Pursuant to the provisions of Section 23 of the Local Government Act 2008, the Litchfield Council is undertaking a review so as to assess the adequacy of the constitutional arrangements presently in place and, in particular, whether they provide the most effective possible representation for the council area. The review must be completed by the 31st March 2015 in order to have any proposed amendments put into effect before the 2016 Local Government elections.
Notice is hereby given that Council has prepared a detailed Discussion Paper which examines the advantages and disadvantages of the various options available in regards to the composition and structure of Council, and the division of the council area into wards. Copies of the papers are available for inspection at the Council Office located at 7 Bees Creek Road, Freds Pass, Council’s Website http://www.litchfield.nt.gov.au/
Interested persons are invited to make a written submission to the Chief Executive Officer, PO Box 446, Humpty Doo NT 0836, by close of business on Wednesday 22 October 2014.
Any submissions should specifically address the following issues.
- The title of the principal member of Council (i.e. President or Mayor).
- The composition of Council, more specifically the number of elected members required to adequately and fairly represent the electors and communities within the council area and to perform the roles and responsibilities of Council.
- The title of the elected members (i.e. councillor or alderman).
- Whether or not the council area should be divided into wards.
- If the council area is to be divided into wards, the identification of a ward structure which exhibits a reasonably equitable distribution of electors between the proposed wards and provides opportunities for the representation of all existing communities.
- The title of any proposed future wards.
- Whether there should be changes to the existing name and/or boundaries of Council.
Further information regarding the electoral review can be obtained by contacting Derrick Tranter, Governance Manager, on telephone (08) 8983 0600 or by emailing council@lsc.nt.gov.au
Iian Wilson
Chief Executive Officer