New South Wales councils are speaking out about threats from the state’s local government minister.

Local Government Minister Paul Toole must immediately rule out speculation he is considering stripping rural councils of their powers, Local Government NSW said today.

The peak body says Mr Toole is resurrecting a “discredited” and “unworkable” plan that was taken off the table in April.

LGNSW President Keith Rhoades AFSM said there have been indications that the Minister is intending to dust off the old ‘one-size-fits-all’ plans for statutory “rural councils”.

The move would get rid of several decision-making powers and other functions from smaller non-metropolitan councils and their communities.

“The original structural model was scrapped by the Government in April and replaced by a new, more flexible approach, which allowed rural councils to maintain their independence, powers and functions as long as they submitted an acceptable long-term improvement plan,” Cr Rhoades said.

“However the IPART report last month appeared to restore the initial ‘sub-council’ model, senior Nationals MP Katrina Hodgkinson this week issued a media release asking why the structural rural council model had been scrapped.

“The Minister himself has written a letter that says; 'The Government remains committed to not imposing a single legislated model on rural councils...'.”

"Councils are wondering what to make of all of this, and whether the door is open for two or more legislated, structural models that will rob their communities of real local democracy.

“LGNSW has been contacted by a wide range of angry councils who are concerned the Minister might be going back on his previous commitments.

“The goal posts have been moved so many times throughout this process that it’s no wonder some in the sector are ready to believe the worst.”

Cr Rhoades said LGNSW had successfully lobbied on behalf of rural councils to have the original discredited model replaced with a more flexible alternative.

In April 2015[1] the Office of Local Government stated:

“ … the sector has shown the needs of rural communities are so diverse that a single legislated model, creating a new type of council, may not be the best solution. The model is no longer being proposed. Instead, councils have the option of preparing a Rural Council Proposal (Template 3) to show how they will improve performance within their current structure. This allows them to choose from solutions, developed through consultation, that particularly suit small rural communities. There will be no change to the way that councils are named, nor mandated changes to operations.”

“With trust between the sector and the Minister at an all-time low, the refusal by a spokeswoman for the Minister to confirm this was still the case set alarm bells ringing,” Cr Rhoades said.

“If the Minister is serious about working collaboratively with the sector he needs to be clear and direct in ruling out legislated, structural models for rural councils.”