Roy Butler and Mark Coulton back the return of elected Central Darling Shire Council

The Central Darling Shire Council's financial position has been in the spotlight since 2013 when then local government minister Don Page suspended it for mismanagement after it failed to account for some $2 million in income from rates.

The council located in far west NSW is one of the largest in the state in terms of area. It has a 53,000 square kilometre boundary but considered unique for having the lowest income from rates and small populations in many of its nine townships such as the currently flood-hit Menindee, Ivanhoe, Tilpa and White Cliffs.

It is within the Parkes electorate boundary held by Mr Coulton of the Nationals Party at the federal level and Barwon at the state level held by independent Mr Butler.

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According to Mr Butler, he has been made aware of the council's financial position "now back into the black" following numerous consultations with the council's administrator and general manager, current local government minister Wendy Tuckerman, Mr Coulton, and residents.

Mr Butler said he has personally spoken with NSW premier Dominic Perrottet about the shire's dire need to be represented by an elected council when he came to visit Forbes late last year and at Menindee a week ago during his visit to inspect the flood, as well as during several meetings with Mrs Tuckerman who has yet to release a report on the shire.

"There should be no reason to have a hold up on a report pertaining to the public purse once the government has digested that [report]. We have asked her multiple times to make that available because we are keen to see it," Mr Butler said.

Residents have been rallying the two MPs for the return of their council which Mr Butler said has been aired in various community forums and through a survey he has put out to ensure a majority of the nine townships' 1,833 residents can have their say.

Mr Coulton, who has recently assisted the shire's residents impacted by the flood to access assistance, said he received feedback from residents who want to be represented again by elected councilors but "the decision is in the hands of the NSW government."

However, Mr Coulton said he is "hopeful that the shire comes out of administration as soon as appropriate to ensure the best outcomes for the community".

"I believe it is better for communities to have a democratically-elected council however there are reasons why Central Darling shire was put under administration," Mr Coulton said.

When discussing the flooding situation with the Daily Liberal earlier this month, current Central Darling Shire Council general manager Greg Hill spoke about the situation it finds itself in.

"Since I've been here, we've been through drought, COVID, floods and mice plague so every year we've practically had disaster after disaster of some sort," Mr Hill said.

"But we've managed and turned the council around financially from negative to positive.

"From an annual budget of $22 million, we are now at $47 million expenditure this financial and we have more than $90,000 worth of projects to be delivered in the next two years."

Mr Butler said Mrs Tuckerman has earlier made a commitment that the shire's suspension would be lifted before the scheduled local government election in September 2024 so residents can choose their local representatives.

"We've got that commitment from the minister to have the council out of administration by September 2024...not having an elected council is not as good as having elected representatives and that is very much the perception in the community," he said.

"They don't have that voice and the idea that they can speak to a councilor or mayor and be able to have that voice go into council."

Mr Butler said the report Mrs Tuckerman is expected to release would contain recommendations how the shire would be run by an elected council due to the "unique" status of the shire with some townships having few residents.

"Now that they are back in the black, we now have to come up with a model that is affordable for the council, and we're working towards that, and we have the commitment from the minister to have that happen in 2024," Mr Butler said.

"The shire is the largest but with the smallest rate so you can't just have a cookie cutter and drop in the shire that's why we asked the community what they think might work for them.

"They're a unique council not the same as others."

Minister Tuckerman has issued a statement to the Daily Liberal confirming the shire's period of administration is set to expire in September 2024 but did not elaborate.

Mrs Tuckerman also said the Office of Local Government is "working on the development of an effective long-term plan to guide the future governance and delivery of services and infrastructure for the shire".