At the time of the merger with Jerilderie Shire Council, Murrumbidgee Shire had a population of 2,400 and was one of the fastest growing rural local government authorities in New South Wales.

MURRUMBIDGEE REMAINS AS PREMIER ANNOUNCES MERGER

Murrumbidgee has been retained with the announcement earlier today by the NSW Government of the outcome of a four year change process for the Local Government sector.

Mayor of Murrumbidgee, Cr Austin Evans welcomed the news that the name Murrumbidgee would be retained as a new entity was created to incorporate the whole of both the current shire and the former Jerilderie Shire.

The announcements were made during a media conference at 12.30pm when the Premier Mike Baird was joined by Deputy Premier Troy Grant and Local Government Minister Paul Toole.

Minister Toole said it would be business as usual for residents in new council areas, with services operating as normal.

Each new council will receive up to $10 million to meet the costs of merging, plus up to $15 million for investment in new community infrastructure and local communities will work with the new Councils to decide how those funds would be spent.

Cr Evans has been appointed as the Administrator of the new Murrumbidgee Council with the former Jerilderie General Manager Craig Moffitt appointed as Interim General Manager. Murrumbidgee Shire’s current Interim General Manager Phil Pinyon has been appointed as Deputy General Manager.

Cr Evans acknowledged that while not all members of the community would welcome the announcement, it was good news that millions of dollars would be made available to help create the new entity as well as deliver capital projects such as roads, pools, libraries and sporting fields within the new local government area.

“It is a time of change for all those involved in local government and an opportunity to create an entity that will continue to serve the Murrumbidgee community well into the future by building on the work that has been done in the past,” Cr Evans said.

“I look forward to working with the Councillors and community members from the former Jerilderie and Murrumbidgee Shires to ensure that the appropriate frameworks and policies are put in place to achieve the best outcomes moving forward.”

Key Facts

Population: 4,047

Area (sq Km): 6,880

Number of Wards: 3

Number of councillors per ward: 3

For further information, please visit https://www.strongercouncils.nsw.gov.au/ (link is external)