Chat to any south-west resident of a certain age and they speak in reverential tones about the good old days of the Minhamite, Belfast, Dundas or Hampden shires, among many defunct institutions.

These councils served populations of roughly 4000 or 5000 people at best and operated for more than a century before the Kennett government enacted forced amalgamations back in September 1994.

The Kennett reforms, spearheaded by local government minister Roger Hallam, were bitterly contested at the time because of the strong ties between ratepayers and their historic councils.

Hallam replaced the region’s 16 small municipalities with four larger councils and a relatively untouched Warrnambool City Council.

The question is now being asked two decades down the track: Is it time to re-examine amalgamation?

Former National Party leader Pat McNamara has suggested the creation of super councils across regional Victoria.

His concept involved new councils based on water catchment areas so the south-west’s five councils would become a “Wannon super council” operated out of Warrnambool. Colac would become part of a Barwon super council administered from Geelong with 11 other municipalities statewide.

Mr McNamara has floated this reform package due to the growing number of financially unviable councils in remote regional areas. The Western District is fortunate in that all our councils have favourable balance sheets, but that should not deter us from seeking further reform. 

Warrnambool is now the region’s de facto capital. It is the only city in the south-west that has a sizeable population base and a number of region-wide services operate here, like Deakin University.

It makes sense to have a regional council with a Warrnambool headquarters and local offices based in Port Fairy, Portland, Hamilton and Camperdown.

Opposition towards any reform is a certainty but brave leadership from Spring Street is needed to press ahead with these much-needed changes.