Battle for Burswood brews
The mayors of South Perth and Victoria Park have come out swinging at the suggestion Burswood peninsula could still be taken off them after yesterday scoring a win over the City of Perth.
The State Government yesterday endorsed a recommendation from the Local Government Advisory Board that South Perth and Victoria Park merge, retain Burswood and take - temporarily at least - the name of South Park. But Premier Colin Barnett said he believed the peninsula was better suited to Perth and the deal would be reviewed in five years.
"While the Government prefers the situation that the Crown casino and the new sports stadium are included in the City of Perth, the Local Government Advisory Board has recommended to use the natural boundary of the river so somewhat of a compromise has been reached," he said. "We will leave the Burswood peninsula within the town of Victoria Park . . . and that arrangement will be reviewed in five years time when the major construction is completed."
WESTERN SUPER CITY ON HOLD, NATS BLOCK VISION
SEE THE NEW COUNCIL BOUNDARIES
THE NEW COUNCIL BOUNDARIES EXPLAINED
Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi added fuel to the fire when she said she would continue to lobby for the peninsula to be part of an expanded Perth.
South Perth mayor Sue Doherty said Perth's bid for the peninsula was "about greed and not need".
"The loss of revenue from the Burswood peninsula would be significant and mean more to the City of South Park than its gain to the City of Perth," she said. "On this basis, it is certain that the City of South Park would mount similar strong arguments in the future if there was a proposal to annex the whole or part of Burswood peninsula in the future."
Victoria Park mayor Trevor Vaughan said the Government would "have a huge fight" on its hands if it tried to make Burswood part of Perth.
Across Perth's 30 metropolitan councils, the reaction to the Government's plans for boundary reform were predictably mixed.
Some, such as Perth and the City of Fremantle, which got mostly what they had asked for, were happy.
Others, like the City of Stirling and the shires of Serpentine-Jarrahdale and Kalamunda, which did not, were disappointed.
Kalamunda president Sue Bilich said it was an "absolute disgrace" that ratepayers would be denied a vote.
The reaction among those western suburbs councils left in limbo was mostly frustration.
Town of Mosman Park mayor Ron Norris said the council, which had backed a G5 western suburbs model, would have to decide if it still backed it without the University of WA and QEII Medical Centre.
Shire of Peppermint Grove chief executive John Merrick said it was "just unbelievable to get to this stage and still be left hanging on a limb".
City of Vincent mayor John Carey said he was relieved Vincent would not be split but wanted a guarantee there would be no vote weighting in a capital city that included Vincent.
"We're looking at all our options right now but, clearly, if they proceed with any sort of gerrymandering system then we will fight that," he said.
Local Government Minister Tony Simpson and Mr Barnett appeared to contradict each other yesterday on the subject of vote weighting in Perth to avoid the CBD being controlled by residential voters.
Mr Simpson poured cold water on the prospect but the Premier suggested he could look at capital city legislation similar to that in the City of Melbourne, which has weighted votes.
Nationals leader Terry Redman indicated his party may be prepared to scuttle the Government's capital city legislation, saying the party would not support forced amalgamations.
Asked if the Nationals would back the legislation in Parliament, Mr Redman said the party reserved its right to take a position on any legislation.
Opposition Leader Mark McGowan said the Government had broken its promise not to force amalgamations.
"This has created confusion and uncertainty across local government, and the Premier, in his arrogant approach to this, is causing the confusion and uncertainty in councils across the metropolitan area," he said.
