Dubbo and Wellington could soon become two separate council areas again if Labor wins the NSW election on Saturday.
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Independent candidate for Dubbo Mathew Dickerson and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party candidate Lara Quealy told the Daily Liberal they support Labor's policy to give communities a say on whether council demergers should occur.
"We will allow council areas that have been merged to have a referendum on a demerger if a petition is signed in the former local government area by 20 per cent of the population," Labor candidate Stephen Lawrence confirmed.
"If a petition is circulated in Wellington and 20 per cent of people want a referendum then Labor will hold a referendum [to demerge the council].
If elected, Mr Dickerson said he would support a demerger if the community was fully consulted and a majority of residents were in favour of splitting Dubbo and Wellington up.
"It is almost three years since the Dubbo Regional Council amalgamation went ahead against the wishes of the public," the former Dubbo mayor said.
"There is no use crying over spilt milk so I have moved on and happy to see the new council work.
"I have no agenda to push for a demerger but if the community asked for their voice to be heard via a petition, I would fully support a plebiscite on the issue to ensure the voices of the electorate were heard and represented in Parliament."
Ms Quealy said she also backed Labor's plan to give communities a greater say.
"I'm happy to support a rethink on amalgamations," she said.
Nationals candidate Dugald Saunders said if 80 per cent of Wellington residents did not sign a petition wanting a referendum, he would respect their wishes as they would be in the majority.
"The majority of residents agree that Wellington is now better off since the merger and no one is speaking to me about turning back the clock three years," he said
Mr Saunders said Wellington and Dubbo residents had not suffered any negative impacts as a result of the forced council amalgamation.
Mr Lawrence, who is a serving councillor on Dubbo Regional Council, said he also believed the new council was working well.
"I don't detect a groundswell of support [for demerging]," he said.