Caffell has new plan for councils

A Masterton district councillor is officially proposing an alternative council amalgamation.

Gary Caffell has suggested the Masterton, South Wairarapa and Carterton District Councils amalgamate into a single council and that the Greater Wellington Regional Council is retained in its present form.

Under the proposal, the other five councils operating in the Wellington region would be divided one or two ways: Kapiti, Wellington, Porirua, Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt would join into one body, or Kapiti, Porirua and Wellington would form a miniature super-city and Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt would form a single council of their own.

The GWRC would continue to supply the bulk or all of the services it does now.

"They hold the secret to the whole thing and if we could retain their support we could amalgamate the three councils [this side of the Rimutakas] and everything could go fine," Mr Caffell said.

"The really big point I'm pushing is we should be looking at the GWRC existing as it is now."

Mr Caffell put forward a notice of motion last week. He said either amalgamation would be more cost effective than any proposal now being discussed.

"I'm unconvinced that any other proposal that is going forward at the moment is affordable.

"I have major concerns with the unitary authority that the three councils are promised in terms of costs and it's being based on the MartinJenkins report, which had a whole lot of assumptions that could go one way or another. To me, it's too risky," he said.

"It is my strong view that the retention of the GWRC would make a huge difference to the cost factors associated with the amalgamating of the three Wairarapa district councils.

"Sure, there could be improvement made in the delivery of some services, but overall they make life a lot easier for the three councils now operating in our region." His proposal will be considered by Masterton District Council on Tuesday.

He said he had the support of several councillors and was expecting a healthy debate.

"I would suspect a counter proposal from those supporting the unitary authority and it will all come down to which gets the most votes."