ELECTOR REPRESENTATION REVIEW OPTIONS PAPER – JANUARY … · 1 . DISTRICT COUNCIL OF LOWER EYRE...

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DISTRICT COUNCIL OF LOWER EYRE PENINSULA ELECTOR REPRESENTATION REVIEW OPTIONS PAPER – JANUARY 2017 Working with our Rural & Coastal Communities”

Transcript of ELECTOR REPRESENTATION REVIEW OPTIONS PAPER – JANUARY … · 1 . DISTRICT COUNCIL OF LOWER EYRE...

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DISTRICT COUNCIL OF LOWER EYRE PENINSULA

ELECTOR REPRESENTATION REVIEW

OPTIONS PAPER – JANUARY 2017

Working with our Rural & Coastal Communities”

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ELECTOR REPRESENTATION REVIEW – OPTIONS PAPER Summary .......................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4

What is a Review? .................................................................................................................................................. 4

Review Process ....................................................................................................................................................... 6

Project Plan & Consultation timeframes ................................................................................................................ 7

Council Background ......................................................................................................................................................... 8

Council History........................................................................................................................................................ 8

Previous Electoral Reviews ..................................................................................................................................... 8

Current Structure ............................................................................................................................................................. 9

Composition of Council .......................................................................................................................................... 9

Elector Representation ........................................................................................................................................... 9

Composition of Council .................................................................................................................................................. 10

Name of Council ................................................................................................................................................... 10

COUNCIL LOGO & BRANDING ............................................................................................................................... 10

Role of the Principal Member of Council .............................................................................................................. 11

Election of Principal Member ............................................................................................................................... 11

Mayor ................................................................................................................................................................... 11

Chairperson .......................................................................................................................................................... 12

Elected Members ........................................................................................................................................................... 13

Role of Council Members ..................................................................................................................................... 13

Governance costs ................................................................................................................................................. 13

Wards vs Whole of Area Representation ....................................................................................................................... 15

Ward Representation ........................................................................................................................................... 15

Ward Structure Assessment Criteria .................................................................................................................... 15

Considerations ...................................................................................................................................................... 16

Community of Interests ............................................................................................................................... 16

Population & Demographic Trends ............................................................................................................ 16

Topography & Communication ................................................................................................................... 16

Adequate & Fair Representation................................................................................................................ 16

Administration .............................................................................................................................................. 16

Advantages & Disadvantages of Wards ................................................................................................................ 17

Appendix A – Additional Election & Elector data ................................................................................................. 18

Appendix B – Ward Options ................................................................................................................................. 20

Appendix C - Demographic information ............................................................................................................... 22

Appendix D – Feedback Form ............................................................................................................................... 23

References ............................................................................................................................................................ 25

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SUMMARY Council invite public comment on the following:

1. The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula invites public comment on the appropriateness of: a) The name of the Council, being “The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula” and invite

suggestions for alternatives. b) The current logo as a representation of this Council area.

(Refer page 10 of this paper for further details)

2. The process to be undertaken to elect the Principal Member of Council: a) Chosen from amongst the Elected Members by Council Members; or, b) Publically elected at large by the electors

(Refer pages 11-12 of this paper for further details)

3. The number of Elected Members:

a) Retaining the current number of Elected Members (Seven) giving an Elected Member to Elector ratio of 1:516; or,

b) Decreasing the number of Elected Members; or, c) Increasing the number of Elected Members.

(Refer pages 13-14 of this paper for further details)

4. The appropriateness of the current ‘no wards’ structure. a) Does the Area Councillor structure (as currently stands) provide electors with fair and

adequate representation? b) If wards were to be introduced, should wards be created on the ‘Hundreds’ localities,

‘suburb’ localities, or by some other method?

(Refer pages 15-17 of this paper for further details)

To facilitate feedback, a feedback form has been included at Appendix D and will be available on Council’s website and within each administration office.

