Brian Haratsis, speaking on behalf of Macroplan, a property research and advisory firm contends that within a coming ten year period all the councils in the Illawarra will be amalgamated into a single body. This runs against the wishes of many residents, but is it inevitable ?
If we look back at past history, consolidation of smaller councils into a larger body have been a regular occurrence - particularly as the function of councils has been expanded by both the Federal and state governments. Originally councils were concerned with providing roads and rubbish facilities - but that has moved a long way into more complicated areas - which add to ratepayer's costs.
The situation with landfills comes to mind. In Wollongong Whytes Gully will reach saturation point in several more years - and Helensburgh tip is to close and become a transfer station. A similar situation will soon overtake Shellharbour and Kiama - and it seems inevitable that their replacement will be a mega tip shared by all three - somewhere a long way from all three town centres.
Perhaps the future is better expressed by the innovation of phone facilities provided by the new Southern Phone company. This little Telco is owned by all the councils who share equally in it's profits. Maybe what we will see in the council works area is a new holding company that owns all the heavy machinery and pays it's staff independently while doing the work of former council work forces.
Such an entity would benefit from economy of scale and become a virtual contractor owned by each of the local councils - similar to the Thiess rubbish removal operation that deals with wheelie bin collection across broad council areas.
Maybe fine tuning of services may offer a better deal for ratepayers than a mere amalgamation of councils. At least the idea is worth in depth investigation !
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