新州政府决定强行合并市政厅

Council mergers

Baird government reveals which Sydney councils will change

· Sydney's 'new era': councils forced to merge

Sydney's councils will be reduced from 43 to 25 and regional councils will be reduced from 109 to 87 under the NSW government's plans to reshape local government.

Briefing mayors this morning, Premier Mike Baird said he understood that change was never easy, but the government considered there were significant benefits to be had from larger councils.

NSW Premier Mike Baird could delay local government elections until 2017.

"KPMG has looked at the proposals and they say there is $2 billion in benefits that come back to councils," Mr Baird said.

"It's about delivering better services, more infrastructure and downward pressure on rates.

解读

reshape 重塑

briefing 给…简报

there is sth in sth 在…里有…，这个proposal里有2billion的收益

deliver better services 提供更好的服务

downward pressure 向下的压力

"We want to work with every council to ensure there is downward pressure on rates."

Local Government Minister Paul Toole described the changes as a "historic day".

"This is about some of the biggest changes we have seen in 100 years. It's about putting communities and infrastructure first," he said.

Mr Baird said it was likely that council elections would need to be moved from September 2016 to March 2017, although the government was still aiming for the earlier date.

A delegate of the Boundaries Commission will conduct the public inquiry into individual mergers and provide an initial report to the commission.

The commission will make a recommendation to government and Mr Toole will then make the final declaration. Public submissions can be made to the delegate.

解读

rates 这里是市政费用的意思

aim for 以…为目标

delegate 代表，会议代表

Members of the commission will be announced in 2016.

Councils facing mergers will be offered up to $10 million toward the costs of transition and up to $15 million for community infrastructure.

One surprise under the plan is a four-way merger in the Illawarra, which would result in two new super councils, even though all four councils were found recently to be financially fit for the future.

Councils reacted angrily to the forced mergers.

A spokesman for Woollahra council said it would fight the proposal to merge it with Waverley and Randwick.

The council fears its ratepayers will see big jumps in rates.

There are also different philosophies between Woollahra and Waverley over high density development.

解读

up to 相当于

result in 造成，引起
fit for 适于

density 密度

[更新]政府刚刚公布的计划，与之前略有差异
Proposed Sydney mergers:
Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville
Auburn and Holroyd
Bankstown and Canterbury
Botany Bay and Rockdale
Burwood, Canada Bay and Strathfield
Gosford and Wyong
Hawkesbury and The Hills
Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai
Hunters HIll, Lane Cove and Ryde
Hurstville and Kogarah
Manly, Mosman and Warringah
North Sydney and Willoughby
Parramatta
Pittwater and Warringah
Randwick, Waverley and Woollahra

中文新闻补充

州长Mike Baird将在周五宣布一系列的强制合并计划，把悉尼的42个市政厅减少到25个。
但是这次的合并将通过现有的法案的框架来实现，意味着需要在划界委员会举行公听会。
这个过程至少要花6个月的时间，可能需要推迟原定9月份实施的市政厅选举。
Hornsby将和Ku-ring-gai合并。
Pittwater将接管Warringah北部的地区，而Baird老家所在的Manly将接管Wanrrigah剩下的地区，以及Manly的一部分。
Manly其余的部分将跟北悉尼合并。
Ryde，Lane Cove和Hunters Hill将合并为一个单一的下北岸市政厅。
在东边，Waverley和Randwich已经同意合并。
但是Sansom评估中建议的成了大悉尼市政厅的计划被放弃。
结果是Botany Bay将和Rockdale合并。
悉尼市政厅和Woolhahra的未来还不确定，尽管有提议建议两家合并。
在内西区，原来的六方合并被认为过于过于困难，但是Marrickville，Leichhardt和Ashfield已经同意合并在一起，同样Burwood，Auburn和Canada Bay也同意合并。
预计Strathfiled将被强制跟Burwood和Canada Bay合并。
州政府还将宣布拨款7亿元用于帮助市政厅吸收合并的成本，比原先的5.5亿元大幅增加。