At The NSW Local Government Conference held in Coffs Harbour over the last two days, Mr Baird told councils they needed to put “pride into the back seat” and consider mergers.

Noticeably missing from Mr Baird’s speech was the government’s oft-repeated assurance that it would not force councils to merge if they refused to do so.

But until forced amalgamations are considered the regions’ councils will miss out on millions of dollars in incentives. 

Orange councillors Reg Kidd, Kevin Duffy and Ron Gander attended the conference which was held weeks after the government unveiled its $1 billion policy package called Fit for the Future, that included $258 million in incentives for councils to amalgamate.

Cr Kidd said he believed the government would stick to its “no forced amalgamation” policy and said it was a matter of bringing Cabonne and Blayney councils “to the table” to discuss ways in which the three could merge. 

“It’s critical no one takes the upper hand,” he said. 

“It’s easy to say just amalgamate.. it’s about community expectations, social expectations and all of that sort of stuff.”

Cr Duffy, who was formally on Cabonne Council, said it was no secret he thought Cabonne should be divided up but he believed it was not a matter of getting Cabonne, Orange and Blayney to the table but the whole region including Bathurst, Cowra and Wellington.

“Basically what the premier was trying to say was put pride behind you and try and work through the issues, They got facilitators in place to help councils work through those issues and there’s incentives,” he said. 

“For example if Orange and Blayney amalgamated there could be $5 million there.”

Councils have until June 30 to lodge their submissions, which will be assessed by an independent panel.