All feedback must be in written form and received no later than 5pm, 3 March 2017.

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INTRODUCTION WHAT IS A REVIEW?1 An elector representation review is held to determine whether a council community would benefit from a change to its composition or ward structure. The Act sets out the requirements for a representation review. The council must manage the elector representation review in the context of a prescribed process. Section 12(3) A prescribed review must comprehensively examine:

• all aspects of the composition of the council, and • the potential division of the council area into wards, or the abolishment of existing wards, and • a notice under this section may also change the name of a council.

Timing of Review

The Act requires a council to conduct a review of its representation:

• at least once in each relevant period as prescribed by the regulations. The Minister for Local Government from time to time will publish in the SA Government Gazette a timing schedule for determination of the relevant period for each council to conduct their elector representation review, or

• a council may undertake a review at any time into specific aspects of its composition or ward structure or those matters generally. The process includes: o initiating the preparation of a representation options paper o detailed public consultation processes o preparing a report on the public consultation and council’s response to the issues arising

from the written submissions o providing a final representation review report to the Electoral Commissioner.

Section 12(24) Alternatively, council may be requested to undertake a review within a period specified by the Electoral Commissioner if the area of the council is divided into wards and the number of electors represented by a council member for a ward varies from the ward quota by more than 20%. The Electoral Commissioner will notify council in writing if this has occurred.

1 As outlined on Page 6 of “Undertaking an Elector Representation Review – Guidelines for Council” – May 2016.

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What is the Purpose of the Review?

An elector representation review gives councils and their community the opportunity to examine their present composition and structure and allows the opportunity to plan and implement changes that will better reflect the future requirements of their community. Section 26(1) A review must take into account principles set out in section 26 of the Act, in particular:

• changes should benefit ratepayers • arrangements should reflect communities of interest, values and aspirations and avoid

significant dislocations within the community • encourage local community participation in decisions about local matters • provide effective local governance and foster co-operation with other councils.

Section 33 In addition to the above requirements, council must take into account the composition and electoral structures, in particular:

• the number of council members • the division of the area into wards and/or whether existing wards should be abolished • ward quotas • communities of interest, topography, communications between electors and demographic

changes.

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REVIEW PROCESS Representation Review Options Paper

The Representation Review Options paper must examine the advantages and disadvantages of the various options that are available to the council in relation to the composition and structure of the council. The Act specifically requires Council to review the number of Councillors with comparison to be made to Councils of a similar size and whether the existing ‘no wards’ structure should be retained in favour of introducing wards, and if so, how those wards would be constituted.

First Public Consultation

Council is required to inform the public of the Representation Options Paper and invite interested persons to make written submissions to the Council over a period of at least 6 weeks.

This paper is available for consideration by the community between 20 February 2017 and 7 April 2017, with written submissions to be received no later than Friday 7 April at 5pm. To assist the community with this process, a short feedback form has been made available to the public (see Appendix D), however any member of the public wishing to provide more comprehensive comment is able to do so.

Representation Review Report

At the conclusion of the first public consultation, Council will prepare a report that provides information on the submissions received from the public and Council’s response to any issues arising from those submissions.

The Representation Review Report will outline Council’s ‘In Principal’ position in relation to the future composition and structure of the Council and outline the reasons for arriving at these decisions.

Second Public Consultation

Council will invite a second public consultation seeking written comments on the Representation Review Report and the preferred proposal as outlined within.

This period of public consultation will be for a period of at least 3 weeks.

Structure Adopted

Following the consultation, an opportunity for the public to appear before Council in support of their written submission will be provided.

Council will then consider and adopt a final proposal for submission to the Electoral Commissioner.

Certification

The Electoral Commissioner will consider the Final report and the process undertaken by the Council in its preparation to ensure that all processes were in accordance with the legislation.

Any changes proposed to the composition and structure of the Council will come into affect at the next Local Government Election.

