Call to speed up Snowy Valleys LGA demerger process as council throws weight behind break-up

At its monthly meeting on Thursday, the Snowy Valleys Council reaffirmed its commitment to deamalgamation, subject to NSW government funding.

The council unanimously backed a five-part motion to split the Tumut and Tumbarumba Shires, but Save Tumbarumba Shire spokesperson Neil Hamilton doesn't believe the move has gone far enough.

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Last year council voted to proceed with a business case to demerge, but Mr Hamilton believes council's latest move represents "a step back[wards]."

"They've just kicked the can down the road," he said.

Mr Hamilton said it's a "farce" that it has been seven years just to get to this point and believes "things have only become worse" since the NSW Local Government Boundaries Commission rejected a demerger proposal in 2021.

"No one can deny now that the council is a failure.

"We've got the figures for it and the community sentiment. It's a mess and it's time to wrap it up."

But Snowy Valleys councillor James Hayes, who moved the latest motion believes the council is headed in the right direction and dismissed criticism from the group.

"If the Save Tumbarumba Shire group really wanted to do something, they should have run for council," Cr Hayes said.

This week, the council agreed to formally receive a report it commissioned from Newcastle University academic Joseph Drew into the pros and cons of a break-up.

That report recommended reverting to the previous shires and deemed the merged council was "structurally flawed" and will be presented to the new minister for local government Ron Hoenig.

Cr Hayes said he is "pretty happy" with the way the process has gone so far and hopes the labor local government minister will back the council's call for a split.

"Members of the Labor Party have been encouraging all along and basically said it was a bad decision to merge and were in favour of demerging. I hope they maintain that idea," he said.

Cr Hayes has opposed the demerger from the outset and said it has "caused a lot of mental health issues, anxiety and it should never have happened."

Snowy Valleys deputy mayor Trina Thomson has also backed the move to split but has voiced her frustration that council is drawing the process out too much.

"The time for sitting on the fence has well and truly passed," Cr Thomson said.

"The staff are exhausted and they have had enough.

"The fear and uncertainty and doubt is so detrimental to their physical and mental health that it is not fair to continue like this.

"We need to have the courage to agree on a decision and whatever the outcome of that is, that needs to be the end of it.

"The report recommended we aim towards a demerger so we need to meet with the minister and discuss with him how that would work and how it would be funded."

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