Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale is pushing for “tough” amalgamation conversations between Bay of Plenty councils, saying people see what’s needed but are not “prepared to act”.

Other mayors are open to exploring efficiencies but say any amalgamations must not be rushed.

Drysdale said there were seven Bay of Plenty councils, meaning seven head offices and chief executives as well as duplications of services such as transport delivery.

He said there were opportunities for efficiencies at a time when councils faced “huge” cost pressures.

“You could take out significant cost and probably get a better organisation to deliver some of the infrastructure, etc that we actually need.

“What we’re hearing is rates are becoming unaffordable, and we need to find ways to get them lower.”

Councils needed to be proactive and have “tough conversations” before central Government legislated amalgamation, he said.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon recently said he was open to scrapping regional councils amid Resource Management Act (RMA) reforms.

Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty councils partnering was a “no-brainer” Mayor Mahé Drysdale said. Photo / Mead Norton

Drysdale said people were often worried about losing local democracy and decision-making if councils amalgamated.

In his view, there were decisions people thought they needed to be part of the process, but didn’t.

“If your water comes out [of the tap], it’s safe to drink and it’s as cheap as possible, I don’t think you care who delivers it or how it’s delivered.”

Input into a local playground, however, was probably something people should have, he said.

“It’s trying to get that balance right of what do you actually want to make decisions over and what can be done at a bigger scale."

Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale said a balance was needed between ensuring local decision making and providing services efficiently. Photo / David Hall

He said New Zealand’s local government system was no longer “fit for purpose”, with 78 councils: 11 regional, 11 city, 50 district, and six unitary authorities (regional and city/district combined).

On Monday, Tauranga councillors will be asked to back a Local Government NZ remit calling for a review of local government arrangements to achieve better balance, put forward by Drysdale.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council as a partner for Tauranga was a “no-brainer”, Drysdale said.

Discussions were needed about whether linking with councils such as Rotorua, Whakatāne, Kawerau and Waikato’s Matamata made sense, he said.

“I think everyone can see what we need to do, but no one’s prepared to act.”

Western Bay of Plenty Mayor James Denyer. Photo / John Borren

Western Bay Mayor James Denyer said Tauranga and Western Bay councils should work more closely on shared services, but remain separately governed.

“Tauranga City has a population of 160,000, we have 60,000 so if we join together, I think the voice of the smaller towns and the rural communities would be rather lost.”

Government RMA reforms and Local Water Done Well meant staff in those areas might be amalgamated, creating savings, Denyer said.

While some regional council duties - public transport, consents - might sit better with city/district councils, a “holistic view” was needed.

“If you start taking functions away from a council you’ve got to start asking how viable it is.

“If the people want it [amalgamation], then I’d be happy to consider it, but at this point I don’t feel that it’s something my community are keen on.”

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said councils should not be afraid of change when it made sense for their communities.

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell. Photo / Laura Smith

“It needs to have very tangible benefits and importantly no unintended consequences.”

Amalgamation discussions should not be rushed into, she said.

Mergers of polytechnics and district health boards into single entities were “quite harmful” to community outcomes in Bay of Plenty, Tapsell said.

“Because of negative experiences like that it is difficult for our communities to have immediate confidence that going bigger will be better.”

She was open to exploring how councils could be “smarter and coordinate their efforts more”.

Any mergers should follow “natural” alliances, such as Tauranga and Western Bay, the three Eastern Bay councils, and the lakes areas of Rotorua and Taupō, Tapsell said.

“I do support efficiencies where it’s practical, we do have to tread very carefully to not disadvantage … the people we represent.”

Iwi and hapū should be included in discussions as significant landowners and to consider tribal boundaries, she said.

In June, Rotorua councillors asked staff to begin exploring unitary options with neighbours.

Tapsell said this was in response to Government reforms, and any resulting decision would be consulted with the community.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder. Photo / Andrew Warner

Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairman Doug Leeder said the RMA reforms would equally affect regional councils and local authorities.

There would be one regional plan for the Bay of Plenty instead of six and an environment module, he said.

Before councils looked at amalgamation, work was needed to understand where and how services were best delivered - nationally, regionally and locally - to inform the debate, Leeder said.

A 2014 Futures Project with Bay of Plenty councils found efficiency opportunities with shared IT systems or a joint building consent authority, but only one council was prepared to look at it, Leeder said.

“Here we are 10 years later and we’re still having the debate, which is not very sensible.

“The opportunities to work sub-regionally or regionally have been on the table for a long time but the appetite to actually do it has been wanting.”

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.