Basil Morrison, chairman of the Local Government Commission.
A binding region-wide poll will be held before the end of the year to decide whether Hawke's Bay's five councils will be amalgamated.
The Local Government Commission effectively pulled the trigger on an amalgamation referendum this afternoon, releasing a "final proposal" in favour of establishing a single Hawke's Bay Council.
In reaction Napier Mayor Bill Dalton, who is an opponent of amalgamation, said: "This is disappointing, but not surprising. The LGC has always been on a pre-determined path. They have not listened to the communities of Hawke's Bay in reaching this decision."
"The majority of the people in the Hawke's Bay region do not support this amalgamation proposal. All today's announcement does is create further division," Mr Dalton said.
Rebecca Turner, the chairman of pro-amalgamation lobby group A Better Hawke's Bay said "this is the right decision for Hawke's Bay".
"There has long been demonstrable support from Hawke's Bay people for change to our governance structures. One council will mean we can stop the constant duplication, in-fighting and waste of our ratepayer funds and focus on growing the region and ensure Hawke's Bay residents get the best possible co-ordinated council services," she said.
Anti-amalgamation groups now have 60 working days to rally opposition to the proposal. They need to get 10 per cent of registered voters in one of the region's existing territorial local authority areas to sign a petition demanding a poll in order for the referendum to take place.
Local Government Commission chairman Basil Morrison said a final proposal had been issued because there was "community support" for a reorganization of the region's local government structure.
Commission chief executive Sandra Preston said it was "now up to the people of Hawke's Bay," through the process of seeking a poll, to decide whether the proposal went ahead.
"Results of a poll are binding and require a simple majority for or against the final proposal to determine the outcome," Ms Preston said.
The commission said a poll would be held sometime between September and December, depending on when a valid petition was received.
Under the commission's proposal, a Hawke's Bay Council would be created late next year to replace Napier City, Wairoa District, Hastings District, Central Hawke's Bay District, and Hawke's Bay Regional Councils.
The new council would be a unitary authority, responsible for both regional council and territorial authority functions. Its decision-making responsibilities would be shared between a governing body and five local boards.
The council governing body will consist of a mayor elected by voters across the region and 18 councillors elected by voters in five wards, with the same boundaries as the local board areas: Wairoa, Ngaruroro, Napier, Hastings and Central Hawke's Bay.
In its 52-page final proposal document released today, the commission said the local boards, comprising a mix of councilors and elected local board members, would "provide a strong community voice in local affairs".
"Broadly, the local boards will be responsible and democratically accountable for identifying and responding to local interests and preferences in agreement with the governing body," the commission said.
"In practice, local boards will be responsible for governing local amenities such as parks, libraries, swimming pools and town centres."
The commission's amalgamation proposal was sparked by a proposal it received from A Better Hawke's Bay in February 2013.
The commission released its draft proposal - with plans for a single Hawke's Bay council comprising one mayor, nine councillors and five community boards - in November 2013.
After consulting on the issues last year it issued an updated "position paper" in November with changes to the draft proposal including a doubling of the number of councillors to 18.
In February this year the commission released a report it said showed Napier City Council and Wairoa District Council have under-invested in core infrastructure to the tune of tens of millions of dollars when compared with neighbouring local authorities Hastings and Central Hawke's Bay.
The commission said the findings supported its argument that the four councils - along with Hawke's Bay Regional Council - should be amalgamated with debt from each existing area "ring-fenced" for six years.
The report infuriated the Napier and Wairoa councils who said claims they had under-invested in infrastructure such as roads and sewerage systems were inaccurate and biased.
In March a survey commissioned by an anti-amalgamation group found 63 per cent of the region opposed amalgamated - although a slight majority in Hastings favours the idea.
The online poll of just under 1000 people was commissioned by Hastings Against Amalgamation and drew responses from across the Bay's four territorial local authority areas roughly in proportion to their relative populations.
Also in March a polling company hired by the commission carried out a 2000-household telephone survey throughout the region which the commission said it would use as part of its decision making ahead of its next move.
The commission said today it would not release the results of its survey until the amalgamation process "reaches a conclusion and there is no chance of the results impacting on the community's decision on the final proposal".