At an Otago Mayoral Forum meeting on Friday, the mayors of the Waitaki, Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes districts and Dunedin, the Otago Regional Council chairwoman and the Clutha district deputy mayor agreed to work together to develop options on local government reform.
Early this month, the government announced it was giving councils three months to put forward proposals to both simplify and strengthen local government in their regions.
Councils not ready by the deadline would have a structure, intended to create larger and more efficient unitary authorities, imposed on them by the government.
Regional councils would have no input into the government’s proposals.
In a statement, Waitaki District Mayor and forum chairwoman Melanie Tavendale said people across Otago would be asked to share their views in a community survey released today, which would be used to support decision-making.
‘‘It’s important our communities have a voice and people are given the opportunity to have a say on reform locally,’’ she said.
There would be opportunities for district-level engagement alongside the regional process and decisions would remain with each council, she said.
‘‘The mayoral forum committed to ... exploring cross-boundary considerations to achieve the best outcomes through the reform process and will be reaching out to neighbouring districts to test a willingness to work together in coming weeks.’’
The survey opens today and closes on June 14.
People can provide feedback on the forum’s website. — Allied Media
