Merging councils pushed as one way to trim rate rises

Porirua mayor Anita Baker supports amalgamation for the Wellington region's four city councils. Photo: RNZ/Dom Thomas

Amalgamation of councils is being touted as one tool in the war against soaring rates.

With an average rates rise around the country of 16 percent this year it's clear that increases of that scale cannot be absorbed by residents long-term.

Porirua mayor Anita Baker said nobody was immune from steep rises in payment to the council.

"I know, as a ratepayer of Porirua, I can't live there in five years," said Baker, whose district recently increased rates by 17.5 percent.

Councils are being asked to get more efficient and effective in delivering their core services, a message bluntly demanded by the prime minister at last week's local government conference.

One possible solution that's being raised across the country is amalgamation - combining two or more districts into one.

Amalgamation has been a looming question for councils since the since the Future for Local Government Review recommended significant reform of the sector in June 2023.

The recent approval of double-digit rates hikes in every corner of the country has only stoked conversations further as the benefit of scale and sharing the burden among a greater number of ratepayers in considered.

A supercity bid for the Wellington region failed in 2015, but the topic has resurfaced for the three Wairarapa councils, and for those in Wellington, Porirua, and the two in the Hutt Valley.

Baker is a supporter of amalgamating the region's four city councils.

She said the region was closely integrated but had too many inconsistent rules, services, and fees.

"We shouldn't have different rules; we are 15 minutes apart by car," Baker said. "So why are we not doing the same rules across the region?"

Amalgamating would bring about efficiencies, such as one layer of management rather than several across different councils and would unify and strengthen the region's advocacy, she argued.

"Let's just do it."

Issue being debated in South Island too

The amalgamation question is also rearing its head across the South Island, where conversations are beginning on the West Coast, in South Canterbury, and in Southland.

A vote on amalgamating Nelson City and Tasman District failed in 2012, but the topic has reappeared again in a region where the districts' border feels increasingly artificial.

Nelson mayor Nick Smith has previously said he's in favour of exploring the possibility of amalgamation.

"The Nelson and Tasman communities and economies are just so integrated, that it makes sense for us to explore a single council."

Tasman mayor Tim King said amalgamation would decrease rural representation in his district. Photo: LDR / Max Frethey

But Tasman mayor Tim King had concerns about rural voices in an amalgamated Nelson Tasman.

Amalgamation would see the "domination" of the district by the Richmond-Nelson urban area which would contain more than 70,000 people in a region of about 115,000, he argued.

"There will be a loss of rural representation. It's kind of just inevitable with the population driven process," King said.

He preferred instead to focus on finding efficiencies through shared services with Nelson.

The two councils currently cooperate in transport, sewerage, landfill, future development, pest management, emergency management, the Saxton Field sport complex, and more.

"There are plenty of other things we can continue to work on, providing jointly or collectively. If there are benefits on the financial side, that is where they're to be gained."

The coalition government's Local Water Done Well policy, which could see districts combine forces to create council-controlled water service delivery organisations, was another such opportunity to find efficiencies while retaining that local voice, King said.

Sarah Baddeley told council representatives they needed to consider structural change but added amalgamation wasn't the only option. Photo: Supplied / LGNZ

Sarah Baddeley, a strategic advisor at MartinJenkins with expertise in local government, believed that councils must make structural change in the face of a raft of challenges facing the sector.

"Doing nothing is not an option," she told hundreds of council representatives at the Local Government New Zealand conference on Friday.

Amalgamation was not the only route to efficiencies, she said, and that sharing services - between councils, but also with iwi, trusts, community partners, and the government - had to be explored.

"One size will not fit all."

Baddeley urged councils not to "kick the can down the road" and to start discussing options now.

"The communities can't afford it, and as a country… we can't afford it," she said.

"Your communities expect and deserve better."

Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.