Push for 'super councils' to be run by executives - Sydney Morning Herald

"You can't just say, 'OK, change the lines on a map and away you go'" ... Keith Rhoades.

COUNCILS would be run like ''multimillion-dollar companies'' with a highly paid mayor and a cabinet-style board under key ideas in a review of local government in NSW.

A panel appointed by the government is investigating whether the state could copy Britain's ''super councils'', which are headed by a mayor and cabinet - a small group of highly paid executives responsible for strategy. They would be supported by a ''backbench'' of as many as 50 councillors who would be out in the community meeting residents.

The review has been established to tackle the escalating problems of councils. NSW has 152 councils, which most experts say is too many to work efficiently. For many councils, debts are mounting and so is the backlog of unbuilt infrastructure.

Some councils are massive, with more than 200,000 residents; others are tiny, with fewer than 20,000. Residents are not getting the same quality of services.

The issue in the review stirring most emotion is whether the government will force councils to merge. Unions NSW and the opposition have branded ''forced amalgamation'' a job killer.

Forcing councils to merge ''will have a disastrous impact in local communities and see thousands of local government jobs axed and vital local services cut'', the Opposition Leader, John Robertson, said. The Unions NSW secretary, Mark Lennon, described forced amalgamation as ''attacking the people who collect our garbage, look after our children and run our libraries''.

But the government said it has not decided to amalgamate councils and will make no decisions until the independent panel releases its final report in July next year. If the government keeps its promise not to force councils to amalgamate, it will probably need to offer financial incentives to encourage them to merge, according to the panel and to the peak group, the Local Government Association of NSW.

''You can't just say, 'OK, change the lines on the map and away you go,''' the association's president, Keith Rhoades, said.

Graham Sansom, who chairs the independent panel conducting the review, said one option was for the government to help councils with the costs involved in merging. While most councils in NSW are too small, some are growing too large and might need ''sub-councils'' to stay in touch with residents, the panel said.

This idea mimics New Zealand's ''community boards''. Many of these councils with more than 250,000 residents will be on Sydney's fringes, such as Blacktown, Liverpool and Penrith.

One of the toughest challenges is to convince intelligent, highly skilled people to become mayors and councillors, Professor Sansom said. Business and community groups across NSW have told him too many council representatives are underqualified.

''In some cases you will have to pay significant salaries,'' he said. ''But we're not suggesting for one minute that we need to sort of put up a million dollars to attract the CEO of BHP to come and be the mayor of Parramatta.''