Vote split on merging Bay councils

Tom Belford

Hawke's Bay Regional Council is split over the issue of amalgamation, with three of eight councillors voting against a submission opposing plans to merge the region's local authorities.

In its submission to the Local Government Commission, finalised at yesterday's monthly meeting, the council says it does not support the amalgamation proposal because it does not believe it provides sufficient certainty on resource management issues for Hawke's Bay.

The commission has proposed the region's three district councils (Wairoa, Hastings and Central Hawke's Bay) along with Napier City Council and the regional council be merged into a single "unitary" super council.

In its submission, the council said ongoing resourcing and prioritising of natural resource management was vital for the ongoing economic development prospects of the region.

The submission said the council was concerned that under a unitary authority, funding for resource management activities would be given a lower priority than "territorial authority activities" - the work currently undertaken by the region's city and district councils.

It suggested that if amalgamation did go ahead, dividend payments from Napier Port, which is owned by the council, should be "ring-fenced" to pay for environmental functions such as air quality control, biosecurity and regional resource management planning.

It also recommended the establishment of a "natural resources board" to provide oversight for the regional council functions that would be undertaken by the super council.

The draft proposal, originally drawn up by regional council staff, had been considered by three council committees this month, resulting in amendments to its contents, before it was finally voted on at yesterday's full council meeting.

The motion to approve it in its final form was opposed by three of eight councillors at yesterday's meeting: Tom Belford, Rex Graham and Peter Beaven.

Mr Belford, a member of pro-amalgamation lobby group A Better Hawke's Bay, told the meeting he did not accept that the regional council was the only organisation capable of protecting the region's environment.

Mr Beaven said the submission came across as an attempt at "self preservation" by the council.

The regional council's ninth councillor, Rick Barker, was not at yesterday's meeting when the amalgamation issue was discussed.

Mr Barker is a supporter of amalgamation.

Mike Mohi, the chairman of the council's Maori committee, told yesterday's meeting Maori members of the committee were supportive of the council's submission and would be making their own submission to the commission along similar lines.