Talk in the Bay of Plenty about joining Tauranga City Council and the Western Bay of Plenty District Council has made the headlines recently.
It has been bubbling along unseen for some years now as our various local bodies position themselves to make the best case for merging the disparate areas.
I'll state now that it will take some convincing for me to back that course of action.
I oppose it on several fronts.
Firstly the loss of more democracy: Because the bigger a bureaucratic organisation the less they listen to the people who pay their salaries or, in the case of politicians, elect them. TCC is clearly quite big enough.
More staff means the chances of getting lost within the system increase, as does the opportunity of more places to hide things you don't want the public to know.
Then there is the matter of cost, although this is unlikely to worry the paper shufflers because expense rarely is noticed by those who spend other peoples money.
Take a look at Auckland the SuperCity. Amalgamation of its various local councils was going to save it money.
What do we find? The debt has gone from a combined $4 billion to something about $8 billion and growing fast. The savings in reduced staffing levels have actually turned out to be a gain of 2000 public servants to be paid for by much put upon ratepayers.
In the Bay of Plenty we have two massively indebted councils, both of which are looking at ways to belatedly rein in spending and get more money in.
Western Bay is reportedly the eighth worst council in the country for debt and Tauranga is sitting unprettily at the fifth worst.
Western Bay ratepayers have a public debt hanging over their heads of almost $9000 each, while Tauranga ratepayers owe almost $10,000 each.
You have to ask who is pushing for an amalgamation.
I have a sneaking suspicion that much of the plan is to unlock shares in the Port of Tauranga and divvy them up between the various councils in the region.
The biggest danger is by cracking open that exceptionally valuable nest egg the proceeds wont go on reducing debt, but will be blown by increased spending. Its time to switch on people and realise just how important debate on this amalgamation push is for you and your future.
Not to mention for your wallets.
So don't get railroaded into anything by the National Government, big interests or council empire building, it is our Bay and we all have the right to decide its future.
Put your right hand up if you are a regular user of Papamoa Beach.
Now if you are an art lover, or maybe need that certain special something to set off your home, then put up your left hand.
I'm not going to ask you to jump up and down on one leg, but I will suggest you hop down to a very cool charity art and sculpture show starting this coming Saturday.
It is on at the Lockwood Oceansider show home at 26 Tatahi Cove, Papamoa, and is a great chance to see some excellent pieces provided by the Lightwave Gallery.
The shows gold-coin entry fee is being donated to the Papamoa Surf LifeSaving Club.
The surf club does a magnificent job guarding our beach and does so with very little in the way of official funding. So we should all get behind the club and help out where we can.
I spent most of the past summer shooting a photo essay on the surf club and I was really impressed by the professionalism and dedication of the volunteers who keep our beach users safe.
They are a terrific mob and if you want to see a snapshot of what they do via some pretty cool pictures (if I say so myself) then there is my audio-visual show on at the showhome as well.
Okay, its not part of the artists show, but I do have my own little gallery ... in the garage. Check it out and support our surf lifesavers.
Richard Moore is an award-winning Western Bay journalist and photographer.
Richard@richardmoore.com
