Opiki and Tokomaru will remain part of Horowhenua following the Local Government Commission decision last week. Photo: Danny Harper.
Opiki and Tokomaru will remain part of Horowhenua following the Local Government Commission decision last week. Photo: Danny Harper.
Ōpiki and Tokomaru will remain part of Horowhenua after the Local Government Commission rejected an application from a group of residents wanting the area recognised and rated as part of Palmerston North.
In 2018, a group calling itself the Tokopiki Boundary Change Group sent an application to the Local GovernmentCommission requesting a boundary realignment. It collected 307 signatures to support the proposal.
A boundary adjustment would have seen 1400 rural residents leave Horowhenua and join the neighbouring city limits - 170 houses in Tokomaru and 330 in rural Ōpiki.
The commission had received 154 submissions, of which 75 per cent supported the proposal. Of the Tokomaru submitters, 90 per cent were in favour of a move.
While the Local Government Commission's decision failed to support the boundary alteration, it called on both Palmerston North City Council and Horowhenua District Council to "work together to enhance local government service in Tokomaru and Ōpiki".
It also recommended that the Horowhenua District Council provide clearer information to residents on its assets and services in Ōpiki and Tokomaru and how they are funded.
The Tokopiki boundary alteration group failed in their bid to leave Horowhenua and join Palmerston North.
LGNZ CEO Penny Langley, in letters addressed to Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith and mayor of Horowhenua Bernie Wanden, said it recommended both councils work together.
"We identified an opportunity for the Horowhenua District Council and Palmerston North City Council to work together to explore ways to enhance local government services in Ōpiki and Tokomaru," it said.
"It is important that both councils think creatively about opportunities to enhance services in Ōpiki and Tokomaru."
"It is also important that residents are provided with clearer information on how their rates are used, what services are planned for the future, and how they can have a role in decisions on the future of those assets and services."
For those residents behind the proposal, it signalled the end of a long campaign for change that officially began in 2018 when they lodged the application with the Local Government Commission.
In its decision, the commission acknowledged its ruling will be disappointing for the applicants.
It also acknowledged that the applicants have worked long and hard on submitting and supporting the application.
It agreed with the applicant and many submitters that many Ōpiki and Tokomaru residents had strong ties with Palmerston North and a close affinity to the city.
There was a good turn out at Opiki Hall last year when the Local Government Commission held a meeting to hear from affected residents.
Many residents worked in Palmerston North and felt more connected emotionally, educationally and commercially to that region than they did to Horowhenua.
"However, it also showed that the requested alteration would not support the range of criteria that must be considered and would not provide benefits on the scale required to warrant a change in boundaries."
Key stakeholders had made submissions against the proposal. Both councils and tangata whenua made submissions that supported the status quo.
The decision said the proposed change would have potentially undermined iwi and hapū cultural and environmental wellbeing by complicating working relationships with local government.
"It could have made it more difficult to facilitate an improved understanding of Māori cultural and environmental values in local government decision making," it said.
Both Ngāti Turanga and Ngāti Whakatere were committed to working with local government to support greater consideration of Māori environmental and cultural wellbeing.
Along with Rangitanē o Manawatū in Palmerston North City, they had invested considerable time and resources into building working relationships with local government.
"A boundary change would disrupt these working relationships and require resources to build new relationships," it said.
"Proceeding with a boundary change could be seen as a failure to acknowledge the complex impacts of a change on iwi and hapū, and a failure to value Māori cultural and environmental wellbeing in decision making."
There was a suggestion among submissions for an Ōpiki and Tokomaru Community Board, although that was not the focus of the commission.
The commission's decision is available on its website at www.lgc.govt.nz under the local government reorganisation tab.
Commissioner Brendan Duffy, as former mayor of Horowhenua, was not involved in any decisions or deliberations on the matter.
