Now a Dubbo resident, Kevin Sinclair was a councillor on Evans Shire when it formed following an amalgamation in 1977.

Dubbo and Wellington councils are facing the same fate and Mr Sinclair said it would be up to the councillors to make a merger work.

"It's just a matter of the people who had the responsibility of keeping it under control looking after the interests of the ratepayers. It's pretty simple," Mr Sinclair said.

What would a merged Dubbo and Wellington council need to work?

"Have a good broad spectrum [of elected officials], look at the problem and really put their nose to the ground and really make the best go of everything that they can," Mr Sinclair said.

"It won't work unless they make it. It doesn't matter what it is, it won't work unless they make it."

Mr Sinclair dismissed the idea that services in Dubbo would be lost if the councils were combined.

"That'll only happen if the councillors let it happen. There's no reason why it should. It's up to the individuals, if they allow it to happen it will happen," he said.

"The councillors need to put in a genuine effort. They need to do their best and that's all they can be expected to do."

The councillors on the new Evans Shire were comprised of six representatives from Abercrombie Shire and six from Turon Shire.

The existing councillors didn't work out, Mr Sinclair said, so they were removed and replaced with seven fresh councillors- himself included- as voted by the ratepayers.

"One of the reasons why it did work was that we had across the board representation of all the ratepayers," Mr Sinclair said.

"We had extremely good council staff, including engineers and directors and all those people who work hard to make decisions on work commitments."

From what he remembers, no one was laid off and the only people who left were those who took a natural redundancy, Mr Sinclair said.