Narromine mayor Craig Davies to represent shire in Country Mayors Association of NSW

Parkes mayor Ken Keith was returned as chair of the Country Mayors Association of NSW, while Gunnedah Shire Council mayor Jamie Chaffey was elected deputy chair.

Eight country mayors, including Narromine Shire Council mayor Craig Davies also have a voice at the table of the association, who were elected to the executive.

Mayors include Rick Firman from Temora, Russell Fitzpatrick from Bega Valley, John Medcalf from the Lachlan Shire, Phylliss Miller from Forbes, Sue Moore from Singleton, Kylie Thomas from Kyogle and Russell Webb from Tamworth.

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General manager of the Parkes Shire Council Kent Boyd was also elected as secretary and public officer.

The committee met in Sydney earlier this month, to begin discussions on key issues facing rural, regional and remote councils in NSW.

Priority areas for the board include working with the NSW government to close the gap between health services in the regions, compared with those in the metropolitan areas.

They are also working to ensure towns have sustainable water supplies and to ensure financial sustainability of local government.

A whole government approach to disaster planning, skills and education and regional housing will also be prioritised.

Mayor Cr Davies said he put his hand up to be part of the association, to give Narromine an opportunity to have serious input into lobbying government about different issues that relate to rural and remote areas of the state.

"It's in my mind the best forum for mayors from the country. Because it is made up of largely of like-minded people who share many of the same issues, and are faced with the same hurdles," Cr Davies said.

"At the end of the day quite often [Local Government NSW] are calling the shots on issues in the bush about which they have little knowledge," Cr Davies said.

"So I just find for me and Narromine Shire Council the County Mayors Association is a far better vehicle to try and convince government about different issues that relate to rural and remote areas of the state."

For Cr Davies one of the main focuses is on the NSW Biodiversity Offsets Scheme - which is set up to halt or reverse the loss of biodiversity. He says the scheme is not working and in some cases doing more harm than good.

"It is a scheme that was introduced as an act of parliament in 2016, but has its tentacles into the bush like no other tax in the country. It's so far raised $125 million," he said.

"It's not the $125 million that's the issue, its the jobs that are being lost because of it."

He said there was inequity between large and small councils, with the latter often lacking.

"Its been designed to protect biodiversity and environmental assets, and we would all suggest that's a good thing, but its no longer protecting those things, its stopping any development," he said.

"We're at a time where we're seeing significant development in regional and rural NSW, which is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but we're being hit with this tax, that is stopping so much development, so much investment in the bush and killing jobs."

Among other focuses, Cr Davies said rural healthcare and housing were also top priorities.