The Local Government Association of Tasmania has hit out at the lobby group pushing for reform of the Local Government sector in Tasmania. 

 

"The lobby group pushing for reform of Local Government needs to understand that this is a sector made up of councils with democratically elected members, members elected by the people they represent", President of the Local Government Association of Tasmania, Mayor Easther said today.

 

"Those people are not knocking down the doors of town halls around the State, nor are they converging upon council meetings seeking their council to be amalgamated, he said. "That a few vested interest groups want change, almost for change sake, is becoming monotonous and self-serving."

 

The southern councils in the State commissioned an expert panel to consider a range of issues including structural changes. When presented with the report those that commissioned it had some queries of the authors relating to assumptions, evidence and data, and have sought further clarification.

 

"It is a pity that the Property Council hadn't done the same when it commissioned its report, otherwise it may not have reached the outlandish conclusions it did," Mayor Easther said. "The southern councils have every right to take the appropriate time to address issues that have potentially significant impacts on their communities."

 

"Unfortunately, the Tasmanians for Reform lobby group considers that it is the voice of the people. Let me assure you that the communities that councils represent would prefer to do their own bidding, rather than having a lobby group do it for them," Mayor Easther said.

 

"The surveys that have been conducted take no account of facts and provide little evidence to respondents in terms of the impacts of any changes on their particular circumstance. The "facts" of massive rate decreases is a significant taunt but has not materialised anywhere in the western world where structural reform has occurred."