LOCKHART is celebrating a milestone victory against the state government’s forced merger campaign.
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Chairwoman of the Lockhart Shire No Merger Action Group Justine Isherwood said the “monumental news” Lockhart will not merge with Urana and Corowa was testament to the shire’s fighting spirit.
“This victory belongs to the entire community, who turned out in droves to the public inquiry and the hundreds of who us took time to put in written submissions to that effect,” she said.
“Even though we were one of the most financially secure of shires proposed to merge, we would have been treated like the poor relations.
“This is a win, not only for Lockhart Shire, but for democracy in rural Australia.
“The council is the biggest employer in town and over the past months the staff have been staring down the barrel of the gun, but they carried out their duties diligently and I hope they can now sigh with relief.”
Lockhart mayor Peter Yates was “ecstatic” and pledged to lead celebrations.
“Lockhart’s economy would have been devastated if the merger went ahead and it would have been hard to provide services,” he said.
“We lobbied hard and I’m so glad the community spirit shone through and common sense prevailed.”
