Council Boundary Change Proposal - Rostrevor, Woodforde and Hamilton Hill

The South Australian Local Government Boundaries Commission has finalised the Stakeholder Engagement Plan for the Campbelltown City Council Boundary Change Inquiry. The Plan outlines how the Commission’s appointed investigator, BDO, will consult with stakeholders and community members over the coming months. You can view the plan under our Document Library.

The Commission has indicated that community consultation is expected to begin in May 2025. This will include opportunities for affected residents, community groups, and other stakeholders to provide feedback via community forums, written submissions, and a public survey on the YourSAy platform.

Adelaide Hills Council has advocated for strong community involvement throughout this process, and we encourage residents to stay engaged by following this project page on Adelaide Hills Engagement Hub and visiting the Boundaries Commission website.

We will continue to share updates on this page as further information becomes available.

The Adelaide Hills Council has made a submission calling on decision makers to reject the Campbelltown City Council’s divisive, expensive, and unnecessary boundary change proposal.

Over the past few months, the Adelaide Hills Council has been providing detailed information to the investigators appointed by the Local Government Boundaries Commission to conduct the Inquiry into Campbelltown’s proposal. We believe it is import for the entire community to understand the long-term impacts of the proposed boundary change and have publicly released the evidence-based submission we have provided to decision makers and stakeholders.

Adelaide Hills Council has identified twelve key reasons supporting the retention of Rostrevor and Woodforde within the Adelaide Hills.

1. The Subject Areas have a special ‘Hills’ character that must be protected.
2. The proposed boundary change has been rejected by our community.
3. The boundary change proposal would fracture relationships within our community.
4. The Subject Areas are demographically more similar to the Adelaide Hills than the Campbelltown area.
5. The Subject Areas are already well serviced by the Adelaide Hills Council.
6. The boundary change would materially financially disadvantage Adelaide Hills and Campbelltown ratepayers.
7. Claims by the Campbelltown City Council that Adelaide Hills residents cannot have a say in Campbelltown City Council matters are both false and misleading.
8. As society has changed, so too has the concept of a ‘community of interest’.
9. Daily routines are a matter of convenience and choice, not council boundaries.
10. Public facilities are for the use and enjoyment of all.
11. ‘Quicker response times’ by Campbelltown City Council is an unsubstantiated promise.
12. Campbelltown City Council makes long-term promises based on a short-term perspective.

You can read our full submission here.

Adelaide Hills Council (AHC) is pleased to be working with the residents of Woodforde to improve the public spaces around Hamilton Hill. These outcomes follow the Community Forum held with residents from Teringie, Woodforde and Rostrevor where Council heard directly from our foothills communities about how we can continue working together to enhance this beautiful part of the Adelaide Hills.

Irrigation and plants: AHC will be utilising a specialist irrigation consultant to repair or replace, then reactivate the irrigation system to ensure all irrigation in the reserve and laneways are functioning effectively. The Horticulture Team removed a considerable number of dead plants earlier this week and have also removed three truckloads of weeds. Mulching and planting of sustainable and biodiverse plants will follow.

Lawned areas and weed control: mowing will be undertaken on a regular basis, the frequency adjusted according to the season. Broadleaf herbicide spraying will commence within the next three weeks. This will require temporary isolation of the reserve areas to the community for short periods of time. Public notification advice will be posted on AHC’s social media pages Adelaide Hills Council

Paths throughout the reserve: AHC Civil Services have undertaken an assessment of the erosion and rutting issues of the compacted rubble paths. More to come on this.

Creation of a swale drain: residents of Lewis or Buchanan will have noticed the works there recently. AHC have installed a retaining rock swale drain and installed a vehicle access point to enable maintenance in the reserve to occur.

Mulching works: there is a significant amount of work involved in spreading the organic mulch in the garden beds and between the plants. In the coming months AHC is aiming to deliver a large volume of mulch to mulch the garden beds.

Keep a look out for a Woodforde Residents Association callout for volunteers to help with the mulching of smaller garden beds.

Following an open tender and thorough evaluation process, BDO Services Pty Ltd has been appointed as Investigator to the Inquiry and will begin work in mid-2024. The Investigator will provide a report to the Commission to enable it to make recommendations to the Minister for Local Government on whether the council boundary changes should proceed as Campbelltown City Council has proposed.

This work includes the development and delivery of an Engagement Plan that will ensure that local communities, affected councils, landowners and all parties with an interest in the future of this growing area can be well-informed as the Inquiry proceeds, and make their views known on any potential change.

You can find further information on the Boundary Change Commission Website

The Boundaries Commission has decided to inquire into the proposal and an investigator will be appointed to assess the proposal and engage further with Council and the community.

