THE Local Government Review Panel’s suggestion to merge Orange, Cabonne and Blayney councils left the mayors and many residents of the two smaller councils reeling when it was revealed in the panel’s Future Directions report in April.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But the man heading the major shake-up of the state’s 152 councils, panel chair Graham Sansom has stressed the dreaded amalgamation remains a mere option for people to consider and is not the panel’s final recommendation to the state government.
In an interview with the Central Western Daily, Mr Sansom moved to allay many of the fears and debunk the myths surrounding the panel’s suggestions to slash the state’s council’s from 152 to fewer than 100.
In the coming days the CWD will take an in depth look at the issues surrounding the potential amalgamation and speak to the key stakeholders to find out their concerns.
The stories will also look at the Evans Shire/Bathurst City Council merger in 2004 and see what can be learnt from the experience.
Mr Sansom said the suggestion to merge Orange, Cabonne and Blayney was an attempt to establish Orange as a “very strong regional centre”.
“We’re not saying it’s a way of saving money or cutting services,” he said.
“If you look at the western part of NSW the only places showing strong growth are around the regional centres.”
Cabonne was in a fairly strong financial position but its growth was due to its position as a doughnut council receiving Orange’s spill over, Mr Sansom said.
The Cabonne/Orange merger is far from home and hosed with Mr Sansom saying Cabonne could stay as a stand-alone council with boundary adjustments if the panel got a strong response from the community.
But Mr Sansom said Blayney’s scenario was a bit different and the merger with Orange would have a two-way benefit.
“At the moment they are in a reasonably strong position but looking at 20 to 30 years ahead it’s a bit difficult to predict,” he said.
“Their financial position is not as strong as you’d like to see and population projections suggest Blayney might be at best stable, but might decline.”
Mr Sansom said the panel was focusing on the big picture rather than suggesting minor boundary adjustments which could come later.
The panel’s third round of consultation is currently underway with a series of community hearings over the next two months.
Today the panel will meet in Bathurst where representatives from mid-west councils will participate in a workshop and members of the public will have their say at a meeting in the evening.
