One year after Dubbo and Wellington were amalgamated, former Dubbo mayor Allan Smith is calling for proof the communities are thriving.
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On May 12, 2016, the councils as they had been known were dissolved and the new Dubbo Regional Council was formed. The NSW government promised the merged body would deliver improved services.
However a year later, Mr Smith, who was a Dubbo councillor before the merger, said he wanted to see the facts.
It’s been a year since we were so unceremoniously sacked and so far we haven’t seen any data to show what the so called improvements are with the merged council,” he said.
“The kept saying it was going to be a utopia- where’s the data? Where’s the information? Where are the improvements?
“I’ve certainly seen improvements in Wellington but where are the improvements in Dubbo?”
Local Government Minister Gabrielle Upton was contacted for comment but according to her staff was too busy for an interview.
After further questions were asked a statement was sent to the Daily Liberal from a spokesperson for the Department of Premier and Cabinet which covered the achievements of Dubbo Regional Council since the amalgamation. They included: the $50,000 in maintenance works completed at Wellington Pool, the $15,000 first home buyers rebate, and the $10 million allocated to council from the NSW government after the merger.
Questions about feedback from the public, such as if the response to the amalgamation had changed and what the next step for amalgamated councils was were unanswered.
Before the amalgamation, statistics from the Dubbo community showed the overwhelming majority were against the two councils being merged. While it may seem residents have since accepted the decision, Mr Smith said there wasn’t a day that went by without someone talking to him about it.
It would be a different council if the merger had not gone through, Mr Smith said.
“It would be more open and we could have people elected by the community. It would be truly democratic.”
While there was an administrator, Mr Smith said Michael Kneipp was not elected by the community, and not fully accountable to them.
Former Dubbo mayor Mathew Dickerson said the NSW government needed to publish the evidence the amalgamation was beneficial.
“If [President of the United States Donald] Trump can be given a scorecard after 100 days in office, surely the state government can produce data to show the benefits of amalgamation after 365 days,” he said.