Local voices from small rural Australian communities and the issue of forced council mergers.

The article is titled: 'Local Voices on forced mergers in small rural Australian communities: The case of the Guyra Shire Council', by Andrea Wallace and Brian Dollery from the University of New England, Australia.

The abstract to the article reads:

'When an Australian state or territory government launches a program of forced municipal mergers, it typically attracts much less attention in metropolitan areas compared with regional, rural and remote locations where the local council is often ‘government of last resort’. In these areas, the socio-economic effects of compulsory council consolidation can be severe. This paper explores the perceived impact of the forced amalgamation of Guyra Shire Council with the much larger neighbouring Armidale Dumaresq Council under the recent New South Wales (NSW) Government’s Fit for the Future structural reform program as anticipated by Guyra residents who participated in a focus group.'

Miriam Verbeek

IJRLP Production Manager