At April’s Business Meeting, Harden Shire Councillors moved to submit a proposal to the Office for Local Government (OLG) for a merger between the Harden and Cootamundra Shires. The proposal has been submitted along with the ‘Hilltops’ proposal of an amalgamated Young, Boorowa and Harden Council.
“I would like to make it clear that this is just a proposal,” said Harden Mayor John Horton. “We haven’t made a decision yet.”
The submission of the proposal marks the beginning of the community consultation phase of the ‘Fit for the Future’ process. 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 March 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.
Mayor Horton stated that the three options open to Harden are to: 1) Stand alone; 2) Join with Boorowa and Young in a ‘Hilltops’ Council; 3) Merge with Cootamundra. These are the options that Harden Shire Council will seek community response on.
“We have been proactive in exploring our options,” said Mayor Horton. “The reason we haven’t sought community input sooner is that we hadn’t finished our investigations.”
A meeting is to be held this Friday, April 24th, between Shire Councillors, members of the Executive, the Kruger Trust and the Chamber of Commerce to provide an update on the process.
Mayor of Cootamundra, Jim Slattery believes that a merger between Harden and Cootamundra will be a good thing.
“The merger would give both communities a chance to grow,” said Mayor Slattery. “We can only get stronger.”
Apart from standing alone, a merger with Harden was the only other option for Cootamundra. “We had meetings with the Gundagai and Junee Shires, but none of them were interested in amalgamating,” said Mayor Slattery.
A Cootamundra-Harden amalgamation would result in a Shire with a population of 12,000, with good financial position.
“From what I have heard, we are the only two Councils to have put their hands up,” said Mayor Slattery. “It’s much better to volunteer than be dictated to.”
“There will be difficulties, but like a good marriage, you work through it,” he said.
The Mayor of Young, John Walker, was relatively positive about the Cootamundra-Harden proposal. “We support their [Cootamundra & Harden’s] concept,” said Mayor Walker. “As far as Young is concerned, we can choose what we want to do. We are open to all options.”
Mayor Walker stated that Young was considering either standing alone, merging as part of the Boorowa-Harden-Young ‘Hilltops’ Council, or even a foursome consisting of Boorowa, Harden, Young and Cootamundra.
When the latter option was put before Mayor Slattery, Mayor Slattery answered, “As far as Cootamundra is concerned, we do not want to go with Young.”
Attempts were made to seek comment from the Mayor of Boorowa, Wendy Tuckerman, however no comment was received and no calls were returned at the time of publication.
