AS the level of government closest to the people, councils quite often receive a fair swag of criticism.
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Whether it be rubbish collection or planning rules, ratepayers have strong opinions and the multitude of councillors, compared to MPs, means there are plenty of punching bags.
But the flipside of this antagonism is that people often feel more connected to their council than state or federal governments.
That situation is magnified in country towns where councillors have a far higher profile than their counterparts in metropolitan municipalities.
In recent months the ownership that rural folk have for their shires has come to the fore as the NSW Government undertook its local government merger process known as Fit for the Future.
Premier Mike Baird unveiled its outcome on Thursday with much of the Riverina to be reshaped with new councils to be formed from Wakool to Gundagai.
In the Albury electorate of Mr Baird's Liberal colleague Greg Aplin it means Corowa, Jerilderie, Tumbarumba and Urana councils are consigned to history.
Corowa and Urana will merge into the Federation Council, Jerilderie will join with Murrumbidgee and Tumbarumba and Tumut will become Snowy Valleys Council.
The first two have been met with a mixture of resignation and relief after altering from original plans.
The Tumbarumba decision is the most contentious.
It comes against a backlash from the community and Mr Aplin and despite the council having proven its viability.
Tumbarumba residents can feel rightly aggrieved, they have been steamrolled into a merger with a larger council with a poorer record and will have less representation.
Adding to the insult, Lockhart Shire, which has a similar population and was slated to amalgamate with Corowa and Urana, has been allowed to remain independent.
The geographical argument that Lockhart was at odds with Urana and Corowa applied equally to Tumbarumba and Tumut but did not succeed.
Politically there is likely to be some impact in the federal seat of Eden-Monaro which contains Tumbarumba and Tumut.
With two other mergers across the electorate the incumbent, Liberal Peter Hendy, can expect to face some voters angered by changes to their most intimate level of government.
