Former Dubbo mayor Mathew Dickerson doesn’t believe anyone from Dubbo will follow in the footsteps of a group from Gundagai, who have hand-written a letter to Queen Elizabeth asking her to revoke their council’s merger with Cootamundra.
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Six residents of the Riverina town, all aged over 80, have signed the letter asking for the Queen to “restore democracy” to their town, outlining 180 years of growth and properity.
"We respectfully seek your persuasion to have the Government of New South Wales restore democracy to Gundagai and all other affected councils,” the letter reads.
It also informs the Queen the merger "has had a serious impact on the morale and identity of Gundagai and its people," and was against "the expressed will of the community".
But Mr Dickerson said he believes the issue of Dubbo and Wellington being merged is probably over after new premier Gladys Berejiklian elected not to do a full backflip on council amalgamations.
“I think it is dead and buried,” he said.
“We had a glimmer of hope with the new Premier but it didn’t eventuate.
“We sent a letter on behalf of the former councillors, nine of the 11, asking for a meeting with the Premier and we were refused. When we found out she was coming to Dubbo I reiterated my request but again it was refused.”
“When the Governor visited Dubbo last year the first question he asked me was ‘what would the people of Dubbo say to me when they meet me?’ and I said they would simply say ‘don’t sign’.
“He was confused. I said that people would tell him not to sign the proclamation if Paul Toole put the document in front of him. Unfortunately he signed it.
“The story (from Gundagai) just goes to show how frustrated people are. They know they can’t get the Queen to overturn the decision but they are trying anything.”
The Gundagai letter’s author, William Wright, said he did not expect the Queen to respond, but hoped the letter would prompt Ms Berejiklian and local government minister Gabrielle Upton to reconsider the merger.