The Nambucca Shire’s councillors have voted against a proposal to reduce the number of elected representatives.
The council, which has nine councillors, was asked to consider reducing its number to seven.
Mayor Rhonda Hobin, who supported a smaller council, said the six votes to two result was an emphatic no to the proposal.
She said the cash strapped council, which is offering staff redundancies to balance its budget, could have saved $28,000 with two less councillors.
New state government legislation allows councils to cut their numbers without putting it to a referendum.
