The Harden-Cootamundra merger template submission was approved unanimously by Harden Shire Council at its Business Meeting on Wednesday night, June 17th. This embodies the final step before the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) hands down its recommendations on September 30th.
The submission entails the voluntary merger of the Harden and Cootamundra Shires, with a transitional period between April and September 2016, and a 10 Councillor Council with equal representation for Cootamundra and Harden for four years thereafter. The second four year term would comprise 3 Councillors for Cootamundra, 3 for Harden, and 3 Council wide. The third four year term would consist of 9 Councillors being elected Shire wide. Council engaged in a community consultation process from the 11th of May, with a mail out to all residents taking place. Residents were then able to submit their opinions on the proposed amalgamation. 335 submissions were received, with 302 in support of the merger. 31 submissions were against the proposal, and 2 were undecided. Represented as a percentage, 90% of submissions were in favour of the Cootamundra-Harden proposal.
After exhibiting the proposal, the Cootamundra Shire Council received 176 submissions regarding the merger. 157 of these submissions were in favour, with 19 against. 89% of submissions were in favour of the Cootamundra-Harden merger proposal in the Cootamundra Shire itself. Public meetings in the Harden Shire were also undertaken as part of the community consultation process. 156 people attended the May 14th meeting in Harden, with 20th at Galong on May 21st, 40 at Wombat on May 26th, and 29th at Jugiong on May 27th. A total of 245 residents attended the meetings. In the Cootamundra Shire, public meetings were held at Cootamundra, Wallendbeen and Stockinbingal. A total of 129 residents of the Cootamundra Shire attended these meetings. Following the community consultation process, Cootamundra and Harden Councillors met in a joint meeting on June 9th to review the submissions from the exhibition period.
As both Councils attracted 89% and 90% support for the merger proposal respectively, Councillors agreed to endorse the proposal at their June Business Meetings and submit it to the Office of Local Government before the June 30th deadline. A Legislative Council of NSW inquiry into the ‘Fit for the Future’ reform process is currently underway, with its terms of reference also encompassing the Queensland experience of forced council amalgamations. The findings are due to be reported on August 17th, with submissions for the inquiry due to close on July 5th.
