Wellington’s mayor says it’s more
likely the region’s councils will become a super-city
following reforms
announced by the government this week.
Andrew
Little said the government’s reforms are another step
towards Wellington, Greater Wellington, Porirua, Lower Hutt
and Upper Hutt councils merging into one.
“I think the
intention of this
particular part of the reform – the whole thing about
regional councils – is about putting further pressure on
councils to think about amalgamation. So yes, I think that
will happen.”
While he said he doesn’t want to predict
it definitively, a combined Wellington council was “more
likely than not” to form as other services, like water, were
shared.
“I think many of us would still say there
needs to be a level of public support required before you go
down that path, but I think we are heading that
way.”
Under the government’s proposals, regional
councillors are gone by mid-2027, replaced by city and
district mayors who will take over their responsibilities
for the environment, transport and emergency planning on
Combined Territory Boards.
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The boards must then
develop a regional strategy for how they will work together
in the long term, including potentially amalgamating some
councils, or setting up agencies to take over
transport.
These plans will require consultation with
local communities, iwi, and other
stakeholders.
Porirua mayor Anita Baker said she wants
to see the five councils merge before the next council term
in three years’ time.
“This is our chance to do it and
do it once, and do the full amalgamation side of it, so that
we’re not having to have all these separate boards.
“I
think this is just the next step of being grown-ups and
saying well actually, there’s four mayors in the region,
adding in Greater Wellington, there has to be one person…I
have no problem, losing my job for a better service and a
better council.”
She said a separate authority should
be set up for Wellington’s transport.
Porirua and
Lower Hutt councils held referenda about whether residents
wanted a discussion on amalgamation during the election,
with a majority supporting the discussion in each
city.
Lower Hutt’s mayor Ken Laban said there’s an
appetite for change in the inter-connected
region.
“Wainuomata is a case in point, Wainuomata is
the biggest ward in Hutt city with close to 20,000 people,
there is virtually no industry in Wainuomata – so everyone
works in either Lower Hutt or Wellington.
“And of
course the public service in Wellington, the 32,000 people
that are on the trains every day that move between
Masterton, Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt.”
He said
there would need to be consultation with the public on any
proposal for a Wellington super-city.
Upper Hutt’s
mayor Peri Zee said she’s open to discussing amalgamation,
but doesn’t want to see progress undone if a new government
ditches the reforms.
She disagreed with Wellington,
Porirua and Lower Hutt’s mayors, who all told RNZ
amalgamation, at some point is an “inevitability”.
“I
think there’s a concern in the community that we would lose
our local voice, and I think that for Upper Hutt, that’s
something that’s really important to us.”
Zee said a
larger council size didn’t necessarily mean efficiency, and
pointed to Auckland, where she said there were 147 elected
members in total.
RMA (Resource Management Act) Reform
Minister Chris Bishop said the point of this week’s
proposals is to give the region a chance to sort out
amalgamation plans for themselves.
He said legislation
would be required for a Wellington super-city, which is
still hypothetical.
Local Government New Zealand
(LGNZ) vice-president and Gisborne district mayor Rehette
Stoltz said discussions about amalgamation were for local
communities, and LGNZ did not have a formal view on
it.
Stoltz said it was still unclear what the RMA
reforms could mean for councils and whether bigger entities
were being envisioned by
government.
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