In December 2011 the Department of Local Government issued its draft action plan Destination 2036. One of its key initiatives, in fact Initiative one, was to facilitate greater resource sharing and cooperation between Councils. This was to be achieved primarily through the respective Regional Organisation of Councils (ROCs). Most Councils in NSW are members of ROCs, which have been working together co-operatively for years, but here in the Northern Tablelands we do not currently have a functioning ROC. There was a rather desultory attempt made in February 2012 to resurrect the New England Local Government Group, which hadn’t bothered to meet for seven years. Not surprisingly nothing has been heard since from this defunct group.
On August 8 2012 there was a meeting in Guyra, which I attended, of the Independent Local Government Review Panel with the eight Councils in the Northern Tablelands area. The terms of reference of this panel state: The panel will investigate and identify options for governance models, structural arrangements and boundary changes for local government in NSW
Maybe still suffering from the failure of the so-called Strategic Alliance of four of our Councils, there has so far been a deadly silence from all Councils, and a decided reluctance to engage in any decisive action, including as a starting point, the actual founding of a functioning Northern Tablelands ROC.
Apart from some resource sharing between Armidale Dumaresq and Guyra Councils, and a proposed model to corporatise IT, Finance and similar services, which has as a real danger to the larger ADC that once more, like in the failed NESAC, we risk being dominated by the much smaller partners, there has been no regional cooperation to speak of.
One of the things I aim to work for if re-elected is to continue pushing for the formation of a functioning Northern Tablelands Regional Organisation of Council (NTROC), where all or a majority of Councils in the area are members, and where true regional cooperation can occur in the interests of all Councils involved.
Cr Herman Beyersdorf,
Armidale Dumaresq Council
