Ruataniwha Dam decision before merger: CHB

Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Peter Butler, left, and council chief executive John Freeman at yesterday's meeting where councillors finalised a submission opposing amalgamation. Photo/Paul Taylor

Central Hawke's Bay District Council wants a decision on amalgamation deferred until the fate of the Ruataniwha dam is known.

CHB councillors finalised their submission on the Local Government Commission's amalgamation proposal at a meeting in Waipawa yesterday.

They oppose the LGC's plans to merge Hawke's Bay's five local authorities into a single super council for the whole region. The council's submission argues the amalgamation proposal should not be finalised until a decision is made on the proposed Ruataniwha dam and water storage scheme, which is currently in the hands of a board of inquiry.

The CHB district had a sustainable council, and population and economic growth in the area will increase if the Ruataniwha irrigation scheme is built, the submission says.

In its draft amalgamation proposal, the LGC questioned the viability of Hawke's Bay's two smaller district councils - CHB and Wairoa - saying their declining and aging populations meant they faced increasing challenges to remain viable.

The CHB submission said the council disputed those claims because "we are a very flexible community that is able to quickly and easily change to meet the changing needs of residents".

"We create common sense practical solutions to issues facing us, one example of this can be seen with the $6.5 million wastewater scheme for Waipukurau and Waipawa installed by CHBDC as opposed to the $12 million scheme that would have been imposed on the communities by a greater Hawke's Bay council."

Councillors were also opposed to the LGC's proposed single-council structure, under which only one representative from a nine-member region-wide council would be elected from CHB. "Representation from nine [the size of the current CHB council] down to one is unacceptable as the lone Central Hawke's Bay representative would lose contact with his/her people and the issues facing their community as the focus of that one representative would ultimately be on the issues facing the greater Hawke's Bay region," the submission said.

"In addition, the work load on one councillor dealing with local and regional issues would be too demanding."

The council said if amalgamation was to go ahead, there should be 14 councillors on the council, including two from CHB.

The LGC proposal includes a second tier of local body governance in the form of community boards, and it is proposing a six-member board covering the CHB district.

The council's submission said a final amalgamation proposal from the LGC should also be delayed until Parliament had passed amendments to the Local Government Act which would allow community boards to be replaced with more powerful local boards.

The CHB submission was supported by all but one councillor, Terry Story, a long-time supporter of amalgamation who voted against it at yesterday's meeting. He said there were "significant questions" about the long-term viability of the CHB district. "We need to be locked into one unitary authority given the necessary ongoing commitments to maintain and upgrade our core infrastructure assets and provide effective regulatory functions," he said.