The numerical dominance of farming and business people on Cowra Shire Council and its predecessors, and the looming possibility of economic decline in the district might lead one to expect that matters relating to economic development would have accounted for much of the energy expended in Cowra's local political arena. One might also expect, given the ‘people's corporation’ image, that the Council would take the form of an elitist club, whose members were united in the struggle for growth and development against the tide of urban capital accumulation. The latter expectation, however, is not justified. Controversy did arise over development matters, injecting a superficial note of pluralism into the arena.

In development politics, as in spatial politics, benefits can only be realised by those who are able to raise issues and pursue them to a satisfying outcome. Issues arose over the Shire Council's role in development matters, and they were raised by people putting forth both business and other, opposing, interests. Development politics offer further evidence of resources being available to farmers to create issues and achieve desired outcomes. The issues which were created clouded the interests of the non-farm sector, and not all the development-related issues which town employers and employees could be expected to pursue found their way to the surface.

The issue of the Tourist and Development Corporation

Political relations between the Shire Council and the Tourist and Development Corporation had what could loosely be described as a class dimension, arising because the Council used rate revenue to help fund the Corporation, which was established to assist business.