Hawke's Bay's two smaller district councils have hit back at the Local Government Commission over its claims they are economically unsustainable and would be better off under an amalgamated super council.
In a "position paper" released this week, the commission updated its proposal in favour of merging the region's four territorial local authorities - Napier City, Wairoa, Hastings and Central Hawke's Bay district councils - along with Hawke's Bay Regional Council, into a single unitary Hawke's Bay Council.
The paper says projected population declines within large parts of the region over the next few decades raise concerns about the ongoing viability of some councils.
"As a result of these trends, population and social and economic activity are increasingly concentrated in Napier City and parts of Hastings District, with the opposite occurring in Wairoa and Central Hawke's Bay Districts," the paper says.
"The councils in the latter areas may be able to 'tread water' for a few more years, but this situation is not sustainable. It will lead to significant infrastructure deficits and declining levels of service, or ever-increasing debt and rates charges rising beyond the ability of the declining and ageing community to pay."