Maintenance of Junction Road in this area is currently shared between The Hills Shire and City of Parramatta. This proposal for a boundary amendment aims to include the whole of Junction Road within City of Parramatta.
If residents and stakeholders support the change, and the Office of Local Government approves the boundary amendment, affected properties will pay City of Parramatta rates and receive City of Parramatta services.
The Rates Team provided this information about calculation of rates in City of Parramatta:
(1) Winston Hills Shopping Centre would be rated as COP20 – Business General should it come under the City Of Parramatta LGA.
The rates payable would be calculated by multiplying the Unimproved Land Value as provided by the Valuer General by our COP20 – Business General Rate in the Dollar (Being $0.00279297).
An example of this calculation on a $1 Million Land Value would be as follows: $1,000,000 x $0.00279297 = $2,792.97.
(2) 192 Caroline Chisolm Drive, Winston Hills is a 78 lot Residential Strata Complex.
The 2023-24 COP 10 - Residential rate for the City of Parramatta is set at $0.00104662 and is subject to a minimum amount payable of $752.00 per rate assessment. This effectively means that any property valued under $718,504 will pay $752.00 per annum in rates under the City of Parramatta’s 2023-24 Rating Structure.
Individual Land Values on these types of developments are calculated by dividing the Unimproved Site Value of the whole strata complex by the unit entitlements as listed on the Strata Plan at the time of registration.
It is almost always the case that residential units will fall under the minimum rate. The Valuation for all affected properties would be listed on the annual rates and charges notice as issued by The Hills Shire Council.
City of Parramatta Council resolved at it’s meeting of 28 August 2023:
(a) That Council endorses the proposed boundary adjustment between the City of Parramatta Council and The Hills Shire Council.
(b) That the Chief Executive Officer write to the General Manager of The Hills Shire Council advising the outcome of Council’s decision.
(c) That Council submits the proposed boundary adjustment request under Section 218E of the Local Government Act 1993 to the Minister for Local Government, and NSW Geographic Names Board (GNB) of NSW for formal assignment and Gazettal under the Geographical Names Act 1996.
Under Section 218E of the Local Government Act, a proposal for boundary adjustment will need to be submitted to the Minister for Local Government, and the Minister must refer the proposal for examination and report to the Boundaries Commission or to the Departmental Chief Executive. A proposal may be made by the Minister, or it may be made to the Minister by a council affected by the proposal, or by an appropriate minimum number of electors. (For proposals that apply only to part of an LGA, an appropriate minimum number of electors is 250 of the enrolled electors for that part or 10 per cent of them, whichever is the lesser).
Section 263 (3) of the Local Government Act sets out several factors that the Commission (or Chief Executive) is required to have regard to in examining any proposal for changes to local government boundaries. Two of these factors relate only to proposals for merging council areas, and a third applies to impacts on rural communities, so would not be relevant to the proposal.
The remaining factors cover issues such as:
• Financial advantages/disadvantages
• The community of interest and geographic cohesion
• Historical and traditional values and the impact of change
• Attitude of residents and ratepayers
• Requirements of the area concerned in relation to elected representation for residents and ratepayers at the local level
• Impact on ability of councils to provide adequate, equitable and appropriate services and facilities; and
• Any impact on employment of council staff.
To assist it in determining the attitude of the residents and ratepayers, the Boundaries Commission may conduct an opinion survey or poll of the residents and ratepayers and may request the Electoral Commissioner, a council or any other person or organisation to conduct any such opinion survey or poll. Additionally, for the purpose of exercising their functions, the Boundaries Commission may hold an inquiry but only if directed or approved by the Minister. If an inquiry is required, reasonable public notice must be given, and members of the public are allowed to attend.
The Minister may recommend to the Governor that the proposal be implemented with modifications that arise out of the Boundaries Commission’s (or Chief Executive) report, or any other modifications determined by the Minister. The minister may also decline to recommend to the Governor that the proposal be implemented.
When considering any matter that relates to the boundaries of areas or the areas of operations of county councils, the Boundaries Commission is required to have regard to the following factor as per Section 263(3)(d) of the Local Government Act 1993:
- The attitude of the residents and ratepayers of the areas concerned.
To achieve this requirement, community consultation is required to be undertaken and submitted with a report to the Minister for Local Government.
