It's Time

At long last, the Local Government Advisory Board has issued the call for submissions on proposals for local government boundary changes. Whatever one thinks of the process to-date, at least the LGAB is doing the right thing in 
(a) calling for submissions rather than wait for the Bill that would remove that requirement to be passed by the Parliament (by no means guaranteed) and 
(b) doing so for all proposals, not just those made by the WA Government.

I don't envy the LGAB its task in assessing these proposals as there are so many conflicts between them.

But now is the time for all of us affected to let the LGAB know how we feel. The Board is required to consider all submissions and to have regard to:
- community of interest
- physical and topographical features
- demographic trends
- economic factors
- the history of the area
- transport and communications
- matters affecting the viability of local governments
- the effective delivery of local government services.

There is an information paper available from the Department of Local Government's website (http://dlg.wa.gov.au/Content/LG/AdvisoryBoard/CurrentInquiries/Downloads/LGAB_InformationPaper.pdf) but it does little more than outline the matters the Board must have regard to. 

There are FIVE proposals that affect the City of Vincent. These are:

- Proposal 16: The City of Vincent proposal for all of Vincent to join City of Perth

- Proposal 14: The City of Perth proposal for Perth to take over the southern part of Vincent (including Leederville centre and key assets)

- Proposal 01/2013: The State Government proposal for most of Vincent to join the City of Perth (but not the riverside Banks Precinct area)

- Proposal 6: The City of Bayswater proposal that would take over the riverside area of Banks Precinct

- Proposal 03/2013:The State Government proposal for Bayswater/Bassendean, which would also see the riverside area of Banks Precinct removed from Vincent.

You can find details of these proposals by scrolling down to the bottom of the web page (http://dlg.wa.gov.au/Content/LG/AdvisoryBoard/CurrentInquiries/MetroInquiries.aspx) and selecting 'Vincent, City of' from the drop-down menu.

I encourage all those who can to make submissions on all five proposals. You don't have to comment on the whole proposal, but it is important to have as many submissions as we can on those aspects that affect Vincent.

If you want Vincent to remain as an independent local government, you should say so clearly in your submissions - if you do not, you will simply be recorded as objecting to the current proposals, but there is no specific proposal for you to support.

To make a submission you can:

- complete the form attached to the information paper - this is a very basic form, so you would almost certainly need to add attachments

- write to the Local Government Advisory Board,c/- GPO Box R1250, Perth WA 6844

- email: advisory.board@dlgc.wa.gov.au

- fax: (08) 6552 1555

The submission period closes at 4pm on 13th March.