VEC proposed reforms to Kingston’s Wards, coming too soon
The City of Kingston is calling on Local Government Minister the Hon Adem Somyurek MP, to not rush through any changes to Council’s Ward structure until the new Local Government Bill is introduced.
This follows an announcement made today by the VEC that identifies two options for Kingston’s Ward structure to move forward on, which include:
- Keeping the same number of councillors with changes to the current ward boundaries
- Increasing the number of councillors to 11, with some changes to current ward boundaries.
The VEC will now conduct a second community consultation centred around these two options, which will run from Wednesday 14 August until Wednesday 11 September.
Kingston Mayor Georgina Oxley said that the VEC’s Representation Review is an expensive process which has already cost the community more than $50,000 and is subject to further changes.
“Any changes should be put on hold until after the implementation of the new Local Government Bill, which proposes changing Kingston’s ward structure to become single-councillor wards,” said Cr Oxley. “The introduction of any new structure before this Bill is introduced would create confusion and would be a waste of time.”
In July, Cr Oxley sent a letter on behalf of the Council to the Minister for Local Government, the Hon Adem Somyurek MP, requesting a postponement of any decision following the first VEC review in June.
“We hope that the Minister for Local Government listens to Council’s request for any changes to be postponed, so that they have an opportunity to be rolled out well and for the community to be properly informed.”
