Boundary adjustment premature according to Mayor

A boundary adjustment which would see Mullewa become part of Chapman Valley has been deemed “too premature” and will not go ahead in the near future.  
 
City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn met with Chapman Valley Shire President John Collingwood and both Council CEOs yesterday to discuss the possible local government boundary change.
 
Neither council had formally considered the matter and there does not appear to be unwavering support from the community to look at boundary adjustments at this time.
 
“We have a great relationship with the City of Greater Geraldton and we both agree that any decisions must be made in the best interests of our respective communities,” President Collingwood said.
 
The City of Greater Geraldton has a current amalgamation agreement with the former Mullewa Shire Council until 2019 which would prevent any changes until that time.
 
“The City is in the last year of equalising rates between the former Mullewa Shire Council and the former Geraldton-Greenough City Council so it is premature to consider a boundary adjustment at this point in time,” Mayor Van Styn said.
 
Mullewa Councillors had expressed their opinion, believing a merger with Chapman Valley could create a rural community of interest which could better represent the demographic of their community.
 
“We were happy to open the dialogue with the City to see if it had merit and while those present at the meeting saw benefit in having local government boundaries more representative of their community of interest, we did not see any merit in moving forward with the proposal at this time,” President Collingwood said.
 
Yesterday was the first meeting between the local government authorities to discuss the matter, it had not been formally discussed at any official council meetings.
 
Mayor Van Styn said, “unless there was widespread community support for a boundary adjustment I will not be taking this matter to City of Greater Geraldton Council to consider”.