A small band of Mahinerangi residents, wanting to have their land transferred from the Clutha district to the Dunedin City, would see no real benefits by changing some lines on a map, a Local Government Commission was told yesterday.
Clutha Mayor Juno Hayes was responding to claims by Lee Stream farmer Robert Reid, who launched a petition, signed by 14 residents, calling for nearly 48,000ha of land in the area to become part of the Dunedin authority.
The commission heard arguments for and against the idea during a hearing at the Clutha council yesterday.
The three-member panel reserved its decision, which it expects to release in four or five weeks.
Mr Reid said the area had suffered from a lack of services and representation since local government amalgamation in 1989.
He also believed the area was poised for tourism growth from enterprises like the Taieri Gorge Railway and those visitors about to visit the area would be coming from Dunedin rather than from Balclutha.
When asked by commissioner and chairwoman Sue Piper what good would come from transferring the boundary to Dunedin, Mr Reid said it would "give hope to the future" and lead to better communication with the Dunedin council because people living in the area often visited Dunedin but very rarely travelled to Balclutha.
Mr Hayes said he had been involved in local government matters in the district for 20 years and had never heard about any issues or concerns from people in the Mahinerangi area in all that time - until he was surprised to receive the petition.
He could see no compelling argument to "change the landlord".
He questioned whether the original petition, signed by 14, still met the commission's criteria after he became aware two of those people had withdrawn their support.
With just 12 out of 134 people in the area putting their name to the petition, Mr Hayes said that fell below the 10% threshold.
Mrs Piper said the petition was lodged correctly and accepted at that time.
She said that matter would be looked at but the hearing would continue.
Clutha chief executive Charles Hakkaart said the council would miss out on a new valuable ratepayer, TrustPower, and some $50,000 in rates, if the area containing the power company's wind farm became part of Dunedin.
Rural ratepayers, especially those in the Lawrence-Tuapeka ward, would suffer financially if the land was transferred.
An extra $35,000 would have to be found for the community services rate, the uniform annual general charge would increase $3 for each inhabitable dwelling and each ratepayer in the Lawrence-Tuapeka ward would have another $23 added to their rates bill to pay for the community board's discretionary fund.
Dunedin city councillor Andrew Noone said that council had a neutral stance on the matter.
It was concerned it did not have enough information on the infrastructure issues in the area and wanted to examine those areas further to see if there were any potential problems.
Lee Stream farmer Peter Doherty, who owns property within both council boundaries, believed the area around Lake Mahinerangi should have been vested in Dunedin City during amalgamation in 1989.
The main reason for change, he said, was to improve the quality of life for residents.
He was also surprised the Clutha council was trying strongly to keep the land when it had shown no interest there since it took over the area 19 years ago, he said.
Another farmer, Peter Hall, said he could not see any benefit by transferring his land from Clutha to Dunedin.
Matariki Forests Otago-Southland regional manager Steve Chandler said the company, which owns 11,500ha of forestry in Clutha, believes owning a forest in two council areas had the potential for confusion.
TrustPower counsel Jason Walsh said it was no coincidence the petition was launched soon after its proposed Mahinerangi wind farm was granted consent.
Altering the boundaries would also mean transferring the knowledge about the wind farm gained by Clutha staff to Dunedin staff, which would be a costly and lengthy process.
Also opposing the proposal were the Lawrence-Tuapeka Community Board, Lawrence-Tuapeka ward councillor Geoff Blackmore and the Tuapeka-Lawrence Community Company.
Mr Reid said the petition was not a wind farm issue but one about community of interest.
