Merger proposal announced by NSW State Government

Today the NSW State Government released details of its merger proposals for councils across the State as part of the Fit for the Future Reform Program. This included a proposal for Hawkesbury City Council and The Hills Shire Council to merge.

Details on the State Government’s proposal for the merger of Hawkesbury and The Hills can be accessed online at www.councilboundaryreview.nsw.gov.au.

The Chief Executive of the Office of Local Government will now appoint a delegate to undertake a Public Inquiry (a public meeting for the community), call for written submissions and prepare a report against the criteria in the Local Government Act 1993. This process is to further determine the feasibility of the proposal and to provide the community with their chance to have their say on the proposal. It is proposed this will be undertaken in time for a possible March 2017 Local Government election.

Mayor of Hawkesbury, Councillor Kim Ford said, “At this point, business will remain as normal for Council and services will continue to be provided to the Hawkesbury community.”

“I call for all the residents of the Hawkesbury to actively participate in any process seeking community feedback and will endeavour to ensure the community is informed as new information is released on this process,” he added.

Council’s Your Hawkesbury Your Site will be regularly updated with information on the Fit For the Future and Merger process. Visit the document library for current documents.