The community consultation process for the ‘Fit for the Future’ reforms has begun in earnest, with the Harden Shire Council holding meetings with the Chamber of Commerce and the Harden Rotary Club on Monday evening.

Two amalgamation options are open to the Harden Shire: a Harden-Young-Boorowa ‘Hilltops’ Council; and a union of Harden and Cootamundra. A third option is to stand alone.

Acting General Manager (GM) Trevor Drowley said that Harden Shire Council had a positive response from the meetings, with community meetings to take place soon.

“We will be embarking upon a program of community meetings in the next two to three weeks,” said GM Drowley.

On the 11th of May, there will be a mail out to all residents of the Harden Shire seeking a community response. Consultation meetings with residents will be held at Harden, Jugiong, Galong and Wombat between the 11th of May and the 5th of June, 2015. A merger template will also be on display to the public at the Harden Council Chambers until the 5th of June.

The Cootamundra-Harden option has been the most well received option in the community, although Boorowa Shire Council Mayor, Wendy Tuckerman, believes the Harden-Cootamundra proposal has ‘many shortcomings’ regarding scale and regional boundaries.

Many believe that the sheer scale of the Young Shire, with a population of over 12,000, would put smaller towns like Harden-Murrumburrah at a disadvantage. Meanwhile, the Cootamundra Shire’s population of 7,690 is seen by many as a more equitable number.

The Chamber of Commerce stated that their meeting with Council ‘cleared the air, but also confirmed what we already suspected.’ It was also revealed at that meeting that Young and Boorowa Shire Councils are both heavily in debt, with Young severely so.

“We definitely do not want to go to Young. We don’t want Harden ratepayers having to pick up that debt.”

The Chamber of Commerce also urged Council to go on the attack to counter the negative commentary from members of the Young and especially Boorowa Shires against the Harden Shire in regional and national media outlets such as Prime News and the ABC.

The deadline for the submission of ‘Fit for the Future’ proposals is June 30th, 2015, whereupon the Office of Local Government of the New South Wales government will have the final say.