How two became one: The creation of the Armidale regional council

After the New South Wales (NSW) 'Fit for the Future' municipal amalgamation determination in May 2016, local authorities targeted for forced merger had elected officials replaced with a state-government appointed Administrator, tenured until the next mandated local government election in September 2017. As both an officially appointed political representative and professional administrator, the role of the Administrator in post-merger councils is controversial. In this paper we examine the forced amalgamation of the Armidale Dumaresq Council (ADC) and the Guyra Shire Council (GSC) into Armidale Regional Council (ARC) through the eyes of its Administrator Dr Ian Tiley. This study provides a case study into the functions and responsibilities of the Administrator role and how it shaped the ARC merger process. While a substantial literature has considered the NSW 'Fit for the Future' amalgamation program, to date no scholars have specifically examined the challenges confronting Administrators per se. This paper thus seeks to address this gap in the literature by way of a case study of the ARC Administrator.