LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENTS

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (14:48): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for State/Local Government Relations a question about boundary adjustments.

Leave granted.

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: The council area in which we live can be a very important issue for some people as it defines who we are and the activities that go on around us. Will the minister update the chamber on recent developments in respect of council boundaries?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:49): I thank the honourable member for her most important question. Indeed, council boundaries are a topic that can make some people very hot under the collar, so I am very pleased to inform the council that, following a submission from the Boundary Adjustment Facilitation Panel, I have recently settled a matter between two important councils in the South-East of our state: the District Council of Grant and its neighbour, the City of Mount Gambier.

The Boundary Adjustment Facilitation Panel, which comprises four members appointed under the Local Government Act, is charged with considering and providing advice to me about any proposed changes to boundaries. Two members are chosen by me as Minister for State/Local Government Relations, and I select another two from four nominated by the LGA.

The panel has endorsed guidelines to assist councils and electors in the development and preparation of submissions for a review of a council's external boundary, its composition or representative structures. A submission to change the boundaries in an area can be made by a group of 20 or more electors, and a proposal for boundary adjustment may come from council, electors or jointly from affected councils.

The submission must first be made to the affected councils. If supported, the councils may make a joint proposal to the panel. The Boundary Adjustment Facilitation Panel recently put to me for approval a proposal to transfer five parcels of land from the District Council of Grant to the City of Mount Gambier. The affected area covers approximately 695 hectares and involves over 270 properties comprising a mix of residential, commercial, industrial and primary production land uses.

The boundary change proposal was the culmination of the most strategic and important decisions by both councils to ensure the future development and expansion of the City of Mount Gambier for the next 80 years, and I approved the boundary change on 8 June 2010.

It means that the City of Mount Gambier can be developed in keeping with the Greater Mount Gambier Master Plan while the District Council of Grant can remain an essentially rural council. The new boundary recognises the strong communities of interest between the two councils. This change means that the Mount Gambier TAFE and University of South Australia campus, Bunnings, associated commercial and bulky goods development, a residential estate, a golf course and large areas of land set aside for urban residential development fall within the City of Mount Gambier.

I congratulate the District Council of Grant on initiating the proposal, which is based on the Greater Mount Gambier Master Plan, to extend the City of Mount Gambier by relinquishing some of its areas. I understand that the councils have agreed on an ex gratia once-off payment from the City of Mount Gambier to the District Council of Grant as a financial compensation for the assets to be transferred to Mount Gambier. In addition, Mount Gambier is to implement a rate adjustment program so that rates payable by the new ratepayers in Mount Gambier will be phased in over a period of five years to mitigate any significant differences between the rates.

Here we have a very good example of the councils being proactive and taking a cooperative approach that achieves a positive and strategic outcome for the region. It is a good thing for the area that these two councils have got together and worked on this proposal, and they should be congratulated on achieving agreement to the benefit of both councils and their residents.