HAWKESBURY City Council has announced its intention to challenge the state government’s push to amalgamate the Council with The Hills in court.
However, the potential future Mayor of a combined council, Dr Michelle Byrne, has labelled it a futile waste of money, and is simply a way to delay the inevitable.
On April 19, Hawkesbury Councillors voted to take legal action against the state government.
Cr Leigh Williams asked Council earlier this year to look into the possibility of joining other councils across New South Wales, which were taking the government to court.
Both Mayor Kim Ford and Cr Williams said they supported the legal action.
However, Dr Byrne said it was a futile waste of rate payer money.
“Whatever way the court case goes, the residents are the ultimate losers,” she said.
“I don't see how Hawkesbury Council can beat the government in court. Even if they did, I still think the residents are losers because they will still be stuck with a Council that can't deliver what they need.”
Both Cr Ford and Cr Williams acknowledged that rate payer money would be spent on the legal battle, but said it would pale in comparison to the amount of money the state government had spent on its advertising campaign about amalgamating councils.
Cr Ford said the state government constantly talked about reforming councils, but the reform simply amounted to boundary changes.
Dr Byrne said The Hills wanted to see the amalgamation of the two councils go ahead.
“The Hills has decided to be proactive and say we know our role and so let's get on and do it, let's take on what we have to take on,” she said.
“I think in time you would see a Hills-Hawkesbury Council as very strong Council in its own right.”
Dr Byrne said she did not believe Hawkesbury had enough revenue to fix the infrastructure, particularly roads, that it needed to.
“It has been demonstrated that Hawkesbury isn't going to be viable in the long term,” she said.
“Hawkesbury is clearly not in a position to do that and you only have to look at the roads in the Hawkesbury now and realise they are not going to be able to do it.”
Hawkesbury Council and Cr Ford have strongly maintained that the Council is financially viable.
Last year, Dennis Banicevic, an auditor from Pricewaterhouse Coopers, told Council its finances were in good shape, and gave the Council a 7/10 rating.
“Overall I think the Council is in a good financial position and certainly able to stand on its own as it has for many years,” he said.