Legal Proceedings Commenced by NSW Councils

News about the various Council mergers in New South Wales (NSW) seems to have quietened down since the majority of Council mergers occurred in May 2016.

However, the objecting Councils are still running or preparing to run their arguments against the NSW Government’s proposed mergers in the relevant Courts in the back ground.

One such battle has been played out between Woollahra Council and the NSW Government for its proposed merger with Waverley and Randwick.

On 20 July 2016 Chief Judge Brian Preston dismissed Woollahra Council’s on the basis that the Council had not established the grounds of its challenge.

The Council was ordered to pay the NSW Government’s costs which will come from rate payer’s money.

Despite this outcome, Woollahra Council has decided to battle on and appeal the decision of the LEC. In a Media Released dated 26 July 2016, the Mayor of Woollahra Council, Councillor Toni Zeltzer said:

“The decision to appeal was made on the same basis as our original legal challenge. This is just a further way of demonstrating how serious we are about protecting the democratic rights of our community and serving their best interests”.

The merger of Woollahra Council with Waverley and Randwick will now remain on hold until a final outcome is achieved.

Other Councils who have elected to challenge the NSW Government’s proposed mergers are also exempt until their appeal rights are exhausted.

Councils such as North Sydney, Botany Bay, Ku-ring-gai, Mosman, Strathfield and Hunters Hill have all voted to commence legal action against the NSW Government for proposed mergers.

The reasons for challenging the NSW Government’s decision include:

Ø  Increases to rates;

Ø  Failure to hold a proper public inquiry into the merger proposal; and

Ø  Failure to provide procedural fairness.

It will be a matter for the Courts to now determine whether each of the Councils that have commenced proceedings against the NSW Government have sufficient grounds to avoid the proposed amalgamation. Otherwise the amalgamations will be forced.

Watch this space.

G&B Lawyers

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