It’s the latest move in Oberon’s bitter battle against the NSW Government’s changes to local government.

A decision on the proposed amalgamation between Bathurst and Oberon is expected mid-year.

Members of Oberon’s Anti-Amalgamation Committee have been handing out a flyer, which details the disadvantages of an amalgamation, in shopping centres and putting it in letterboxes.

Members of the group say Bathurst ratepayers should be concerned that a merger will double the size of the local government area and the road network and there will be only 3550 more ratepayers to pay for the maintenance of these additional roads. 

They say Oberon’s roads are subject to extreme climatic pressures and require experienced oversight; 42 per cent of Oberon is unrateable due to national parks and forestry; and achieving the predicted savings will mean job losses, possibly for the staff of both councils. 

Oberon’s Brian Dellow said the ratepayers of both councils would end up paying more because the local government area would end up double the size with few extra ratepayers.

He said most roads around Oberon were funded by the council, not the NSW Government. 

“This would be another vast expense for the Bathurst community,” he said.

“I think services in Bathurst and Oberon will decline because of it, and I think the mayor of Bathurst needs to discuss it more with his ratepayers.

“Bathurst residents have shown no interest in this whatsoever, so we are trying to alert them that what is going on is not in their interest and it certainly isn’t in ours.

“I hope Mr Toole [Member for Bathurst and local government minister Paul Toole] comes to his senses and leaves things alone. We are getting along. We have all the services we need.”

He said members of the group wanted to see Bathurst people come to their senses and start asking questions. 

Another Oberon resident, Ian Gordon, was handing out flyers in the Bathurst CBD last weekend. 

He said the response was pretty good.

“Everyone was courteous, but some clearly weren’t interested,” he said.

“I think a lot of people hadn’t thought it out. 

“Not one person had a good thing to say about Bathurst council. I thought that was interesting.”

He said a lot of people didn’t believe the merger would affect them. 

Mr Gordon said about 10 people had travelled in from Oberon to distribute flyers. 

“Basically we were just raising awareness,” he said. “I hope we have given people an idea of some of the disadvantages for Bathurst if they join with us.”

Mr Toole said yesterday that any decision regarding amalgamations was still to be be made.

“Residents should note that an independent delegate has met with the councils of both Bathurst and Oberon on this matter,” he said. 

“There have also been public meetings in both locations as well as written submissions being accepted.

“We are currently waiting on the report on the findings to come back to the government and that will include recommendations. 

“From there these recommendations will go to the Boundaries Commission before any final decision is made and that is likely to be around mid-year.”