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PROJECT PLAN & CONSULTATION TIMEFRAMES

Commence Representation Review Project • (Endorse project plan / resolution to commence review)

14/10/16

Representation Options Paper

• Adopt options paper for consultation

16/12/17

First public consultation (Min 6 weeks)

16/01/17 – 03/03/17

Representation Review Report • Elected Member workshop

• Prepare report

• Present to Council for adoption & community consultation

10/03/17 07/04/17 06/03/17 – 08/05/17 19/05/17

Second Public Consultation (If polling required – 29/05/17 – 18/08/17)

22/05/17 – 23/06/17

Public Consultation & Finalise Representation Report Finalise report Adopt by Council (includes time for submissions at meeting)

26/06/17 – 28/07/17 18/08/17

Submit Final Representation Review Report Consolidate and send to commissioner for approval.

End September

Implement Changes to the Representative Structure Next election

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COUNCIL BACKGROUND COUNCIL HISTORY The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula covers 4,754 square kilometres and has 3617 electors across the district. Our region is renowned for its magnificent rural and pristine coastal scenery, as well as thriving agricultural, fishing and tourism industries.

With 709 kilometres of coastline ranging from beautiful beaches to rugged cliffs, the Lower Eyre Peninsula's attractions are endless.

Major townships include the agricultural town of Cummins, the seaside town of Coffin Bay and the rural living areas of Boston and Tiatukia, with numerous other settlements encompassing, Edillilie, Wangary, Coulta, Yeelanna, Karkoo, Mount Hope, Kapinnie, Louth Bay, North Shields, Tulka, Point Boston, Wanilla, Warrow and Sleaford.

Council's main office is located in Cummins, with a branch office located in Port Lincoln

PREVIOUS ELECTORAL REVIEWS 1986

• Amended the name of the Council from the ‘District Council of Lincoln’ to the ‘District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula’

• Reduced the number of wards from five to four; • Made no increase in Elected Member numbers.

1993

• Abolished the ward system in favour of Area Councillors.

2001

• No changes made to the name or composition of Council.

2009

• No changes made to the name or composition of Council.

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CURRENT STRUCTURE COMPOSITION OF COUNCIL The Council currently comprises 7 Councillors with the Chairperson elected from amongst their numbers (Council have resolved to title the Chairperson as ‘Mayor’), and has no ward system in place.

ELECTOR REPRESENTATION At February 2016, council elector numbers in comparison to other Rural Agricultural Councils (Medium) was as follows:

Table 1 – Representation Quota Data

Council Electors Members Representation Quota

Barunga West 1987 9 220 Ceduna 2116 9 235 Goyder 3045 7 435 Kangaroo Island 3389 10 338 Kingston 1892 8 236 Lower Eyre Peninsula 3617 7 516 Mt Remarkable 2167 7 309 Peterborough 1260 9 140 Southern Mallee 1395 9 155 Tumby Bay 2038 7 291 Yankalilla 3944 9 438

Average: 2441 8 301

The above figure consists of voters on the House of Assembly roll and also includes an additional 129 Electors that made application to be included on Council’s Supplementary roll (non-residential owners, body corporates, group owners or occupiers) prior to the 2014 Council election.

The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula has the lowest representation ratio in its ‘like Council’ grouping, however there is no ‘right number’ of electors to Councillors and this needs to be measured against the workload of the Councillors in representing the community adequately and fairly.

As a comparison, The District Council of Elliston has an Elected Member to Elector ratio of 1:91, the City of Port Lincoln a ratio of 1:904 and Tea Tree Gully, 1:5581 electors.

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COMPOSITION OF COUNCIL NAME OF COUNCIL During the Elector Representation review undertaken in 1986, the name of the Council was changed from the “District Council of Lincoln” to the “District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula”.

As the Council area is broader than the area surrounding the City of Port Lincoln or the Hundred of Lincoln, the latter seems appropriate, however Council are able to change the name at this review should it decide to do so.

