Pittwater Life December 2023 Issue

Pittwater Council return boost
Community group Protect Pittwater
says it is encouraged at the prospects
of a return to Pittwater Council local
governance following the tabling of a
Private Members Bill in NSW Parliament
last month.
Greens NSW Upper House member
Dr Amanda Cohn introduced the
Local Government Amendment (Deamalgamation
Plebiscites) Bill 2023,
while referencing the concerns of
individuals and groups within the
Pittwater community, together with
nine other disenfranchised NSW
communities.
Dr Cohn noted the recent closure
of Northern Beaches Council’s Avalon
Customer Service Centre was just one
example of the reduction in services to
the Pittwater community and echoed the
concerns of many Pittwater residents in
relation to local issues being ignored by
the amalgamated council.
Protect Pittwater President Simon
Dunn joined representatives of Demerge
NSW Alliance (DNA) to welcome
the tabling of the ground-breaking
legislation, calling it “the missing piece
of the Local Government Act”.
“For the first time NSW communities
have a potential pathway for binding
PUSH: Simon Dunn (left) with Dr Amanda Cohn
(centre) and members of the Demerge NSW Alliance,
including Cr Miranda Korzy (right).
plebiscites to be held instead of the next
scheduled local government elections in
September 2024 and thereby provide a
mechanism for true local government to
be restored,” Mr Dunn said.
“The people of Pittwater were
overwhelming opposed to amalgamation
of their successful Council and outraged
that the decision to do so was made
arbitrarily by the then Minister for Local
Government.
“This bill promises to take back the
power to restore a Council from the desk
of one minister and place it squarely in
the hands of local communities, where
democratically it must reside.”
Pittwater Greens Councillor Miranda
Korzy, a founder of the Protect Pittwater
demerger group, said: “The significance
of this development for Pittwater is
that it would create a clear pathway to a
demerger via a plebiscite if passed into
law.
“The plebiscite would not force
a demerger if the community
voted against it, however it would
automatically bind the government to
re-establishing Pittwater as a standalone
Council if the majority want it.
“We would need to collect signatures
from just over 10 per cent of electors
from the former Pittwater Council area
– whose total population was around
60,000 at the time of the merger in 2016.
This would be totally achievable.
“It would then automatically trigger
a plebiscite where residents vote for or
against a demerger.”
Cr Korzy called on Pittwater MP Rory
Amon, who along with Dr Cohn cochairs
the NSW Parliamentary Friends of
Local Government, to advocate for the
bill amongst his Liberal colleagues in
Parliament.
– Nigel Wall
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DECEMBER 2023 19