An online survey has revealed many Bay of Plenty residents back a single unitary entity to replace the regional council and six territorial authorities.

The result differs markedly from feedback received by Eastern Bay district councils, which favours an Eastern Bay-only subregional entity.

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council conducted an online survey about local government reform between June 29 and July 12.

The survey found 59% of the 267 participants favoured a single unitary authority, according to an interim report released on the council’s website.

Of those who chose the option, 47 (17%) were from the Eastern Bay, which is a reasonably accurate representation of the Eastern Bay portion of the Bay of Plenty population.

Protecting the environment and maintaining joined-up regional services were the key priorities for respondents in future council arrangements.

Two other models dividing the Bay of Plenty into three subregions – Eastern Bay, Western Bay (including Tauranga city) and Rotorua, with or without the support of a regional delivery entity – received negative responses by 68% and 64% of respondents, respectively.

Regional council chairwoman Matemoana McDonald said the survey results showed strong support for outcomes that delivered benefits across the wider Bay of Plenty region.

“Our communities have told us that protecting and improving the environment must remain the top priority, regardless of what changes may occur to local government structures,” McDonald said.

“People also want services delivered at the most effective level and expect good value for money. These findings highlight the importance of ensuring any future reform continues to support strong environmental outcomes and efficient service delivery.”

Feedback received by the Whakatāne, Ōpōtiki and Kawerau district councils directly contradicts these results.

The clearest “no” to a Bay of Plenty-wide unitary council has so far been heard from Kawerau, New Zealand’s smallest district by area at 24 square kilometres.

Kawerau District Council, with its population of 7000, had 325 pieces of feedback, between June 6 and mid-July, including 235 survey responses, 21 emails and 69 social media responses.

While 80% of responses urged the council to fight any form of amalgamation, the absence of this possibility resulted in the same percentage opting for joining with Whakatāne and Ōpōtiki to form an Eastern Bay subregional entity.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council chairwoman Matemoana McDonald says survey results show strong support for outcomes that deliver benefits across the wider Bay of Plenty.

Kawerau’s council and its staff have gone to great pains to explain to the community that staying with the status quo was not a choice central government would allow.

At a public presentation on July 21, Mayor Faylene Tunui likened Kawerau to a “reluctant bride at a wedding”.

The first message the council had been given by the Kawerau community after the Government introduced the reform options on May 5 had been – “to ‘fight, fight, fight’. ‘No to amalgamation’”, Tunui said.

Some of the feedback had been from former Auckland residents who had experienced that region’s transition to a large unitary council and did not want to see the Bay of Plenty go the same way.

“‘In fact, that’s why we moved to Kawerau, away from Auckland,’” she quoted them as saying.

Only 2% of feedback was in favour of a Bay of Plenty model and another 2% was for joining Western Bay, while 12% supported joining Rotorua Lakes.

Becoming dwarfed by the larger populations in Tauranga, the large debt levels of other councils and cost were reasons given for opposition.

Debt levels per household for the six Bay of Plenty councils were highlighted at the public presentation.

Kawerau council’s debt per household was the lowest in the Bay, at around $1300.

Ōpōtiki district’s was next lowest with $2000, while Western Bay had $6400, Whakatāne $9800, Rotorua Lakes $14,500 and Tauranga City $21,100.

When asked how this could be managed, Tunui said she had been told by a National Party MP that it would be “simple”.

“Just ring-fence finances between councils, like in a prenup marriage.”

Having a strong local voice, decision-making and accountability and fair representation rated higher in importance than cost savings in the Kawerau survey.

Full results of Whakatāne District Council’s feedback has not yet been seen, but a briefing on July 17 reported 100 pieces of feedback so far, mostly in opposition to a full Bay of Plenty unitary model.

Respondents’ concerns were loss of voice, visibility and influence within a Tauranga-dominated structure.

Ōpōtiki District Council has not released any figures on its feedback, but Mayor David Moore has said verbal feedback to elected members has been “extremely vocal” in favour of an Eastern Bay subregional amalgamation.

All councils have remarked that the short timeline to get a proposal submitted to central government by August 9, just three months after the pathway was announced, has made it impossible to properly consult with communities as they would wish to.

The regional council stated that because participation was voluntary and self-selecting, the survey should be considered indicative of community views rather than statistically representative of the regional population.

No decision has yet been made by Eastern Bay councils as to whether they will submit a proposal to the Government’s Head Start pathway.

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