A POTENTIAL reshuffle of ward boundaries and councillor representation across the City of Swan will soon be put to the community, following a vote at council’s August 12 ordinary council meeting.

The draft discussion paper brought to council outlines four structural concepts for public feedback, including a model without ward boundaries, and three five-ward options that variously realign existing borders, reduce total elected seats from 14 to 12, or make minor adjustments to preserve the current boundaries.

Among a number of other changes, three of the four options would reduce the number of councillors for the Midland/Guildford ward from three to two while increasing the Whiteman ward from two to three.

The decision to endorse the draft discussion paper came after council members considered and rejected an alternative procedural motion that sought to delay the process.

Moved by Cr Rashelle Predovnik, the alternative motion requested city staff produce additional options for consideration, including a model preserving the current layout.

Cr Predovnik argued during the debate that there was no legislative mandate requiring the council to rush the process.

“The plus-minus 10 per cent range is a guideline and not an automatic legal trigger that requires immediate changes,” she said.

“The Local Government Advisory Board has confirmed there is no legal requirement for us to complete the review before the 2027 election, so we do not need to rush significant structural changes.”

Seconding the motion, Cr Ian Johnson voiced strong concern regarding the proposed reduction in councillor representation in the Midland/Guildford Ward.

“I think we need to include an option to retain three Midland and Guildford councillors for the consideration of the community for the reason that the workload in this diverse and unique ward means we don’t need one less councillor to increase the workload on the two remaining,” he said.

“It is not in the interest of the diverse and vibrant Midland/Guildford ward community to reduce representation.” 

Speaking against the procedural delay, Cr Aaron Bowman and Cr Haeden Miles highlighted that rapid demographic growth required changes to the number of representatives for wards.

“We are a growth council as has been raised with some of the fastest growing suburbs in the state, and more people means more electors,” Cr Miles said.

“Are we considering the quality of our local democracy and the voices of our electors or are we considering too much of our own political skin in this debate?”

With the delay motion failing 6-8, council subsequently voted 10-4 to initiate public consultation on the draft discussion paper, which is expected to run from August 28 to October 12.