It’s a “fourth-tier of government”. That’s the view of Port Macquarie-Hastings mayor Peter Besseling on the State government decision to create 11 Joint Organisations (JO) in NSW.
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“It will effectively dilute the ability of individual councils to determine their own future direction with matters such as infrastructure priorities, service delivery, strategic planning, intergovernmental collaboration and advocacy outsourced to JO for direct connection with NSW government departments,” Mr Besseling said in a Port Macquarie-Hastings Council submission to the State government.
“No individual or group that I have spoken to through this term of council is supportive of another level of governance. Most believe that in a State with a population less than the City of London, we are over-governed,” Mr Besseling said.
The State government is continuing its ‘Fit for the Future’ local government reform agenda and the next stage is the creation of Joint Organisations (JO) throughout the State (see below for related story links).
The map places MidCoast Council in the proposed Hunter JO and Port Macquarie-Hastings Council in the proposed North Coast JO. It differs from the pre-amalgamation JO proposal that could have seen Greater Taree, Gloucester, Port Macquarie-Hastings and Kempsey formed into the Mid North Coast JO.
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