Bunbury council numbers to get slashed

Bunbury City Council has given the green light to cut councillor numbers from 13 to nine after a passionate debate on Tuesday night.

Nearly all 13 elected members, including Mayor Gary Brennan, spoke on the issue in an hour-long discussion.

In the end the vote was narrowly won 7-6.

Councillors also rejected a move to hold a referendum on the proposal at the next election. The council will write to the Local Government Advisory Board to request a reduction in its numbers over the next two elections.

The board will present its recommendation to Local Government Minister Tony Simpson, who will make the final decision.

Mr Brennan and councillors James Hayward, Sam Morris, Judy Jones, Murray Cook, David Prosser and Neville McNeill voted to cut councillor numbers.

There were two main arguments presented during the debate. Those in favour of a reduction argued the move would increase competition for seats and save about $100,000 a year in sitting fees.

Those against the move feared there would be less diversity of councillors and a greater chance of special interests groups taking control of the council.

Cr Jones said Bunbury should follow the move by the Busselton City Council, which reduced its numbers to nine in the past four years.

She said Busselton had not suffered any “evident” deficiencies because of the change.

However, a number of councillors, including Deputy Mayor Brendon Kelly and Cr Karen Steele said Bunbury should not base its decision on another local government.

Cr Steele argued that there was less diversity at the Busselton council because no women were elected at last year’s election.

Mr Brennan – who proposed the reduction of council numbers – said he was delighted at the council’s decision and would stand by the final decision of the State Government.

The council decision fits in with broader State Government reform plans for local government that include reducing the number of councils. Premier Colin Barnett has already flagged the possibility of pursuing mergers in the Bunbury-Wellington region.