The proposed New England JO currently includes the councils of Armidale Regional, Glen Innes Severn, Inverell Shire, Moree Plains Shire, Tenterfield Shire and Uralla Shire.

It was decided  Extraordinary Council Meeting on Thursday that “this membership would be the best option for Narrabri Shire and its future”.

“Council recognised the benefits of joining with the New England Joint Organisation where members such as Moree Plains Shire Council are working towards similar projects and support similar industry sectors as Narrabri Shire,” Narrabri Shire Mayor, Cathy Redding, said.

“This close alignment of interests will allow the Councils to lobby government together to gain support to achieve our goals toward maximising benefits from the Inland Rail and improving education options for our residents. 

“Council is striving to establish a Country University Centre in Narrabri and we see Armidale’s standing as a major tertiary education hub as being something our community can benefit from with closer ties.

“Although our partnership with Namoi Unlimited has been beneficial, we can see greater future benefit arising from this new collaboration. 

“Council has already been working closely with Moree Plains Shire through our existing partnerships in shared development assessment staff, cooperation to establish a Country University Centre presence in each town and participation in the joint CSIRO Northern NSW Transit Transport Study,” she said.

Council noted that roads and their funding were critical and the new arrangement will ensure Council at least has another member council that shares the same region within the Roads and Maritime Services boundaries as well as an interest in the vital Newell Highway freight route. 

“We see this capability assisting to ensure any road funding strategies developed by the Joint Organisation are cognisant of our needs,” Cr Redding said.

The NSW Government has also recently identified Narrabri Shires economic connectivity with the New England region by including it with Gwydir Shire, Inverell Shire and Moree Plains Shire councils as a Functional Economic Region to develop regional strategic documents such as the Regional Economic Development Strategy which will guide government funding for major projects moving forward.

“Council is looking forward to working closely with the other New England councils to achieve benefits across the whole region,” Cr Redding said.