Mayors meet to discuss amalgamation concerns

Mayor Bill Dalton

Three of Hawke's Bay's four mayors are in Taupo today for a meeting of local body leaders, concerned about the laws governing council amalgamations.

Three days after submissions closed on a proposal to merge the region's five councils into one, the mayors of Napier, Central Hawke's Bay and Wairoa have joined several other mayors from around the country to discuss mutual concerns about the amalgamation proposal process.

The meeting has been organised by Hutt City Mayor Ray Wallace, whose Wellington region is facing a local authority merger proposal similar to that under way in Hawke's Bay.

About 10 other mayors from around the country were expected to attend, including Opotiki Mayor John Forbes.

Mr Forbes is the vice-president of Local Government New Zealand, the advocacy group for local authorities whose president is Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule.

While Mr Yule is a strong advocate of amalgamation in Hawke's Bay, Mr Forbes has been outspoken in his views against council mergers.

Napier Mayor Bill Dalton said he had made plans to drive to Auckland tomorrow so would incorporate the meeting in his travels, at no expense to ratepayers.

Mr Dalton has in the past been critical of the Local Government Commission, the three-member body that assesses amalgamation requests, and the legislation the commission operates under.

"There is no doubt in my mind that this is a central government driven process," he said yesterday.

"The Local Government Commission is individually selected by central government. And these three guys are telling the whole of Hawke's Bay how they should be governed in the future. I think it's pure and utter arrogance."

He said the commission had failed to consult adequately over the Hawke's Bay amalgamation proposal. "I'm interested in what experiences the mayor of Hutt City have had with them."

Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Peter Butler said the law the commission operated under made it possible for small "disgruntled" groups to put forward an amalgamation proposal "and then you've got 12 months or two years of your mind off the job while you're fighting amalgamation".

Mr Butler said he wanted a law change so smaller communities did not have amalgamation proposals forced on them by larger centres. He said he had raised the issue at Local Government New Zealand meetings but had been frustrated by the organisation's failure to do anything about it.

The other Hawke's Bay mayor attending the meeting, Wairoa's Craig Little, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Mr Yule said he was not invited to the Taupo meeting.

He said if local body leaders had concerns about the Local Government Commission or related legislation, Local Government New Zealand was "the obvious choice to channel those concerns".

"That's what we do so I was a little disappointed that hadn't happened."

He said he was aware of one occasion when Mr Butler had raised the issue at a Local Government New Zealand meeting. "There was not a lot of support, if any, for his stance so it didn't advance any further."