Council hand forced

Wairarapa councils are forcing the rest of Wellington to create an amalgamation plan, a crowd of 40 were told at a meeting hosted by Porirua City Council last Tuesday.

The three Wairarapa councils – Masterton, Carterton and South Wairarapa – plan to lodge a submission in February with the Local Government Commission (LGC), asking to become a single unitary authority.

That will trigger a call for proposals from other greater Wellington councils, which will need to be handed to the LGC 20 working days later, Porirua council chief executive Gary Simpson said.

‘‘ We’re not determining this time frame,’’ he said. ‘‘Wairarapa are so far ahead of us.’’ Porirua, Wellington and Kapiti councils, plus Greater Wellington Regional Council, have agreed in the past fortnight to work together on a proposal for amalgamation, ready for Wairarapa’s move in February.

Mr Simpson said the Hutt councils had been unwilling to engage in a regional debate, and had proposed merging with each other. It was unlikely the Wairarapa councils would be able to afford to amalgamate – rates there could rise 30 per cent to cover the $1 million the Greater Wellington Regional Council spend on land management – but their submission would still require a response, Mr Simpson told the crowd.

Rates rises were a strong concern among residents at the meeting.

It would be a ‘‘nightmare’’ to merge greater Wellington’s rates, not least because some councils rate based on land values, and some on capital values, Mr Simpson told the crowd. ‘‘It’s hellishly difficult.’’

Mayor Nick Leggett said that though Porirua’s rates were among the highest in the country, the city’s $51 million debt was much lower than its neighbours’.

‘‘If we equalise debt across the region what happens? Porirua’s rate goes up. If we don’t equalise debt, Porirua’s rate will probably go down.’’

It was this kind of detail the four working group councils would discuss, as well as deciding how much control ‘‘second tier’’ local councils would retain.

Mr Leggett said he would prefer local council functions to be protected by law, unlike Auckland where the top tier dictated the second tier’s responsibilities.

Wellington City Council supports the Auckland system.

Several people questioned what was driving Wellington councils to consider amalgamation in the first place.

Mr Leggett said subtle hints from central government forced the debate, such as the recent decision to amalgamate management of the region’s three district health boards.