Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell says there is no strong interest in merging the entire Bay of Plenty region. Photo / Laura Smith
A future Bay of Plenty super council dominated by Tauranga is “incredibly unlikely”, Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell says.
It comes as rural leaders are concerned major local government reform could dilute smaller communities’ voices.
Western Bay of Plenty Mayor James Denyer said this was a “huge concern” for his district, Tauranga’s only direct neighbour.
The Government’s reforms aim to simplify local government by reducing duplication and encouraging larger, more efficient unitary authorities.
Councils nationwide are racing to develop reorganisation proposals within a 90-day deadline.
They have until August 9 to submit voluntary proposals for the Government to consider, or risk decision-making being taken out of their hands.
Federated Farmers warned against any restructuring that sidelined rural and provincial districts.
In February, the rural advocacy organisation proposed regional councils be replaced with unitary authorities. It suggested a split into urban and rural governance models to streamline local government, improve efficiency, and better represent communities of interest while easing rate pressures.
Federated Farmers Bay of Plenty president Brent Mountfort said councils had a “very short runway” to act or risk decisions being made by Wellington.
The sheep and beef farmer warned that a single council for the region could be dominated by Tauranga, the biggest city.
He suggested a Tauranga authority alongside a combined unitary model for Western and Eastern Bay could be “very effective”, leaving Rotorua to decide whether to join that merger or form its own unitary council.
Tapsell rejected the likelihood of a Bay of Plenty super-council scenario.
She said discussions between Bay of Plenty mayors had so far focused on locally tailored “sub-regional” models rather than a single overarching authority.
“It’s incredibly unlikely,” she said. “There’s no strong interest from our councils or communities to merge the entire region.”
Tapsell said she was “not confident” of any benefits from becoming a “super region”
“We would lose local decision making, ownership and leadership,” she said.
She said rural and provincial councils were “very different to metro cities” and that it was “really important” small populations did not “lose their voice”.
Tapsell said it was important reforms did not undermine the desires of smaller districts.
She referenced Reporoa, which is in Rotorua district near the Taupō border, but falls in the Waikato Regional Council area, rather than the Bay of Plenty.
She said she would continue engaging with other councils and the Government as proposals developed, with final recommendations expected to go back to communities for feedback before any changes are made.
“It takes a lot of work to not only merge districts, but also all of our functions and systems,” she said.
“So realistically, the timeframe is only enough to put forward options, which will then be tested with communities.”
Federated Farmers Rotorua-Taupō president Braydon Schroder said it was “great to hear” Tapsell downplaying those super-council concerns.
“We will not support a council re-organisation that lumps provincial and rural communities in with a large metropolitan area where provincial priorities and voice will be drowned out by representatives of an urban voting bloc,” Schroder said.
He said such a plan would only do everyone a “disservice”, with the needs of urban and rural areas being “very different”.
He said no councils should sit the discussions out.
“Drive your own destiny, rather than having it decided for you by the Government,” he said.
He said local government reform had long been a priority.
“It’s time for a rethink,” he said, highlighting three waters and resource management reform programmes as perfect timing.
“It makes sense to ensure that the structure of our local representation is right to deliver services, infrastructure and regulatory roles moving forward.”
Western Bay of Plenty Mayor James Denyer said rural representation being lost in a larger Tauranga-led structure was “a huge concern” for his district.
Denyer said Western Bay communities would need to be carefully considered in any future governance model.
“It is something that we’re looking at very carefully,” he said.
“If we were involved with Tauranga, they would obviously have a lot more people and a lot more say, and our voice could be lost.”
He said the Western Bay was considering a range of possible governance models as part of early discussions with other councils, including sub-regional arrangements and different district combinations.
“There are quite a few options out there,” Denyer said.
The council would be hosting “community conversations” for Western Bay residents to share views from May 25 to June 14.
Denyers said the tight timeframe “makes it harder” to get a full picture.
“We as a council would like to hear the views of our community before making our proposal or indeed not making one,” he said.
“It’s not going to be possible to do a formal consultation, but we want to hear community views because our rural communities absolutely need to keep their voice.”
Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in the UK for eight years.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.