Is Oberon Council about to disappear?
NSW rural councils have lost their merger court case and will be forced to pay the state government’s costs.
Justice Brian Preston, Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court, dismissed Oberon, Gundegai and Cabonne Shire’s case today (Friday) and ordered the council to pick up the state government’s bill. You can read the judgement here.
The councils had argued that Local Government Minister Paul Toole misused Sections 218F of the Local Government Act to push through forced amalgamations and that the subsequent Boundaries Commission process was procedurally unfair.
The councils also questioned the independence of consultants KPMG and their report which analysed the costs and benefits of mergers, a report which remains substantially unreleased.
The merger proposals the councils were fighting included Oberon with Bathurst, Cabonne with Blayney and Orange, and Gundagai with Cootamundra.
More to follow.
The post NSW rural councils lose merger case, pay costs appeared first on Government News.
source Government News http://ift.tt/2dWCB2H
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