West Otago residents may live closer to Gore than the heart of the Clutha district but there seems to be no mood from locals to change districts, despite the option being raised by southern local government politicians recently.
A small group of residents at Clutha's northern boundary have lodged a petition calling for their land to become part of Dunedin city and that prompted some Gore councillors to suggest the time was ripe to grab some land in West Otago to extend the Gore district's boundaries.
Those spoken to in the area said that debate caught everyone out and there had been no talk of wanting to switch councils.
But it did prompt some to suggest the issue of district boundaries should be looked at as the 20th anniversary of local government amalgamation in October next year approached.
There is a lot at stake, mainly financial issues. The Clutha District Council collects hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars from that ward and would lose that income if West Otago switched councils.
But the entire issue opened up a ‘‘big can of worms'', according to Heriot businessman and acting West Otago Community Board chairman Richard Davison, who said the biggest threat from any change would be losing West Otago's identity.
‘‘I suspect a lot of people here go to Gore [for shopping and business] but everyone, I would think, would want to stay part of Otago.''
He agreed West Otago tended to be ‘‘the forgotten part of Otago'' sometimes, but it was up to the district, as well as the wider region, to improve its standing and prominence.
Ironically, the area's most dominant feature, the Blue Mountains, also seemed to be the physical barrier dividing Tapanui with the rest of Clutha.
Many others spoken to around Tapanui and Heriot echoed those sentiments.
There would always be issues about being part of Clutha, but there was no advantage seen in switching to the Gore council.
Most people spoken to conducted most of their shopping and business in Gore, but that did not necessarily mean they wanted to be part of Southland.
Librarian Angela Diamond agreed Tapanui was ‘‘on the borderline'', but she had no desire to merge with its Gore neighbours.
‘‘We're West Otago, not Southland. I'm happy with what we have and wouldn't change it for the world.''
Of the 11 Blue Mountain Nurseries staff polled by the ODT on support for either the Gore or Clutha council, 10 wanted to merge with Gore, while one was keen to stay put.
Nursery co-owner Margaret Hughes said she had never given any serious thought to the possibility of changing boundaries and councils.
Any change cannot be considered unless there is a petition from individuals or groups within that area.
