Local Government Minister David Crisafulli will refer de-amalgamation proposals from five former shires to the Boundaries Commissioner.
The successful proposals are from Douglas, Isis, Livingstone, Mareeba and Noosa.
“Over the next two and a half months, Boundaries Commissioner Col Meng will be working with Queensland Treasury Corporation to closely scrutinise the financial and logistical aspects of each proposal,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“This was always going to be a difficult process but if a proposal stacks up, the community will make the final decision at a referendum.”
Mr Crisafulli said he would use the information gathered by the remaining groups to help Councils and communities heal the wounds from the forced amalgamations.
“Far from being a waste of time, this has been a great exercise in democracy by giving communities a chance to voice the concerns they were denied five years ago.
“It was always going to be more difficult years on from the initial amalgamation to build a case to operate separately, because there’s already been a lot of work and money spent on unifying the former shires.
“But this proves the embers of de-amalgamation still burn and I want the Councils to use this information to address some of the concerns.”
Each group had to meet a set of strict guidelines including a strong, evidence-based, community-backed submission based on the pre-amalgamation local government boundaries.
They had to provide a detailed estimate of the potential financial costs and include a petition signed by at least 20 per cent of the voting population that showed an understanding of all the cost implications.
Petitioners also needed to demonstrate an understanding that the former shire wishing to de-amalgamate would have to meet all costs involved, including their own, and those of the Council they wished to break away from.
Mr Meng will provide a detailed report, including recommendations, to the Minister by 28 November 2012.