In August, Southland Mayor Rob Scott proposed the region’s four councils - the Southland District Council, Invercargill City Council, Gore District Council and Environment Southland - merge into two unitary authorities.
Mr Scott said the current structure was excessive for a population of 100,000.
A report supporting the move was prepared by the district council and included in an Invercargill City Council agenda this week.
It included a range of challenges facing each council, including concern about a lack of attention for river and catchment management at the hands of Environment Southland.
"In rural Southland Murihiku there has been growing disquiet at the performance and focus of the regional council, particularly around rapidly deteriorating water bodies," it said, noting recent court proceedings.
The regional council’s performance in recent emergency events was also an issue, with the dedicated service set up in 2010 not living up to expectations.
Meanwhile, the Invercargill City Council and Gore District Council had experienced "fraught governance level relationships", which caught public attention.
The introduction of two external appointees in 2020 to guide the Invercargill City Council through concerns raised by the Department of Internal Affairs was given as an example.
The Gore District Council was noted for its strong independence, but also for relying heavily on other stakeholders to pick up the slack when it came to funding shared services.
At the Southland District Council, strong criticism was received from communities which feared losing their voice.
The council was also struggling to manage Te Anau Airport Manapouri, which it bought from Air New Zealand in 2002 and ran at a loss.
Maintaining the district’s 5000km roading network was also a challenge, alongside more than 800 road bridges and an estimated 14,000 culverts.
The report was not all critical, with the Invercargill City Council’s strong financial position highlighted and the Southland District Council’s "history of successful community representation".
The Gore District Council was said to have had "many years" of stable political leadership and dedicated staff.
Invercargill councillors showed their support yesterday for the Local Government Commission to further investigate the proposal, but expressed a preference for a single unitary authority.
A total of 40 councillors make up the four Southland councils, plus 66 community board members and one ward member.
Total operating revenue was listed in the report at more than $375 million, with expenditure of more than $371m.
The report said there was a "high cost" to having four councils for a population of just over 100,000.
• LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
