The two councils and community members were campaigning on Wednesday to attract big numbers of anti-merger residents to the meetings in a show of “people power”.

In separate developments:

o Dubbo mayor Mathew Dickerson said the city’s obligation to “prop-up” Wellington would impact the presentation and standard of sporting fields, parks, roads and cultural events in the city. Residents would face a lower standard of infrastructure and services or rate rises.

o Senior National Party figure and Wellington councillor Alison Conn quit several party positions over comments by Dubbo MP and Deputy Premier Troy Grant likening anti-merger protesters to TV’s The Simpsons and suggesting they had a mob mentality.

o Two former councillors involved in the successful merger of Dubbo and Talbragar councils in 1980 criticised the Dubbo-Wellington merger plan. 

o Molong’s anti-amalgamation NO Thank You group urged local business owners to walk off the job and protest in front of the local RSL club at its public meeting on merging Cabonne with Blayney and Orange.

In Dubbo, Cr Dickerson said it could not be guaranteed the proud and attractive city he represented wouldn’t become shabby and needy in the wake of a merger.

He warned that the lifestyle enjoyed by Dubbo residents was at risk.

He said Dubbo’s obligation to “prop-up” Wellington post amalgamation would impact on the presentation and standard of the likes of sporting fields, parks, roads and cultural events in the city.

The future of facilities running at a loss, including Dubbo Showground, is unclear should money become tight.

“We lose $500,000 a year on the showground, but it’s good for Dubbo,” he said.

Already Dubbo City Council has pulled back from preparing “shovel-ready” plans for major projects, including the expansion of Dubbo Aquatic Leisure Centre to possibly include an indoor pool, new slide and play area.

Cr Dickerson said other projects that might flounder or be revised included the sealing of “every road in every village” from 2017, and the multimillion-dollar development of Regand Park recreational area and Dubbo Botanic Gardens in Elizabeth Park.

He suggests the first projects undertaken by the combined local government areas (LGAs) would have to include the upgrading of the Wellington sewerage plant that has been polluting the Macquarie River.

“Their sewerage treatment plant is at capacity for the population they have at the moment,” he said.

“One of the first major projects I would see the combined council would have to do would be to upgrade the Wellington sewerage plant, and that’s not a cheap process.”

Cr Dickerson said meeting the infrastructure and other needs of Wellington would require Dubbo residents to accept a lower standard of infrastructure and services or rate rises that would apply throughout the proposed new LGA.Rate rises are problematic given the average household income in Wellington is $54,446 compared with $70,519 at Dubbo, he said.Their respective unemployment rates are 7.4 per cent and 3.7 per cent.

“From a socio-economic view, it’s obvious that the two LGAs are different,” Cr Dickerson said.

“The ability for Wellington people to afford rate rises would be limited.” But he is certain a merger would prove costly to the owners of farmland within the boundaries of Dubbo City Council, who currently stump up four per cent of its rate income of about $25 million a year.

He said Wellington farmers provided 24 per cent of its rate income of about $5 million.

Cr Dickerson said at the end of a proposed four-year freeze on “rate pathways” and not rate rises, the requirement for consistency in rating structures across the new LGA would hit the hip pocket of Dubbo farmers.’

“Reducing the 24 per cent would result in a dramatic loss in income,” he said.

“The council of the day would probably make a decision to increase the rate of 4 per cent in the old Dubbo area, rather than reduce the 24 per cent.” Cr Dickerson said Dubbo ratepayers seemed “comfortable” to subsidise outlying villages in the LGA to the tune of about $250,000 a year.

“I think they will be much less comfortable with it travelling to Stuart Town or Euchareena or Wellington,” he said.”I don’t think it’s fair or reasonable for money to be spent that far away.”