The most immediate impact, unless the court decision is handed down in the next day or two, will be that the current crop of councillors will get the chance to conduct another mayoral election.

Orange residents were due to go to the polls later this month to elect a new council but that has been delayed as the amalgamation process rolls on.

Come Tuesday night’s council meeting the first order of business will be to elect a new mayor and deputy.

Orange mayor John Davis will run again with councillors Kevin Duffy and Reg Kidd both expected to nominate for the role.

Cr Duffy citing land purchases, a proposed industrial business park at Orange Airport, the state of the council’s roads and the council’s financial contributions to the Averkin family’s funeral as his reasons for challenging.

Councillors Duffy and Kidd have also put their hand up for the deputy mayor’s position but there’s plenty in the running.

Councillors Jason Hamling, incumbent Chris Gryllis and possibly Ron Gander, may also all have a tilt at the deputy job.

More important, though, is the impact the current uncertainty is having on decision-making within the council chambers.

There are some councils within the region that are choosing to defer decisions rather than make decisions at council meetings.

But given the axe could fall on the current council any day now, any deferral risks taking the decision out of the hand of councillors altogether.

If the amalgamation goes ahead, as expected, all council decisions for up to a year will be made by a single person – the administrator.

And history suggests administrators are reticent to rule on anything other than the ordinary day-to-day running of council, preferring to leave the bigger decisions until a new group of councillors is elected.

That risks of period of relative inactivity which, it might appear, has already begun for many councils.

The best outcome for all concerned would be for a final decision on the amalgamations to be made, one way or the other.

If it’s going ahead, let’s do it.

If it’s not, let’s get councillors back to the job of running our city.