Snowy Valleys and Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional councils have been told by Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock that plans to de-merge the two would be put out for public comment.

Prior to the mergers in 2016, Cootamundra and Gundagai were both stand-alone councils. Snowy Valleys was created by a merger of the former Tumbarumba and Tumut shires.

"I have listened carefully to the views of the community, the councils and local members in making this decision," Ms Hancock said in a statement.

"As required under the Act, I will now give public notice of the proposals to allow the councils and electors to make submissions. By law I am then required to consider all submissions before formally referring the proposals to the Local Government Boundaries Commission, an independent statutory authority, for examination and report."

Neil Hamilton from the Save Tumbarumba Shire group has welcomed Ms Hancock's decision, although he remained concerned about the likely length of the process.

"It's a long drawn-out process. It's not ideal. We would have preferred they went direct to the Boundary Commission to hold an independent inquiry, but it's better than nothing," Dr Hamilton said.

Snowy Valleys Council issued a statement reiterating a December 2018 decision not to support a de-merger proposal.

"However, we acknowledge the democratic rights of our community and welcome the formal assessment in the public interest," the statement read.

"We are fully committed to co-operating with the Office of Local Government and actively participating in the assessment process with integrity and objectivity.

"It is our continued commitment to developing Snowy Valleys Council as a high performing, sustainable council for those people in the wider community we serve."

Mayor of Cootamundra-Gundagai Abb McAlister said his council had been calling for a review of merged councils for some time.

"Mergers have certainly worked in places. There have been some successes, but it's one of those things that one size doesn't fit all, especially when you get into the bush," Councillor McAlister said.

"When you get into the bush, it's not just financial, it's social issues, it's tyranny of distance, the cultures can be different. There's a lot of issues to consider."

Glen Moore from Gundagai Council in Exile has also welcomed the announcement.

"We are pleased we are finally seeing some recognition from government that we have issues," Mr Moore said.