Woollahra mayor Toni Zeltzer has firmly opposed the the council's merger with Waverley and Randwick councils. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer "Today's result is a step in the right direction towards preserving local democracy and our community," the mayor said. "This is a win for our community. It's a shame we've had to take the NSW Government all the way to the High Court to uphold the principles of democracy and genuine community consultation." A hearing date for the High Court appeal has not yet been set, but it is expected to be around June or July, a council spokeswoman confirmed. Local government minister Gabrielle Upton said she accepted the High Court's decision to grant the council the right to appeal.

Home to some of Sydney's most expensive postcodes, Woollahra Council has led the charge against the government's forced council amalgamations through the NSW courts. It sought leave to appeal to the High Court after the NSW Supreme Court of Appeal threw out its appeal in December. Woollahra Council's barristers will now seek to convince the country's most experienced justices to overturn the Court of Appeal's high-powered judgment, which was a unanimous decision of the President of the Court of Appeal Margaret Beazley, Chief Justice Tom Bathurst, and Justice Julie Ward. Friday's decision is another setback for NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian in her bid to enforce the council amalgamation policy pursued by her predecessor Mike Baird, who resigned from politics in January. In March, the NSW Court of Appeal upheld Ku-ring-gai council's appeal against a forced merger with Hornsby council, finding major procedural problems with the merger process stemming from the government's decision to keep secret a KPMG report which it relied upon as justification for the merger.

Woollahra Council, as with many of the council's fighting the mergers, have repeatedly called on the government to make public the KPMG report. "As evidenced through Ku-ring-gai Council's case, the NSW Government's failure to publicly release the KPMG report on the proposed merger brings into serious question the legitimacy of the whole process," Cr Zeltzer. "Today's result confirms what we've been arguing all along: local communities deserve to have a say in determining their own future." In February, Ms Berejiklian announced the government would drop six pending mergers in rural and regional NSW, following prolonged legal action and extensive backlash within local communities. However, she re-committed to proceeding with the five pending mergers in Sydney. The newest council, the Bayside Council, was proclaimed in September following the conclusion of legal action by the former Botany Bay council, taking the total number of mergers to seven in the city and 13 in the bush.

In addition to Woollahra, five councils are still fighting the mergers through the courts.