Minister Roy Hoenig met with Mayor Abb McAllister, Cootamundra MP Steph Cooke and Councillor David Graham to discuss a demerger pathway earlier this year. Photo: Roy Hoenig MP Facebook.
The NSW Minister for Local Government has today (17 July) announced that the demerger of Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council into two councils is to proceed.
Described as a ‘dog’s breakfast’ by critics, the combining of the Cootamundra and Gundagai shire councils in 2016 was one of a number of forced local government mergers implemented by the former Coalition government across the state.
“Cootamundra and Gundagai are two councils that should never have been merged,” Minister for Local Government Ron Hoenig said.
“It was for that reason in October 2023 that I decided I would do whatever I could within my power under the act, to enable this demerger.
“May it stand as the folly that it was, so we can finally discard forced amalgamations for amalgamations’ sake into the waste bin of history.”
Two years ago, the minister announced his support to split Cootamundra–Gundagai Regional Council, provided it could develop a robust implementation plan for the two councils.
The implementation plan developed by the council would then be subject to a public inquiry and recommendation of the NSW Local Government Boundaries Commission. The minister said this was the only legislative option available to achieve a demerger of the council.
He met with Mayor Abb McAlister and Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke in Gundagai on Thursday to release the Boundaries Commission and public inquiry reports.
“The work by the Boundaries Commission confirms what the council had been saying since 2016 and what I had been saying since 2012 – the former government’s ‘Fit for the Future’ policy was only a ruse to effect widespread amalgamations,” Minister Hoenig said.
“Within several years of the merger I spoke with Mayor Abb McAlister and remember being impressed with the work the council had done calculating the cost of the merger on the new council. The community’s opposition was not just philosophical – it was financial and practical.”
The announcement was welcomed by Ms Cooke.
“I have always maintained that had I been the Member for Cootamundra at the time, I would have fiercely opposed the merger,” she said.
“I have fought tooth and nail every day since to ensure justice was served. The time for reviews and talk is over – now the action must begin. We need to get on with this demerger, and the true time for celebration will be the day the newly elected councillors for the reformed Gundagai and Cootamundra councils take their seats.”
Minister Hoenig said the council would now establish a transition management office to prepare the specifics of the demerger, including allocation of assets, liabilities, funding, shared service arrangements, staffing and governance arrangements.
“Demerging a council is significantly more complex than amalgamating one. The council’s own implementation plan highlighted there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to get to a point where two new councils can be proclaimed,” he said.
“I am confident Mayor McAlister and the elected councillors can do what is required of them to reach this outcome so we can finally close this disappointing chapter in local government history.
“Let Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council serve as a cautionary tale for future governments and academics who believe that merged councils provide better economies of scale and better services.”
The Minister said the Office of Local Government would continue to support Cootamundra-Gundagai including monitoring the implementation of council’s demerger proposal, and work with the council to identify funding sources to support the transition to two new council areas.
Original Article published by Oliver Jacques on Region Riverina.
