The hard work by both Cootamundra and Harden Shire Councils in preparing a merger proposal supported by the ratepayers of both Shires appears to have been for nothing. In an announcement made on Friday the Premier, Mike Baird and Minister for Local Government, Mr Paul O’Toole announced that based on the review of the merger proposals by the Independent Pricing and Review Tribunal (IPART) a merger of Young, Boorowa and Harden Councils is the way forward.

The announcement has stunned Harden Shire Mayor, John Horton, who stated that “the proposal put forward by this Council took into account the strong public support for the merger by both the Harden and Cootamundra communities. Over ninety per cent of the submissions received were in support of the merger proposal providing Council with a clear mandate to support the merger.”

“How can such overwhelming community support be disregarded? Together the Councils of Cootamundra and Harden demonstrated that we are sustainable and met all the criteria to be deemed to be ‘fit for future’. The Harden-Cootamundra merger proposal had the unanimous support of all Councillors, met all the Government’s own criteria as well as the overwhelming support of both communities, but all of this has counted for nothing.”

A report commissioned by Harden, Young and Boorowa Councils to consider all options available to the three Councils to meet the Government’s ‘fit for future’ criteria came back with only one option. That option was to merge the three Councils together with cost savings to come from this merger. However, how this was to occur and sound financial data supporting this conclusion was lacking in the report.

The Premier has indicated that a public enquiry will be held into the merger proposal and the community will be given the opportunity to make comments on the proposal before it is referred to the Boundaries Commission. Mayor Horton however said “it is abundantly clear that the process of a public enquiry is lip service only and makes a mockery of democracy. When the Premier and Minister haven’t taken any notice of the robust and community supported merger of Harden and Cootamundra Councils there is little doubt that any feedback as a result of a public enquiry will hold any weight.”

The Mayor advised “that this is not over. Harden Shire will continue to fight the Government’s merger proposal. This proposal is just that a proposal and the boundaries have not yet been approved by the Boundaries Commission.”

Cootamundra Shire Council Media Release

After meeting with his councillors to discuss the surprise announcement of a merger of Cootamundra and Gundagai made last Friday, Mayor Jim Slattery said, “Councillors were both disappointed and surprised that the majority opinion of the residents of Cootamundra and Harden, and the work undertaken by Council, has been completely disregarded by the Premier and the Minister. It certainly appears that the government had a plan for Harden from the outset, and it is particularly disappointing that no politician or bureaucrat informed Council that it was wasting its time and effort pursuing a voluntary merger that had the support of the community.”

Cr Slattery indicated that Council still considered that the best long term future for Cootamundra was to merge and create additional capacity, and that if the government ultimately decides that Cootamundra will be merged with Gundagai rather than Harden, then Council will do everything in its power to make that merger work for the benefit of all residents. “Councils are created to serve their people and if the government forces a merge with Gundagai that service obligation continues for both councils.”

Cr Slattery also commented on rumours that have been spreading that Council had spent $200,000 on the Harden merger proposal, and said, “this is simply not correct. Councillors, staff and the community invested time and effort, particularly the staff, but Council spent less than $10,000 in actual cash on the proposal.”

Whilst it appears that the deals have been done and the decisions have been made already by the government, Cootamundra councillors hope to meet with Harden councillors early in the new year to formulate a joint response expressing to the government and the Boundaries Commission their disappointment with the process and outcome of their efforts.