Mixed reception for reorganisation as mayors go head to head

A return to Gore to discuss reorganisation finally had Southland Mayor Rob Scott and Gore Mayor Ben Bell butting heads — but the future for Southland is still up in the air. The last time Southland Mayor Rob Scott held a similar meeting in Gore RSA, amalgamation was a pipe dream and hypothetically years down the line. Now just a year later, Mr Scott is the face of the movement down South — as much he denies it is his movement so much as his council’s — as the Local Government Commission investigates its proposal, albeit with another cloud hanging over the meeting. Central government brought its “Head Start” proposal, pushing for other councils to put forward ideas and concepts for reorganisation, pushing it past the Southland District and encouraging new boundaries to be drawn. Gore District Mayor Ben Bell, other councillors and Environment Southland chairman Jeremy McPhail attended to hear the talk and, in some cases, disagree. Mr Scott spoke to the crowd on his history in local government, what he thought worked well, and his desires for the two unitary authorities to continue forward. However, now the tone was more focused on representation, as Mr Scott said it was important as the country moved forward to decentralise power structures and pull decision-making away from Wellington. “The fundamental issue is, it’s too centralised, we’re asked to do too much with too little and you guys are unfairly footing this bill. “We’re asked to do more and more and more and government are really enjoying kicking councils,” he said. Part of the problems councils were facing was with the funding mechanisms, and the government would not “fix any rate issues through amalgamation or super councils, it will probably get worse”. “For me to stand up here tonight and say by doing all this is going to save you money and save you rates, I’d be lying.” Councils were paying the cost of playing catch-up after a long period of small rates increases, which came at the cost of not spending it on bridges or roads before it “finally caught up”, Mr Scott said. Mr Bell lobbed a few shots at Mr Scott during the meeting, questioning why, if reorganisation was the plan, the Southland District Council (SDC) did not want to work with Gore on Three Waters or roading. Mr Scott denied knowledge of the latter, but said the decision to not co-operate on a council-controlled organisation was about the size of Southland compared to the others and SDC’s focus on “getting the standards right”. “While a lot of councils have been working on structures and entities, it’s the standards that will come back to bite them. We have to be fit for purpose, it’s not about not wanting to work with Gore,” he said. Then Mr Scott threw it back at Mr Bell about heritage, stating SDC “tried really hard to work with’’ Gore on heritage — however Mr Bell did not let it pass, firing back: “You guys walked away from heritage, not us.” Although many of the questions were around representation, the catchment and discussed various models of government, including Mr Scott’s enthusiastic support of a Scandinavian model, not all were sold on the SDC’s proposal. One man towards the end of the night insisted he “was not persuaded one iota” by the talk and insisted he, as someone who had lived in Gore his entire life, “did not want to see it turned into a ward” and Gore did not “want to lose its voice”. A question over whether or not Mr Scott would run for mayor of the new combined entity, if it was made, was unanswered as Mr Scott replied he “did not know” if he would or not. The two went back and forth, however no resolution was found and the man finished by telling the Southland mayor “I don’t agree, we disagree” after a pointed discussion.

Mixed reception for reorganisation as mayors go head to head

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