Labor mayoral candidate for Byron Shire, Asren Pugh, has criticised the decision to delay NSW local government elections again

The candidate acknowledged the “tough” situation in Sydney but said the decision to further delay all council elections across New South Wales was “extremely disappointing” for the local community.

One of the Byron Shire’s aspiring mayors has criticised the decision to delay all local government elections across New South Wales.

Asren Pugh, who is leading the Byron Labor ticket, said the decision was “incredibly disappointing”.

New South Wales voters were originally due to go to cast their votes in September 2020, but the election was delayed for a year until September 4, 2021.

Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock announced on Saturday a further postponement of three months, until December 4 this year.

Mr Pugh said he could understand this being a “prudent decision for Sydney”, given the severity of the Covid-19 Delta strain outbreak.

“But I honestly can’t see the need to further delay the elections up on the North Coast,” Mr Pugh said.

He stressed there was “no guarantee” pandemic-related concerns would not still be a factor in December.

Councils across New South Wales will have to wait another three months for their elections.

“At some point you’ve just got to get on with things and make them work,” he said.

“In hindsight, it would have been better to hold the elections last September when they were originally scheduled.

“You can’t continually delay democracy and it’s the right of the residents of Byron Shire.”

Mr Pugh said it was unclear whether options for widespread postal voting or other opportunities to avoid large crowds at polling places were thoroughly considered.

“It is something they should consider,” he said.

“There has been no justification given for the decision.

“Democracy delayed is democracy denied.”

He said the further delay would pose problems for the next term of council.

“The reason they’re four year (terms) is so you can really get into the nuts and bolts of getting things done,” he said.

“It’s just in a holding pattern which is not good for the shire, it’s not good for the voters of Byron Shire.”

In a post on social media, Mr Pugh said the shire needed “an energetic and united council to get on with the job” of tackling “some serious issues”.

“Leaving us in limbo again is just not good enough,” he said.

“The continued postponement of the democratic rights of our community to choose its own representatives is something that should not be done lightly. Nor should a blanket approach be taken to the whole state.”

Byron mayor Michael Lyon said the decision to postpone the elections “makes sense” in the context of the current situation.

He said while a case could have been made to proceed with voting in the regions, he expressed no strong concern about the delay.

Byron mayor Michael Lyon.

“Even up here now with the case flying into Ballina … it’s all a bit of a s***show so it makes sense,” Mr Lyon said.

But he said the postponement would have an impact on councillors and constituents alike.

“It impacts all of us,” he said.

“I’m not critical of the decision; I can totally understand why they’ve done it.”

The decision has come as it was revealed a positive case of Covid-19 travelled from Sydney to Ballina on July 14, before being picked up by a Qantas flight attendant and driven to Queensland.

“The reality is that we’re likely to be in trouble, if this Delta variant is as contagious as they’re saying,” Mr Lyon said.

“We’ll be lucky to escape unscathed.”

Mr Lyon said while councils were on the brink of entering caretaker mode, that has been delayed until November.