COROWA and six other Riverina councils staring at forced mergers as early as next year will be brought together for the first time in Sydney next week.
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The crisis talks have been arranged by Riverina and Murray Regional Organisation of Councils and will be held the day before a scheduled country mayors meeting where the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal findings will also be high on the agenda.
Last week IPART ruled the seven Riverina councils _ Corowa, Urana, Jerilderie, Berrigan, Conargo, Deniliquin and Murray _ unfit for the future with only Albury and Greater Hume being given the tick of approval to remain standalone.
RAMROC executive officer Ray Stubbs said he hoped the meeting could provide some clear direction to councils staring at forced mergers.
Local Government department representatives have been invited to attend the meeting.
"At the moment (councils) are being asked to blindly give preferences without knowing what the process is, what the timetable is and what exactly the situation is in relation to financial incentives," Mr Stubbs said.
"Let's not have it like a secret society.
"If someone is asking you to nominate three people you would like to get married to, you want to have a bit of an idea what they are like."
The IPART ruling was handed down last Tuesday and unfit councils have until November 18 to make a submission on the report.
IPART is recommending three mergers in the southern Riverina – Corowa-Urana, Jerilderie-Berrigan and Deniliquin-Murray-Conargo.
But the majority of councils remain opposed to amalgamations.
Mr Stubbs said the councils could still meet the November 18 deadline, but the availability of more information next week could be beneficial.
He also encouraged councils in the firing line to also be discussing options with their neighbours.
"They've really got to be talking otherwise they are going to get a forced marriage with still not knowing anything," he said.
Meanwhile, IPART said the assessments handed down last week would remain unchanged despite some challenges.
"The information considered by the tribunal is reflected in the corrected versions and the corrections are not material or relevant to the assessment outcomes," an IPART spokesperson said.
