NSW Premier Mike Baird has announced a plan for council amalgamations that would see the number of local councils across NSW shrink from 152 to 112.
Under the plan, the number of councils in greater Sydney would shrink from 43 to 25. The proposed mergers in regional NSW would result in a reduction from 109 councils to 87.
According to the state government, none of the new councils will have fewer than 150,000 ratepayers, and none will exceed the population of 473,000 expected for the large Blacktown City Council area by 2031.
Analysis conducted by KPMG consultants found that the merger plan could save up to $2 billion across the state over a period of twenty years. Each new council created under the plan would receive up to $15 million for community infrastructure.
The proposals will now be referred to the Office of Local Government for examination, and delegates will be appointed to conduct public consultation on each proposed merger.
More information about each of the proposed mergers is available here