Banks Peninsula residents want to join Christchurch

A preliminary result from a poll of Banks Peninsula rate payers shows a majority of voters want to abolish Banks Peninsula District, and have the area included in Christchurch City.

Electoral Officer for the Banks Peninsula District Council, Warwick Lampp said there was a 76 per cent voter turnout.

Mr Lampp said of the 5580 ballets counted so far 60 per cent voted to abolish the district and 40 per cent voting against the proposal.

There are 52 votes yet to be processed.

The official result is expected to be declared on Wednesday after all special votes have been processed.

Banks Peninsula resident John Cleaver was behind the first, unsuccessful bid in 1997 to have the district amalgamated with Christchurch City.

Earlier he said: "It doesn't matter what you look at -- if you look at it rationally, there's really no viable alternative."

Mr Cleaver pointed to the district's financial troubles, huge rate increases and difficulties finding funding for core services.

The attempt to abolish the district and have it included in a wider Christchurch City was launched by a resident-initiated petition after a little-known clause in the Local Government Act was promoted by Banks Peninsula Mayor Bob Parker.

Opponents of the plan, who launched a last-ditch campaign to sway voters to the negative, fear the loss of their mayor, seven-strong council and three community boards will harm the district.

Under the new scheme, there would instead be one city councillor and two community boards to represent the district.

Opponents claim the district is not as financially troubled as some people believe and fear increased costs under city rule.

Figures from both councils and the Local Government Commission (LGC) paint a brighter picture.

The commission identified significant cost savings for peninsula ratepayers should the abolition go ahead.

For example, Lyttelton ratepayers who now pay annual rates of about $1800 on a $264,000 property would pay $1000 under the city-run scheme. Akaroa rural residents who pay rates of about $1300 on a $427,000 property would pay about $900.

- NZPA