COUNCIL LOGO & BRANDING The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula’s logo is represented by the pioneer ship ‘Investigator’ sailed by Matthew Flinderswhen he charted the Eyre Peninsula Coast Line in 1802. Originally named the District Council of Lincoln as this Council incorporated Port Lincoln and consisted of the Hundred of Lincoln, the Council borders and name have changed from that time.

Council is seeking the views of the community on the suitability of the logo as a visual representation of our Council district.

Discussion Point:

The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula invites public comment on the appropriateness of:

c) The name of the Council, being “The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula” and invite suggestions for alternatives.

d) The current logo as a representation of this Council area.

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ROLE OF THE PRINCIPAL MEMBER OF COUNCIL

Section 58 of the Act outlines the specific roles of the principal member as being:

• to preside at meetings of the council; • if requested, to provide advice to the chief executive officer between council meetings

on the implementation of a decision of the council; • to act as the principal spokesperson of the council; • to exercise other functions of the council as the council determines; • to carry out the civic and ceremonial duties of the office of principal member.

ELECTION OF PRINCIPAL MEMBER Section 51(1) of the Act details the options for the Election of the Principal Member of Council:

(a) on the basis that the principal member is to be appointed or elected as a representative of the area as a whole (in which case the principal member is to be called a mayor); or

(b) on the basis that the principal member is to be chosen by the members of the council from amongst their own number (in which case the principal member may be called chairperson (the title used in this Act), or have another title, as the council decides).

The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula currently select a Chairperson from within the Elected body as outlined in (b) above, however have resolved to title this position as ‘Mayor’.

MAYOR In practice the roles and responsibilities of a Chairperson or a Mayor are identical, however, a publically elected Mayor does not have a deliberative vote on any matter before the Council and only votes in the event of a tie with their casting vote on the tied matter.

A Mayor is elected by the electors of a Council area, and if a person nominates for Mayor, they cannot also nominate for a position on the Council should they be unsuccessful2. This has the potential to dissuade a candidate from nominating for Council or a knowledgeable and well versed Elected Member from standing for ‘Mayoral’ position for fear of not being or continuing as a member of the Council.

An election (or supplementary election) for the Office of Mayor must be conducted across the whole Council area in the event that a publically elected Mayor is unable to continue in the role, incurring a significant financial and resourcing cost to the Council3.

2 Section 24 of the Local Government (Elections) Act 1999 3 unless the vacancy occurs within 7 months prior to polling day or after 1 January of an election year (Section 54 of the Act)

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CHAIRPERSON In contrast, the Chairperson does not have a casting vote in the event of a tie, however they do have a deliberative vote on every matter before the Council.

As the District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula has an uneven number of Councillors, the absence of a casting vote has not often presented any problems in the Council meeting.

As Council have a policy which avoids the need to proceed to election if one vacancy arises, should a Chairperson not be able to continue their role, a new Chairperson can be elected from amongst the existing Elected Member body, avoiding the costs and resourcing associated with a supplementary election.

Currently, of the 31 Councils considered ‘rural’ Councils, 16 have a Chairperson while the remaining 15 have a publically elected Mayor.

All metropolitan Councils have a publically elected Mayor.

DISCUSSION POINT

As outlined above the Principal Member of Council can be publically elected at large, or alternatively (as is Council’s current structure), elected from amongst the Council members.

The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula invites public comment on the following issues in relation to the Principal Member of Council:

Election of the Principal Member of Council:

a) Chosen from amongst the Elected Members by Council Members; or, b) Publically elected at large by the electors.

If Council determine to change the current method of electing a chairperson from amongst the Councillors to a publically elected Mayor, further consideration would need to be given to whether the publically elected Mayor would be in addition to the seven Elected Members (to result in an eight member Council) or whether there would be six Elected Members and a Mayoral Election (to result in a seven member Council – as currently exists).

