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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Peter Brewer

Councillors sacked as shire council placed in administration until 2024

Viv May will remain the administrator at the council until late 2024. Picture: Southern Highland News

All councillors in the Wingecarribee shire to the north of the ACT have been sacked from their roles and the council placed under continued administration until 2024.

The NSW Minister for Local Government and Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman on Thursday announced the Governor of NSW had accepted her recommendations to have all eight civic officers - all men - removed from their roles.

The sackings follow the recommendations from a recent inquiry which found the elected body did not "adequately, reasonably and appropriately discharge its roles and responsibilities".

There were allegations difficult relationships had built up between council and staff to the point where it had become dysfunctional.

The council has been suspended since May 2021.

Over 120 submissions were made to the inquiry but none were made public.

In his report, the inquiry's commissioner Ross Glover said the primary reason for non-publication was many of the issues raised by the submissions fell outside the terms of reference or "raised issues that were not appropriate to be explored in an inquiry of this kind".

Mr Glover's report found there were "instances of behaviour [by councillors which] contributed to the creation of a permissive environment" and as a result, this created dysfunction within the council.

An appointed administrator, Viv May, will continue in his role until council elections are held in 2024.

Wingecarribee is the local government area to the north of Goulburn which takes in the towns of Bowral, Sutton Forest, Mittagong and Moss Vale.

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