Environment Canterbury councillor Ian Mackenzie says Ashburton “can’t survive on its own” under the Government’s amalgamation push.
Mackenzie said Canterbury should be reshaped into two or three unitary authorities.
The Government last week gave councils a three-month amalgamation proposal deadline.
It's sparked talk of a Greater Christchurch Super city model, supported by Christchurch City Council, but there have been reservations by Waimakariri and Selwyn.
Mackenzie has previously been outspoken on the need to reshape council boundaries in Canterbury.
“There's an opportunity here for Canterbury to make this change really work.
“This needs real leadership.”
Mackenzie said councils need to drill down to a simple question: Where does it make sense to make the boundaries?
“The discussion for Canterbury is not which councils merge, it's actually where do you put the boundaries to divide it into two or three areas."
Canterbury has 11 councils, stretching from Kaikōura to Waitaki – all covered by Environment Canterbury.
The Government wants that number to reduce, with ECan set to be disestablished from 2028.
Mackenzie’s preferred concept was to have Christchurch become a unitary council, an amalgamation in South Canterbury (Timaru, Mackenzie, and Waimate) and retain the other district councils under a rural regional council.
But the Government's direction is for unitary councils, not regional councils.
“You need a population of 110,000 to 120,000 at minimum to form a unitary, and we can do that quite easily as a southern unitary, south of Christchurch down to the Waitaki.
“In the north, it makes sense for Christchurch to be a metropolitan unitary.”
He said “Ashburton can't survive on its own” so will need to amalgamate in some way.
“The discussion that the community should be having is do they want to be part of a greater Christchurch unitary or do they want to be in a provincial unitary?
“I don't think there's any doubt that the people of Ashburton, and most of the people in Selwyn, don't want to be part of Christchurch."
In Selwyn, he said it’s logical that Rolleston, Lincoln, Prebbleton, and West Melton are part of a greater Christchurch unitary council.
“Rural Selwyn's community of interest is more akin to the people of Ashburton and probably South Canterbury, while Christchurch has similar interests and needs for itself and the urban fringe.”
An idea that Ashburton amalgamates with the rural areas of Selwyn, and even up into North Canterbury, maybe “worth considering, but I think it would be almost impossible to make it work”.
North Canterbury could form a third unitary, but Mackenzie said he was sceptical it could meet the Government’s population threshold.
“If you're going to take Rangiora into greater Christchurch, then really the whole of the Waimakariri District pretty much goes into Christchurch because you’re not going to get anywhere close to 100,000.”
Mackenzie said that could require Hurunui to join any northern Canterbury unitary, particularly if Kaikōura merged with Marlborough.
It also makes sense to have all the Waimakariri River catchment under one jurisdiction, he said.
Mackenzie said he hoped the region's leaders can come to a consensus to provide some direction for long-term plans next year.
“There's a lot of ratepayer money at risk here, but a lot can be saved and expenditure made efficient if we make the right decisions quickly.”
Ashburton Mayor Liz McMillan said the Government has made it clear that status quo is not an option and a “reorganisation of services across Canterbury will be a given”.
“How council services are reorganised is the task we've been given by Government.
“We have a workshop scheduled on May 20 to discuss the reform and potential options.”
No decisions will be made at that workshop, she said.
