Launceston council not opposed to amalgamations but not without adjustments

All councillors present at the July 13 meeting voted to approve the council's submission to the third stage of the review, which found all potential scenarios acceptable - with several provisos.

This continued with the recent Tasmanian Government announcement that amalgamations will be voluntary, with mayor Matthew Garwood claiming the City of Launceston was open to discussions with neighbouring councils about the future of local government in the region.

The current City of Launceston council area falls within the Tamar Valley community catchment outlined by the Local Government Board, who also offered four potential scenarios for local governments.

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In their feedback for each scenario, councillors and council officers stressed any reforms must prioritise "place-based local community representation".

Speaking at the meeting councillor Danny Gibson said the focus had to be on long-term goals, and called for neighbouring councils to have a full conversation about the prospect of merging.

"The objective of the review is to create a more robust and capable system of local government for the benefit of all Tasmanians," Cr Gibson said.

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"We saw recently some local government council areas are putting their rates up 10 per cent. That is not going to be sustainable and reflect well on local governments into the future.

"Here is an opportunity for us to have a conversation. You can get hung up on the drawing of the map, or you can actually conceptualise the future of local government into the future long after we finish our roles."

Strengths identified in the scenarios included opportunities to better manage the kanamaluka/River Tamar estuary, better connection of metropolitan areas, and the potential to equalise funding levels in the region.

Downsides included a loss of representation in a larger municipality, and concerns some individual suburbs may not have their needs met by the new council.

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Councillor Tim Walker was reserved in his support and said although the scenarios made sense from several standpoints, drawing new municipal boundaries would not necessarily solve existing issues.

"No matter where the lines are put, (it will) create the same problems that already exist today that we're talking about trying to solve," Cr Walker said.

"We will just move that demarcation point further abroad. There are things that are still not addressed as much as we might like to think that we can address them."

Other councillors, like Alan Harris and Andrea Dawkins raised the prospect of service sharing and improved workforce resources but Cr Harris noted the support stopped shy of fully-centralising council services.

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Mayor Matthew Garwood said conversations around the future of local government needed to be "rational and considered" as the community navigated a complex review process.

The mayor said the focus needed to be on ensuring local government in the state remained "representative, effective and fit for purpose" rather than simply drawing lines on a map.

"There are clearly opportunities for greater regional strategic planning and development, but also challenges in ensuring local voices are not lost," Cr Garwood said.

"The City of Launceston remains open to discussions around how it can continue to work with our neighbouring councils, the valued relationships we have and - as always - any way in which we can resource share or the like, for the betterment of our communities."

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