Lawrence Yule
Undemocratic is how Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule described the proposed boundary reorganisation by the Napier City Council.
The reason the mayor will be challenging this proposed change is it is identical to the amalgamation process - minus the final poll.
"This is one of the things I am going to challenge," he said.
"Napier has been on record as wanting to do things in a democratic way where people can have a say.
"Well actually under this particular proposal there is no vote.
"If it is a boundary adjustment, the Local Government Commission (LGC) makes a decision that is not appealable by vote, it is a final decision."
Mr Yule said the proposed survey by Napier City Council (NCC) would be hard to conduct, because people needed to know what they would be surveyed on, and this would remain unknown until a final proposal was put on the table.
In addition to this, Mr Yule said a survey was more complicated than just a decision to move the boundary between Napier and Hastings.
"For instance we have just adopted our district plan which covers all the rural areas, all the planning rules, all the regulations," he said.
He asked, how would Napier accommodate this, would the city council modify their own plan?
"This is not simply about actually we are going to take a piece of land from Hastings and we are going to put it on to Napier," he said.
"And the people who live in those areas will want to know the implications of this. So a survey is a long way off I would think."
Mr Yule said the real issue is what the rural people want in terms of what they get from the council.
"I am a rural mayor, I have a rural background and we have always tried to look after our rural communities and I think that is the issue everybody needs to reflect on," he said.
"I think the judgement that will need to be made and I am very keen to hear what the people think."
While the mayor will support whatever decision his constituents make, a proper robust discussion needs to be had around the implication of either option.
He said with this now on the table, he fears it will be used to divert attention away from shared services - which the mayors and chairs pledged to work towards at their last Mayoral forum immediately post-amalgamation.
"If we are not careful we could end up on some boundary adjustment that goes through a whole local government process and takes two years," he said.
"And we take our eye off the ball of some real tangible things that could be done right now, following a bit of study, it doesn't require the LGC approval we can set up a structure."
He said he was aware of Commissioner Sir Wira Gardiner paying the Bay a visit next month having been invited to a meeting with him.
He said as he understands it, the meeting was called so the LGC could debrief with the leaders post-amalgamation and discuss what the commission was doing in New Zealand to move forward. "I am sure a boundary adjustment will be discussed but the commission is bound by the current law," he said.
Mr Yule said in the meantime he is meeting with his councillors and the Rural Community boards, so they can assess their options.
"We have tried to regroup [post-amalgamation] and say we are getting on with our business as we always have," he said.
He said they will use the time to consider the talking point in more detail.
"What we have been careful to do is talk to the LGC to understand the rules and clearly it is not a simple process, and at the end of the day it is not a democratic process either, because the commission gets to decide [on the outcome]."
