GUYRA residents have given the state government a piece of their mind, with more than 50 people putting forward a case against the proposed merger with Armidale Dumaresq Council.
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More than 350 people were packed into Guyra Bowling Club yesterday, with standing room only.
Many speakers told of there being no community of interest between the shires, with Guyra focused on agriculture and Armidale on education.
However, not everyone was against the proposal, with MLC Scot MacDonald going against the grain, highlighting Guyra’s financial situation as a reason to amalgamate.
Guyra shire mayor Hans Hietbrink used his opportunity to speak to again hose down any suggestion there was any financial benefit from the merger.
“It’s obvious to me that (auditors) KPMG have applied a generic formula across council merger proposals to show these savings,” he said.
“The $5 million over 20 years is non-existent.”
Cr Hietbrink claimed there would be no benefits for either council if the proposed merger went ahead.
“It’d be far better for the government, I would say facetiously, to simply give each council a pro-rata amount of the $15 million to remain independent,” he said.
Cr Hietbrink pointed to other perceived holes in the proposal, such as potential benefits for infrastructure.
“The proposal refers to opportunities for improved services and infrastructure that they see coming from these savings they claim. The services that could be funded by the savings include improvements to road and rail infrastructure; interestingly, the rail ends in Armidale,” he said, prompting a wave of laughter from the room.
Board member James Jackson said NSW Farmers were completely opposed to the merger and highlighted the agricultural focus in Guyra.
“Agriculture requires a unique set of governance skills,” he said.
Armidale Dumaresq mayor Herman Beyersdorf told The Leader he wasn’t swayed on his thoughts on regional mergers, and in fact still favoured the bigger four-way amalgamation between Armidale, Guyra, Walcha and Uralla council areas.
“The proposed Armidale-Guyra merger is not ideal – it’s too small-scale to make much difference, to be frank. Our view is that a four-way merger would be preferable,” he said.
Cr Beyersdorf said the shires weren’t as dissimilar as some made them out to be.
“We pride ourselves on being an educational centre, we have been for 50 or 60 years,” he said.
“(But) don’t forget our total land area is very similar to that of Guyra. We’ve got over 4000 square kilometres, and guess what?
“Apart from national parks, what do they do in that area?
“Agriculture.”