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ELECTED MEMBERS ROLE OF COUNCIL MEMBERS The role of a Councillor is outlined in Section 59(1) of the Act as being a person elected to the Council to represent the interests of residents and ratepayers, to provide community leadership and guidance, and to facilitate communication between the community and the council, in addition to being a member of the governing body of the Council who:

• participates in the deliberations and civic activities of the council; • keep the council's objectives and policies under review to ensure that they are appropriate

and effective; • keep the council's resource allocation, expenditure and activities, and the efficiency and

effectiveness of its service delivery, under review; • ensure, as far as is practicable, that the principles set out in section 8 (of the Act) are

observed.

Currently, the District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula have seven Elected Members with the Principal Member of Council elected from within those numbers. An uneven number of Councillors is considered to be best practice to avoid the occurrence of a tied vote. [RP1]

GOVERNANCE COSTS The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula currently have seven Elected Members who are all ‘Area Councillors’.

All Council members receive an annual allowance as set by the Remuneration Tribunal of South Australia at each election period, with periodic adjustments (based upon a formula) taking effect on 1 November annually thereafter for the term of the governing period.

The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula is classed as a Group 4 Council4 , with current remuneration for Elected Members as follows:

• An allowance of $36,816 per annum for the position of Chairperson or Mayor; • An allowance of $11,505 per annum for the position of Deputy Chairperson or Deputy Mayor; • An allowance of $9,204 per annum, per Councillor • A travel time allowance of $567 per annum for Councillors that reside between 50 to 100kms

from the principal office of Council (currently four Elected Members) • Travel reimbursement for Council events in line with the travel reimbursement mileage rates as

set by the Australian Taxation Office.

Each additional Elected Member could be expected to increase governance costs by $12,000 - $15,000 (dependant upon distance between their place of residence and Council chambers, training requirements, conferences and meetings attended).

4 As set out in Determination 7 of 2014 by the Remuneration Tribunal.

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Discussion point

Council currently have seven Elected Members (comprising of four women and three men) resulting in an Elected Member to Elector ratio of 1:516.

Consideration should be given to whether this is an appropriate level of representation for our Council area, and if it is not, what an appropriate number would be?

It should be noted that at the 2010 election only seven candidates nominated, however since moving to area representation in 1995 there have been an average of 9.4 candidates per election.

An even number of Councillors would not be good practise without a publically elected Mayor with authority to use a casting vote, conversely, an odd number of Councillors would rarely require the casting vote of a publically elected Mayor.

Ideally every election should be contested to ensure that the electors have an opportunity to choose their representation. Should an election see the exact number of candidates for all positions and no more, the election is not contested and those candidates are automatically appointed a position.

Scenarios:

• Five Councillors (reduction in number) o Ratio of 1:723

• Six Councillors (reduction in number): o Ratio of 1:603

• Seven Councillors (current position) o Ratio of 1:516

• Eight Councillors (increase of one Councillor): o Ratio of 1:452 o Ratio is still the lowest Councillor per Elector ratio in the Rural Agricultural Medium

Council grouping. • Nine Councillors (increase of two Councillors)

o Ratio: 1:401 o Ratio results in two Councils in the Rural Agricultural Medium Council grouping having a

lower number of Councillors per Elector ratio.

The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula invites public comment on:

a) Retaining the current number of Elected Members (Seven) giving an Elected Member to Elector ratio of 1:516; or,

b) Decreasing the number of Elected Members; or, c) Increasing the number of Elected Members.

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WARDS VS WHOLE OF AREA REPRESENTATION Section 12(1)(b) of the Act stipulates that Council can:

“divide, or redivide, the area of the council into wards, alter the division of the area of the council into wards, or abolish the division of the area of a council into wards.”

The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula currently has no wards, therefore all Councillors represent the area as a whole. Where a Council is divided into wards, the Councillor(s) for that ward, represent the interests of their ward area.

This Council area last had wards in the 1993 elections, which were removed (following an Elector Representation Review) in 1995 and have been attached for information in Appendix A (1).

