Amalgamation … in a rush

The biggest change for Local Government in decades is happening. Will you have your say?Central Government (that’s National, ACT and NZ First) have decided to remove regional councils and are expecting other councils to amalgamate through one of two pathways:

🏃‍♀️ Headstart

Under this proposal, councils have until the 9th of August (yes as in six weeks away) to put forward proposals to then move into ‘detailed design’ with the expectation amalgamation will be done in time for the next Local Body elections in 2028.

The benefit of this approach is your councils get to design and put forward what we think works best for Wellington. The obvious con is the ridiculously short timeframe to talk with you and build the public case for change.

🛑 Backstop

If we don’t put something up, the government will do it for us. These changes would take effect after the 2028 election.

If you want a steer as to how that process might play out, consider the formation of Tiaki Wai under the government’s Local Water Done Well reforms. These were done while the government had a crown observer in place at WCC reporting directly to the Local Government Minister.

💭 My take

For me personally, I see the logic in amalgamation. Our current borders are lines on maps drawn decades ago that don’t reflect how people live, work and play in our region. A Mayor of a city of 500,000 people has a far bigger mandate to lobby and advocate central government for better outcomes for Wellington and one would expect over time some efficiencies in operations/rules.

What I find completely disappointing is that the discussion our region was already having on amalgamation has been upended and rushed by the headstart process. That’s not good for local democracy nor good governance and it makes it that much harder for your elected representatives to put something forward to the government that meets the expectations of the community.

The fly in the ointment is that it’s election year and come November there could be a change in government.

As it stands, rushed council amalgamation is the policy of National, ACT and NZ First. The opposition haven’t provided much detail about what they would do differently, so we need to work to the current expectations. If things change in November, then we’ll respond accordingly.

The Wellington City Council has opened its survey on amalgamation until 19 July. To help us land the best headstart proposal possible, we urgently need to hear from you. Have your say here. You can also come speak to the council at the end of July.