Waverley Randwick merge means our residents will keep their local identity rather than becoming part of the Global City. We know this is a better outcome for our communities, which is why we are delighted IPART has deemed our merger proposal fit for the future. Our residents share communities of interest and a passion for our beautiful area,” she said.

“We have always wanted to deliver better services to our residents, which is why we worked hard on our merger proposal. We know together we can provide improved services and increased facilities without disruption to our residents.

“This is a really exciting time for local government, and I’m delighted Waverley and Randwick are leading the way for a better future for our communities,” Mayor Betts said.

Randwick and Waverley Councils submitted their joint merger proposal on 29 June 2015 to the IPART in response to the NSW Government’s Fit for the Future program. A copy of the proposal is available here.

Both Councils have also implemented five years employment protection for our staff when amalgamations occurs.

The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal have released their findings, declaring that only one third of NSW Councils submissions were found to be ‘fit for the future’.

NSW Councils who were declared ‘unfit’ now have 30 days to respond to the announcement and consider their position. Randwick and Waverley Councils will use this time to work together planning for a seamless transition to a new Council when and if the State Government decides to approve our proposal.

ENDS

Media contacts:

Randwick: Joshua Hay0402 351 459 joshua.hay@randwick.nsw.gov.au

Waverley: Julie Peters 0450 904 942 julie.peters@waverley.nsw.gov.au