THE state has spoken: council amalgamations are not welcome and communities have said they will fight to the death to block forced council mergers.
Thousands of people have crammed into local halls, clubs and community centres across NSW to attend public inquiry meetings in the past week about council mergers proposed by the NSW government.
The public inquiries are the latest step in the government’s reform to local government, with affected councils being allocated a delegate from the Boundaries Commission to hear concerns.
Many communities have also vowed to take their anger into the next election. With signs, poems, songs, costumes, tears and even a horse, community members have implored the government to leave local councils alone.
A decrease in services, rates increases and a loss of identity are among the main concerns of most communities.
Smaller communities passionate about retaining their councils have been the most vocal, with hundreds of people travelling long distances to attend meetings.
The meeting held at Molong last Friday was the epitome of this. Signs lined the walkway into the Molong RSL Club, where some 280 people came together to voice their concerns about a possible merger between Orange City, Blayney Shire and Cabonne councils.
A whopping 111 people registered to speak, with business owners, farmers, retirees and community group representatives taking to the podium to urge delegate Richard Pearson to ‘‘give them a fair hearing’’.
Even Member for Calare John Cobb spoke, stating from the outset that he wasn’t speaking as a member of parliament, but as a concerned resident of Cabonne.
The story was the same in Oberon, where more than 200 people converged at the Oberon Showground to argue unanimously for independence.
Eighty-three members of the public registered to speak before delegate Renata Brooks, pouring out their fears of being swallowed up by the larger Bathurst Regional Council.
It was a much quieter affair in bigger centres like Bathurst and Orange. In Bathurst, 50 people attended the meeting with 20 people registered to speak.
Oberon residents made up a large part of the crowd wanting to voice their concerns to their larger neighbour.
In Orange, there were only 17 speakers registered, and Orange City councillors voiced their support for the proposal.
A number of Cabonne voters joined the meeting, including some who were keen to merge with Orange because they lived right on the boundary and wanted to access services.
Meanwhile, at the meeting at Nerriga last week, Goulburn Mulwaree Council general manager Warwick Bennett told the crowd that his Queanbeyan City counterpart had a direct bearing on the proposed Goulburn Mulwaree part merger with Palerang.
‘‘I was told the boundary was drawn up by the general manager of Queanbeyan City Council after receiving a request from the Department of Premier and Cabinet (to do so),’’ he said.
Mr Bennett said the request had occurred some time between last year’s November 18 deadline for councils’ final proposals and the December 20 government announcement. It meant Queanbeyan would get a chunk of Palerang Shire, including the growing Bungendore.
Public inquiries have already taken place for the Bathurst/Oberon, Berrigan/Jerilderie, Blayney/Cabonne/Orange, Boorowa/Harden/Young, Conargo/ Deniliquin, Cootamundra/ Gundagai, Corowa/Urana/Lockhart, Dubbo/Wellington, Dungog/ Gloucester, Goulburn/Mulwaree/Palerang (part), Shoalhaven/Kiama, Murray/Wakool, Newcastle/Port Stephens and Tamworth/Walcha proposed mergers.
Public inquiries for the Armidale Dumaresq/Guyra, Bombala/Cooma-Monaro/Snowy River, Murrumbidgee/Jerilderie, Palerang(part)/Queanbeyan and Tumbarumba/Tumut proposed mergers will take place today.
Minister for Local Government Paul Toole will then make a final decision on each proposed merger due by July.
