Access to funding and increasing compliance costs cause of concern for Shire of Wandering president Ian Turton

Shire of Wandering president Ian Turton has raised concerns about what upcoming changes to the Local Government Act mean for WA’s smaller regional councils. Mr Turton presented a letter to Minister for Local Government David Michael at the recent WALGA Convention held in Perth advocating for the needs of small shires to be taken into account. “Hopefully it might eventuate into something,” he said. “It was a fleeting visit but we did sit down, about five or six councillors from various shires, with one of the minister’s top men Tim Fraser and we each had five to ten minutes with him. “I got a pretty good hearing and we were pleased about that but I’m not holding my breath.” Mr Turton’s primary concern is that about 30 of WA’s 139 councils will be saddled with increased costs as a result of changes to compliance regulation that rates and current funding will struggle to meet. “We’d like to progress as well as our bigger neighbours but sometimes we’re put under some pretty severe financial restraints,” he said. “I’m optimistic about Wandering’s future, we’re on the boundary of the metropolitan area and I think we will grow because of that but for a long while Federal Assistance Grants haven’t been based on a fair and responsible formula. “I think it’s time that the 30 smaller councils have a better opportunity to state their challenges and then work out a fairer formula.” Mr Turton provided council representatives from shires of a similar size to Wandering with copies of the letter presented to the minister in the hope that it would encourage further discussion. “I think if we strike a nerve with the minister and the department we might get a hearing and if that happens I’ll be very pleased,” he said. “It will enable those who want to be involved to put forward the challenges that they’re currently meeting.” Mr Turton said that an increasingly ‘one-size fits all’ approach to local governance in WA where councils vary drastically in size and character is inadequate. “I don’t know that there’s an easy answer,” he said. “In my younger days WALGA wasn’t in existence, it was the Country Shire Councils Association and sometimes I think maybe we need to take a greater interest in things in the country.”