District Council has held off making a decision on a preferred amalgamation partner, to gather more information about the preferences of other councils in Canterbury.
They will revisit the decision at a special meeting on August 5.
Ashburton is in the middle of the region, and yesterday, councillors voted to retain three potential options for the future – a standalone Ashburton Unitary Council, merging south to a Timaru, Waimate, Waitaki and Mackenzie unitary council, and moving north to a provincial Mid-North Canterbury option.
Mayor Liz McMillan said via a statement that government’s timeframe for making a decision before August 9 was tight but Ashburton needed greater understanding of other Canterbury councils’ preferred options.
“More information is vital for us as we are divided on going north or south, much like the feedback we’ve received from the community.
“We have no clear path and so we decided yesterday to wait and see what other councils are indicating.
“We are in a unique position being in the centre of Canterbury and we must make sure our district gets the best outcome possible in any amalgamation.
“The survey results were really interesting with the most support shown for a standalone Ashburton District option. Our residents are also worried about being swallowed up by in a big unitary council and losing our local voice.
“I want to thank everyone who made time to think about our future and tell us their thoughts. This is a decision that weighs heavily on us as councillors and the extra time means we can gather as much information as possible before acting.”
Councillors yesterday considered survey responses and comments from over 1200 residents, as well as an economic impact report by Morrison Low and another by staff analysing a range of metrics across each neighbouring district and the Canterbury region.
McMillan said a lot of time and energy had been put into trying to understand the implications of different merger options.
“That’s been difficult because we have had limited information, and we don’t know the real rates impact on households.
“However, we will be armed with the key things that matter to Ashburton in any merger negotiations, and those include fair and reasonable representation, our assets, debt, rates harmonisation, ensuring the first three years of our next Long Term Plan are enabled, the distribution of current Regional Council functions, and the water services that our community was clear about keeping in-house.”
It follows a meeting of the Canterbury Mayoral Forum in Ashburton on July 27 and indicated amalgamation decision dates of July 30 for Timaru District Council, August 4 for Waimakariri District Council and Christchurch City Council, and August 5 for Selwyn District Council.
