IN REPLY to councillor Michael Phillips-Ryder’s “Questions abound” letter, I offer my observations through insight gained as an elected member for the Town of Gawler, understanding that Mr Phillips-Ryder is an elected member for Light Regional Council.
As part of last year’s budget considerations council did remove funding for the boundary reform inquiry from the budget.
This was done to manage the future year’s expenditure (and thereby our rates).
We did so as the boundary reform inquiry was, in the words of the State Government’s Local Government Boundary Commission, “significant and complex” and the expenditure would likely fall due in a future budget cycle.
Such a budget change was not an indication that the boundary reform inquiry process would cease – that could only be done by a formal request to the Boundary Commission.
For background, council initiated the independent investigation of the current boundary of the Town of Gawler in December 2019.
It was, as I understand, was one of the first councils to use the new State Government process so council understood that they would be testing the new system and delays could be expected.
In December 2020 council confirmed the Boundary Commission’s decision that an investigation was warranted and that the process could move on to stage two.
It has been nearly 40 years since the last review of our town’s boundaries and, in my view, this decision to ask an independent body to review the current situation was a timely and strategic decision.
Interestingly, both Barossa and Light councils made similar requests to the Boundary Commission in October 2019 and May 2020 respectively.
Barossa later withdrew its proposal and Light’s was not referred by the Boundary Commission for consideration.
In January 2024, after extensive consultation with all four councils involved, the Boundary Commission issued a media release announcing that it was proceeding with an inquiry into proposed changes to the Town of Gawler’s council boundaries.
All information concerning this process, including responses to the Light Regional Council, can be found on the Boundary Commission’s website.
I encourage interested ratepayers to review this site for a bal- anced view of a process which is measured, fair and independent.
The views expressed in this letter are my personal opinions.
Helen Hennessy,
Gawler
