The footpath in Gundagai is lovely, but you forgot to tell the good people of Gundagai that is is one of the most expensive in the State, and that your previous council put the rates up 16 per cent for 10 years, from 2012 to 2022 to pay for it.

Cootamundra restored their main street 25 years ago when funding was available for that purpose.

Community consultation: The people of Cootamundra voted a heated pool their priority on their list. We had many consultations on that matter, and have now delivered, and won the best Country Council in state as a result of that and other projects.

Did Gundagai have community consultations and what was it that the people wanted? We have not been given that information.

The amalgamation has been signed off on, by the NSW Government, and it will not change, we are getting on with the job, and would like to think that Gundagai could build a bridge and get over it, and get working for their ratepayers, instead of putting their heads in the sand and pretend that things have not changed and they will be able to stand alone. That is not going to happen, and meanwhile thousands of dollars have been wasted by Gundagai fighting the government, and we all know we rarely win against government.

Let’s work in harmony, you have equal rights on any decision made and we will be relying on you for your input on information from your end of the council. Everyone knows that Local Government will never be the same, and that 144 councils was far too many, and to halve that number is a good idea, even if it is painful to begin with.

Working together and drawing the best from each other is how good governance works. Our ratepayers always come first, as we work to get commonsense decisions passed. We were told that the first couple of years will not gain us anything financially, but as we move on, and into the future there will be benefits, we have to be patient and make long-term plans for future generations. It is not all about us.

It’s good that the new administrator wishes to prioritise community engagement but he seems unwilling to ask the first question. Whether people actually want the merger or not, because I could tell him 95 per cent of Gundagai residents don’t and I suspect many in Cootamundra don’t either. Many have written to the Gundagai Independent opposing the merger.

Mr Sykes also has it wrong to suggest that there is tension between Cootamundra and Gundagai. There is absolutely no tension between the towns and their people. Cootamundra is a great town and community. The people are fantastic. We have nothing against Cootamundra or its residents. As President of the Rural Doctors Association and subsequently, I was able to achieve considerable gains for the doctors in Cootamundra and health services in many smaller towns across Australia, reversing with the support of Nationals Senator and first Rural Health Minister Fiona Nash, a ridiculous decision of the then Labor Government that bundled Cootamundra and Gundagai in the same geographic category as Wagga or Tamworth, making it harder to attract doctors to the bush. 

Don Bradman was born in Cootamundra in 1908, but lived for his first two years or so near Stockinbingal. His family moved to Bowral when he was very young. My mother was also born in Cootamundra some 20 years later. I remember as a young boy visiting from Sydney, riding my bike through the park opposite Burke Street, collecting cicada shells in winter. But the fondest memory I have is standing on the railway bridge watching the steam trains and dreaming of all the places a steam train could take me.

It was my early holidays in Cootamundra and on the farm at Gobarralong that gave me a love of the country and made me want to become a rural doctor.

Mr Sykes says that there will be no de-merger. He has been told to say that, hasn’t he? You see the suits in Macquarie Street or Canberra don’t understand small country towns. With his experience, Mr Sykes also knows that in politics you can never say never. It is not “if” but “when”. The tide is turning against forced council amalgamations. It took me six years to get a reasonable deal for Cootamundra and Gundagai health services. 

Don Bradman never ducked a bouncer.