Griffith mayor John Dal Broi will not advocate for a local merger of Griffith and Leeton’s councils.
SPECULATION is mounting that an MIA super-council could be formed in the coming years - and Griffith's mayor has revealed he would support the move.
A massive review of local government is expected to recommend a host of amalgamations, including the fusion of Griffith and Leeton's councils.
While Griffith mayor John Dal Broi will not advocate for a local merger, he told The Area News he was willing to support it if it was in the recommendations, which are due to be released in July.
"The (NSW) government is looking at all avenues to bring local government back to a position where it is viable," Cr Dal Broi said.
"We really have to look at it (a merger) closely. Griffith is a major city and we provide a lot of services.
"We're losing money on a lot of those services - the pool, the theatre, the art gallery and the library - and we encourage people from other local government areas to use them but the loss is picked up by one section of the community and that's the Griffith City Council ratepayers."
Cr Dal Broi said he would ensure Griffith was proactive with any recommendations from the review.
"We can't just blindly shut it out and say 'this isn't going to happen'," he said.
The amalgamation of two large councils would provide a raft of benefits for both communities, allowing the sharing of staff expertise and resources as well as creating a larger pool of money for big projects.
It also has the potential to bring negative impacts, casting doubt on the identity of the two towns and lessening accountability to the community.
Former councillor Peter Taylor said Leeton stood to lose a lot more than Griffith if the merger happened.
"Leeton council has always been able to be centred solely on Leeton so they would feel really hard done by being made to amalgamate with Griffith," Mr Taylor said.
"Identity is very important to Leeton-ites and they would get the feeling they would just be gobbled up. Financially, there would be benefits but there would still have to be a Leeton office so how much would you really save?"
Mr Taylor predicted serious teething problems for the first two or three years of a combined council. He said he would like to see the collective council called the City of Burley Griffin or even a return to Wade Council. But he wasn't convinced it was the right move.