THE Bega Valley Shire has been left untouched by the NSW government’s plans of council amalgamation.
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It is a result Bega Valley Shire Mayor Michael Britten expected, as the Bega Valley has previously been labelled fit for the future as part of the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) Report health check of NSW councils.
While those councils that must merge will be offered grants of up to $10million to assist with the process of amalgamation and up to $15million for infrastructure, Cr Britten said the Bega Valley will not miss out from being left untouched.
“The idea of giving these councils money is saying that they have short falls they need to meet,” Cr Britten said.
“Instead of sitting there amalgamating, we already meet the tests to be fit for the future which gives us access to government grants.”
Under the plans, the neighboring shire of Eurobodalla will also be left alone, but the Bombala Shire has been advised to amalgamate with Snowy River and Cooma-Monaro shires.
In November, a proposed merger between Bega Valley and Bombala shires failed to gain enough support at a Bombala council meeting where councillors voted against the deal, a result that Cr Britten said he was disappointed with at the time.
“I’m disappointed, but realistic enough to know that it was not necessarily going to happen,” he said in November.
However, Cr Britten said BVSC has signed a memorandum of understanding with Eurobodalla Council to share research and efforts in order to create benefits for the community.
Although Eurobodalla has retained its independence, Member for Bega Andrew Constance has repeatedly publicly pressured its council to consider amalgamation since the 2015 NSW election.
The maps proposing reducing NSW councils from 152 to 112 were announced by Premier Mike Baird and Local Government Minister Paul Toole on December 18.
Regional councils would decrease from 109 to 87, while metropolitan councils would decrease from 43 to 25.
Local Government NSW president Keith Rhoades said the final number of amalgamations was significantly fewer than originally planned by the government.
“It’s also a win that the government has agreed to follow the review process set down in the Local Government Act, instead of the wholesale sackings they floated earlier this year,” he said.
“But it’s important to note that even though the review process offers an opportunity for community input, the minister is in no way bound by its findings or recommendations, or that of the Boundaries Commission.
“As long as it has ticked all the procedural boxes as set out in the Act, the government can essentially proceed to forced amalgamations at will.”
Due to the process of council amalgamations, the local government elections scheduled for September 2016 are most likely to be pushed back to March 2017.