GAWLER elected members have expressed differing thoughts on how the council area will be affected by being split between two state electorates.

The South Australian Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission released its draft redraw of the state’s electoral zones last month, which included plans to split Gawler between the Light and Schubert seats.

Under the draft redraw Gawler would move into Schubert, held by former transport minister and Liberal Stephan Knoll, while Evanston would remain in Light MP Tony Piccolo’s electorate.

At a special meeting last week, Gawler elected members discussed the draft changes and how they could affect the council’s business.

Councillor Cody Davies said the north of the town could benefit from sitting in the now-marginal Schubert electorate.

“This is something that will affect us as a council, but in what way remains to be seen,” he said.

“It’s always good to be a marginal seat because we can ask for some more funding as a council.

“We’ll see how it goes, I just hope it doesn’t have a negative impact on the Evanston half of Gawler in terms of attention paid to it as it becomes a safe seat.”

Councillor David Hughes agreed saying: “No disrespect to Tony Piccolo, but I think us having two MPs is better than us having one”.

“The chances of us getting some benefits by having two MPs to look at issues that affect all of Gawler and Schubert is a good thing,” he said.

“I think there could be opportunities for Gawler.”

The redrawn boundaries are currently out for public consultation and will be confirmed in November.

Despite some support in the chamber for the council being split between two electorates, councillor Diane Fraser said it would be a “nightmare”.

“I don’t think I agree with the two people who have spoken – I think it will be a nightmare,” she said.

“We’ll definitely be working with two different MPs, but we could be dealing with two different parties as well.”