Dubbo Regional Council will look for support to change the ward system at the upcoming Local Government Conference. As it currently stands under the Local Government Act, electoral wards each need to contain equal numbers of residents and elect equal numbers of representatives.

However, council would like to have a Dubbo ward, which would elect eight representatives, and a Wellington ward, which would elect two.

Mayor Ben Shields said council had raised the issue with Local Government Minister Gabrielle Upton, but it was rejected.

“The information I have from the state government is that they’re not prepared to move an amendment to the local government act or to amend it at all for this outcome,” he said.

“It’s a great disappointment.”

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If the proposal is supported by councils across NSW at the conference, it would add more weight to the issue.

“It’s the only option we have at this moment to bring some sort of sanity to this debacle,” Cr Shields said.

If the wards were to be abolished it would need to be done via a referendum in local government area. The referendum would most likely be held at the next local government election in 2020 at a cost of $35,000.

If the public voted in favour of the ending the wards, it would come into action at the 2024 local government election. 

“The bulk of the people from the Dubbo region made it quite clear they were against this ward system and I certainly support them in that. I don’t support Wellington being lumped in, I do believe Wellington, being such as unique case, needs to have its own representative,” Cr Shields said.

The ward system is designed to ensure equal representation from across the community. However, during the 2017 local government elections it was heavily criticised due to the confusion over the ward names.

There was also outrage from residents who were only able to vote for the nominees standing in their own ward.

Cr Lawrence said it would take support from the community to change the ward system.

“I would certainly urge members of the community to make representations to the government,” he said.

“The people of Dubbo clearly hated the ward system, it was a defining issue of the election campaign, so now it’s up to us to do our part, but also falls back on the community to make representations to the government.

“Having worked in a minister’s office before, if 100 letters arrive, or 200 letters arrive on a particular topic, then the minister knows that the community cares.”

The councillor said he was disappointed in the response from Ms Upton. Cr Lawrence said it wasn’t made clear as to why there had to be a one-size-fits-all approach to the ward system.

Debate the ward issue at the local government conference would also allow council to consider any issues with the proposal that hadn’t already been raised, Cr Lawrence said.

The LGNSW conference will be held in Albury from October 21 to 23.

Councillors Vicki Etheridge, John Ryan, Kevin Parker and Stephen Lawrence will be Dubbo’s voting representatives. As a member of the board of LGNSW, mayor Ben Shields is also given a vote on the issues.

Councillor Greg Mohr has been chosen as the alternate for Dubbo.