Extraordinary Council Meeting taking place Thursday 5th April

4 Apr 2018 6:19 PM -

Leeton Shire Council will hold an extraordinary meeting tomorrow, Thursday 5^th April commencing 7.15am in the Leeton Shire Council Chambers to discuss Council’s membership in a Joint Organisation (JO).  JOs are new Statutory Bodies under the Local Government Act which give Councils a seat at the table in planning for important regional infrastructure and investment. 

This urgent extraordinary meeting is being called to consider a rescission motion on a previous JO decision and determine a revised way forward.   

The meeting is urgent as the Minister for Local Government  is not able to act on Council’s recommendation for 28 days, by law, and Leeton Shire Council does not want to miss the opportunity to be part of a functioning JO from 1 July 2018. The Office of Local Government has advised that proposed JOs will be finalised in early May for consideration by the NSW Parliament.  

At its February Ordinary Council Meeting, Leeton Shire Council had resolved to join a Joint Organisation comprising Wagga Wagga City Council, Narrandera Shire Council and Snowy Valleys Council. However, on 22 March 2018 Snowy Valleys Council resolved to apply for dispensation to join the Canberra JO instead. Narrandera Shire Council has since indicated that they are not comfortable to proceed with a 3 member Joint Organisation as they have concerns about scale and future financial sustainability. Wagga Wagga City Council and Leeton Shire Council are not permitted to be part of a JO of less than 3 Councils. This presents a dilemma for Leeton Shire Council who now needs to act swiftly if it wishes to join a JO in time for promulgation by 1 July 2018. 

All residents and ratepayers are welcome to attend this special meeting tomorrow morning. For those that can’t make this extraordinary meeting, Council will advise of the outcome via a media release.

Thanks for being an active and engaged citizen of Leeton Shire.