A rate hike has been approved by Blayney Shire Council despite overwhelming opposition.
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Over the period of a month between November and December 2023, drop-in information sessions were held throughout the region with 28 formal submissions on a possible special rate variation (SRV) received.
Of those, 25 were against the proposal to raise rates by ten per cent over three consecutive years - starting in 2024-25 - with two in support and one neutral.
At an ordinary council on January 23, Blayney Shire resident Peter Ogilvie said the SRV was "just not acceptable at the moment."
He brought up the long-standing idea for the council to amalgamate with another nearby council such as Orange as a possibility that should be looked into.
"We haven't got enough rate payers to keep ourselves going," he said.
"We're reliant on Cadia for 50 per cent of our rates and we're relying on Regis to come on board.
"We've got to look at ourselves and say 'can we still sustain Blayney Shire Council as a standalone council without being amalgamated. If we can't get on track, then walk away."
Mr Ogilvie believed a 5.7 per cent rise should be approved, with auditors and administrators brought in to see if the council's future was viable.
Another of his ideas was to make the swimming pool in Blayney operated by volunteers as a way to cut costs.
"A lot of the pools in smaller towns like Nyngan and those areas have volunteers," he said.
"We could still have one council employee to open it and shut it at night and the volunteers could come in (during the day)."
Paul Knight, who admitted he did not live in Blayney Shire Council but had "invested" in the area with a grazing farm, spoke in favour of the SRV.
"We want good grazing country and a higher rainfall, I want sealed roads with good access and mobile phone coverage," he said.
"We've got that. But a case study of our road network has seen over the last 15 years, limited attempts to re-seal or undertake corrective works (to Neville Road)."
Mr Knight pointed to the November 2022 floods as a particularly difficult time for road repairs.
"The council wouldn't have had the funds to (repair the road) on its own," he added.
"You need the staff on board to gather those grants that are out there, the state and federal grants. You also need the people on the ground so you can maintain your roads."
Key themes and issues raised throughout the community engagement were; affordability, hardship and cost of living pressures, financial impact on farmers, council efficiencies and cost savings, extent of proposed SRV amount, importance of council services and the importance of continuing current council service levels.
At Tuesday night's meeting, councillors voted unanimously in favour of the proposed SRV.
Blayney Mayor Scott Ferguson acknowledged it was not an easy decision to make.
"This has been a very difficult decision for councillors who are being proactive in seeking to address council's forecast deficits as early as possible," he said.
"The increase will ensure council has ability to continue providing services at the current standard to the community and be able to fund renewal and maintenance on councils assets, particularly the road network and is in response to significant cost pressures borne by council recently."
Mr Ferguson added that council planned to do "a lot more" advocating to both both state and federal governments.
General manager Mark Dicker said internally there would be a "number of efficiencies and improvements" reviewed on an ongoing basis.
Council will now proceed to submit an application to IPART who will complete their own community consultation from February to March before releasing its final decision in May 2024.
The SRV includes the annual rate peg set by IPART and any increase would not commence until July 1, 2024.