In their Fit for the Future report, which will be submitted to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) for review, they will demonstrate how they’ve met the criteria.

Seven benchmarks ratios are required to be met by councils that have demonstrated they have “scale and capacity”.

“The state government haven’t provided us with sufficient idea about what scale and capacity means in numerical terms,” general manager James Davis said.

“We’ve put our best foot forward in describing how we interact regionally which in a sense demonstrates our capacity as well as providing services that our local community wish to retain.”

Mr Davis said the government was focusing on the balance sheet and for many regional councils such as Junee, the books didn’t always demonstrate council’s importance.

To strengthen Junee’s pitch to remain independent, they are seeking views from residents.

An online survey has been created and so far just 70 people have responded.

Mr Davis said he was keen to see more people complete the survey with a similar survey in Temora attracting more than 500 respondents.

“We want community members to respond so when we put out submission to the government in June, we can highlight the community’s preferences one way or another,” Mr Davis said.

“It’s somewhat embarrassing for us that we have to ask the community again about how they rate the council.

“Over several years the community has overwhelmingly supported the council through several community surveys and special rate variations.

“However, the state government’s Fit for the Future proposals are requiring us to ask the community for this information once again,” Mr Davis said.

The survey is accessible from www.junee.nsw.gov.au.