Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council was sworn in at an extraordinary meeting this week. Pictured are (back, from left): Crs Les Cooper, Danyal Syed, Ethan Ryan, Gil Kelly, Abb McAlister (Mayor), David Graham and Logan Collins. Front: Crs Rosalind Wight (Deputy Mayor) and Penny Nicholson. Photo: Supplied.
The proposed demerger of Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council (CGRC) remains in the sights of its new Mayor, longtime Gundagai councillor Abb McAlister, who says the issue needs to be resolved and quickly.
Councillor McAlister was elected for a two-year term by secret ballot six votes to three, defeating the council’s most recent mayor, Cootamundra councillor Gil Kelly, at Tuesday night’s extraordinary meeting of the new administration.
Cr McAlister has served local government for a total of six terms and is no stranger to the role of mayor, having been at the helm of CGRC as its first mayor following two terms as mayor of the former Gundagai Shire Council.
His deputy emerged from a three-corner contest involving council newcomer Danyal Syed and former councillors Logan Collins and Rosalind Wight. It came down to the wire after the first secret ballot resulted in three votes for each of the candidates from the nine-member council.
A hat draw determined the fate of Cr Collins, who was excluded from the next round of voting, and it was former Cootamundra Shire councillor Wight who prevailed, six votes to three.
For Cr McAlister, the election this week marks his fourth term as Mayor: two leading Gundagai Shire Council and two in charge of CGRC, which was formed in 2016 as a result of a NSW Government-forced amalgamation of the former shires of Cootamundra and Gundagai.
He told Tuesday night’s meeting that since the merger, the council’s financial position had slipped “to an unacceptable level”, and the focus over the next four-year term should be on correcting that.
“The way we will do that is by working together as a team,” he said.
He said he’d always been a strong advocate for demerging CGRC and he hoped that a decision on that would be made early in the council’s new term, “so we know where we’re going”.
“I think it would be the best way for us in the long run and in terms of financial viability,” Cr McAlister said.
His message to the council was one of unification and propriety, asking that the councillors, in making decisions, pay heed to the needs of the entire local government area.
“I may be Mayor but just want to remind you all that I am just one vote, there are eight other votes out there and we need transparency and teamwork, and if we have that we’ll succeed,” he said.
Cr McAlister also thanked the outgoing mayor, Gil Kelly, for his efforts in leading the council following the unexpected resignation of former mayor Charlie Sheehan in July 2024.
“A big thank you to Gil. I beat you today, mate, but there’ll be plenty of time for you, and I know you’ll do a great job when you’re mayor again,” he said.
”You did a fantastic job over the last seven weeks and I just wanted to thank you for putting your hand up, mate.”
Cr McAlister told Region he was confident the new council would work well together.
“There’s a lot of detractors out there and we’ve all been through a lot as a community since 2016, but it’s up to us, this council, to make sure we’re looking after the best interests of the entire local government area, that’s what we’re elected to do,” he said.
He said he was also eager to see the council’s executive team led by a locally based general manager.
“Right now we have an interim GM, and one day it’d be good if we can get one full time,” he said. ”While he’s doing a great job, we need someone who lives and works in the area and is invested in that area.”
The next meeting for the council is on 22 October in Cootamundra.
As it stands, CGRC’s fate still sits with NSW Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig, who has appointed four independent commissioners to look into a demerger proposal submitted by CGRC.
In late August, a public inquiry was formally opened at a meeting in Sydney where the commissioners met with the report’s author, Peter Teggart, to discuss the demerger implementation plan.
Written public submissions into the proposal closed on 30 September and the minister has flagged the possibility of additional public meetings.
This demerger process is the third involving the communities of Cootamundra and Gundagai since amalgamation in 2016.
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