The NSW Boundaries Commission has rejected the Inner West Council's bid to deamalgamate, despite 62.5% of residents voting to do so. Peter Boyle reports.
Darcy Byrne
Inner West Council is the first of the forcibly amalgamated councils in NSW to give residents a direct say on a demerger. But, as Pip Hinman reports, it will distribute questionable information to residents.
The forced amalgamation of three councils in the inner west of Sydney has not worked and residents need to be given a say, argues Peter Boyle.
An extraordinary Inner West Council meeting called by Greens councillors on October 3 to discuss supporting residents’ groups’ campaign against the WestConnex tollway project resulted in very little.
The Labor Mayor Darcy Byrne dominated the five-hour meeting, filibustering to prevent four motions from being discussed. Byrne, who regularly proclaims that “democracy has been restored to council”, insisted that his motions in the form of two “Mayoral minutes”, which had not been circulated, take centre stage.
In front of a packed public gallery, Labor sided with the Liberals to award the Inner West Council mayorship and deputy mayorship to themselves on September 21.
Labor’s Darcy Byrne received the support of two Liberals and conservative independent Victor Macri for mayor, with Liberal councillor Julie Passas elected as deputy.
Byrne and Passas narrowly defeated anti-WestConnex independent Pauline Lockie and the Greens’ Colin Hesse, who stood for mayor and deputy, respectively, in an 8—7 vote.