City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder says it has no formal position on boundary adjustment with Shire of Coolgardie

The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder has not adopted a formal position on a proposed boundary adjustment with the Shire of Coolgardie, mayor Glenn Wilson said on Friday, following the local government minister’s comments earlier this week it was willing to merge with the financially troubled shire. Mr Wilson said the council had endorsed a draft boundary adjustment proposal consistent with the request of minister Hannah Beazley for a joint submission by the shire and the city. He said the proposal was an initial draft to satisfy the State Government’s request for a joint submission by the two local governments. “As the Shire of Coolgardie did not provide all the required information, the proposal and council’s preferred option is not finalised,” he said. The city has been forced to issue the clarification following Ms Beazley’s comments in Coolgardie on Monday after she decided not to suspend the shire following her issuing a show-cause notice because of its dire financial crisis. Ms Beazley told media after a community Q&A meeting the city had been willing to have the boundary adjustment, which would have seen it effectively take over the shire. However, she said the city’s position paper was not as fulsome as it would have liked because the shire did not provide some of the information requested. Before Ms Beazley’s comments, the city’s exact thinking on the proposed boundary adjustment had never been made public, at her request. The shire, however, had made no bones about its opposition, and on Monday welcomed the minister’s decision to give it a year to get its affairs in order.