Demerger campaigners in Tumbarumba are pleading for extra time to put their case to the state government after their community was hit hard by bushfires.
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Neil Hamilton from Save Tumbarumba Shire, whose own property was in the path of the fire, said submissions to Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock on a proposal to demerge Snowy Valleys Council is due by the end of January.
Dr Hamilton said that in the wake of the devastation to swathes of the council area, it was hoped the minister would agree to push the deadline back by a month.
Those in favour of demerging want Snowy Valleys devolved back into the former Tumut and Tumbarumba shires.
"About a week ago, we wrote and asked for a delay, given the bushfires and in the interests of procedural fairness. We haven't heard a thing," he said.
"People are coming back into town now and they're stressed anyway and this is the very last thing the government needs to push on us.
"We're not trying to derail the process at all, we're just saying 'look, people are not really capable right now'. We haven't got internet right now, the post office only reopened yesterday, there's no power and no water."
At its meeting in December 2018, Snowy Valleys Council resolved to not support a demerger proposal and has said previously it would not be "providing ongoing commentary during this process".
Snowy Valleys mayor James Hayes said that while he was keen to see the demerger review process "over and done with it", he did not object to a short additional period for submissions to be finalised.
A spokesperson for Ms Hancock said: "Our immediate priority is to assist councils and communities, including Snowy Valleys, who have been severely impacted by the unprecedented bushfires. The Minister will give due consideration to residents' request for an extension."