The idea was refloated by Christchurch City Council staff in a recent briefing to city councillors. They proposed amalgamating the metro areas of Christchurch, Selwyn and Waimakiriri as an alternative to the Government’s proposed scrapping of regional councils.
When Selwyn Times put the idea to district councillors, there was no support for it.
Shefford said he was “just not interested at all”.
He did not want to see Selwyn ratepayers fund infrastructure in Christchurch.
“A lot of Selwyn’s infrastructure is new, and why would we want that to be gobbled up with older infrastructure?”
While not keen on the idea, Mayor Lydia Gliddon did not want to take a “hard line” with the rules local government will operate under still uncertain.
“It’s no surprise that conversation came out. Christchurch has been quite clear for some time that it wants a unitary authority. I guess I was a little bit surprised to see Selwyn and Waimakiriri in that conversation so early,” Gliddon said.
The Government proposed mayors of city and district councils would take over the duties of regional councils. The mayors would form 11 Combined Territories Boards (CTBs), which would be tasked with coming up with a plan for reorganising how their councils are structured in the long term.
“We know that it is so important to our residents in Selwyn, and so that is something I’m pretty set that we need to retain.
“There might be opportunities to find efficiencies with our neighbours on how we operate, but at the end of the day you’ve got to keep your localism there too,” Gliddon said.
She reinforced a lot of work has to be done in understanding the reforms and how the new Resource Management Act legislation will fit in.
“We need to see what functions are left (for local government) and who is best to deliver those.”
CCC staff have yet to put any possible boundary on a super city, but if it were to include the urban areas of Rolleston, Lincoln, Prebbleton, West Melton, Kaiapoi and Rangiora, it would mean Christchurch’s population of about 419,000 would increase to about 514,000.
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger told Selwyn Times with the proposed rates cap putting pressure on councils to find efficiencies, now is the time to be having this conversation.
“We have previously proposed a unitary authority for Christchurch and have been encouraged by some district councils in Canterbury to consider this. We are also open to exploring a greater Christchurch unitary model (super city), but have not considered the boundaries of a super city,” Mauger said.
The idea of a super city is not new, with it last gaining traction from in 2023.
Auckland moved to the model in 2010, with views mixed on its success.
Councillor Tracey Macleod was born in Auckland and has lived there in three different stints, most recently nine years ago. She said a lot of community voice was lost in the transition to a super city.
“The council becomes more of a board of directors with a high-level view, more like a central government view, and the small communities receive less and less airtime,” Macleod said.
