The Waitaki District Council building. PHOTO: ODT FILES Waitaki residents favour joining South Canterbury over an Otago unitary authority, a newly released survey says. The small sample-size survey, included in papers for next week’s extraordinary Waitaki District Council meeting, shows nearly five times more support for looking to the district’s northern neighbours than for amalgamating with Otago counterparts. Seven amalgamation options are to be considered at the meeting on Tuesday. A report prepared by council officers scores the proposals on likelihood of acceptance by the government. A ‘‘Mid/South Canterbury authority’’ (formed by the Waitaki district joining Ashburton, Timaru, Mackenzie and Waimate) and an ‘‘Otago Region unitary’’ (made up of Waitaki, Dunedin, Clutha, Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes) both received the highest scores, each receiving 20 out of a possible 25 points, the report said. ‘‘Both combine strong scale, clean governance consolidation and complete catchment/planning logic with workable, well-defined boundaries.’’ The benefits of the Otago included a single integrated spatial plan and freshwater management across the whole of the Otago region, as well as the largest possible scale. However, Waitaki risked becoming a demographic outlier in the proposed $19.1 billion Otago Region unitary, making up less than 10% of the 256,000-person authority — and Dunedin’s city economy was ‘‘very different’’ to Waitaki’s rural base. A Mid/South Canterbury authority, with a GDP of $10.6b, would be the largest South Island regional option for Waitaki, and would include the whole of the district rather than splitting the community in two. Again the key risk related to Waitaki’s relatively small population : just under a fifth of the authority’s combined population, with Timaru and Ashburton ‘‘dominating’’. Without strong safeguards, this would also be the weakest option regarding preserving local voice of any proposal that did not split Waitaki up. The other five options under consideration received scores ranging from 13 to 18 out of 25. The option that scored the lowest was a ‘‘rural Otago amalgamation’’ of Waitaki, Clutha and Central Otago : at just 69,100, it was below the population threshold outlined by the government, the report said. The scores for the perceived viability of the seven options were based on five criteria — deliverability, planning, governance, economies of scale and local voice. They did not necessarily represent what was best for Waitaki, the report said. Elected representatives would first decide whether to opt into the government’s voluntary Head Start pathway, then pick which councils they wanted to form a unitary authority with, the staff report said. A proposal would then be developed ahead of an August 9 deadline. Waitaki District Council chief executive Alex Parmley would work with other councils to develop plans before they came back before the council. Not joining the Head Start risked not having a say in the future of the district, the report said. In a statement yesterday, Waitaki District Mayor Mel Tavendale said amalgamation was ‘‘not about grabbing assets’’. ‘‘It’s about ensuring all councils, all communities get the best possible outcome.’’ Hundreds had shared their views across four community meetings and in surveys, the staff report said. The Let’s Talk survey had received about 150 responses at the time the report was published, with more than 100 of these saying they supported a ‘‘South Canterbury unitary’’. Otago options only received about 20 votes of support by comparison. Key themes emerged around the Waitaki River catchment, aligning with rural communities and domination by large urban centres. Most respondents were from Oamaru. The survey had received a further 80 submissions as of yesterday morning. charley-kai.john@odt.co.nz
