Seems the only place in town to get an idea on what’s happening with council mergers is the local paper.

In its Friday April 20, 2013 issue, Post Newspapers added another couple of pieces to the puzzle that is “local govt reform”.

But the real puzzler is – what is Minister for Local Govt, Tony Simpson, going on about?

It’s a no brainer why he wants to “meet up to five councils at a time” from next month.  He wants them to amalgamate.

And its become obvious the Barnett Govt is redefining council services by making changes at state level, ie merging Dept of Local Govt with Communities.

But what does it mean when the Minister relays to ratepayers, “we don’t want you to change the football team you support…just…consider…whether your council rates are affordable and who picks up your wheelie bin”.

Most of us won’t lose sleep over who ultimately takes away our rubbish, but is the Minister flying in the face of what most councils are saying and indicating it will work out cheaper for the community if they do merge?

And what will eventually sort all this out, if the State Govt has no intention of forcing mergers?

Let’s hope Post and Community Newspapers keep teasing out the bits’n’pieces on this issue!