The Queensland Local Government Minister David Crisafulli has received 19 proposals from communities interested in resurrecting their former Councils.

 

Mr Crisafulli said the process was a valuable opportunity for residents still hurting from the forced amalgamations in 2008 to gauge the mood of their community.

“I commend the groups which have gone to a great deal of effort to put forward a case to de-amalgamate and we will now assess each of these according to the criteria we set out,” Mr Crisafulli said.

 

Successful submissions needed to provide a strong, evidence-based, community-backed proposal based on the pre-amalgamation local government boundaries.

 

They needed a petition signed by at least 20 per cent of the voting population that showed an understanding of all the cost implications.

 

They needed to provide a detailed estimate of the potential financial costs and demonstrate an understanding that the former shire wishing to de-amalgamate would have to meet all costs involved, including their own, and those of the Council they wished to break away from.

 

Strong submissions will be passed on to the Boundaries Commissioner who will work with Queensland Treasury Corp to determine the financial viability of both the shire wishing to break away and the remaining Council.

 

“This is more than just names on a piece of paper,” Mr Crisafulli said. “This will be a difficult and costly process, but if a proposal stacks up, the community will get to vote at a referendum.”

 

Mr Crisafulli said those groups who did the right thing and made their submissions on time deserved to know as soon as possible if they will go to the next stage.

 

A final report, including recommendations, will be given to the Minister by 28 November 2012.