Super city would be 'crippling'

Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick.

Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick says a Bay of Plenty "super city" council could be financially crippling for Rotorua and may stifle the voice of local communities.

Her call comes after a recent decision by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council to prepare a report on local government reorganisation for the Bay of Plenty region.

The regional council is taking what it has called a "pre-emptive strike" as a response to the actions of a group of Western Bay business people who signalled their intent to lodge an application with the Local Government Commission for the amalgamation of Tauranga City Council and Western Bay of Plenty District Council.

It is expected the regional council's report would likely propose a single "super city" unitary authority for the whole of the Bay of Plenty, including Rotorua.

"We best be careful what we wish for," Mrs Chadwick said.

"The evidence is growing rapidly that in Auckland the super city just isn't working, with local services set to be cut because of a crippling $7 billion debt and average rates that are now 30 per cent higher than Rotorua."

She said while local government reform was not a bad thing, what really counted was the nature of that reform and whether it was best for the district.

She said collaboration with other councils was good for things such as water and transport, but feared amalgamation would have a detrimental impact on Rotorua and could put the community's "2030 Vision" at risk.

"But if you look at the wider Bay of Plenty's figures, Rotorua and Eastern Bay residents would potentially have to share responsibility for Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty's much higher debt levels - 64 per cent of the region's total net debt.

"Does Rotorua really want to see democracy reduced to a local committee with all the real decisions on our future made from Tauranga?

"Realistically, that's the likely scenario if all the councils in our region amalgamated into one," Mrs Chadwick said.

Rotorua's interests on the regional council are represented by councillors Neil Oppatt and Lyall Thurston while Arapeta Tahana represents local iwi in the Okurei constituency.

Mr Oppatt said: "As far as I'm concerned hell will freeze over before we in Rotorua are taken over by Tauranga, or the Western Bay

"We have very different goals and aspirations than they do and I'm convinced Rotorua people have no desire to be amalgamated with the Eastern or Western Bay, or Tauranga.

"We as a community could unwittingly be dragged into a proposal that is not what our people wanted and this should be a real fear for the Rotorua community," Mr Oppatt said.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council Mayor Ross Paterson said an amalgamation was a small part of a total process if it were going to go ahead.

"We also need to talk about how we deliver our services."

Tauranga City Council Mayor Stuart Crosby was unavailable for comment.