The Liberals have the numbers on Waverley Council. So faced with defeat, the Labor, independent and Green councillors staged a walkout instead, leaving the meeting without a quorum. The vote will now be re-scheduled for later this week.

In Randwick a similar rescission motion was scheduled for 7am on May 30 - a Saturday. Liberal councillors said the timing reflected the urgency of having a position before the deadline, rather than an ambush. The motion was defeated 8 to 6.

So far Randwick and Waverley are the only two adjoining councils who have embraced amalgamation. Their ambitions are even greater, with their submissions expected to include their more reluctant neighbours to the north and south – Woollahra and Botany Bay, raising questions about how the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal will deal with mergers when only one or two parties agree with them. Under the government's plan, mergers are meant to be consensual and it has promised no forced amalgamations.

Even stranger scenarios are developing in the inner west, where Auburn has voted in favour of a merger with Burwood and Canada Bay, but Burwood has flipflopped from stand-alone to maybe and is still to clarify its position. Meanwhile Canada Bay appears to be in favour of remaining stand-alone, raising the prospect that Auburn will be be trying to merge with Burwood – a council with which it does not share a border.

Warringah Council, which favours amalgamation with its northern neighbour, Pittwater and southern neighbour Manly, has demonstrated its displeasure at being rebuffed by announcing it will cease funding the administrative costs of SHOROC, the joint organisation that now operates to provide greater co-ordination across Mosman and the Northern beaches areas, including common waste management, road planning, coastal management and planning for the new hospital on the northern beaches.