FAQ's

No. The proposal from the Campbelltown City Council is to change council boundaries in two specific areas, being portions of Rostrevor and Woodforde that are currently situated in the Adelaide Hills Council as shown in the maps.

No decision has been made yet about whether the proposal will proceed.  At the conclusion of the investigation, the Commission will receive a report from BDO.  The Commission may then recommend to the Minister that the council boundary changes proceed as proposed or in a way different than the proposal.  The Commission may also recommend that no changes be made to the existing council boundaries.

The Minister will make the final decision whether the proposal will proceed or not proceed.

The Local Government Boundaries Commission can appoint investigators with specialist skills and knowledge to conduct the Inquiry on their behalf. The investigators review information about the proposed boundary change and engage with the community, councils, and stakeholders to assess the boundary change proposal.

The investigators will provide an Inquiry report to the Commission outlining their findings and make recommendations about whether the proposed boundary changes should or should not proceed.

The Commission has appointed BDO Australia as the investigators for this Inquiry.

Although the Investigator may be able to provide indicative information about the potential financial impacts of the proposal, the financial decisions of councils about how they set rates are influenced by many factors determined by individual councils. While specific conditions about rates may be implemented as part of proposed boundary change, rates cannot be predicted by the Inquiry process.  

The Inquiry report, including its findings and recommendations, will be that of the independent Investigator, BDO.

The Commission will receive and consider the report of the Investigator.  As an independent body, the Commission can make recommendations that differ from those of the Investigator.  

Those recommendations could include that the proposal should proceed as proposed, that changes proceed differently from what has been proposed, or that no changes be made to the existing council boundaries.  Recommendations could also include specific conditions for recommended actions.  In line with its engagement principle that engagement is informed and transparent, the Commission will explain the reasons behind its recommendations.  

No, changes to planning rules are a completely separate process to council boundary changes. South Australia has a single planning rule book that applies to all council areas - the Planning and Design Code (the Code). This replaced individual council Development Plans in 2021.  A change in council boundaries therefore does not mean that the planning rules that apply in an area change as well.

For planning rules such as zones or block sizes to change, there needs to be a ‘Code Amendment’ process that changes the Code.  Code amendments can be initiated by a range of parties, including the State Planning Commission, a council, an essential service provider or a ‘private proponent’ (a person with an interest in the land, such as a landowner).  Code amendments are considered and decided on by the State Planning Commission, following a separate process that includes public consultation – which is detailed here: https://plan.sa.gov.au/have_your_say/code-amendments/overview

We understand that no party (including either Council) has suggested that they wish to change the planning rules that apply to the areas affected by this proposal, and that current rules will therefore remain unchanged if the proposed boundary change goes ahead.

 If you would like to see what planning rules apply in the area, you can browse the Code here - https://code.plan.sa.gov.au/ (including map searches).

The scope of the Inquiry has been set under: 

• the Local Government Act 1999
• an approved Inquiry Plan (which the affected councils were consulted on)
• the Commission's Guidelines, in particular ‘Guideline 4 - Investigation of General Proposals Initiated by Councils’ and ‘Guideline 9 - Engagement and Consultation.’  

 The Inquiry Plan considers topics across five matters:

• Financial Matters: including potential financial implications of the proposal on councils’
  • operating revenue and expenses 
  • rates, fees and charges
  • assets
  • grants, grant agreements and any significant contracts 
  • services and service levels, like waste management and road maintenance.
• Land Use and Planning Matters:
  • land use patterns and planning studies, including of current and anticipate growth areas in the next ten years
  • environmental and land management issues, like stormwater
  • councils’ planning policies, processes and development controls
  • potentially impacted infrastructure agreements
  • councils’ capacity to manage significant future growth areas and facilitate effective and sustainable planning and development.
• Council Employee Matters:
  • identifying the types of council employees potentially impacted by the proposal
  • identifying any significant difference in workplace agreements and conditions and any workforce or human resourcing issues.
• Representation Matters
  • Identifying current and potential impacts on representation (elected member numbers) for areas impacted by the proposal, including any impact on ward quotas
  • considering previous changes to representation for the potentially affected councils and whether they are relevant.
• Community Matters
  • community members’ identification as members of a particular community and whether a boundary change would result in a significant division of an existing community
  • economic communities of interest that could be affected by a boundary change
  • how community members in potentially affected areas access council services and facilities
  • relationships between affected councils and social, recreational and sporting groups
  • councils’ capacity to offer their communities a reasonable range of services if the changes were implemented.

While the Inquiry and stakeholder engagement is being undertaken in 2025, the Commission cannot provide timeframes for completion of the Inquiry.  The Commission must ensure that it has all of the information required to make a recommendation to the Minister.

BDO will undertake community and stakeholder engagement as part of their investigations. Two community forums are being held:

In-person community forum:

Wednesday, 4 June 2025, 6:30pm-8:30pm 

University of South Australia, Magill Campus, Room D1-20, St Bernards Road, Magill

RSVP Here

Online community forum:

Thursday, 5 June 2025, 12pm-1:30pm

RSVP Here

The public forums are open to all members of the public with an interest in the proposed boundaries change. Information will be provided about all areas potentially impacted by a boundary change at each of the two public forums. There is no need to come to multiple forums; they will cover the same information.