Cr Jamie Cregan has revealed that Mayor Tim Overall and general manager Peter Tegart met with Local Government Minister Paul Toole and Monaro MP John Barilaro in Sydney on November 18 last year.

But Cr Overall has rejected any suggestion of improper influence as "quite silly".

The meeting was one day before the closing date for councils' preferred proposals on the State's 'Fit for the Future' reforms.

One week earlier, the council, amid considerable debate, had voted to stand alone and not amalgamate with all of neighbouring Palerang Shire, as the Minister had proposed. Three councillors, including the Mayor, voted against the move.

"As I understood it, at the meeting with Mr Toole, the general manager told him that the council did not support the merger as it stood," Cr Cregan said.

"I believe there was then some discussion about the partitioning of Palerang, but we were not kept in the loop on what this involved."

Goulburn Mulwaree Council general manager Warwick Bennett told a meeting at Nerriga last Wednesday that the Department of Premier and Cabinet asked his Queanbeyan counterpart to draw up a preferred merger with Palerang.

Asked how he knew this, Mr Bennett said Mr Tegart had told him and Palerang Council general manager Peter Bascomb. Mr Bascomb verified the conversation.

If true, it proved critical in shaping proposed council boundaries in this area. Both Goulburn Mulwaree and Palerang are deeply unhappy with the result, the latter because it will be wiped off the map. The former says the carve-up is economically unviable.

Cr Cregan also resisted a Queanbeyan/part Palerang amalgamation, saying nobody had done the sums.

He told the Post his Mayor and GM had a clear responsibility at the November 18 meeting with Mr Toole.

"I'd be extremely disappointed if they did [subsequently supply preferred boundaries] without the council's knowledge," Cr Cregan said.

"The Mayor is elected to take forward the council's view whether he likes it or not. There was a clear message at our November 11 meeting that we did not want a merger."

Mr Tegart has denied any such conversation with the general managers, impropriety, or supplying maps.

Cr Overall said yesterday that last October, his council authorised himself and Mr Tegart to identify and advocate reform options, including boundary adjustments.

They held talks with neighbouring councils and arranged a meeting with Mr Toole.

The earliest available date was November 18.

“We clearly put to the Minister the council’s position to stand alone,” Cr Overall said.

“He was aware of it through the media, thought about it and asked for our views if there were a merger.

“We talked about the positions [jobs] that would need to be protected in Palerang and the importance of retaining an RMS contract in the new entity.”

He told the Post that neither he nor Mr Tegart advanced this proposition in any way.

Cr Overall said while he had long advocated local government reform, he was surprised by the Minister’s final merger proposal.

“There are aspects of it I don’t agree with it and I’ll be making my feelings known to the inquiry,” he said.

Mr Toole did not reply to specific questions about the meeting, including whether he suggested the merger.

“Each proposal is the result of careful consideration of all the evidence, including four years of consultation with every council in NSW, independent assessments including IPART, merger preferences submitted by councils, and feedback from communities and stakeholders. Proposals have been developed to achieve as much consensus as possible,” he said via a spokeswoman.

“No decision has been made on any proposed merger. A consultation process that gives communities the chance to have their say is now underway.” 

Cr Cregan (pictured above) recalled a November briefing on the Ministerial meeting and claimed the Mayor and general manager said that splitting Palerang would be ‘better’ than a full merger.

The Deputy Mayor said he and his colleagues were surprised by the Minister’s amalgamation proposal on December 20. He and four other councillors voted against it on November 11, saying it would be “detrimental” to both Palerang and Queanbeyan.

“We had previously only been allowed to look at full mergers and this was a long way from being in our best interests,” Cr Cregan said. “We were gobsmacked when it came out because it actually identified a boundary.”

As for the November 18 Ministerial meeting, Cr Cregan said he and his colleagues would be seeking answers.

Cr Overall and Mr Tegart will meet with their Goulburn Mulwaree counterparts on Friday.