Why IMC?

Who We Are

The Inner Mess Council (IMC) is a community‑built platform started by a 50+ super‑good‑looking Ashfield resident who was born, raised, educated, worked, and survived in the Inner West. Yes — super good‑looking. Confidence is free, and the Inner West Council Regime can’t regulate it.

IMC was created by someone who watched the Inner West drift into bureaucratic fog and thought: “Surely we can do better than this circus.”

Where It Started

Ashfield Council wasn’t perfect — but it was lean, local, and functional. They focused on the fundamentals:

  • collecting garbage
  • managing streets and traffic
  • maintaining parks
  • answering phones
  • actually helping residents
  • helping business develop and grow

Ashfield Council felt like a local service, not a distant administration. It was human. It was responsive. It was ours.

If you forgot to take out your garbage, one quick phone call to Ashfield Council and they’d arrange a pickup the next day.
No forms.
No tickets.
No “your request has been logged.”
Just service
and as my immigrant father taught me you will leave half a case of VB beer in the bin for Xmas.

What We Lost

Then came the Super Functional Lean Clean Inner West Council Regime™ — the amalgamation that promised efficiency and delivered… well… the opposite.

  • services deteriorate
  • communication collapse
  • maintenance fall behind
  • accountability evaporate
  • local identity dissolve

You raise an issue today and what do you get?

  • an automatic reply,
  • a “just confirming this is an automatic response” template,
  • or the classic “I’m too busy right now” email.

Before the election, councillors were everywhere — at events, at community spaces, even at the local bars. You could talk to them, give advice, share concerns.

After the election?

You raise an issue today and what do you get?

  • an automatic reply,
  • a “just confirming this is an automatic response” template,
  • or the classic “I’m too busy right now” email.

Before the election, councillors were everywhere — at events, at community spaces, even at the local bars. You could talk to them, give advice, share concerns.

After the election?

Silence. No follow‑through. No visibility. Just templates.

The Referendum No One Likes to Mention

In 2021, Inner West residents were asked a simple question:

Should the Inner West Council be de‑amalgamated back into Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville?

  • 62.49% voted YES
  • 37.51% voted NO

A majority. A mandate. A democratic decision.

And yet… nothing changed.

The community spoke. The system shrugged. And the Inner West Council Regime rolled on — bigger, slower, and more disconnected than ever.

What we’re here to do

We’re here to:

  • document
  • decode
  • demystify
  • communicate
  • and talk about the stuff you used to find in the Courier

Both sides of the story. Not the recycled, four‑colour, cold‑press printer‑paper propaganda that clogs your letterbox telling you how magical Marrickville and Leichhardt are while Ashfield quietly gets the leftovers.

Because details matter. Paper stock matters. And residents can tell the difference between community information and PR mulch.

Our Style

we blend

  • 40% satire
  • 60% real community content

Because sometimes the only way to survive the chaos is to laugh at it while fixing it.

Our Mission

To give Ashfield and the Inner West:

  • a voice
  • a platform
  • a record
  • a community hub
  • a watchdog with personality

We’re not here to tear everything down. We’re here to build something better, one honest page at a time.

Inner Mess Council — Built by residents, for residents.