WARD REPRESENTATION There are a number of options for representation if wards were to be introduced, such as single Councillor Wards, Multi-Councillor wards or a combination of both, dependant upon ward size, number of Councillors and population.

The Act requires that representation quotas (i.e. the ratio of Councillors to electors within each ward) should have a variance of no greater than +/-10% across all wards at any one time.

WARD STRUCTURE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA While previous wards (in place prior to 1995) were made utilising existing ‘Hundred’ localities (refer to Appendix B), this method would be difficult due to the expansion of the Rural Living areas on the Lincoln fringe and the larger townships of Coffin Bay and Cummins that would pose difficulties in maintaining the +/- 10% quota representation.

Should there be consideration of wards, in accordance with Section 33(1) of the Act, the division into wards must consider (as far as practicable):

• Reflect communities of interest of an economic, recreational, social, regional or other kind; • The population of the area as a whole and as a ward; • Demographic changes that may occur in the foreseeable future; • The topography of the area and ward; • Ease of communication between electors and their elected representatives; and, • Ensure adequate and fair representation while avoiding over representation.

For reasons of practicality, any future division of the Council area into wards should consider and utilise existing boundaries maintained by Council in rating and addressing administration systems, such as:

• ‘Hundreds’ – Broader area regions within Council (see page 20); or, • ‘Suburbs’ – Smaller regions within each ‘Hundred’

to reduce any financial and resourcing impacts of a change to current structures.

Elector numbers as at February 2016 in each ‘Suburb’ are outlined on page 20 of this paper.

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CONSIDERATIONS

Community of Interests Communities of Interest are often difficult to quantify and could relate to population concentrations, sporting associations, interest groups, work communities, industrial or economic clusters or community support services.

Population & Demographic Trends As highlighted in Table 3 (Refer Appendix B), the District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula’s electors have increased by 491 since the review held in 2009.

This growth has primarily occurred within the fringe area of Port Lincoln and is predicted to continue at a steady pace in this region due to the foresight of previous Councils in releasing rural living allotments in this area.

Council are also endeavouring to have additional sections of Coffin Bay rezoned to residential to continue growth in this popular seaside town and are developing concept plans for a retirement style living area in land owned by Council within the township.

Concept plans are also being developed for land owned by Council in Cummins which could see a release of around 60 additional residences.

Population data, industry and employment data is outlined in Appendix C.

Topography & Communication The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula varies in topography from coastal communities, in-land service towns and agricultural regions, all are separated by reasonable distances. With the advances in electronic communication, mobile phones and social media, communication between electors and Council members is accessible and readily available.

Council publish contact details for Elected Members on its website and all Council members regularly attend Council and community events to interact with their electors.

Adequate & Fair Representation While area representation may (at various points in time) see a town or community feeling under-represented, this is generally alleviated at the next election with candidates from that area nominating to gain representation, and does result in increased interest in the nomination process.

Administration Administration resourcing would need to be considered if Council were to move to a ward system as the introduction of wards will require separating the electors into regions and running a number of scenarios and detailed analysis to ensure the representation quotas are acceptable. There will also be a requirement for payment of a set up and implementation fee to Councils’ administration software provider.

Ongoing reviews (outside of the Elector Representation Review) will be required to confirm the appropriate ward quotas are maintained.

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ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF WARDS Advantages of a ward structure include:

• Ward Councillors can focus on local issues; • Ensures a proportionate representation across the Council district (noting that history indicates

this rights itself at the next election); • Under the ‘no wards’ structure, well known Councillors may receive more enquiries from the

public resulting in unbalanced work load amongst members; • If a supplementary election is required, it is at a lower cost as an election will only be required

within a particular ward.

