Randwick and Waverley Councils have today, 29 June 2015, lodged their joint merger proposal to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) in response to the NSW Government's Fit for the Future program.

The merger will create a new eastern suburbs council area with a population of 216,000 residents from Vaucluse to La Perouse and is expected to deliver cost benefits over 10 years of $103M.

The proposal is a sound alternative which retains communities of interest while still being broadly consistent with the Independent Local Government Review Panel's proposal for a global city council.

Randwick Mayor Ted Seng said:

"After completing extensive, detailed analysis and community consultation, Waverley and Randwick Council have today finalised and submitted our joint merger proposal that is in-line with the NSW Government's Fit for the Future criteria.

"The communities of Randwick and Waverley share strong ties. We are both coastal communities taking in the Sydney Coastal Walkway and iconic Sydney beaches. A Randwick-Waverley merger will result in a larger council capable of providing quality services and facilities and partnering with the State Government on regional matters," Mayor Seng said.

Waverley Mayor Sally Betts said:

"Waverley and Randwick residents already form a community of interest and our Councils work together on a number of environmental initiatives. When we consider sub-regional planning issues, our new partnership will play a very important role.

"Our communities have told us that they would prefer to stand alone but if mergers must happen to meet the scale and capacity criteria, then they would prefer an eastern suburbs council rather than a global city involving City of Sydney," Mayor Betts said.

Community consultation found support for retaining a coastal council with 90% favouring an eastern beaches council if mergers must happen and only 5% choosing a global city.

If approved by the NSW Government, the new council area would be the third largest population in NSW and the 11^th largest in Australia. With a combined Gross Regional Product (GRP) of $11.8b, the Randwick-Waverley merger will be the seventh largest council area contributing to the NSW economy.

The merger proposal includes options to include Woollahra and Botany Councils.

The proposal is a direct response to the Fit for the Future program and will be withdrawn if the Government decides not to proceed with council amalgamations.

DOWNLOADS:

• Merger Proposal_Randwick and Waverley FINAL 29 June 2015 (5MB pdf)
• Attachment 1: Waverley and Randwick resolutions (2MB pdf)
• Attachment 2.1 - 2.3: Research and analysis (14MB pdf)
• Attachment 2.4: Grant Thornton (1MB pdf)
• Attachment 2.5: Randwick Options Analysis (33MB pdf)
• Attachment 2.6: Merger Business Case (11MB pdf)
• Attachment 2.7: Service Levels Analysis (2MB pdf)
• Attachment 3: Community Consultation (14MB pdf)
• Attachment 4: Correspondence Resolutions (2MB pdf)

MORE DETAILS:

• www.yoursay.randwick.nsw.gov.au/future or
• www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/council/local_government_reform

IPART PUBLIC EXHIBITION:

The Independent Pricing & Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has placed Randwick and Waverley Council's merger proposal on public exhibition for comment until 31 July 2015.

• View the Randwick & Waverley merger proposal on IPART's website
• Lodge a submission on the Randwick & Waverley merger porposal on IPART's website

ENDS

Media contacts:

Randwick: Joshua Hay 0402 351 459 joshua.hay@randwick.nsw.gov.au
Waverley: Julie Peters 0450 904 942 julie.peters@waverley.nsw.gov.au