Delays possible for public hearings on single super council

Public hearings on the proposal to amalgamate Hawke's Bay councils could be delayed as the Local Government Commission grapples with a heavy workload.

Written submissions on the commission's proposal to merge the region's five local authorities into a single super council closed yesterday.

The next stage of the amalgamation process is a round of hearings involving the three-member commission and those submitters who have indicated they wish to present to the commission in person.

The commission said a fortnight ago that those public hearings were likely to be held in the region in mid-April.

This week the commission began a similar hearings process in Northland, a region where it has also proposed the amalgamation of several local bodies into a single council. Hawke's Bay Regional Council chairman Fenton Wilson raised concerns at a council meeting last week that a flood of more than 1800 submissions on the Northland proposal could have a flow-on effect in Hawke's Bay.

"They [the commission] are not very well-resourced which has been one of their challenges right through," he said.

Mr Wilson said he "had it on good authority" that the process in Hawke's Bay could be delayed.

Napier Mayor Bill Dalton said the commission had previously raised the possibility of bringing in temporary commissioners to spread the workload if required.

"The ball is now in the Local Government Commission's court.

"They will determine their timetable from here on in and they will decide on resources depending on the workload and so we just have to go for the ride with them at the moment," Mr Dalton said.

The commission is expected to reveal the number of Hawke's Bay submissions it has received and a tally of how many people want to participate in the upcoming hearings some time over the next week.

The commission's senior policy analyst, Gavin Beattie, said yesterday no decision to change the Hawke's Bay hearing schedule had been made at this point.

He said using temporary commissioners was an option although, again, no decision had been made on whether to take that course of action.

Once it has carried out its hearings, the commission must decide if it believes there is sufficient public support to continue with the amalgamation proposal.

If it believes there is, the commission will issue a final proposal, taking in any amendments to the initial draft proposal that it considers appropriate.

Once a final proposal is issued, opponents of amalgamation have the opportunity to seek a referendum on the issue. A referendum would be held if at least 10 per cent of voters in any one of the affected local body districts sign a petition demanding it.

The timing of a referendum is unclear but is expected it would be held either late this year or early next year.