At an Otago Regional Council meeting this week many councillors pushed back against the process of the new Head Start proposal, where central government wants councils in the area to merge and take over the functions of the ORC.
The proposal had said regional councils would not be part of any discussions around the proposal. The proposals must be lodged with the government by August 9.
Council chairwoman Hilary Calvert said she had been invited to be part of the Otago Mayoral Forum and attended a meeting last Friday.
Cr Michael Laws said he would be not standing on the sideline while the process was under way.
‘‘I have got no intention of us remaining silent on this issue. And when we have regional assets like Port Otago which are already being dismembered. I have to protect my constituents and I have already heard strong views on that,’’ Cr Laws said,
‘‘This group of elected officials here need to have some input on the framing of the regional council going forward.
‘‘It is not time for us to butt out. I have no intention of butting out.’’
From talking with Minister of RMA Reform Chris Bishop, nothing had been firmly decided, Mr Laws said. He said Mr Bishop was in charge of the process, not Minister of Local Government Simon Watts.
‘‘Nothing precludes us from having a different view from the TAs [territorial authorities]. And I got the very strong impression from Chris Bishop ... that they have not got all the details outlined at all. They have a broad concept.
‘‘If we were to exclude ourselves from the discussion and vacate us from the field I can see five very new and inexperienced mayors making a complete hash of this. The Otago Regional Council needs to have a political role in this process.’’
He said the government had a destination for the proposal but did not know the road and journey to get there.
Cr Gary Kelliher said to get the best for Otago the regional council had to be involved
‘‘What the government has asked for is a new us ... to ask the Clutha mayor to come up with the best decisions for a place like Queenstown is a very big ask,’’ Cr Kelliher said.
‘‘We need to have more involvement.’’
Cr Alan Somerville said the decision should not be left with five mayors. There needed to be more input from many different groups and the regional council should be involved.
Cr Gretchen Robertson said a lot of what the regional council did could not be easily broken up and needed to be done with a catchment-wide approach.
‘‘There is not currently a plan with the perfect model set. There is a unitary model suggestion but beyond that it is very open,’’ she said.
Deputy chairman Kevin Malcolm said he was ‘‘quite amazed’’ the councils were not asking for assistance on the matter.
‘‘It is absolutely the time for us to show some leadership. This is Otago’s destination. If we remain quiet on this matter, we will get what we deserved, which is not what we really want,’’ he said.
Every other area he had talked to, the regional councils were leading the charge and assisting to find the best outcomes.
‘‘We should be upfront and get it done. We need to form a group and get going.
‘‘If you want to sit there and have your head in the sand you will be dealt to. Let’s step up to the mark and do it.’’
Ms Calvert said from discussions with Mr Bishop there was nothing stopping a proposal from the regional council being made.
