The court heard Mr Berber’s fingerprint was allegedly found on a cash register from the council that was dumped in nearby bushland, Nine News reported.

His lawyer told reporters his client would not be pleading guilty.

NSW Police Detective Chief Inspector Richard Puffett said they were exploring possible motives but investigations were still ongoing.

He said the arrest on Wednesday was the result of a decade-long investigation. The breakthrough was made possible by new enhanced examination techniques.

“The disruption to the local government has been immense, as you can imagine the number of resources, documents, ratepayers’ details, all destroyed in a matter of hours,” Chief Inspector Puffett said.

“The fact that we’ve pursued this for 10 years reflects our commitment to solving it. That’s why we don’t give up. It points clearly to the fact [the arson unit] doesn’t forget and doesn’t give up.”

Detectives have released a COMFIT – computer-aged – image of another man seen in the area at the time of the fire who may be able to assist as investigations continue.

Police are appealing for anyone with information that may assist to come forward and believe up to seven people were involved in the incident.

“We have extremely good information in terms of who they may be. We would ask for those individuals to come forward before we knock on the door,” Chief Inspector Puffett said.