Five Orana region councils are waiting on Dubbo to come to the table to form a Joint Organisation (JO) of councils, Narromine Shire Mayor Craig Davies said.
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The NSW government is in the process of establishing regional JOs, which would work on projects that cross local government areas.
Under the plan, joining a JO is voluntary, but the groups need to be within the NSW Planning Regional boundaries.
The boundaries separate Western NSW from the Central West and Orana, dividing the Orana Regional Organisation of Councils (OROC).
It means OROC members Bourke, Brewarrina, Cobar and Walgett would be excluded from a new Orana region JO.
Narromine shire has previously voted unanimously to work towards joining a JO, but Dubbo Regional Council has been hesitant, with councillor Greg Mohr labelling the proposal – and its exclusion of OROC’s western members – “absolutely disgusting”.
Councillor Davies has previously been reluctant to pressure Dubbo on the matter, but on Tuesday he said Dubbo was stalling entire project.
“OROC has been wonderful for this region of NSW for many years and it would be a real shame if that vision and that drive within that group was lost because it was broken by some councils not wanting to be a part of it,” Cr Davies said.
“There are still some councils wavering in their enthusiasm, however I am hopeful that over the course of the next few days we will see some progress in terms of these councils wanting to become involved in a JO.
“I believe that there are five councils that are ready to join now, and five basically waiting to see what Dubbo does.
“And while Dubbo has indicated that they aren’t interested, it has stalled us advancing this project as a group of 12 councils.”
While four of the current 12 OROC councils – Bourke, Brewarrina, Cobar and Walgett – may be excluded from the new JO, Cr Davies had not given up hope that they would join if possible.
He said Dubbo’s leadership was the key.
“We’re a very close group of mayors and general managers,” Cr Davies said.
“We all have the same vision for the western areas and we’re all hoping that Dubbo can see their way to coming around and being the leader within this group, which is what most of us are hoping and expecting of them.”
