Council Mergers
The Palerang and Queanbeyan City LGAs were merged on 12 May 2016 to form the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council. At that time, Palerang Council ceased to exist. The following information, and the links to pages at left, should now be considered information for historical purposes only.
The NSW Government's current local government reform agenda grew out of the Destination 2036 conference that was held in Dubbo in 2011.
In the coming days, we will endeavour to provide a little more of the history and timeline of the reform process. In the mean time, this page will provide access to resources that may assist residents in making submissions through the public inquiry process associated with merger proposals involving the Palerang Local Government Area (LGA).
The first round of inquiries, associated with the proposal to merge the western portion, including Wamboin and Bywong, with Queanbeyan City Council is now complete and the Delegate is preparing his report.
The second round will deal with the proposal to merge the whole of the Palerang LGA with Queanbeyan City Council (QCC).
Council Boundary Review
The most immediate background information relating to the various proposals and inquiries can be found on the NSW Government's Council Boundary Review website.
Public Inquiries
The public inquiry into the Minister's proposal to merge part of Palerang with Queanbeyan City is now complete and the inquiry into the Proposal to merge of the whole of the Palerang LGA and QCC is underway.
Contrary to previous advice, there will also be two public meeting associated with this inquiry. Both will be held on Wednesday 16 March 2016, the first from 1:00pm to 4:00pm at the Queanbeyan Gold Club, 5 Brown Road, Queanbeyan, and the second from 7:00pm to 10:00pm in the Bungendore War Memorial Hall, Molonglo Street, Bungendore. Written submissions will be accepted until 5.00pm on Friday 8 April 2016.
This second proposal has been put forward by Palerang Council as the preferred outcome if it is determined that Palerang must be merged in some way with one of its neighbours. It is seen as a better outcome for the community than dividing the council area. Palerang Council's resolved preference, however, remains to stand as an independent Council.
To assist residents in forming a view on the Proposals and making written submissions, the following are transcripts of oral presentations that have been made to the Delegate at the public meetings.
Make a Written Submission
Submissions can be made online, either by entering comments directly or by uploading a prepared document, through the Palerang & Queanbeyan City Councils Proposal page on the Council Boundary Review website. Note that there are two distinct proposals relating to Palerang and Queanbeyan—the partial merger, identified by 'Palerang*' (with an asterisk) and the full merger, identified by 'Palerang' (without an asterisk).
Details on what should be addressed in a submission are provided in the Frequently Asked Questions section of the background information provided on the Council Boundary Review website.
The following templates are provided to assist residents in preparing a submission.
Form Letter
If you would simply like to register your opposition to the Proposal to merge part of Palerang with Queanbeyan City Council, click on the following link to download the form letter, add your name and address, and submit it through the submission web portal.
Form Letter Objecting to the Proposed Merger | [16 KB] |
Customised Submission
If you would like to make a more comprehensive submission, click on the following link to download the submission template, add your comments and submit the completed document through the submission web portal.
Submission Tempalte | [29 KB] |
WCA Submission
The following is the submission that was made by the WCA to the two inquiries involved with the division of Palerang.
WCA Submission to Palerang Division Inquiries | [455 KB] |
The WCA will also be preparing a submission for the current inquiry into the full merger of the Palerang and Queanbeyan City Councils.