Murray River Council has proposed the reclassification of 18 lots from community to operational land.
At their May 28 meeting, councillors narrowly decided to begin the community consultation process of the land reclassification.
Community land benefits residents by providing services like parks or reserves. These cannot be sold or disposed of by council, and have restrictions on leasing and management.
Operational land is used for essential services, investments, or council functions like depots or sewage plants. They have fewer restrictions, and can be disposed more easily.
Mayor Frank Crawley said council has been looking into whether its assets are providing adequate service.
“For a couple of years, council has been looking at its assets to see whether they are surplus to requirements, whether they are providing a surplus to the community” he said.
“As we keep expanding as a community, council comes under pressure to maintain a whole lot of assets.
“As new subdivisions come online, they often come with a park ... (If) there is another similar or better park ... we would have a look at disposing the smaller park.
“That would mean we cut down on maintenance, we would also get some capital income.”
Council believes these 18 lots are surplus to community needs and has opened the proposal for public comment.
“We’ve had a look and believe that these parks are probably surplus to requirements, but we do want to go out to the community and get their thoughts about it,” Cr Crawley said.
The proposal needs to be on public display for 28 days, and an independently chaired public hearing will be held afterwards. At this stage, council is unsure when the hearing will happen but aims to have this in the next few months.
“I personally, and I know the other counsellors, would like it to happen as soon as possible because we have been contacts by members of the public about concerns on a couple of the parks,” Cr Crawley said.
The main factor in determining the classification of the lots is usage; more popular sites are more likely to remain as community land.
“I would think that the most important thing for the community is how popular it is and how often it is used,” Cr Crawley said.
Each lot's classification will be determined individually at the hearing, and the chair will prepare a report for council to decide the outcome.
Moama resident John McGrath is hosting a meeting on Sunday, June 9, about the land reclassification.
Cr Crawley has confirmed he will be in attendance on Sunday, and welcomes conversations about the proposal with residents.
“We’ll get, no doubt, face-to-face feedback at that meeting,” he said.
“I’ll be more than happy to attend, I think another one of the counsellors, Cr (Kron) Nicholas plans on attending as well.”
Council welcomes feedback and public submissions. It also encourages submissions to the Parks and Open Spaces Strategy to guide future land classification decisions and community expectations.
“I would like to stress is that this is an initial assessment, and we are really keen to get community feedback so it isn't as though we’re desperate to sell,” Cr Crawley said.
“At the same time, our initial assessment is that they may be surplus to needs.
“It would be really good to get feedback about that from the community, because we are talking about parks that are possibly going to be disposed of.
“This Parks and Open Space Strategy still show(s) how we deal with these parks going forward.”
The formal consultation process for land reclassification has not begun, but early comments are welcome.
Twenty-one days notice is required for the public hearing, and council will keep residents informed of any updates in this process. The Riv will also provide updates and publish dates as they come.
Residents can send feedback through email at admin@murrayriver.nsw.gov.au
Viewing and submissions for the Parks and Open Spaces Strategy can be done via https://yoursay.murrayriver.nsw.gov.au/parks-and-open-space-strategy