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A North Canterbury council has left the door open to working with its neighbours in the future.
Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon said at an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday, he was open to including Greater Christchurch partners, Christchurch and Selwyn in a joint proposal to support their bids to go it alone.
The Waimakariri District Council approved a draft proposal to form a North Canterbury unitary council with the Hurunui District Council.
The Kaikōura District Council had been part of the North Canterbury discussions, but it has opted to partner with Marlborough.
‘‘We respect Kaikōura’s decision, but we will leave the door open to them should they wish to join us.
‘‘We are very open to including Christchurch and Selwyn in our proposal, as long as it doesn’t compromise our case.’’
While he was not seeking a Greater Christchurch council, Mr Gordon said there were opportunities for continued collaboration through shared services.
The Hurunui District Council was due to meet on Thursday afternoon to vote on the North Canterbury proposal, while the Canterbury Mayoral Forum is meeting on Saturday.
Councils have until August 9 to present proposals for forming unitary councils, which would take on regional council functions, under the Government’s Head Start policy.
The Government’s announcement in May stated proposals needed to be submitted by two or more councils.
Cabinet is expected to make a decision in September on which proposals would proceed.
Councils which do not submit a proposal, or had their proposal declined, would be left in the Backstop, where future governance arrangements could be imposed.
The proposal says a North Canterbury council, with a combined population of around 90,000, would have the scale to take on regional council functions.
‘‘Collaboration between the future Canterbury unitary authorities may present benefits in the future and we remain open to the possibility of shared services agreements.’’
A structure of a mayor, 14 councillors (nine from Waimakariri and five from Hurunui) and seven wards/community boards (four Waimakariri, three Hurunui) is proposed.
The proposal says Te Ngāi Tūāhuriri Rūnanga and Te Rūnanga o Kaikōura were consulted and there are opportunities to continue those conversations.
‘‘We look forward to further aligning ourselves with our iwi partners during the detailed design phase, including to consider the advantages of aligning our boundaries with existing Ngāi Tahu takiwā boundaries.’’
Local Democracy Reporting understands this refers to northern takiwā boundary for Ngāi Tahu - the Awatere River in Marlborough.
Councillors spoke about their family connections in North Canterbury, including in local government.
Deputy Mayor Philip Redmond recalled being part of amalgamation conversations in the 1980s, while serving on the Kaiapoi Borough Council.
‘‘I didn’t see this coming when I returned to local politics in 2016.
‘‘Perhaps it is no coincidence that it’s election year, but it does provide the opportunity to establish localism in North Canterbury.’’
Cr Wendy Doody recalled when the Amuri County Council was amalgamated into the Hurunui District Council.
She later became a Hurunui councillor, before moving to Oxford.
Cr Brent Cairns said the process had been rushed and it remained unclear what functions the new councils would be required to perform under the new resource management framework.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
