Just over 20 per cent of shire residents signed a petition asking Dungog councillors to support an amalgamation with Port Stephens.

The petition contained 1786 signatures that were collected within three days.

Dungog Shire Community Group handed the document to council on Monday, ahead of public inquiries at Nelson Bay and Raymond Terrace on Wednesday, and Dungog on Thursday.

Spokesman Brian Farmer said the results were “a clear message to council”. 

He urged residents to attend the public inquiry sessions this week.

Mr Farmer said a strong tourism industry and the likelihood of a smaller rate rise, compared with a Maitland merger, made the Port Stephens option preferable.

“We’ve done our homework and the community has spoken,” Mr Farmer said.

“I think council would be very remiss to ignore this. We’re going to create such a fuss if they do.”

In a letter to Dungog general manager Craig Deasey, which accompanied the petition, the community group said it received no reply to a May 5 letter to council asking for the shire to conduct community consultation about the merger.

“The council acknowledged at the council meeting on 17 May that they had not consulted the community, but took no steps to rectify that omission,” the letter noted.

While the Lower Hunter councils would prefer to stand alone, Maitland and Port Stephens have nominated Dungog as their preferred merger partner. A possible merger between Port Stephens and Newcastle City Council is an alternative possibility.

A merger between Dungog and Gloucester Shire Council was quashed when Gloucester successfully appealed to form a council with Great Lakes and Greater Taree, on the Mid North Coast.

Maitland was deemed fit as part of the Fit for the Future analysis, but a possible merger was tabled because of Dungog’s financial outlook made it unsustainable as a lone entity. Port Stephens Council supports a merger with Dungog in favour of an amalgamation with a giant, and financially troubled, Newcastle City Council.

“There’s uncertainty in all of this,” Mr Farmer said. 

“The reality is Port Stephens is seen as a much better option by the [Dungog] community.”