Otago’s councils may pitch competing merger plans to the government as the deadline for proposals looms. A inland-coastal “twin unitaries” model has been revealed, apparently raised by the Dunedin City Council (DCC) and outlined in a Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) agenda. Cracks appear as Otago mayors accused of ‘meeting in the shadows’ It runs counter to a proposal backed by Clutha and Central Otago district councils this week, under which the two councils would merge with QLDC and possibly chunks of Dunedin’s hinterland and Waitaki’s southern ward. Councils have until August 9 to submit ‘‘head start’’ plans for new unitary authorities made up of at least two councils to the government. Proposals require the support of either a majority of affected councils or of councils representing a majority of the affected area’s population. Councils with an unsuccessful proposal, or no proposal at all, would have structures imposed on them. Queenstown Lakes District and Dunedin City councils will discuss their positions at meetings on Monday. A report for QLDC’s meeting, prepared by interim council chief executive Michelle Morss, said the council could consider whether to support the Clutha-Central Otago proposal. “Subsequently, DCC has indicated an appetite to submit a separate head start proposal that recommends creation of a ‘twin unitaries’ model for Otago, with an inland and coastal unitary council.” Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago district councils would form the inland council while the coastal council would comprise Dunedin City and Clutha District councils and potentially Waitaki District Council. These unitary councils would share regional council functions, Ms Morss’ report said. “Arguably, this model offers appropriate scale, aligns communities of interest, retains catchment management integrity through a shared service provision and is in keeping with the collaboration required under the Regional Deal.” She noted no detailed analysis had been done on the proposal. Far less information was available in the DCC’s agenda, which made reference to ongoing discussions with QLDC exploring a joint proposal “based on a regional governance model”. “While no formal agreement has been reached, this represents a significant strategic development that council may wish to take into account when determining both its preferred strategic direction for local governance reform and its preferred implementation pathway”, the report said. There appeared to be “sufficient strategic alignment” to continue exploring a proposal, subject to further discussions and council decisions. Dunedin city councillors Russell Lund and Jo Galer took issue with the wording in QLDC’s agenda — the DCC had “given no such indication of an appetite” for the described proposal, Cr Galer said. ruby.shaw@odt.co.nz
