Wellington mayor Cr Rod Buhr says his council has begun the process of reining in more costs on its mission to be sustainable as a stand-alone council.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
"In terms of Crown roads. These roads are not owned by council and we have made an operational decision to no longer maintain these unless Crown Lands can produce the funding to cover the costs of maintaining them," Cr Buhr said.
"Council is reviewing its entire road network and this decision is in line with efforts to make Wellington Fit For The Future."
Meanwhile in an attempt to maintain their independence, smaller surrounding councils will discuss with Orange City Council options for a merger on Tuesday night as part of a statewide effort to improve local government sustainability.
A report to Orange councillors has recommended they lodge a merger business case with Cabonne and Blayney councils as part of the Fit for the Future program, provided the two other councils also agreed to come on board.
If Cabonne and Blayney added their support, Orange would bear half the costs of preparing the business case, or 60 per cent if only one agreed.
However, if neither supported commissioning a business case, Orange would prepare a submission to stand alone.
The solo option seems likely following statements from neighbouring councils last month.
Cabonne Council announced its intention to form a resource sharing entity with Orange and Blayney, with its ratepayers firmly against amalgamation.
Meanwhile, Blayney mayor Scott Ferguson said there was "no pot of gold at the end of the merger rainbow" and the council was talking to both Orange and Bathurst councils.
However, the report to Orange councillors said there was limited detail available and if the shared services model required a separate entity, it was a challenge to see how it would be cost-efficient.
The report also included an analysis from the Australian Centre of Excellence in Local Government, which evaluated mergers against boundary changes, sharing services and regional collaboration.
Amalgamation was listed as having strong links to efficiency, strategic capacity and service improvement, with a risk to local democracy, however the report said it could be managed.
Shared services were listed as performing strongly in efficiencies but mixed in strategic capacity and service improvement depending on the structure and services shared.
It was listed as posing a risk to local democracy if extensive decision making was given to the joint authority.
