A Petition to reinstall the old shire council boundaries and demerge Hilltops Council has gathered pace, with over 500 signatures now recorded.
Spokesman and former Harden Shire Councillor Scott Collins said, “It’s a good number so far. We haven’t hit the streets yet, this has been off the back of what individuals in the towns and villages have done since our meeting last year. They are driving this.”
Collins and a group of
others in the area will be
setting up in various towns and villages to gather more signatures in the coming weeks. They will be ramping up their efforts in the hope of gathering another 1000
signatures which will trigger a referral to the Local
Government Minister
Shelley Hancock.”
Hilltops Councillor Matthew Stadtmiller said, “We never got a vote, we still haven’t had a vote on it and there are those in local government who just want to look the other way or bury their heads in the sand. This needs to stop. We need to know what is working and what isn’t. This can be done by doing a comprehensive business analysis on the last four years. May 12 will be 4 years since the
Administration commenced. Are we better off? Council can also ask the people via a Poll what they think at any time. The Local Government ACT allows Council to Poll the community on any issue at any time. Councillors are there to support the
community and guide
Council on the wishes of the community. I won’t be
surprised if Coota Gundy Council is demerged. I just hope that if it is, the
government will see what these mergers have done to our communities.”
The Times and radio 2lf will be announcing in print, online and over the airwaves when supporters of a
demerger will be in a
particular area for residents to sign the petition.