Cabonne Council is open to the possibility that they may have to lodge an appeal and seek an injunction to prevent the proclamation of a merger with Orange and Blayney Councils should its legal challenge this week be unsuccessful. Cabonne Council, along with Walcha, Oberon and Gundagai Councils, took action in the Land and Environment Court on Tuesday and Wednesday to challenge the legality of the provisions used by the NSW Government in its Cabonne, Orange and Blayney merger proposal.
At an extraordinary meeting on Monday afternoon, Cabonne councillors voted to lodge a notice of intention to appeal against any adverse judgment and seek an injunction preventing Local Government Minister Paul Toole recommending that a proclamation be made, pending consideration by the council of the results of the case.
In doing so, the council voted to spend up to $20,000 on the legal expenses involved in lodging an intention to appeal. Councillors were told the full cost of proceeding with an appeal could be about $150,000. General Manager Andrew Hopkins said it was unknown whether other councils involved in the case would participate in that process. He said advice from Cabonne’s lawyers indicated it could take eight to ten months before an appeal could be heard in the NSW Court of Appeal. Earlier in the meeting, the council voted to provide a further $30,000 for legal costs for this week’s case. This amount is in addition to the $20,000 council originally resolved to spend.