The Commission's engagement guidelines are outlined here: https://www.dit.sa.gov.au/local-government/documents/office-of-local-government/boundaries/guidelines-for-preparing-a-proposal/Boundaries-Commission-Guideline-9-Engagement-and-Consultation-Version-2.0-23-December-2022.pdf

The Commission’s determination to inquire into the Proposal does not mean that the proposal has been recommended to proceed. A recommendation to the Minister regarding this Proposal can only be made once the Commission has conducted and considered the findings of an inquiry.

Section 31(1)(b) of the Act enables the Commission to appoint one or more investigators to conduct the inquiry. It is expected that the inquiry into the Proposal will require the appointment of a number of specialised investigators, given the extensive potential impact that the proposal may have on affected councils. The appointment of investigators will be undertaken in accordance with the Act, and with Guideline 5 – Appointment of Investigators for General Proposals. As s 31(2) of the Act makes clear, the Commission must seek to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, that the qualifications, knowledge, expertise and experience of a particular investigator are relevant to the inquiry for which the investigator is being appointed.

Read more here: Letter_from_LGBC_to_Campbelltown_City_Council_-_Response_to_Stage_2_Proposal_-_July_2022.pdf (dit.sa.gov.au)

Installation of footpath along Glen Stuart Road from Grant Street through to the first bus stop on Morialta Road in paving at a cost of $190k for 22/23

Planned installation to continue from first bus stop through to Heather Ave in paving, and continue to Flavel Ave in concrete and reconfigure bus stop access at an estimated cost of $125 for 23/24.

The Boundaries Commission has accepted Campbelltown’s ‘Stage 2’ proposal and preparations for a formal investigation are underway.

New Adelaide Hills Council Boundary Change Committee

While the Council’s elected body has and will continue to maintain an active oversight of the boundary change matter, it has created a Boundary Change Committee (the Committee) to specifically review and provide boundary change advice to Council.

The Committee has been consulted by the Boundaries Commission regarding what matters should be considered as part of the investigation. We expressed that the investigation should be as thorough as possible and consider all relevant social, cultural, economic and environmental matters associated with a resident’s sense of place in a community. We also proposed that the Commission needs to engage a range of experts to appropriately look into the matter. We are advocating that the views of residents must be actively sought and that they should be given significant weight in the consideration of the proposal.

Next key steps

Following finalisation of the Commissions’ Investigation Plan and its Engagement and Communications Plan, the estimated cost of the investigation will be determined by the Commission and put to the Campbelltown Council for consideration. We expect this to occur after the upcoming Local Government election (November 2022). Campbelltown Council will subsequently decide whether or not the investigation should proceed (at their cost).

Further information

A letter is in the mail to all residents and should be received shortly.

If you would like more information on the Boundary Change Proposal, please contact the Boundaries Commission via telephone (08) 7109 7164 or their website https://www.dit.sa.gov.au/local-government/boundaries-commission .

We are also here to talk with you about the process and our Governance Team can be contacted on 8408 0400 or you can scroll down to the bottom of this page and sign up to our electronic mailing list to be kept in the loop.

AHC's Mayor sent all residents an updated letter. This letter provides updated information in regard to the Boundary change proposal.

Project Update November 2020

You may have recently received a communication from the Mayor of Campbelltown City Council (CCC) regarding their proposal to review the boundary with Adelaide Hills Council.

What stage is the CCC boundary change proposal at?

The proposal is still in the consultation phase but, if in the future the boundary commission decide the proposal should go ahead, your property would become part of the CCC. Consideration by the Boundary Commission is an ongoing and lengthy process.

The recent CCC communication sent to property owners in Woodforde and Rostrevor contained information about council rate comparisons. Please note this comparison excludes the Regional Landscapes Levy.

What is Adelaide Hills Council’s position?

You may recall that following CCC initiating the boundary review in early 2019, we (Adelaide Hills Council) hosted a community meeting in Rostrevor on 3 September 2019 and subsequently conducted our own survey of property owners and occupiers in November of that year. The response was clear with 65% of respondents indicating a preference to remain part of Adelaide Hills Council. Having considered that result, we resolved not to support the change and to ask the CCC to stop the review process. Despite our request, CCC is determined to press on with the review process.

What can you do?

CCC will be sending you a survey from McGregor Tan research asking about your thoughts on the boundary change proposal. We urge you to have your say on boundary reform by completing the CCC survey.

When considering your responses, should you have any queries about Adelaide Hills Council’s services, your rates or the way your area is managed, we invite you to:

• contact us on 8408 0400 or mail@ahc.sa.gov.au and we would be pleased to assist
• visit Council’s dedicated Boundry Change Proposal Page at engage.ahc.sa.gov.au
• You are also welcome to contact elected members directly to discuss any queries you have regarding the boundary proposal and you can find their details at ahc.sa.gov.au

On Tuesday 2 June Adelaide Hills Council Mayor Jan-Claire Wisdom and Deputy Mayor Nathan Daniell made a deputation at the Campbelltown City Council meeting and declared their request. Read more in the Media Release and watch the deputation which was live streamed here.