Hawkesbury Mayor Kim Ford is furious about a survey on The Hills Shire Council’s website which aims to gauge resident views on amalgamation. He labelled it a ‘‘greedy land grab’’.
Presenting three options, the one considered most favourable by the Hills (Option 3), would take in part of the existing Hawkesbury Local Government Area (LGA), including Maraylya, Scheyville, Oakville, Vineyard, Pitt Town, Cattai, McGraths Hill and Windsor.
The survey is part of the Hills Council’s ‘Fit for the Future’ submission under the state government, to show their plan for a sustainable future.
Part of Hawkesbury Council’s submission was the strategic alliance it has entered into with Penrith and Blue Mountains councils, which Cr Ford said would strengthen the long-term future of the councils involved.
‘‘Both Hawkesbury and the Hills aren’t slated for amalgamation, so why would you survey people when the options are not relevant?’’ Cr Ford said.
‘‘Hawkesbury is a rural lifestyle council and that’s what people who live here want — they don’t want Rouse Hill-type high rise buildings to the edge of the Hawkesbury River.’’
Option 1 in the survey was recommended by the Independent Review Panel and did not include the Hawkesbury LGA.
Option 2 would take on the entire Hawkesbury LGA, but with Hawkesbury currently the largest Sydney council by area it’s considered too costly due to the $65 million infrastructure backlog that would impact on existing ratepayers in the Hills LGA.
When asked what would happen if the Hills succeeded with Option 3 — their preferred option — Cr Ford said ‘‘Hawkesbury Council would immediately be deemed unfit for the future’’.
‘‘It would take 13 per cent of our Hawkesbury population. If they took that away we wouldn’t have enough residents to sustain our rate base,’’ he said. ‘‘We would have to be broken up or given to another LGA.’’
Hills Mayor Andrew Jefferies said the Hills Council was rated as one of the top three councils in NSW based on its strong finances and strong asset management.
‘‘It’s clear from our feedback that many Hawkesbury residents would prefer to be a part of a larger, financially stronger and better managed council with the revenue to fund and efficiently roll out critical local infrastructure,’’ he said.
Mayor Ford said if the Hills were financially sustainable, ‘‘why would they want to impact on a neighbouring LGA (Hawkesbury) and threaten to destabilise its existence?’’.
‘‘We (Hawkesbury) are actively working on preparing the Fit for the Future plan and not wasting time pursuing options that are not preferred or promoted by the panel,’’ he said.
Following a statement distributed by Hawkesbury Council last Friday saying that Hawkesbury’s future was being threatened by the Hills Council’s proposal, the Hills retaliated by issuing a release on Monday morning personally attacking Hawkesbury Council’s general manager, Peter Jackson.
