The first petition was deemed not to comply with the Local Government Act and subsequently failed, so the association went back to the drawing board and collected signatures for two more that did.

One petition was from the residents of Tingha requesting the boundaries be changed so the village could be included in the Inverell Local Government Area (LGA), and the other was from Inverell residents confirming they would like to see the community included in the LGA.

Mrs Graham said the petitions, along with a cover letter, were sent to Local Government minister, Paul Toole.

“We’re just basically waiting,” she said.

“Whatever I sent to the Minister I sent to Adam Marshall to keep him in the loop, and I sent a copy of the cover letter to Inverell council general manager, Paul Henry, and to Dr Ian Tiley, the administrator of the Armidale council.”

Mrs Graham said the only reply came from Dr Tiley, who thanked her for keeping him in the loop. she said she would like to feel a little more optimistic, but wasn’t sure.

“I responded to the Minister a couple of months ago and his chief of staff contacted me and indicated that I needed legal advice before I proceeded,” Colleen said.

Mrs Graham said while she could take legal advice, she had spoken to a solicitor who had advised her she did not need it and was on the right track.