THE thorn in the side of the NSW government that won’t go away is council amalgamations.
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The Fit for the Future reform process was been drawn out over a number years, but it was in the last 18 months the opposition got particularly fierce.
In our region, the smallest shires made the most noise, railing against any suggestion of a merger.
Walcha, Uralla and Guyra kicked and screamed and did not go quietly.
The former two live on in 2017, while the latter was merged with Armidale-Dumaresq Council. But the fight in Guyra has been reignited and they don’t believe their future is set in stone, even eight months after Armidale Regional Council was put in place.
They have circled the wagons – as well a petition – and called out Liberal MP and merger supporter Scot MacDonald MLC to explain just how many runs on the board Armidale Regional Council has.
Mr MacDonald believed “relief from a 30 per cent rate rise”, which was proposed by the former Guyra Shire Council was “something material” in the early months of the merged entity.
The rush of energy in Guyra comes just after the relatively new Deputy Premier John Barilaro issued a strong statement declaring opposition to council mergers and vowing to put regional NSW back on the state government’s map.
Mr Barilaro’s pledge to end council mergers in the bush has renewed hope in some small communities, but also stoked the fire which had been only smoldering for a number of months in our region.
He doesn’t want to “unscramble the egg” with mergers already completed, but with fresh protests against the policy who knows if his stance will be moved.
The government has been feeling the heat from the council mergers from a few different corners in the state.
Oberon, Cabonne and Walcha – and later Gundagai – took the state government to court over the matter, while Orange handed the Nationals an historic loss in their by-election last year.
Troy Grant stepped aside, giving way for the new Nationals leader to step-up and call for an end to council mergers.
Local government minister Paul Toole was moved out of the portfolio in this weekend’s cabinet reshuffle and redeployed as minister for lands and forestry and racing leaving the ministry in the hands of former Attorney-General Gabrielle Upton.