Big changes ahead for Tasmanian councils

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The government is due to soon release substantially altered laws around the local government sector after a review of the governing act began in 2018. ..................... The review of the Local Government Act produced about 50 proposed changes to laws in 2019. ..................... Voluntary council amalgamations requested by two or more councils will no longer need to be reviewed and approved by the Local Government Board under one proposed change. ..................... The directions paper for the review raised the subject of alternative voting methods and suggested electronic voting should be explored. ..................... The review did not consider council amalgamations or changes to municipal boundaries, or the much maligned code of conduct framework. ..................... The review also did not consider council planning arrangements. ..................... The directions paper suggested scrapping a popular vote for the mayor and deputy mayor positions and having those decisions made around the table by elected representatives of a council. ..................... This was abandoned due to strong opposition to the idea. ..................... The introduction of a candidate nomination fee for local government elections was also abandoned as was a proposal to establish regional councils. ..................... An option to have the candidate elected first in a popularly elected ballot automatically elected as mayor is among the approved proposals. ..................... The review has proposed only Australian citizens should be allowed to vote in council elections and that a person can only vote once in an election. ..................... At the moment, a person that owns both a business and property in a particular municipal area can vote twice. ..................... A draft bill is expected to soon be released for consultation after some months of delay due to COVID-19. 

THE BIG ISSUES DO NOT SEEM TO HAVE BEEN ADDRESSED .... OR should/could that be YET?.... Tandra

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How many businesses have chosen to bypass Launceston? Letters to the editor Local News . ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR WHILE there would have been many who felt comments from Alastair Blount highlighting the general state of Launceston's CBD, hoons and graffiti (The Examiner, June 24) to be overly critical, I would argue rightly or wrongly, his comments are correct on every point. ..................... Having lived in Launceston for over 30 years and it is my view various areas of the CBD and surrounding areas are starting to look tired, dirty, and lacking any vibrancy. ..................... It is incredibly disappointing that there seems to be a minority of individuals that have nothing better to do than vandalise or deface the property of others. ..................... In an economical climate that has business margins on a knife's edge, I cannot help but wonder how many prospective business owners bypass Launceston's CBD due to potential antisocial behaviour? \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ ..................... .................... Anthony Camino, Youngtown.