Timaru’s mayor plans to submit an amalgamation proposal no matter what happens at a key meeting between Canterbury’s leader.
Canterbury’s 10 councils are yet to reach a region-wide consensus on potential mergers as the government’s August 9 deadline draws closer.
Timaru Mayor Nigel Bowen chairs the Mayoral Forum – representing Canterbury’s mayors – which was due to meet this week.
He said there is an agreement in principle among Canterbury councils to continue developing a proposal for the region and he remains confident the forum can find common ground.
“There are a few challenges, but I still think we are going to be able to put something together.
“Ultimately, the decisions belong to elected members and the communities they represent.”
If the forum can’t agree on a regional approach, his council will still be submitting a proposal, he said.
“There is consensus in South Canterbury, with Timaru, Mackenzie, and Waimate pretty much aligned, with some work to do on the edges. We are looking at the potential geographic boundary, from Waitaki through to Ashburton.”
The South Canterbury councils “need some scale”, which is why they are looking at Ashburton and Waitaki.
Bowen said the biggest challenge for all councils is the unknown financial implications of options.
“Ashburton through to Waitaki is a massive geographical region, massive roading network, so is it affordable?”
Nigel Bowen said government’s proposal criteria allows for councils to plan over ‘‘someone else’s boundary”.
“If the South gets a solution, and North Canterbury gets a solution, then there are a couple of councils left in the middle, and I think that’s incentive enough to try to design our own future state.”
Those councils in the middle are Christchurch and Selwyn.
At a Christchurch City Council workshop last week, Mayor Phil Mauger said the city needed to submit a proposal, but neighbouring councils were reluctant to pair up with the city.
“I’ve certainly been talking to our neighbours about it, and there’s no uncertain terms that they don’t want us to touch their towns,” Mauger said.
“So, we haven’t got any friends to go ahead and say we’d like to do this.”
Christchurch’s position is that economically, a greater Christchurch option would make sense but its neighbours disagree.
Waimakariri mayor Dan Gordon has stated his preference is to amalgamate with the Hurunui and Kaikoura, rather than Christchurch. Hurunui may not be so certain of the merger.
Selwyn Mayor Lydia Gliddon said Selwyn needs to be treated “as a whole, not in parts”, and its preferred option is understood to be a standalone unitary or merging with Ashburton.
Ashburton is caught in a tug-of-war between its neighbours, and its consultation was on five options. Submissions closed on Sunday and this week council reported they had received over 840 responses.
Bowen said the mayoral forum was not expecting to get to any decision this week, as some councils were still consulting with their communities.
Leaders from the 10 Canterbury councils and mana whenua representatives attended a summit hosted by Environment Canterbury at Lincoln University last week.
It aimed to help councils understand regional services they will inherit from Environment Canterbury when it is abolished under Government’s wide reaching reforms.
Ecan chairperson Deon Swiggs said the summit focused on council functions rather than the form of mergers.
Regardless of the amalgamation outcomes, the regional council will cease to exist in its current form in 2028.
There are three core services and 15 essential services, and “each one of those needs to be understood so that there is continuity”.
