Editorial: Leadership team work imperative

Bill Dalton

In May I challenged our mayors and MPs to work together on a provincial economic plan.

I suggested they should not wait for the amalgamation referendum as we needed unity whether or not the local governance landscape was changed by the poll.

We received positive feedback from readers who said they were tired of our leaders squabbling and wanted to see them working together.

In response to my editorial, Napier Mayor Bill Dalton posted this comment on our website:

"Again this editorial proves that the HB Today is not up with the play. The meeting you are calling for took place a long time ago. The intersectoral group was set up many months ago. It is chaired by Lawrence Yule and made up of the 4 HB mayors, the chair of HBRC, our MPs and heads of organisations such as Ngati Kahungunu, the DHB, police and other Government agencies. Every single member of that group will tell you that we all work well together in the best interests of Hawke's Bay."

Last week we discovered that the Hawke's Bay Intersector Leadership Group meetings have not been attended by everyone or viewed as such a success by all. Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Peter Butler admitted he had not attended the meetings and derisively called them a "talkfest".

In Saturday's paper, Mr Dalton blamed the "nonsense around amalgamation" for diverting our leaders' attention away from the group. He did say that things were now starting to get done.

If so, that is good. However, if amalgamation does not go ahead, we will expect our leaders to commit to regular meetings that achieve results.

If amalgamation does go ahead, the onus will be on our current mayors and MPs to ensure they don't hinder the implementation and work of a new local structure.