The Northern Territory will remain divided into ‘supershires’; though the plan’s name will change and bureaucratic layers will swell, reports say.

Local Government Minister for NT Alison Anderson says some modifications to the existing system will allow more people in remote areas to have a greater say on decisions through small local authorities. Ms Anderson also says that in stage one of the reforms, ‘supershires’ would change their name to ‘regional councils’.

“Stage two of the reforms will involve a full review into sustainability and viability of regional local government in the Northern Territory,” she said, “any further changes, such as boundaries, will be a result of this process.”

Changes to the rules for NT’s local governments have come after a 25-member regional governance working group agreed on two models that were discussed in 177 community visits and at 279 meetings.

Overwhelmingly residents felt the ‘supershires’ model had left people feeling disenfranchised, according to Ms Anderson, while admitting that renaming the current shires was not the kind of immediate response many demanded she said it was an important move to toward the right path.

News sources in the Northern Territory are speculating over an increased bureaucratic process which may be applied to the changing models, but Local Government Association NT President Damien Ryan said that was not the case.