Wairarapa lined up for super city

Mayors, Carterton's John Booth (front), Masterton's Lyn Patterson and South Wairarapa's Adrienne Staples prepare to 'throw' the Local Government Commission's documents into Wellington harbour.

An attempt to convince the Local Government Commission that Wairarapa should govern itself has failed with news yesterday the plan is to incorporate the district in a new Wellington super-city.

The commission has released its decision, calling for public submissions on its draft proposal, with a deadline of March 2 next year.

The super-city proposal would take over the functions of the existing nine local bodies: Masterton District Council, Carterton District Council, South Wairarapa District Council, Upper Hutt City Council, Hutt City Council, Wellington City Council, Porirua City Council, Kapiti Coast District Council, and the Greater Wellington Regional Council.

A single mayor would be elected at large and 21 councillors - two from Wairarapa - would make up the governing body responsible for high-level decisions affecting all of Wellington.

Local boards would be set up in all districts, a Wairarapa board having 10 members controlling council budgets and making decisions on lesser Wairarapa matters.

In short, the commission turned down the concept of a stand-alone Wairarapa council, saying it was not satisfied such a council would have the resources to effectively carry out all local body functions.

Commission chairman Basil Morrison said the shared decision-making model with local boards was the best of several options considered.

"Local boards ensure the 'local' is preserved in local government ... Board members would be elected to speak for residents from defined areas and, in turn, would govern those areas with their own budgets and certain powers."

He said many aspects of local government had worked well until now. "But we also recognised there are limitations, inadequacies and challenges.

"Perhaps most importantly, strong economic and cultural factors interconnect the region and give it a common future goal. There is a case for change. We have proposed a structure of local government to best meet the needs of the people of the entire region over the next 30 years," Mr Morrison said.

Key points of the draft proposal for a super-city include:-The elected members would be one mayor, 21 councillors and 60 local board members. Wellington is now governed by nine councils with eight mayors and one regional chairman, 95 other councillors, 57 community board members, and nine chief executives. It has a population of fewer than 500,000 people.-The administrative headquarters would be in Wellington City, with area offices in Porirua, Paraparaumu, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt and Masterton. Smaller service centres would be in Waikanae, Otaki, Martinborough, Greytown, Featherston and Carterton.-Local boards would have powers and budgets for parks and reserves; recreational and community facilities; arts and cultural facilities and libraries; community and cultural events; decisions about public spaces such as town centres and main streets; community grants; local transport, waste and recycling facilities; and local economic development initiatives.-Decisions about how to handle the transition to a single rating system would be left to the new council, with an integrated rating system coming into force on July 1, 2019. Rates would be based on capital value. -The Wairarapa local board would have 10 elected members and the two Wairarapa councillors would be appointed to the board to ensure good communication and co-ordination.-As with all the local boards, the Wairarapa board would have a chairman whose position would be a fulltime job. Other board members would be expected to devote 25 hours a week to their role and salaries would be set independently by the Remuneration Authority.-Two formal structures would ensure Maori participation in decision making - a Maori Board and a Natural Resources Management Committee. The two bodies would have a joint membership of council and iwi representatives. They would advise council on environmental and resource management issues, regional planning, and treaty settlement matters.-The first elections for the new Greater Wellington Council could be held in October 2016 if the draft proposal proceeds through all its next steps, which could include a public poll.-Public submissions on the proposal close on March 2, 2015.