Kerre Woodham: Is there a case for amalgamation?
About this episode
The episode discusses the government's ultimatum to councils regarding amalgamation and the differing views of local mayors on the issue.
Government ministers gave councils an ultimatum yesterday: come up with your own plans for amalgamation within three months, or the Government will do it for you. Local Government Minister Simon Watts and RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop said there was broad support from councils – some were already gung-ho and proceeding with plans to amalgamate. One of them is Nelson Mayor Nick Smith. He's long held the view that merging with Tasman is the right thing to do for his city and cites common interests and unnecessary duplication. Back in 2012, Nelson voted in favour of amalgamation, Tasman voted against it. Tasman Mayor Tim King still prefers an arranged marriage – he wants to wait for the Government's backstop process, which would force reform before the 2028 local elections. King says he'd rather have central government just do it, decide on the country's local government model, rather than have all the arguments that come with trying to hash out, thrash out these sorts of governance arrangements for themselves. As King pointed out, the biggest problem councils face right now is financial pressure, and amalgamation won't necessarily save money, and it won't necessarily make…
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