Amalgamation has been a hot topic in the region following the Southland District Council’s proposal for two unitary authorities, down from the current four, with an investigation into the initiative now in the process.
Claims of cutting costs and reducing bloat have been purported by Southland Mayor Rob Scott, and the investigation is expected to continue through until April 2027 to figure out the new state of affairs for councils in the region.
Mr Herrick said there’s a feeling on the ground councils cannot carry on the way they are, questioning how feasible the current financial situation is for councils in Southland.
"Gore have got a massive amount of debt, Southland have got a massive amount of debt, Invercargill is heading in the same direction. They can’t keep operating in the current forms. So we have to find ways of cutting back costs . . . it’s a tough one, but a discussion that needs to be had," he said.
The discussion was key for Mr Herrick, who said it was up to the ratepayers and community to make their voices heard primarily, before a decision is made for them.
"We need to be leading this conversation from the front. Otherwise the government is going to make it for us, right? I do believe some of the changes are heading in the right direction, but the devil is in the details.
"This is where the public consultation, the submissions, everything come into effect, it’s got to go through a diplomatic process, conversations had, and changes made," he said.
The state of local government was reaching a tipping point and Mr Herrick was concerned for ratepayers unable to afford to live in their homes, especially retirees.
Affordability was an issue people figured out for themselves, Mr Herrick said, and questioned why the same standard was not applied for local government.
"As individuals, we have to live within our means, we don’t have a choice. But the council seem to have a pass on living within their means. They can borrow, and borrow, and keep borrowing, and to what point?" he said.
Mr Herrick diverged from the Southland District Council’s proposal on certain issues, and said he would be advocating for a different structural setup for governance between rural and urban areas.
"I don’t think the rural sector would be too keen to put one council throughout Southland, because we know where all the rural funding will end up. In the city, rather than out in the rural sector where it’s needed as well.
"I do think it needs to be grassroots, and led from the ground up. We need catchment boards, as well as community boards," he said.
It was time to see a little more "bang for our bucks" and to head back to the must-haves, not the like-to-haves for Mr Herrick, and he again stressed how important the conversation was for the region as a whole.
