One authority should run region: council

Invercargill City Council has announced it would prefer Southland’s councils to combine into one authority, but the brains behind amalgamation in the region does not approve.

The council’s message comes on the heels of a decision from the Local Government Commission that it would continue investigating the reorganisation of the region’s four councils — a process which began last July.

Invercargill’s mayor and councillors had agreed a single Southland council was the best option for economies of scale, efficiency and rates, the council said in a statement.

‘‘I believe this approach offers the greatest long-term benefit for our communities and for Southland as a whole,’’ Invercargill Mayor Tom Campbell said.

Southland Mayor Rob Scott sparked the commission’s investigation with his 2024 vision to combine the region’s councils into two unitary authorities, and said he still backed that model.

It was ‘‘easy to say from the city’’ that it should be one authority, but it was important to understand how the wider district worked, he said.

The commission’s decision comes at a time when central government has directed councils to start putting together reorganisation proposals.

Mr Scott felt the timeframes for both processes were not misaligned.

‘‘This is generational structural change so it needs to be done well.’’

Gore Mayor Ben Bell said he was not surprised the commission had progressed its investigation.

‘‘They’re talking about that there’s confusion and duplication, but then also trying to enhance community voice and provide more transparency and core services, so it will be interesting to see what systems balance those.’’

Environment Southland chairman Jeremy McPhail said in a statement a single unitary council was the most effective and cost-efficient option if Southland chose to go with a unitary model.

As part of its investigative work, the Local Government Commission received feedback from Ngāi Tahu ki Murihiku, which highlighted a range of challenges in dealing with councils.

Concerns included fragmented governance across multiple councils, weak communication and relationship instability, inequities for Ngāi Tahu relating to council decisions and tick-box compliance instead of genuine engagement.

Local Government Commission chief executive Linda Canton said the commission’s role and processes were set out in legislation and the government’s Head Start pathway did not change its responsibilities.

‘‘The commission must therefore continue its current process unless there is a lawful basis to amend, pause, or conclude the investigation’’

• LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.