Council votes on framework for regional body of South West shires

Planning for a regional body which will see South West shires and the City of Bunbury join forces has been approved by the Bunbury council. During Tuesday night’s council meeting, Cr Ben Andrew put forward the idea of a council encompassing the wider South West — including the shires of Harvey, Dardanup and Capel. A similar motion was brought up in the previous council meeting by Cr Gabi Ghasseb, however, it was withdrawn. It was revealed Cr Andrew’s new proposal was the reason for its scrapping. According to the motion, the council would cover “planning, community grants funding, disability access and inclusion, plant resource sharing, joint State and Federal grants applications”. The motion requested city chief executive officer Alan Ferris to devise a report and present it to the other shires for consideration. “We are positioning our council to take a proactive and strategic stance in how we work with our neighbouring shires,” Cr Andrew said. “This is us as elected members saying to the CEO in these chambers ‘please go and talk with our neighbours on our behalf about the future’.” Cr Todd Brown agreed and said he believed the body would help organise economic development of the region. “United we stand, divided we fall,” he said. “The region’s growth demands we open up a dialogue together.” Cr Karen Steele was against the motion, saying she thinks it is “trying to push an amalgamation sneakily”. “I really don’t like it,” she said. “It concerns me we’d have less of a voice if we do have an amalgamation.” Cr Parthasarathy Ramesh said the work was “just baby steps” towards the right direction, not “set in stone”. The vote for the motion was set into four votes with the first to investigate the framework for the council (passed unanimously) and the second detailing the framework (passed with opposition). The third point to “investigate the opportunities for a regional body” passed with opposition, and the fourth to report back to the council within 12 months passed unanimously.