Photo: Liz Atkins/Facebook
By AMBER GRIFFIN
On Tuesday 9th August, Sydneysiders in favour of the demerger rallied together in front of the Parliament House of NSW with colourful shirts, signs, and a strong message to ‘put local back into council’.
The protest was organised by ‘Residents for De-amalgamation’ alongside the ‘NSW Demerger Alliance’, two groups that are leading advocates for the Inner West Council Demerger.
In the 2021 local government elections, over 60 per cent of voters voted to demerge the Inner West Council (IWC) back to the original Leichhardt, Marrickville, and Ashfield wards after they were compulsorily merged in 2016.
“I have full confidence that our community will move ahead with strength and positivity with or without the Mayor and General Manager. The strong momentum for demergers across NSW is broad-based and will keep going,” IWC Independent Councillor John Stamolis said.
The IWC demerger debate remains stronger than ever across Sydney, the demerger rally and protest achieved an impressive turnout and the voices of the Inner West community refuse to be silenced as they speak out to ‘keep the local in local government’.
Photo: Liz Atkins/Facebook
“Many people are now saying that Inner West Council is trying to override and ignore the voice of the Inner West community to demerge,” IWC Independent Councillor John Stamolis stated.
“Every month, Council puts up motion after motion in an attempt to develop community engagement and to tell you that Council is listening to you … its response to the Demerger Poll makes it clear, however, that the Inner West Council is not listening to you on an issue of great priority to you and your future.”
The voices of the Inner West spoke loudly and proudly at the rally, sharing their favour for the demerger and their disappointment with the Morrison Lowe Business Case.
Greens and Independent Councillors along with many community members urge the Government for an “open and transparent” demerger business case that “properly engages with the community, with enough time for the complexities of the issues to be grappled with.”
“No one is saying it’s an easy case to write, no one is saying there aren’t risks to be managed, What we are saying is that the business case should properly reflect the risks AND the benefits of the demerger and discuss how the risks should be dealt with and should properly include the views of the community,” Councillor Liz Atkins shared this during her speech at the Demerger rally on Tuesday.
“What we got was a draft business case that reads like a case against demerger rather than for it; an online process which involved filling out a survey; an online public forum using a platform not everyone is familiar with and where many participants couldn’t ask questions; a very short timeframe for community engagement; a reluctance to accept submissions except through the online survey; and a timeframe to come back to council which couldn’t actually be met,” Councillor Liz Atkins said.
Councillor Liz Atkins advised that the rushed demerger process will result in a business case that will convince no one, particularly a minister in a government which is anti-demerger.
“If this process is rushed through Council, as appears likely, our avenue becomes the ability to make submissions to the Boundaries commission. I encourage you all to prepare to give evidence and make submissions.”
Demerger Rally at NSW Parliament House calls to 'put local back into council' - City Hub Sydney
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