The business of local government is a complex and, these days, highly-regulated legal operating environment. It is also probably not widely understood that ‘local government’ (i.e. Councils), even though elected by the people, are far from being independent of the State Government. In fact, local government (in simple terms of governance) is directly controlled in many ways by State Government.
In recent years, the Mount Barker District Council found out in no uncertain terms just how much power over planning and development the Council does not have. Despite much assertion that ‘what happened at Mount Barker was wrong and won’t happen again’ (in regard to the 2010 Ministerial DPA issued by then Minister Paul Holloway which effectively crushed our known 30 year plan commitment into the dirt without any consultation and virtually ‘overnight’) – our power as an elected local government body to directly guide the fortunes of our district, continues to be eroded even today.
It is Lindsay’s firm held view that without some serious political system changes at the State level, the ability of communities at the local level to chart the course of their own district's future will soon be gone altogether. This is a situation, in Lindsay's view, which must be resisted.
