A Critical Note on ‘Eco‐Civic Regionalisation’ as the Basis for Local Government Boundaries in Australia |
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| Authors: | BRIAN DOLLERY LIN CRASE |
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| Institution: | 1. University of New England, Australia;2. Latrobe University (Albury‐Wodonga), Australia |
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| Abstract: | The notion of ‘eco‐civic regionalisation’ has been applied recently to New South Wales by Brunckhorst, Coop and Reeve (2004 Brunckhorst D Coop P Reeve I 2004 An eco‐civic regionalisation for rural New South Wales: final report to the NSW government Institute for Rural Futures and Centre for Bioregional Resource Management, University of New England, Armidale Google Scholar]) in order to identify the appropriate administrative boundaries for ‘socio‐civic’ regions and ‘biophysical’ regions. On the basis of this analysis, they recommended inter alia that 49 future non‐metropolitan ‘local government areas’ be established. This proposal was adopted with alacrity by advocates of the NSW government's program of compulsory council amalgamation, including official ‘Facilitators’ appointed by the State government to draft formal consolidation proposals. This paper disputes the applicability of ‘eco‐civic regionalisation’ as the foundation for local government boundaries in Australia. |
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| Keywords: | Amalgamation eco‐civic regionalisation local government boundaries principle of subsidiarity decentralisation theorem communities of interest |
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