We want to stand alone!

While it was a relatively small crowd which gathered at the Bombala RSL Club on June 10 for the meeting, it was abundantly clear that those in attendance support the Bombala Council in its preference to remain a stand alone rural council.

Mayor Bob Stewart welcomed the gathering, which included Bombala councillors and council representatives, two councillors from Cooma-Monaro Shire Council and a number of community representatives.

Cr Stewart commented on what a frustrating process it had been preparing a submission to prove that Council is “Fit for the Future”, particularly given the short time frame and lack of information that had been provided.

Nonetheless, General Manager, Ngaire McCrindle explained that the submission was well on its way to being prepared for IPART in time for the July 31 deadline.

Ms McCrindle gave some background on the Fit for Future reform process and Council's resolution to remain a stand alone entity, explaining what a rural council actually is, and how Bombala fits into the criteria.

Much of the meeting was spent going over the results of the business cases which Council had to commision in order to show how both a merged council and a stand alone council would most likely perform.

It was clear that the costs of a merged council far outweighed the benefits, while the stand alone rural council model would potentially deliver more advantages for the area.

The key findings of both reports can be found on the Bombala Council website and provide a useful summary of the results.

In particular, page 2 of the merger business case key findings states, “Significantly, the financial analysis indicates a merged council would not meet all the Fit for the Future financial benchmarks –three of the seven benchmarks would be met in full, with one additional benchmark partially met. In particular, a merged council is likely to materially underperform against benchmarks relating to asset renewal and infrastructure backlog, and the expected net financial benefit of the merger is unlikely to be of sufficient quantum that would enable a merged council to invest heavily in these areas”.

And in the stand alone business case which was based on shared services between Cooma-Monaro, Snowy River and Bombala it was found, “overall, deeper regional collaboration and joint initiatives have the best chance of success where there is a shared mutual interest in its success”.  

It shows that the three councils working together as separate rural councils would likely achieve three principal benefits - “improved communication and sharing of experiences and knowledge; access to more specialised or higher skilled staff; efficiency savings through process improvement and joint purchasing”.

Both business cases are based on rates remaining as they are today, but it was made clear at the meeting that it is Council’s intention to raise rates by 30% over three years to ensure quality service delivery.

The remainder of the meeting was open to questions and comments, with a large number of locals taking the opportunity to ask about rate pegging, depreciation of assets and attracting industry and people to the region.

During the session some interesting insight came from a couple who have newly moved to Bombala from areas where council amalgamations had taken place and failed to deliver benefits to the community.

They encouraged Bombala to stand its ground and fight for its autonomy, just as it intends to do.

“We could have chosen to move anywhere, but we chose here as it’s just so wonderful; we love this place and what it has to offer. We see its potential.”

And with these thoughts coming from new blood to the town, it was heartening to have long term local, Betty Lomas standing to echo the sentiment.

“Keep going Bombala!” she urged, inspiring applause from the crowd.