An inquiry into the future of NSW’s Wingecarribee Shire has heard calls for its councillors to be sacked.

Wingecarribee Shire councillors were suspended over concerns about infighting and dysfunction last year.

An inquiry has been launched to examine whether the councillors understood their roles and responsibilities or interfered in operational matters. 

Commissioner Ross Glover heard from dozens of witnesses during a 15-day public inquiry earlier this year. 

In a more recent session, counsel assisting the inquiry David Parish recommended the commissioner declare the councillors’ positions “vacant”.

“The period of interim administration should remain until the next state local council elections in September 2024,” Mr Parish said last week.

“Ultimately, the dynamics that existed between the councillors and the culture that had festered over several terms infected the ability of the governing body to properly perform its roles.”

He said their conduct had inflicted “significant” damage on the council’s relationship with its community and staff. 

“It did have a destabilising effect on the council, its staff and the community it serves,” he said.

“This destabilising effect exacerbated trauma in the aftermath of the bushfires, it undermined the confidence of the community in the councillors' ability to deliver projects that improved the future economic and social prospects of the shire.”

He said it made for a less safe workplace, and urged the commissioner to give the general manager a period of “clear air absent of a dysfunctional governing body” so that it could stimulate change and restore community confidence.

“It is likely that if the councillors are returned, they will restore the planning powers to their hands if at all possible,” he said.

“This would reinstate a source of dysfunction and a culture where the community holds a perception that planning is not a level playing field.”

The Commissioner is now working on a written report to the Minister for Local Government.