Wairarapa councils vote to merge

It's official. The three councils are going for the single unitary authority. After Masterton's seven to four vote, Nathan Crombie and Vomle Springford detail how it went down for Carterton and South Wairarapa.

Carterton district councillors have fallen on their swords in a "sad and poignant moment" in the town's history, says Carterton Mayor Ron Mark.

Councillors voted unanimously to support a Wairarapa unitary authority at a special council meeting on Tuesday.

Mr Mark said the decision was historic for a town "that has in one form or another managed and governed itself for over 150 years".

"It was quite a sad and poignant moment - we did pause and reflect - to be voting on something so significant that pretty much signals the end of Carterton's own council and ability to govern itself."

Mr Mark, who is a member of the Wairarapa Governance Review Working Party, said that during the past 20 months of the working party and "the stacks of reports and studies", his preference for a Wairarapa unitary council had been constantly reinforced.

In contrast, he said, there was division regarding governance review and Wairarapa for the Greater Wellington Regional Council.

He said the working party "had not always been entrenched with one view" and a key moment included a workshop led by local government experts Morrison Low that "crystallised a lot of people's thinking" about governance review in the region.

He said a visiting delegation from the Tasman District Council in September last year had also been a watershed moment for the working party.

"The workshop was key to reinforcing the idea, especially given our combined district plan, that some things will not get Mayor:

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better for Wairarapa until we are one."

Mr Mark said lobby group Better Wairarapa were a "small but vocal" organisation pushing for the Supercity option and the group included some members "it could be argued, who are driven by self-interest".

"We're agreed that this proposition is the best given the circumstances we are facing and given the threat to the level of representation for Wairarapa that comes with the Supercity option."

Mr Mark said legislation regarding governance review and a central government move to slash the number of territorial authorities had always meant a small-town provincial authority like Carterton would be "one of the first against the wall".

"I think everybody knows there is a bullet that can't be dodged and a choice must be made.

"This is the best proposal on the table and I think people do believe that this will enhance the development of the Wairarapa as a whole.

"And everybody's got to give something up. It's not just about Carterton. The same is true for South Wairarapa and that's the way it is."