Advantages of ‘no wards’ structure include:

• No wards allows all electors to vote for all members of the Council as opposed to only being able to vote for their ward Councillors;

• Promotes a broader focus by all Councillors; • Data suggests (Refer Appendix B) no wards encourages more candidates to contest elections

while ward systems resulted in fewer contested elections. • The best seven candidates are more likely to be elected. A ward election with three high quality

candidates for one position will mean that two high quality candidates are eliminated. Conversely, lesser quality candidates may be elected unopposed.

• Electors are able to contact any Councillors in relation to an issue, rather than only their ward Councillor;

• Avoids the requirement to review and maintain quota tolerance as fluctuations in elector size are absorbed across the Council area reducing administration requirements;

• Area Councillors are required to consider the interests of the entire Council area as opposed to focussing on their individual ward to maintain votes and assure their re-election within their ward.

• Enables Council to have a policy avoiding an election (with significant costs) in the event of one casual vacancy arising during the term.

Discussion Point:

Council currently have no wards in place and all Councillors represent the Council area as a whole, however this review enables Council to consider whether it would be of benefit to the community if the area was divided into wards.

The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula invites public comment on:

• the appropriateness of the current ‘no wards’ structure; and, • if wards were to be introduced, should wards be created on the ‘Hundreds’ localities, ‘suburb’

localities, or by some other method? (Refer to Appendix B for maps of ‘Hundreds’ and ‘Suburbs’).

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APPENDIX A – ADDITIONAL ELECTION & ELECTOR DATA

Table 2 – Nominations per election

The table below details the nominations received for Council positions since 1989 and outlines how many wards (up until 1995) were contested and area positions contested following the move to area representation:

Year Wards No. wards contested

1989 4 3

1991 4 0

1993 4 1

1995 0 11 candidates nominated for 7 positions

1997 0 9 candidates nominated for 7 positions

2000 0 10 candidates nominated for 7 positions

2003 0 9 candidates nominated for 7 positions

2006 0 Uncontested – 7 nominations for 7 positions

2010 0 12 candidates nominated for 7 positions

2014 0 8 candidates nominated for 7 positions

Table 3 – Elector Representation Quota since last review

A comparison of the Electoral Representation ratio for the District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula between this and the last review is as follows:

Year Electors Rep. Quota

09/10 3126 446

10/11 3414 487

11/12 3429 489

12/13 3517 502

14/15 3569 509

15/16 3694 527

16/17 3617 516

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Table 3 – Electors by suburb

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APPENDIX B – WARD OPTIONS 1 – Ward Structure – 1993 (Note – Also shows the area of the Hundreds within Council)

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2 – Suburbs with Hundred Overlay

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APPENDIX C - DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION *As outlined in the District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula Strategic Plan 2016-2025

Land:

Land Area (Km2) 4,754 *Population:

Total 4,997 % of Regional Population 8.7 % of State Population 0.31

*Aboriginal population: Number 143

% of Population 2.9 *Age Groups:

Number Percentage 0 – 14 years 1,087 22.1 15 – 24 years 495 10.1 25 – 39 years 799 16.2 40 – 59 years 1,549 31.5 60 years and over 985 20.0

**Top Ten Top Ten Exporting Industries:

Industry $m Agriculture 148 Aquaculture 41 Transport, Postal and Warehousing

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Construction 14 Financial and Insurance Services 7 Manufacturing 4 Retail Trade 3 Accommodation & Food Services 3 Fishing, Hunting and Trapping 1 Mining 0 Total Exports 275

*2011 ABS Census ** EconSearch Economic Data 2013-14, RDAWEP and EPLGA, 2016.

