THE number of City of Bunbury councillors will not be reduced despite last month's referendum, which saw the majority of voters in favour of a decrease from 12 to eight over the next two local government elections.
At last night's council meeting, councillors voted against the referendum by choosing to keep numbers as they are.
In October, the referendum asked voters to decide if the number of City of Bunbury councillors should be lowered from 12 to eight with 2729 voting yes and 2465 voting no.
There were 28 informal votes.
The argument from councillors who voted to keep numbers the same was that there was an insufficient gap between yes and no votes.
They also said a lower number of councillors could mean there would not be sufficient diversity on council.
Councillor Betty McCleary attempted to find middle-ground by putting in a motion to change numbers from 12 to 10 rather than eight but it was shot down by Mayor Gary Brennan, who said it went against the recommendation and referendum.
But councillor James Hayward spoke for the change and said the move was not about saving money or diversity, it was about democracy.
"The community has the last say and it would be an insult to them if we vote against it," he said.
"People legally cast a vote and they knew what they were supporting when they did so."
But deputy mayor Brendan Kelly spoke passionately to keep councillor numbers at 12 in a bid to keep diversity for common representation.
He said with only 24.6 per cent of people voting in the referendum, and 52.5 per cent of those people voting yes, it was no enough to make a decision on lowering numbers.
Mr Brennan agreed with Mr Hayward.
"This is about upholding democracy in Bunbury," he said.
"Every person in the electorate had the opportunity to vote and when they vote, you hold that sacred."
When it came time to vote, seven councillors voted to keep the numbers the same and six voted to drop them.
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