Following an initial workshop in December, Council’s Demerger Transition Committee – usually referred to as DTC – met in January and February. The recordings of the meetings are available on Council’s website (here) and the business papers are available here.
The committee comprises:
- Cr Abb McAlister – Chair (Mayor)
- Cr Rosalind Wight (Deputy Mayor)
- Cr David Graham
- Cr Penny Nicholson
- Cr Ethan Ryan
- Cr Gil Kelly
Other Councillors may attend the meetings as observers and Crs Collins, Cooper, Syed took the opportunity to attend the Committee’s February meeting. The meetings are open to the public and are livestreamed. The Committee is supported by the Interim General Manager Roger Bailey and the Demerger Transition Manager Peter Bascomb.
The first two meetings concentrated on administrative and governance matters.
The Committee’s January recommendation that Council establish a Demerger Transition Dispute Resolution Panel was approved by Council at its February meeting. The Panel will act as independent referee on any matter on which the Committee cannot agree, and Council has agreed to accept the “refs call” of the Panel.
Given the Councillors unanimity of support for the demerger and their good faith approach to the planning for the demerger it is anticipated that there will be very few, if any, referrals to the Panel.
At its February meeting the Committee approved the eligibility criteria for the Chair and members of the Panel, and Expressions of Interest from interested people will be called shortly. The Committee also recommended to Council to formally confirm that the two major software systems used by Council be implemented for the Cootamundra and Gundagai Councils. Planning has already begun as to how current data can be separated and provided to the two new Councils while conforming with privacy and data security obligations.
The committee also changed its meeting schedule to be the second Tuesday of the month. The intent is to shorten the time between a meeting of the DTC and the Council meeting when DTC recommendations are formally adopted by Council.
The next Demerger Transition Committee meeting is scheduled for 4pm Tuesday 10 March 2026.
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