Griffith mayor John Dal Broi, deputy mayor Doug Curran and councillor Mike Neville represented Griffith City Council along with general manager Brett Stonestreet and manager of executive services Shireen Donaldson while Murrumbidgee Shire Council was represented by mayor Austin Evans, deputy mayor Phillip Wells and acting general manager Kerry McMurray.

Councillor Dal Broi said the Murrumbidgee representatives were “not keen to merge”.

“They believe they fit the criteria as a rural council,” Councillor Dal Broi said.

“They’ll be having a meeting on November 16 to brief and seek direction from the community.”

Both Griffith and Murrumbidgee councils were found ‘unfit’ by The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal’s (IPART) Fit for the Future report in October. Cr Dal Broi said the only reason the councils were deemed ‘unfit’ is they did not pursue a business case-study with each other.

“We had a meeting with them with a facilitator present but they then informed us they were pursuing a business case-study with Jerilderie instead,” Cr Dal Broi said.

“We could have done a case-study without their consent and just used their financials but we didn’t want to be seen as a ‘big brother’ standing over them.”

“Murrumbidgee haven’t asked us to be part of a business case-study with them, instead they’re going to do their own separate ones with Griffith, Leeton and Narrandera. In our case they’ll be using our financial information which is out there for their report.”

Cr Dal Broi said he had spoken with numerous mayors and general managers across NSW and they all believed change was inevitable.

“We’re using directions we’ve received which were driven by the Minister for Local Government and then escalated to the Premier and Cabinet,” he said.

“It’s my view when things go to the Premier like this the government is serious and they mean business.”