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ARMIDALE Dumaresq Council has resolved to respond to the Fit for the Future assessment, indicating a three-way merger with Guyra and Uralla as its first and only preference.
The council held an extraordinary meeting on Monday night where staff were overwhelmingly in favour of the action, according to Armidale Dumaresq mayor Herman Beyersdorf.
“There is obvious community of interest between Armidale, Uralla and Guyra,” Cr Beyersdorf said.
“With Uralla only 22km down the road, much of the population comes to Armidale for work, university or to play sport.”
Cr Beyersdorf said there was also a similar relationship with Guyra and cited Armidale locals travelling to Guyra to work on the tomato farm.
There had already been informal talks with Guyra and Uralla regarding the potential amalgamation, Cr Beyersdorf said.
He said he would respect their desire and right to continue as standalone councils, but that his door would remain open for any formal discussions.
In a recently published open letter, the mayor noted if three or more councils voluntarily merged, they would receive $15 million from the state government to spend on their community.
Cr Beyersdorf said he hoped to talk with Local Government Minister Paul Toole regarding funding eligibility, should councils be forced to involuntarily merge.
He said if the government was determined to roll out mergers, councils should not miss out on funding due to an involuntary amalgamation, and that there would be associated costs regardless.
Cr Beyersdorf also wanted assurance from Mr Toole that all councillors would retain their positions in a merger until the next local election in September 2016.
