Under present law, a final amalgamation proposal from the commission can only be rejected if it is opposed by a majority of voters in a poll held across the entire affected region.
Last month the Napier, Wairoa and Central Hawke's Bay Councils played a pivotal role in putting a remit about the issue on to the agenda of Local Government New Zealand's annual meeting, to be held next month. The remit calls on LGNZ to drop its current neutral stance on amalgamation and lobby the Government for the law change proposed by the LDC.
But this week, Ms Bennett pre-empted the remit by writing to LGNZ to say the Government did not support the proposed law change.
She was responding to a letter from LGNZ president and Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule, who wrote to the minister about the issue after it was raised at an LGNZ meeting in April.
Mr Dalton said he was not surprised by the minister's response, given her Government changed the law in 2012 so that polls were taken over the entire area affected by a proposed amalgamation.
He said he was heartened by the fact that at Wednesday's meeting politicians from three opposition parties - Labour, the Greens and New Zealand First - had indicated their support for the change proposed by the LDC.
Hastings District Council supports amalgamation and Mr Yule said he believed the current law was democratic because everyone in an affected region could vote on whether an amalgamation went ahead.
"I have no particular issue with the law personally. A lot of my members in Local Government NZ do and I'm advocating on their behalf. I understand why some communities feel threatened by it," he said.
The Local Government Commission resumes its hearings in Hawke's Bay next week. It will hear submissions in Waipawa on Tuesday, Napier on Wednesday, and Wairoa on Thursday.
