NSW local government reform: Council amalgamation, antagonism, and resistance

The New South Wales State Government announced its local government strategic reform programme Fit for the Future in 2014. At the centre of the plan was the desire to reduce the number of local government areas. Opponents mobilised various resistance strategies to challenge amalgamation. However, th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of public affairs 2018-11, Vol.18 (4), p.n/a
Main Author: Farid Uddin, Khandakar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amalgamation
Citizen participation
Community
Community involvement
Councils
Governmental reform
Hostility
Legal system
Local government
Local politics
Reforms
Resistance
State government
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Summary:The New South Wales State Government announced its local government strategic reform programme Fit for the Future in 2014. At the centre of the plan was the desire to reduce the number of local government areas. Opponents mobilised various resistance strategies to challenge amalgamation. However, the initial efforts to resist amalgamation failed but opponents got success in opposing amalgamation via the legal system. As such, the New South Wales State Government was forced to abandon its plans to amalgamate some regional and metropolitan councils in response to community opposition and resistance. Despite a growing body of existing literature, to date, the analyses of local government reform fail to examine the rationale and strategies of community opposition. To examine the public participation, community opposition, and resistance, this paper draws on the research that pertains to the proposed merger of the Ryde, Lane Cove, and Hunters Hill councils.
ISSN:1472-3891
1479-1854
DOI:10.1002/pa.1725