Waikato supercity back on table
One council to rule them all could be the future for Waikato’s local government.
A big Waikato ‘‘unitary’’ council combining local and regional council powers is back on the table, this time for Hamilton and surrounding districts.
That big kite is flown in the city council’s submission to the nationwide Review into the Future for Local Government, due to make its final recommendations mid-year.
The Waikato District Council also gives qualified support to a possible sub-regional unitary body.
The Hamilton and Waikato district suggestions come hard on the heels of Christchurch calling last week for it to become a unitary ‘‘supercity’’ like Auckland. It also follows failed proposals over the past 15 years for local government rationalisation in Waikato.
Under the city’s new ideas, a ‘‘Hamilton-Waikato sub-region’’ unitary council could be based on fast-growing Hamilton, Waikato district, Waipa¯ and MatamataPiako, city mayor Paula Southgate said last Tuesday. ‘‘We’re not looking at a takeover, we’re looking at a partnership.’’
The city’s submission said: ‘‘There would appear to be a good case for exploring a unitary authority ... for the Hamilton subregion, based on the metro community of interest who live, work and play in the metro area.’’
Such a council – which would be preferable to a unitary one covering the whole Waikato region – could be supported by ‘‘localised subsidiary entities’’ like local boards, community boards and ward committees, the submission said.
Southgate said a unitary council would be ‘‘pretty much Future Proof expanded’’, a reference to an existing joint project on cooperative sub-regional development involving the councils and others.
It would further enhance efficiency and co-operation, she said.
But ’’we don’t need to take a sledgehammer to the nut’’ and she was not saying everything had to be run from Hamilton. ‘‘There’s a lot of water to pass under the bridge on this one.’’
Southgate said Hamilton would not be pushing the unitary council idea hard at this stage and noted it would be discussed with other mayors and the Waikato Mayoral Forum, which is due to meet again shortly.
‘‘The ideas that are being floated at the moment are very theoretical’’, she said, adding that no business case had yet been prepared on a unitary council.
But ‘‘there is a need to change’’, she said. ‘‘Things are not going to remain the same, so how do we get the right change for all people?
‘‘Hamilton knows from experience ... how complex it is to work across multiple partners.’’
Waikato district mayor Jacqui Church said her council had also proposed a new high-level, cooperative sub-regional structure building on Future Proof.
‘‘My council is open to a rethink on the powers and functions given to the territorial local authorities ... even if it means establishing a unitary authority, but we will advocate that this is based on the existing council boundaries’’, Church said.
‘‘We believe that formalising a governance arrangement at a subregional level based on the Future Proof model will enable better collaboration and efficiencies.’’
The submission suggested any sub-regional entity would have a mayor appointed from one of the partner local councils.
The mayors of Waipa¯ and Matamata-Piako, Susan O’Regan and Adrienne Wilcock, said they had not yet read Hamilton’s submission and couldn’t comment at this stage. Regional council chairperson Pamela Storey wasn’t available.
However, the regional council’s submission to the review noted: ‘‘The ability to organise regionally but also sub-regionally is important. The system must have sufficient flexibility to enable its different parts to come together in the most appropriate ways to represent and deliver to diverse interests.’’