HB’s councils have retained two facilitators to help sort their reorganisation options in response to the Government’s Head Start ‘invitation’ – Lawrence Yule and Malcolm Alexander. Yule is well known as a long-serving Hasting mayor (and Tukituki MP); most relevant to this assignment, Alexander served eight years as chief executive of Local Government NZ.  

They have been collecting intel and listening for weeks now, and visited each territorial council in the last week or so to share information on the concerns they are hearing from stakeholders and  to outline emerging principles to guide any Head Start reorganisation proposal to the Government.

And importantly, to begin testing the waters with councils regarding what kinds of actual options might be feasible. In other words, herding the cats.

Three basic structural options are on the table at this point, and councils are presently consulting on them.

Option 1. Do nothing. If our territorial authorities do not agree, by 9 August, to submit a plan (or plans), the Government has made clear it will dictate the new structure, with every indication that a single unitary council is their aim. Given that, it behooves our local politicians to swallow their pride and local tribalism and shape and submit a plan that best suits HB’s needs.

Defaulting to Option 1 should be grounds for impeachment of those elected officials responsible. 

Option 2. Split the region into two unitary councils, North and South. The boundary most mentioned between the two would be the Tutaekuri River between Napier and Hastings. This option is only slightly less dumb than Option 1.

Most of pages of arguments against this option fall into one of three categories:

1. Duplicate mini-regional ‘operations’ would need to be structured and staffed into each of the North and South Councils to handle the huge land and water management functions of current HBRC, which in reality must be addressed on a catchment-wide basis. To say nothing of the programmatic stupidity of such an arrangement, it compounds the redundancy the Government is determined to eliminate.
2. Fails to capture, let alone optimise, the efficiency gains that would accrue from amalgamating the Hastings and Napier Councils, whose routine operations affect and cost (and often confound and frustrate) most of the population and businesses of the region on a day-to-day basis. Moreover, it fails to track the hugely important ‘3 Waters’ consolidation that NCC, HDC and CHBDC councils are already establishing.
3. Fails to provide one voice – with one set of priorities – to engage with and lobby central government in the best interests of Hawke’s Bay. Have proponents of N/S Hawke’s Bay learnt nothing from the success of the HB Recovery Agency after Gabrielle?

Each of these three downsides could be vastly expanded in detail. And for those reasons fly in the face of what Government aims to achieve … and frankly, will actually accept.

Nevertheless, we do have some elected ‘leaders’ – as best I can tell, only from Napier and Wairoa – advancing Option 2. One can only hope that their present advocacy is merely a temporary negotiating ploy and not a measure of wisdom.

And so, given their insistence, the powers-that-be have decided to consult on this option, as unrealistic as it is.

Option 3. A true unitary council. In this case, at least Hastings, Napier and CHB would see the light. Wairoa either parks its stubbornness and joins voluntarily as a partner in the region’s Headstart proposal … or is ‘inserted’ when the Government renders its verdict on the HB plan. Various permutations of the unitary council option are being examined.

I have included here the presentation just made by Yule/Alexander (who are supported by a working party of senior officials that meets weekly) to the councils. In it you can see a much fuller picture of what is being considered and the issues and principles involved. 

Structure aside, thorny discussions around vote weighting, boundary adjustment, local boards, debt and investment management, rate-setting and more are occurring as part of this ‘facilitation’ process, but nitty gritty details would await Government approval of an outlined amalgamation.

As just one example, here is a chart from the presentation suggesting how – in the interest of ensuring some level of local voice and control in a single unitary structure, current local functions and activities might be allocated.

For now, the goal is simply (!) getting the contours of a HB amalgamation plan over the line and accepted as a Headstart proposal. Details to follow.

You can weigh in.

Napier City Council’s consultation survey continues until Friday, July 10 on sayitnapier.nz. NCC is conducting a public amalgamation conversation evening at 6pm on Monday, July 6 at the Napier War Memorial Centre.

Hastings District Council’s consultation and survey continues until Sunday, July 12 on myvoicemychoice.co.nz.

CHB’s consultation options are here.

Wairoa Council’s consultation process is here.