Resigned councillor calls for complete overhaul

Mr Cummins had resigned from the council that he said needed an overhaul.

In his final statement to the general manager, Colleen Worthy, Mr Cummins said the council had failed the community and he could no longer stand with the collective.

He said he had written to the Office of Local Government (OLG) at least a dozen times with his concerns.

"The best result is that this council is dismissed, an administrator is put in place, that administrator brings to attention all the problems the council is having: processes; infrastructure; proceedings," Mr Cummins told Australian Community Media.

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"At the next election, the residents can make up their own minds."

He said he was disappointed the local elections were called off.

"There was a whole group of young people who were going to run and bring the council in a new direction."

The council is not required to replace the departing councillors and will not be holding a by-election.

"As part of the postponement of the 2020 local government elections due to the COVID-19 pandemic, councils are not required to hold by-elections to fill a councillor vacancy for the remainder of the council term," a spokesperson from the OLG said.

"The quorum for a council is calculated by the number of councillors that hold office in the council at any particular time. With the resignation of two councillors, the quorum for the council will be four, being a majority of the seven councillors who continue to hold office."

Recently, the Wingecarribee Shire Council was issued with a proposed improvement order by the Minister for Local Government the Honourable Shelley Hancock, and a temporary advisor put in place to improve harmony at the council and provide assistance with the conduct of council meetings.

Mr Cummins said similar was needed at the Upper Lachlan Shire Council.

Mr Cummins' career spans 30 years as a local government engineer in both rural and regional councils. He ran a successful campaign in 2013 for better quality television reception in Crookwell and he was outspoken about the 'then council' in letters to the Crookwell Gazette.

He successfully ran for council in 2016. However, resigned after four years faced with the challenges of a council that he said, "... [made] decisions that are not in the best interest of ratepayers... and do not represent a good use of [the] council funds; [made] decisions are not in keeping with the communities' expectations", and; "these decisions are sending [the] council on a regressive pathway."

The office of the Minister for Local Government the Honourable Shelley Hancock has been contacted for comment. More to come.