Shellharbour Council’s legal challenge against the Baird government’s planned council amalgamations has been stood over until Monday morning to join up with court action initiated by other anti-merger councils.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Land and Environment Court judge, Justice Tim Moore, agreed on Friday afternoon to a request from lawyers representing Shellharbour Council to have the matter listed at 9.30 on Monday morning, at the same time as other councils including Woollahra, Hunters Hill, Hawkesbury, Mosman, North Sydney and Strathfield, are due to front the court.
During the court proceedings, which only lasted about 10 minutes, Justice Moore said it was anticipated a timetable would be set on Monday for the hearing of the cases.
He noted about two weeks from the end of May through to mid-June had already been set aside in the court diary for the hearings, saying the chief judge wanted to matters to proceed “in a timely fashion”.
Shellharbour’s last ditch legal effort to stave off the merger began on Wednesday when media reports revealed the government would “save” Kiama and Shoalhaven but force the amalgamation of Shellharbour and Wollongong.
In an urgent hearing granted on Thursday morning, the council’s lawyer told the court that any recommendation about the merger would be “highly inappropriate and may amount to a denial of procedural fairness” due to the council’s pending legal action.
At the time Justice Moore ordered that the government could not make any recommendation to the Governor about the Shellharbour-Wollongong merger until the resolution of the court proceedings and any appeal.
It is understood legal representatives from all councils involved in the action will front court on Monday.
It is also understood the much talked about KPMG consultant report on the benefits of the proposed mergers will feature heavily in the legal action on behalf of each LGA.
The court’s stay of execution means, for now, the existing Wollongong and Shellharbour councils remain intact, with elected officials still in their jobs over the weekend.
However, the government has made no secret of its plans to press ahead with a merger between the two councils once the legal action is resolved.
According to a hastily retracted media release the council will be known as the City of Greater Wollongong. The electorate of about 275,000 people will have five wards of three councillors who will be given the power to elect a mayor.
Related stories
- Premier Mike Baird, please don’t ruin the Illawarra again
- Administration all too familiar for Illawarra councils
- Councils still in limbo after court hearing
- Media release mix-up reveals ‘City of Greater Wollongong’ council
- Citizens won’t elect mayor in merged council
- Lord Mayor title could be axed
- Legal action is not the answer: IBC
