The forced amalgamation of Cootamundra and Gundagai Councils in 2016 led to the formation of the Gundagai Council in Exile. Image: Gundagai Council in Exile/Facebook.
The communities of Cootamundra and Gundagai have been paralysed by the State Government’s decision to hold another inquiry into de-amalgamation of the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council (CGRC).
The council met with NSW Local Government Minister Ron Hoenig on Tuesday to discuss the route to splitting the council but any final recommendation will be left, again, to the NSW Local Government Boundaries Commission (LGBC).
This will mark the third LGBC inquiry since the two shires were forcibly merged in May 2016 as a state government efficiency overhaul slashed 45 NSW shire councils down to just 19.
The first demerger bid by outraged residents was knocked back by NSW local government minister Shelley Hancock in July 2021 because reports from lengthy LGBC assessments didn’t give her a clear consensus.
The following year – in August 2022 – in the face of mounting council conflict and financial woes, the next local government minister, Wendy Tuckerman, announced Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council (CGRC) would demerge.
Ms Tuckerman said a demerger roadmap would provide timelines, but it was anticipated council elections for the de-amalgamated shires would be held in line with the local government general elections in September 2024.
This roadmap was established in February ahead of the NSW election, with a caveat – the legislative change required to facilitate the process meant legal pathways to demerging would be explored following the NSW state election.
Minister Hoenig said yesterday his exploration of the legal avenues with the Office of Local Government (OLG) to achieve a successful demerger under the Liberal-National government roadmap had reached a dead end.
He said there was no statutory mechanism under the legislation (section 218CC of the Local Government Act 1993) to create two independent and fully functioning councils.
The Minister has met with CGRC to discuss a detailed implementation plan to guide the establishment of two new sustainable local government areas which would be assessed by a public inquiry led by the LGBC.
He said this plan must include propositions for:
- where the boundaries should be
- electoral matters such as wards, number of councillors and the method of electing mayor
- division of assets and liabilities
- allocation of staff, as well as management and organisational structures
- rate levels and charges, and
- service standards and shared service arrangements.
The inquiry, Minister Heonig said, would determine if independent Cootamundra and Gundagai councils were capable of operating in a financially sustainable way to provide the necessary infrastructure and services to their respective communities.
Communities opposing the demergers throughout the state mounted several protests outside NSW Parliament in Macquarie Street. Image: Gundagai Council in Exile/Facebook.
Providing the NSW Government is satisfied the plan and the public inquiry process provide enough certainty to the local community, CGRC will be dissolved and two new council areas proclaimed, he said.
Mr Hoenig said this new approach was necessary as he was unable to effect the former Minister for Local Government’s intention under section 218CC of the Local Government Act to demerge the council.
“The NSW Government supports the communities in Cootamundra and Gundagai’s desire to demerge and frame their own future for local governance,” Mr Hoenig said. “The Liberals and Nationals created this problem by forcibly merging two communities with nothing in common.
“They knew there were legal issues, but it was left to us to find a way through the mess,” he said.
In the meantime, the existing CGRC will remain in place and continue operations under current Mayor Charlie Sheahan.
Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke said she was shocked and dismayed by Mr Hoenig’s decision to “blindside” the community by announcing yet another inquiry into the issue.
“I don’t know if the Minister has been paying close attention, but newsflash: we have been there and done that. This is deja vu all over again,” Ms Cooke said.
“Twelve months ago we had a commitment from the previous Coalition government to demerge the CGRC, and importantly we had a plan to make it happen.
“This will be the third time the LGBC has examined this demerger proposal, which begs the question: How many times will it take for the NSW Labor Government to understand that this is what the local communities overwhelmingly want to see happen?”
Ms Cooke said if legislation was needed to help facilitate the demerger process, the Government needed to make that happen.
“Step up and take some leadership on this issue; show that you aren’t completely backflipping on your promise to honour and fund the original demerge decision, which were commitments the then opposition made to these communities prior to the election,” she said.
The local MP said with local government elections now less than 12 months away, there was very little time for the demerger process – should it go ahead – to be completed.
“We are now back at square one, and the communities of Cootamundra and Gundagai remain in complete limbo, unable to plan for their future,” she said.
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