Is it last drinks for Woollahra Council?
Woollahra Council, in Sydney’s prestigious eastern suburbs, has lost the first round in its legal bid to prevent the NSW government from merging it with two other councils and has been ordered to pay the government’s costs.
The state government was keen to merge Woollahra with Randwick and Waverley Councils, a move supported by the other two councils but vigorously opposed by Woollahra.
The delegate who ran the public inquiry and wrote a report on the merger, Dr Robert Lang, recommended the merger proposal go ahead.
During the Land and Environment Court case, Woollahra Council argued that it had been denied procedural fairness during the amalgamation process and criticised the public inquiry that accompanied it, asking the court step in and restrain NSW Local Government Minister Paul Toole from attempting the merger.
Woollahra Council also argued that consultancy firm KPMG was not equipped to analyse the merger proposals because it was not sufficiently independent.
Chief Judge Brian Preston’s concluded: “I find that Woollahra Council has not established any of the grounds of challenge concerning the notice of the holding of the inquiry; the holding of the inquiry; the examination and report by the Delegate of the Departmental Chief Executive; the review of, and comments on, the Delegate’s report by the Boundaries Commission; procedural fairness by the Delegate and the Boundaries Commission; and the alleged misrepresentation that KPMG had provided independent analysis of the proposal.
“The proceedings should be dismissed with costs.”
The council is likely to appeal the decision
You can find the full court judgement here.
More to follow.
The post Woollahra Council loses first round of merger case, pays costs appeared first on Government News.
source Government News http://ift.tt/29XaU7g
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