Governance costs 'wasted', says Mark

Carterton Mayor Ron Mark has reiterated his fear that time and money poured into the Wairarapa governance debate may end up being totally wasted.

As D-Day looms for a decision by the Local Government Commission on what it believes is the best way forward, Mr Mark is convinced the commission will opt for a "super city" model which will be firmly rejected by the people of Wairarapa.

That will mean reverting back to the status quo with little likelihood of the issue re-emerging for many years, throwing months and months of work and hundreds of thousands of dollars to the wind, he says.

Mr Mark, who this week rejected suggestions he was trying to return to Parliament as a New Zealand First list MP, said he had an "overwhelming" feeling the commission had "lost the plot".

"That saddens me, if we are faced with an unrealistic option the public will not swallow and other options are lost."

Mr Mark said at the start he had wanted Carterton to remain as it is, describing the accessibility of ratepayers to councillors and officers as being a "Rolls Royce version of local government".

He said it had taken a lot of time and thought by the three mayors to arrive at a position where they were prepared to have one mayor heading a Wairarapa Unitary Authority.

Likewise it taken a lot of thought and effort to bring 28 councillors to a position where they were willing to accept their numbers being cut to 12.

The expected super city model marrying Wairarapa with Wellington would be "roundly rejected" by a poll of ratepayers.

"Some people have their heads in the sand and they don't talk to the real people, so they really haven't got a clue."