Table 7 Boundary History of the Local Governments Established as the Narrogin Municipal District in 1906. Narrogin (T) Name changed to the Town of Narrogin in 1961. Established as the Narrogin Road District in 1892. Was subject to a number of boundary amendments with Narrogin (S) surrounding Shires until the establishment of the Shire of Narrogin in 1961. There is a common perception amongst residents of local governments involved in mergers that the history associated with a local government facing abolition will be lost or adversely impacted. There is also a view that it dilutes community identity. The Board understands that residents may experience a sense of disconnection, but it is an undeniable fact that history will not be lost or depreciated, it just means that changes will create a new chapter of history. It is also arguable that community identity will suffer as communities are connected by their social and commercial activities rather than the local government that services them. Transport and communications The Guiding Principles focus on transport and communication linkages and Board’s whether proposed mergers are likely to create barriers to population movement. There is no evidence to suggest that the merger proposal would have any material impact on transport linkages. Based on all the information available to the Board there would be no identifiable impact on existing transport routes. The decommissioning of the tier 3 rail network in the region will mean greater use of roads by trucks. This will result in increased road maintenance and an additional financial burden on local governments at a time when they are struggling to keep up with existing maintenance demands. Regardless of whether the merger goes ahead or not, this will still be an issue for both local governments and many other Wheatbelt local governments. In relation to communications, the two local governments are typical of most regional local governments where internet access is constrained by limited infrastructure.
Table 7 Boundary History of the Local Governments Narrogin (T) Established as the Narrogin Municipal District in 1906. Name changed to the Town of Narrogin in 1961. Narrogin (S) Established as the Narrogin Road District in 1892. Was subject to a number of boundary amendments with surrounding Shires until the establishment of the Shire of Narrogin in 1961. There is a common perception amongst residents of local governments involved in mergers that the history associated with a local government facing abolition will be lost or adversely impacted. There is also a view that it dilutes community identity. The Board understands that residents may experience a sense of disconnection, but it is an undeniable fact that history will not be lost or depreciated, it just means that changes will create a new chapter of history. It is also arguable that community identity will suffer as communities are connected by their social and commercial activities rather than the local government that services them. Transport and communications The Board’s Guiding Principles focus on transport and communication linkages and whether proposed mergers are likely to create barriers to population movement. There is no evidence to suggest that the merger proposal would have any material impact on transport linkages. Based on all the information available to the Board there would be no identifiable impact on existing transport routes. The decommissioning of the tier 3 rail network in the region will mean greater use of roads by trucks. This will result in increased road maintenance and an additional financial burden on local governments at a time when they are struggling to keep up with existing maintenance demands. Regardless of whether the merger goes ahead or not, this will still be an issue for both local governments and many other Wheatbelt local governments. In relation to communications, the two local governments are typical of most regional local governments where internet access is constrained by limited infrastructure.