THE Shire of Peppermint Grove remained defiant about amalgamations at a meeting with Mosman Park, Cottesloe and Claremont councils last week, with elected members indicating they would not join a Regional Transition Group (RTG) with their neighbours.
Chief executives, mayors and councillors of the local authorities met on the invitation of Mosman Park last Wednesday to discuss forming an RTG that would lead to the completion of a business plan outlining the viability of amalgamating. Premier and Cottesloe MLA Colin Barnett also attended.
The State Government has invited clusters of councils to combine as groups and, at the Government’s expense, gather the positives and negatives of combining.
Peppermint Grove president Brian Kavanagh said that like the remaining three councils, he personally believed joining the RTG was a positive move but it was clear his councillors had a different opinion at last week’s meeting.
“I would like to explore that because there is an opt-out clause if there were no significant benefits for Peppermint Grove,” he said.
“The Premier spelt out what his vision for local government was for the future and asked councillors to look in the mirror and see if this is what it should look like in the future.”
Peppermint Grove was expected to formally consider joining the RTG at its meeting last night.
Mosman Park Mayor Ron Norris said Peppermint Grove could become marginalised if they refused to take part in further amalgamation talks.
He said the Shire could have limited access to state and federal government funding if the remaining local government authorities combined and it did not.