**Employing Industries: Industry Number Agriculture 538 Transport, Postal & Warehousing 110 Health Care and Social Assistance 102 Construction 95 Retail Trade 85 Education & Training 85 Public Administration & Safety 83 Manufacturing 55 Mining 50 Accommodation & Food Services 48 Total Employment 1,594

*Unemployment:

No. Unemployed Unemployment Rate % 116 4.8

*December Quarter 2014 **Top Industries Contributing to Gross Regional Product (GRP):

Industry $m Agriculture 84 Transport, Postal and Warehousing

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Construction 9 Financial and Insurance Services 9 Health Care and Social Assistance 7 Retail Trade 6 Education and Training 6 Manufacturing 4 Mining 0 Total Gross Regional Product Contribution

224

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APPENDIX D – FEEDBACK FORM

PUBLIC SUBMISSION FEEDBACK FORM: ELECTOR REPRESENTATION REVIEW

This document is provided to assist community members to make a submission to Council regarding the key issues being addressed via the Elector Representation Review. Members of the community should take the opportunity to read the options paper prior to making a submission, and are encouraged to add any relevant comments.

All feedback must be in writing and received by 5pm, Friday 3 March 2017

Name: Property Address: Postal Address: Contact Number: Do you wish to appear before Council in support of your feedback? YES / NO

Please note your name and feedback will appear in Council agendas / public reports.

1. NAME OF THE COUNCIL During the Elector Representation review undertaken in 1986, the name of the Council was changed from the “District Council of Lincoln” to the “District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula”

Retain the name ‘District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula’

Change the name from ‘District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula’

Council is also seeking the views of the community on the suitability of the logo as a visual representation of our Council district. Retain Logo: Investigate Alternatives:

2. PRINCIPAL MEMBER Council currently elect a principal member from amongst the Elected Members. Principal Member should be chosen from amongst the Elected Members by Council Members

Principal Members should be publically elected at large by the electors

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3. NUMBER OF ELECTED MEMBERS Council currently have seven Elected Members, comprising of four women and three men. Details of costs associated with elected members and representation numbers (ratio of Elected Members to Electors) are outlined on pages 12-13 of the options paper.

(a) Seven (Ratio of Elected Members to Electors – 1:516)

(b) Decreasing the number of Elected Members

(c) Increasing the number of Elected Members

If (b) or (c), please indicate the number of Elected Members

4. NO WARD / WARDS Council currently have no wards in place and all Councillors represent the Council area as a whole, however this review enables Council to consider whether it would be of benefit to the community if the area was divided into wards.

Does the Area Councillor structure (as currently stands) provide electors with fair and adequate representation?

If wards were to be introduced, should wards be created on the ‘Hundreds’ localities, ‘suburb’ localities, or by some other method?

FURTHER COMMENT / SUGGESTIONS (RELEVANT TO THE ELECTOR REPRESENTION REVIEW):

All feedback must be in written form and received no later than 5pm, 3 March 2017.

Post: Attention: Chief Executive Officer Elector Representation Review

PO Box 41 Cummins SA 5631 OR

Email: [email protected]

For further information or enquiries relating to the Elector Representation Review process or this paper, please contact the Manager of Corporate Services, Sacheen Hopewell, on 86760400.

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REFERENCES 2011 Census Data courtesy of Regional Development Australia Whyalla & Eyre Peninsula & Eyre Peninsula Local Government Association

2014 Census Data (by Local Government Area): http://stat.abs.gov.au/itt/r.jsp?RegionSummary&region=43710&dataset=ABS_REGIONAL_LGA&geoconcept=REGION&maplayerid=LGA2014&measure=MEASURE&datasetASGS=ABS_REGIONAL_ASGS&datasetLGA=ABS_REGIONAL_LGA&regionLGA=REGION&regionASGS=REGION

Regional Development Australia Whyalla & Eyre Peninsula & Eyre Peninsula Economic Data 2013-14

Eyre Peninsula Local Government Association

District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula Strategic Plan 2016-2025

Remuneration Tribunal – Determination 7 of 2014

During the Elector Representation review undertaken in 1986, the name of the Council was changed from the “District Council of Lincoln” to the “District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula”.

As the Council area is broader than the area surrounding the City of Port Lincoln or the Hundred of Lincoln, the latter seems appropriate, however Council are able to change the name at this review should it decide to do so.

HP TRIM REFERENCE: R16/16980