Mayor furious at secret council merger talks

A local body scuffle has broken out in Wairarapa with claims South Wairarapa was deliberately cut out of talks over plans for a single Wairarapa Unitary Authority.
South Wairarapa Mayor Adrienne Staples is outraged over talks her counterparts in Masterton and Carterton Garry Daniell and Gary McPhee had on the wider district's future, and so are her councillors.
Mrs Staples said she only learned of the talks to unite Wairarapa by amalgamating its district councils and the Wairarapa division of Greater Wellington Regional Council last week.
The whole idea is " crazy" anyway, she said, but more to the point was the exclusion of South Wairarapa from any involvement in talks.
Tentative plans to achieve a unitary authority had apparently gone as far as soliciting the support of Wairarapa MP John Hayes and opposition local government spokesman John Carter.
Mr Daniell would not talk about the furor yesterday, saying only he would not be commenting on the issue and Mr McPhee said the discussions had been "of an informal nature" while the two men were travelling together or at functions.
"We are adults and we can discuss whatever we want."
At a closed meeting of Masterton District Council on Wednesday Mr Daniell was taken to task by his own councillors for the clandestine way the issue had been handled.
Mrs Staples said on learning the two men had been discussing a change to the face of local government in Wairarapa she had immediately alerted each of her councillors, and had penned letters to the chief executive officers of both Masterton and Carterton district councils.
"Both the chief executives told me that neither council had initiated this, it was purely down to Mr Daniell and Mr McPhee."
Mrs Staples said when she had tackled Mr McPhee about it he had told her South Wairarapa was not included as she had never shown support for the proposal in the past.
"I told him it was not up to me to decide what the future should be for South Wairarapa, it was down to the council and the community."
Mrs Staples said she told each of her councillors individually what the two mayors had been planning.
"They were all pretty annoyed and even more annoyed that the idea seemed to have the support of our local MP."
A unitary authority is "just crazy" and completely different from just an amalgamation of the three districts.
"It would involve taking over the regional council role and all that goes with it like flood control, pest control, public transport and the rural water strategy."
Mrs Staples said just amalgamating the three district councils is light on reasoning.
"I have yet to speak to anyone who can clearly show us any advantage that would come of it."
Mr McPhee said initially he was opposed to the idea of a unitary authority but had been swayed by his constituents as he repeatedly heard the idea mooted in the community.
"When you are 5 and your parents tell you to eat cornflakes because they are good for you do you keep eating them until you are 80, or till you die or do you stop and reassess your options?
"Logic dictates you don't do the same thing forever."