He said it was important people knew there would be no intention to force a bad idea on anyone.
"We would go out and simply survey the people who live north of Napier and pay their rates to Hastings and say 'what do you want to do?'," he said.
"And if they want to stay paying their rates to Hastings, that's fine.
"All we are saying is we should look at the opportunity of possibly making more sensible boundaries in Hawke's Bay."
He said there would be no rush applied to that, as it was a move that would need to be done properly.
The announcement has been met with considerable resistance from Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule, who said the ink was still wet on the last reorganisation proposal, one which the region found quite difficult.
"My understanding is to do this would require another reorganisation proposal, so it is not just about surveying the people," he said. "If you actually want to take half of a district off another authority it's not a boundary adjustment, it is a major reoganisation - which has to follow the same process we have just followed for the last three years."
He said caution needed to be exercised about major structural changes because people had said they didn't want structural changes: they wanted to do shared services.
Beyond the reorganisation, Mr Yule said the cost to Hastings ratepayers had to be taken into account.
"At the end of the day some of our rural ratepayers make a significant contribution, not only to our roads but actually to a whole lot other things - whether they are parks, libraries ... all those sorts of things as well. They don't just fund roads.
"So we need to understand the implications as they affect Hastings. We need to sit down and, if this is a serious proposal, then we need to understand the implications of that, including the analysis of that type of thing
"It is not something you can just sort of wake up one morning and say "his is a good idea'.
"There is actually a major process around it under current law as I understand it, to make it happen."
Despite Mr Yule's misgivings about the proposal, Wairoa Mayor Craig Little said the move could benefit Hastings District.
"I think so, I think it will take a lot of burden off Hastings - to be quite honest, they wouldn't have such a big rural area to worry about," he said.
"There is no way it is going to be a hostile takeover or anything.
"It is just going to be put out to let the public know and if they are keen, I would say Napier would put it to the Local Government Commission."