Woollahra’s final showdown

Woollahra’s final showdown
BY LANI OATAWAY
 
On Friday 6 January, Woollahra Council filed an application to the High Court to appeal against their forced merger with the Randwick and Waverley Councils. This is Woollahra’s last ditch effort to protect local government. If the High Court agrees to hear the case, Council will still need to vote to proceed.
Former Woollahra councillor and NSW Greens Spokesperson for NSW local government, David Shoebridge, told City Hub that Woollahra Council’s fight is necessary to protect its small, local leadership.
“What the Baird Government is really hoping for is to have another class of bland professional politicians that they can control from head office, and get rid of the personalities and grassroots connections that have been the mainstay of local government,” he said.
“What [Woollahra] Council is saying is that compliance with the inquiry process into amalgamations needs to be genuine, not just some farcical tick-a-box which is what the State Government undertook.”
Mayor of Woollahra, Tony Zeltzer, told News Corp she regrets the expensive legal fees being paid by public money to sustain the fight, but insists the Council must exhaust every avenue. Around $800,000 has been spent on the legal battle to date.
“There are no discernible benefits for the Woollahra community under the proposed merger – only costs – so we are not prepared to give up the fight on behalf of our community,” Cr Zeltzer told News Corp.
Despite this large figure, Mr Shoebridge said it is paltry in comparison to grander schemes set to cost millions in the Eastern Suburbs near future.
“It is a significant sum, but when you consider liberal Mayor Sally Betts wanting to waste up to $30 million mainly off Woollahra’s money on her Taj Mahal at the Bondi Pavilion, almost every way Woollahra’s residents could see the case of value for money,” he told City Hub.  

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