Bayside Council, at this month’s Council Meeting, endorsed for exhibition a proposed option to change existing ward boundaries, and the recommendation will now go on public exhibition for 42 days.
Under Section 211 of the Local Government Act 1993 councils that are divided into wards must keep ward boundaries under review to ensure the difference in elector numbers between wards does not exceed a 10% variance.
During a recent review of Bayside Council’s five wards, using elector numbers provided by the NSW Electoral Commission (NSWEC), two wards were shown to exceed the 10% limit.
In the proposal, the ward boundaries have been readjusted to bring the elector numbers in line with the legislation parameters.
Council is required to notify the NSWEC of any changes to ward boundaries by 5 October 2023 to be in effect for the 14 September 2024 local government ordinary elections.
The proposed changes are now available online for public comment and residents can use an interactive map to see if they are affected by the changes.
Brochures with the changes are also available from Council’s Customer Service Centres and Libraries.
Council will consider community submissions and make a final decision at their September meeting to ensure the NSWEC and ABS can be notified of the changes by Thursday 5 October.
The ward changes will be in place by the Local Government Elections on Saturday 14 September 2024.
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