The Shire Councils of Young and Boorowa look set to pursue a merger with the Harden Shire, with Boorowa passing the following resolution at their April 27 meeting.

“Council prepare a draft ‘Fit for the Future’ submission on the basis that the preferred option is a merger of Boorowa, Harden and Young Councils as recommended by the Local Government Independent Review Panel and the NSW Government. Council does not support a merger of Boorowa and Young Councils alone due to a lack of clear evidence of benefit. Councils alternate position to a Boorowa, Harden and Young merger is to remain as a Rural Council with shared services. A further report be considered at a May Council meeting to endorse a ‘Fit for the Future’ submission for public exhibition.”

It is unclear what benefits a Rural Council will provide Boorowa Shire if they take up the second option.

Young Shire Councillors also included Harden in their number one preference and also went as far as including Cootamundra in their second option. Seven of Young’s 9 councillors voted for the merger with the resolution stating “Council prepare a draft ‘Fit for the Future’ submission on the basis that the preferred option is a merger of Boorowa, Harden and Young Councils as recommended by the Local Government Independent Review Panel and the NSW Government. Council’s first alternate position is a 4 way merger being Young, Harden, Boorowa and Cootamundra. Councils second alternate position to a Boorowa, Harden and Young merger is to remain as Young Shire Council.”

The decisions by both Boorowa and Young Shire Councils to agree with the state governments original option in regards to a ‘Hilltops’ Shire Council comprising Harden, Boorowa and Young goes against the State Government’s own guidelines as set out in the ‘Fit For The Future’ guidance material. It states Councils “Obtain endorsement from the councils in your grouping to proceed to a Fit for the Future Merger Proposal” and “Discuss your merger options with your neighbours and agree on a proposed configuration”.

The fact that Cootamundra Shire’s 9 Councillors and Harden Shire’s 7 Councillors voted unanimously for a Cootamundra/Harden merger seems to have fallen on deaf ears with their neighbours. Both Young and Boorowa Shire Councils look set to interfere with what may be a harmonious relationship between Cootamundra and Harden in merging together with the full support of their Councillors.

Cootamundra Mayor, Jim Slattery said, “As far as Cootamundra is concerned, we do not want to go with Young.”

Harden Councillors agreed at their February meeting that they did not support the conclusions found in the report prepared by consultancy firm LKS Quaero in supporting a ‘Hilltops’ merger and actively pursued talks with Cootamundra Shire.

The Boorowa News reported Mayor Wendy Tuckerman as stating “Although some of the assumptions in the investigation may have been overly optimistic, we do believe the proposed merger will strengthen the region, each of the communities involved and allow the community to receive the services it requires into the future.”

The Shires have until June 30 to submit their proposals to the State Government, allowing just 54 days to decide on their Councils’ decision on who will end up with who in the zoo.