Randwick, Waverley and Woollahra Councils may become part of a new eastern suburbs council from mid 2016 under a proposed merger by the NSW Government.

The merger is one of 15 new councils proposed to be created across greater Sydney which would reduce the number of councils from 43 to 25. 

The new Eastern Sydney Council would have a population of 274,000 residents spanning the entire eastern suburbs from Vaucluse to La Perouse, making it the fifth largest council in the state and 11th largest in the country.

Randwick Mayor Noel D’Souza said the new council has the potential to deliver improved services for the wider community.

“We are a strong and proud Council and I know our community would have preferred to stand alone. Unfortunately as we suspected all along, this is not an option. 

“Our Councillors have shown strong leadership and have protected our residents and staff against the threat of a larger global city council which nobody wanted.

“In June last year we submitted a joint merger proposal with Waverley Council which was assessed as ‘fit’. We gave the government a credible alternative to consider and they have listened and are proposing a much more sensible eastern suburbs council,” Mayor D’Souza said. 

Council’s financial modelling – which was independently analysed, audited and verified – found a Randwick, Waverley and Woollahra merger could result in increased services to the value of $235 million. It will also meet all seven ‘Fit for the Future’ ratio benchmarks in two years, eliminate the backlog of works in five years and repay debt while maintaining our capital works programs.

“We’ll be able to provide even more services and facilities for our local residents while still delivering our existing capital works programs and activities,” Mayor D’Souza said.

“We are fortunate to live in one of the best parts of Sydney and we share many foreshore commonalities across Randwick, Waverley and Woollahra. This is demonstrated by similar types of open space and natural coastal landscapes— for example our three national parks, seven golf courses, 28 beaches and 16 ocean pools and swimming enclosures.”

The merger proposal was on public exhibition throughout January and February for public comment and two public inquiries were held by a Delegate for the Office of Local Government in February.

The Delegate will provide a report to the Minister for Local Government who will then decide how to proceed with the merger proposal.