The government yesterday announced it was giving councils three months to put forward proposals to simplify and strengthen local government in their regions.
RMA Reform and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Local Government Minister Simon Watts said councils wanted the freedom to reorganise local government.
"There’s strong support for change, but many councils want more flexibility to get on with reform in a way that works for their region," Mr Bishop said.
Those that were not ready in three months would have their structure imposed on them by the government.
"Several mayors have told us they’re ready to move now, with clear ideas about what should change and how to do it."
Mr Watts said "proposals should focus on creating larger, more efficient unitary authorities that streamline functions, reduce duplication and improve decision-making".
But many Otago mayors said bigger does not always mean better.
A joint statement released last night by Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker, Queenstown Lakes District Mayor John Glover, Clutha District Mayor Jock Martin, Waitaki District Mayor Mel Tavendale and Central Otago District Mayor Tamah Alley said the discussions around amalgamation had already been taking place.
The ball was in their court to deliver a proposal that worked for their communities.
"We are already working on it, but today’s announcement certainly sharpens the focus. The issues involved are complex and will create uncertainty, but there is also an opportunity to look at how we best position ourselves to shape the future for the communities we all serve," the statement said.
Ms Alley said, when contacted, she did not know if councils in Otago were far enough down the pathway at a regional level to be putting something forward in the next three months.
But the backstop proposal set to be used if the three-month deadline was missed was similar to the unitary model the government was favouring.
"There are a number of councils around New Zealand for whom they will be really excited about that three months because they have for quite some time been actively moving in a direction together. But I don’t think Otago councils fall into that bag."
Otago had challenges around its geographical size, size of its councils and the nature of each council’s economy to form a unitary council.
Overseas studies showed bigger was not always better in delivering local government, Ms Alley said.
Ms Tavendale said, when contacted, there was a feeling rural and provincial New Zealand had quite different drivers and issues than some metropolitan areas.
"I think that it’s a complex picture we’re looking at and we need to make sure we do it right. We all acknowledge that the cost structure needs to change around local government, that we need to become more sustainable, and that we can’t keep operating in the rate-rise environment that we’re currently operating in," she said.
Chief executives of Otago councils had preliminary discussions as mayors did at their forum.
Councils had similar ideas around economic development and public transport.
Mr Glover was bullish about the idea but warned it was not going to be easy. There were a lot of differences between the Queenstown council and a rural council such as Clutha.
He supported working out what outcomes councils were looking for before working out how they would be reached.
Mr Martin said at least they were in charge of their own destiny.
Mr Bishop had said the devil was in the detail and Mr Martin, like everyone else, was waiting for that.
The regional council was not allowed to submit on any proposal.
New proposal
• A three-month window for councils to produce a proposal to simplify and strengthen local government.
• Regional councils to have no input.
• Should create larger and more efficient unitary authorities.
• A proposal must come from two or more territorial authorities.
• Proposals may have councils from other territories.
• Could be two or three unitary authorities per region.
• Proposal must be in place by or soon after 2028 local elections.
