Eastern Cabonne residents are disappointed the government has rejected their proposal to join Orange City Council.
In a statement yesterday, Minister for Local Government Don Page said he would postpone any proposal to make major changes to local government boundaries in NSW.
Eastern Cabonne resident Guy Gaeta said the rejection would not be the last the government would hear of the issue.
“It might not have happened now but it will happen,” he said.
Mr Gaeta said he would request to personally speak to the minister.
“I want to speak to him in person and I will not accept being fobbed off to anybody else,” he said.
Mr Gaeta said he wanted to confront the minister about why the proposal was rejected.
“We did everything right, we got 250 signatures and followed all the guidelines,” he said.
Cabonne Council general manager Graeme Fleming said the decision was good news for ratepayers.
“We’re very pleased with the minister’s announcement,” he said.
“Our argument has always been about the financial stability of council and currently we are one of the most financially viable councils in the state.”
Mr Gaeta said residents were unhappy with high rates and did not receive the services they were entitled to.
“It’s not just about the rates,” he said.
“The main reason is we don’t get value for money, we don’t get the services we pay for.
“You can’t even get a pothole fixed if you live outside of Molong.”
Mr Fleming said council wanted to meet with dissatisfied residents to talk about the issues.
“It’s a matter of sitting down with people to talk through the issues with some good common sense,” he said.
nicole.kuter@ruralpress.com