Win expected but margin a 'surprise'

Napier mayor Bill Dalton is satisfied with the "resounding result". Photo / Paul Taylor

For Napier mayor Bill Dalton the result of the vote was no surprise but the margin "certainly was".

He had always been confident there would be enough "no" responses on the voting forms and after hearing what he called a "resounding result" he was very satisfied.

And very relieved.

"This has been a divisive campaign that has taken place but now I'm happy we can heal the wounds and move on."

In terms of voting numbers there was a dead heat component, Mr Dalton said.

"For Hawke's Bay and for democracy - they are the equal winners today."

He said he took the strong stance from the start that the amalgamation proposal was "unfit for purpose - so we feel very justified by the positioning we took".

It was also a position he said the people of Napier, and wider Hawke's Bay, also clearly took.

"The proposal that people had before them wasn't fit for the purpose - it solved no problems and that was why it was rejected."

Mr Dalton said in the aftermath of the overwhelming result he was keen to get some answers from the Local Body Commission which he said had determined there was "demonstrable support" for a voting process to be staged - even in Wairoa which was very clearly against the proposal.

"I would like to see their figures." He described the whole process as long and costly and a complete waste of time, resources and money.

"It should never have happened and I have always believed that truth prevails so I was always confident."

But there had been the occasional sleepless night, he conceded. Not so much about the result but how he and the team working to get the issue vanquished were getting their message across.

He said it was now time to simply move forward and Hawke's Bay as a region was already showing clear signs of moving forward. "We worked together before all this started and we will continue to do that.

"There's no way it will be status quo going forward because it is imperative we work regionally on certain projects," Mr Dalton said.

"While this is actually already happening as more opportunities to do so come up we will certainly be embracing them."

He said what had got lost during the whole debate was the fact that the role of a council was all about its community.

"And across Hawke's Bay our communities are very different - we need smaller agile councils who can look after the needs of their ratepayers as well as be advocates of the region in conjunction with their fellow council on the bigger issues such as tourism and business development."

Mr Dalton said the vote was simply about the structure of governance and people had clearly said that from what they could see the present structure was very good. Among the first calls he received after the results became clear was one from Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule. "He phoned and congratulated us that our voice had held strong and said it was a clear mandate."

There was no animosity.

Both mayors will be meeting on Friday as part of the "moving on" approach.

"We have always worked well together and we both want a more prosperous Hawke's Bay," Mr Dalton said, adding that the only difference to the equation was that both saw how to get there in a different way.

He put the success at the feet of the volunteers who stepped up to engage in a campaign which effectively had little funding.

In terms of personal cost had the whole debate cost him anything? "It's cost me 24 well earned kilos," he said with a smile.