The Winston Hotel in Sydney’s north-west is at the center of a boundary dispute between Parramatta City and the Hills Shire councils. The hotel owner, Andrew Thomas, pays rates to both councils and must submit separate development applications, a situation he calls “petty.”
Thomas proposed putting the pub’s building within Parramatta Council’s boundary and the carpark under the Hills Shire Council’s, but Parramatta Council voted to subsume the entire precinct into its own area, causing a tangible loss of income, through rates, to the Hills Shire Council.
“We’re trying to get the boundary changed so we’re not having to get two lots of different rates, two [development applications],” said Thomas.
The border between the two councils mostly follows the track of the M2 motorway, but splits off at the pub, resulting in the Winston Hotel, the Winston Hills Shopping Centre, and a small block of strata apartments all falling into the Hills Shire Council.
“They’re ratepayers, that’s income we rely on to pay for services that they use,” said Hills Shire Council general manager Michael Edgar.
Edgar’s council made a counter-proposal to divide the land in a similar fashion to that proposed by Thomas, but Parramatta Council’s application, which includes a larger area, is now before the Local Government Minister.
A spokesperson for Parramatta Council said: “Following community consultation, council submitted an application for a proposed boundary amendment between The Hills Shire and City of Parramatta (Winston Hills) to the Minister for Local Government in March and is yet to receive a response.”
