The Government’s three priority areas for these deals were economic growth and productivity, critical infrastructure, and affordable, quality housing.
Hawkes’ Bay Regional Recovery Agency Independent chair Blair O’Keeffe said Hawke’s Bay’s united approach to recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle positioned the region strongly to capitalise on a regional deal.
“Councils and other key stakeholders have been working on collaborative approaches to key infrastructure challenges for some time now,” O’Keeffe said.
“It’s been made clear this Government wants to deal with regions, not with individual councils, and that’s a message we have taken on board.”
Hastings District councillor Damon Harvey said Hawke’s Bay councils needed to “seriously relook” at amalgamation and suggested that the model for amalgamation could look different to what was proposed in 2015.
“The last time [amalgamation was discussed] was in 2015 and there were plans for high debt even back then. Now those high debts are across all councils.”
He said some of what the Government asked of local councils now was “amalgamation by stealth”.
“They are asking us to come up with a regional water infrastructure investment delivery programme. They are offering regional deals to five regions and 100 per cent Hawke’s Bay will want to be one of those, so there are already two parts to amalgamation.”
He believes there was a greater appetite for amalgamation in places like Napier that were previously opposed to it.
“I’ve been approached by Napier people on the sideline of sports fields saying ‘Why aren’t we amalgamating?’ Surely that needs to be on the table.”
Sixth-term Napier councillor Keith Price said he had not heard any talk about amalgamation and discussion was only around shared services at this stage.
“I wouldn’t discount discussion about amalgamation [in the future],” Price said when asked what the general appetite for amalgamation was like.
He said he could not give a definitive answer about his stance on amalgamation at this stage.
“I quite like Napier being Napier, but I am open to further collaboration.”
When asked if council collaborations for a regional deal meant amalgamation was back on the table, a Hawke’s Bay Recovery Agency spokeswoman said the answer was “no”.
“There are no proposals in existence around amalgamation so in answer to your question as it stands, it is not on the table,” the spokeswoman said.
Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise said in the Hawke’s Bay Recovery Agency statement that Hawke’s Bay was in a strong position to push for a regional deal, shown in the region’s co-ordinated approach to Local Water Done Well and its proactive work in the housing space after the Kāinga Ora review released earlier this year.
“On the back of Cyclone Gabrielle, the region works more collaboratively than ever and as councils we are united in our approach to building back a more prosperous Hawke’s Bay,” Wise said.
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council chair Hinewai Ormsby said issues like water security needed to be solved collaboratively and suggested that could be progressed as part of a regional deal.
James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on the environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz
