Wairarapa’s three mayors say they are devastated their proposal to join together while staying separate from the rest of the region has been shot down in favour of a supercity – while the capital’s mayor says the plan will struggle to gain support.
The Local Government Commission is proposing the nine councils in the Wellington region, the Wairarapa and Kapiti Coast merge into the equivalent of a supercity.
Masteron mayor Lyn Patterson was disappointed the commission proposed the three councils be merged with the rest of the region.
“No reduction in rates or whatever... We’re quite capable of doing our own and providing our own services and meeting the needs of our communities. So really disappointed at the Local Government Commission’s draft proposal.”
South Wairarapa mayor Adrienne Staples said the commission’s idea was ludicrous.
“We have 75 percent of the [region’s] land area, in Wairarapa – huge area and five towns to cover so obviously it’s going to be difficult for people to access council services under this new arrangement.”
Mayor Celia Wade-Brown said the commission’s recommendation for “one uber-council Miramar to Masterton” would struggle to gain support in a referendum.
She said the proposal undermined the capital's voice as the economic powerhouse of the region.
Ms Wade-Brown said nine councils for a region of 500,000 was overkill, but a reduction to three or four councils may be more acceptable to the public and simpler than the present system.