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COROWA Shire has adopted a pro-active position on pending council mergers, but with one major proviso — small towns don’t suffer.
A merger of Corowa and neighbouring shire Urana was recommended by the Independent Local Government Review Panel earlier this year.
Corowa general manager Chris Gillard addressed the council yesterday about last week’s response from the NSW government about local government reform which included a $1 billion pool of funding to bring on change.
He congratulated the government on its approach and councils had to accept the reality of the need for change.
“This council is so stretched financially that it isn’t able to respond to some of the most simple requests like extend some kerb and channel or a minor piece of drainage,” Mr Gillard said.
“But we are one of the councils which is much better off than some of the weaker councils.
“The question I hope this council addresses is ‘who are we here for?’
“Are we here for ourselves, are we here to give the general manager a flash car and a job or are we here because we want to provide the best services to the community?”
Mr Gillard revealed discussions had already taken place between Corowa and Urana councils about the panel recommendation to merge.
But he said the fate of services in small towns needed to be high on the agenda for what a merged entity could look like.
“One of the major concerns I have and is shared with Urana Shire councillors, is that if any amalgamation occurs it is absolutely critical that the design of any structures take into account the future viability of the smallest towns and not the biggest towns.
“We have to make sure the football clubs, churches, pre-schools are not stripped of staff who work in those communities and the leadership is undermined.
“The smallest towns need to be put first as the bigger ones will take care of themselves.”
All councils need to complete submissions by June next year to determine how they will be sustainable in the future.
The council will begin discussing its response at its next policy and resource committee meeting.