Riverina groups campaigning to reverse council mergers have slammed the NSW's government's decision to keep secret independent reports on the 2016 amalgamations.
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Parliament's upper house voted earlier this month for Labor's motion to demand "all documents relating to the proposal to demerge" the Snowy Valleys and Cootamundra-Gundagai councils, including reports from the Local Government Boundaries Commission.
The deadline was Wednesday and the Department of Premier and Cabinet responded that the Boundaries Commission, as an independent body, was not subject to the upper house demand.
NSW Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock's chief of staff responded that "to the best of my knowledge that there are no documents held by the Office of the Minister for Local Government...that are lawfully required to be provided".
Save Tumbarumba Shire spokesperson Neil Hamilton said he was "deeply disappointed" by the response.
"We know what the commission would have found simply by the number of submissions and the people who showed up [to hearings in November] as there were only three people who spoke against a demerger," Dr Hamilton said.
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Gundagai Shire in Exile spokesman Paul Mara said the government was playing "political games" and "transparency demands that the minister act on the the request of the community".
Independent Wagga MP Joe McGirr said it was "extremely disappointing" that the reports were not being released.
"I suspect that they are waiting until after the [Upper Hunter] byelection, which is just no good enough," Dr McGirr said.
Ms Hancock's spokesperson said "The NSW Government is aware of the community's expectations that [the Boundaries Commission] process is completed in a reasonable timeframe to provide certainty to the council and local residents".
Nationals Cootamundra MP Steph Cooke and the Snowy Valleys and Cootamundra-Gundagai mayors have previously called for the reports to be released.
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