Wellington's mayor Anne Jones has come under fire over comments she made about the Dubbo-Wellington council merger during Monday's Anzac Day commemorations.
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Councillor David Grant warned the mayor at Wednesday night's Wellington council meeting her comments had made some locals angry.
Cr Jones said at the commemoration: "This is possibly my last Anzac speech as mayor of Wellington if the amalgamation proposal becomes a reality".
Cr Grant said it would have been inappropriate not to air ratepayer views on the subject.
"I have received many calls from people saying you were using the address to score political points on Anzac Day," he said before fellow councillors and people in the gallery.
Wellington Council voted at the meeting not to join other country councils - Cabonne, which would be merged with Orange and Blayney, and Oberon, which would join Bathurst - in taking legal action against the mergers in the NSW Land and Environment Court.
On the mergers, Cr Mark Griggs said: "I am very uncomfortable with this. It appears to be a foregone conclusion. It appears a watertight case".
"The amount of money this will cost ratepayers is not clear if it is thrown out of court.
"They have dotted the I's and crossed the T's about forced amalgamations... In matter of fact Macquarie Street tells us we're doomed."
It is understood general managers and other council administrators are already in talks about new jobs in the merged Dubbo Wellington entity.
But council mergers in the bush have become a political hot potato for the federal government, especially the Nationals. Swings in marginal and even safe seats have put some big names in trouble.
The Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has warned the NSW government to "back off" on forced amalgamations.
Under threat from former National and Independent Tony Windsor, Mr Joyce has repeatedly backed Walcha from being gobbled up by its largest neighbour Tamworth.
"I fully support the strong community calls for the proposed amalgamation of Walcha Council with Tamworth Regional Council to be withdrawn," Mr Joyce said in a recent press release.
But Mr Windsor, who also opposes the forced amalgamations, said Mr Joyce's words rang hollow.
"It's tokenistic for Joyce to say he opposes the merger when he's a senior player in the party that is forcing it," he said.
Groups based in Sydney are preparing a campaign to make local government amalgamations in bush areas a major issue in the upcoming federal election.
