[As published in May/June 2026 BayBuzz magazine.]

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat. “I don’t much care where—” said Alice. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat. “—so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added.

These days, our councils are largely focused on getting their 2026/2027 budgets through the hoops. This work has been relatively routine, with councils discovering ways to propose lower rate increases than were anticipated in their most recent Three-Year Plans. 

The 2026/27 Annual Plans will be the last year covered by the Three-Year Plans, which were developed in the chaos of Cyclone Gabrielle recovery. So now the councils are all gearing up for the more in-depth planning that will determine funding priorities and requirements for the long term. 

Other than the ‘hiccup’ of Cyclone Vaianu, which triggered a burst of civil defence activity, the first months of the year have been relatively placid, except perhaps for Napier. 

Napier dysfunction 

After six months, Napier has gotten its internal politics sorted, at least for now. 

A veteran councillor, Graeme Taylor, has been installed as Deputy Mayor, the third and hopefully last in this term. 

Not that disagreements on policy matters will disappear, or should. That would be unhealthy. The biggest of these to surface, setting aside Mayor McGrath’s ill-fated attempt to eliminate Māori representation on the council, is the mayor’s opposition to Napier entering the new regional water services agency. 

As BayBuzz reported online, Mayor McGrath believes that whereas water is Napier’s “number one priority”, a regional agency would have Napier “relying on others to prioritise our needs”. He claims that savings from consolidation fall within “the margin of error”, if believable at all. 

He challenges the effectiveness of regional approaches in several other areas – buses, civil defence, policing, health services. “All have failed,” he claims, “Why should the community expect this to be any different?” 

All summed up by: “This is the start of amalgamation by stealth, where we become a minority.” 

However, he was outvoted 8-4 on the matter, so Napier City Council remains joined at the hip with Hastings and CHB Councils. NCC Councillors Graeme Taylor and Keith Price have been appointed to represent Napier on the Shareholder Representative Forum through which the three councils/shareholders will provide political oversight. 

Of course NCC doesn’t have a monopoly on fractious council behaviour. In Hastings, Councillor Steve Gibson is determined to be a one-man wrecking ball. A political hero of mine famously said: “Don’t offend in style when you can offend in substance.” Councillor Gibson has shown no sympathy with that advice, indeed seems to prefer the contrary. 

Water services agency 

The three participating councils have each endorsed the bureaucratic steps required to actually incorporate the new water services agency (HB Water Services Council Controlled Organisation, HBWSCCO) and establish its accountability processes. CHB Council endorsed unanimously and HDC approved with opposition only from Councillors Steve Gibson and Simon Nixon. 

The governance oversight to be provided by the Shareholder Representative Forum includes: 

• Monitoring the performance of the HBWSCCO 

• Providing input into the Water Services Strategy and annual budget 

• Preparing the Statement of Expectations 

• Appointing and reviewing the performance of the Board 

• Providing coordinated feedback and recommendations to shareholders 

Obviously a heap of inter-council politics will be played out in the above! 

The three councils have approved a $14.2 million budget (plus $3.35m contingency allowance) to pay for the detailed transition planning and implementation work for the new regional water agency, which will begin operation on 1 July 2027. 

The nuts and bolts work for the new agency is led by Chris O’Reilly, a cofounder of AskYourTeam consultancy. 

Local government reform

As we reported in March/April BayBuzz, our councils made submissions on the Government’s Simplifying Local Government proposals, and both sides of the table have gone dark on the matter.

The Government simply says that it is reviewing the submissions, with no date set as I write for presenting its decisions.

And whatever our Hawke’s Bay Mayoral Forum (our four mayors, HBRC chair and their chief executives) is doing to fashion a reorganisation plan is being done behind closed doors, with former Hastings mayor and amalgamation champion Lawrence Yule retained to advise. 

Ironically, Wairoa Mayor Craig Little is current chair of the Mayoral Forum, and his views on reorganisation are the least supportive for any structural consolidation in the region. He argues his case elsewhere in this edition.

Even if the Government enacts a local government reform bill in the next few months, I would expect ‘mum’s the word’ on reorganisation from the Mayoral Forum until after the national election, when our local leaders can assess whether different expectations might emanate from Wellington.

Given the oppositional views of Mayors Little and McGrath, and the tilt toward ‘cooperate’ (versus consolidate) evidenced in past remarks by CHB Mayor Will Foley and Hastings Mayor Wendy Schollum, it’s hard to imagine any ‘radical’ reorganisation proposal coming from HB’s political leadership, unless it is demanded by Wellington.

In the meantime, the HB Regional Council, targeted for termination, is making a concerted effort to remind ratepayers that its responsibilities and functions are the most important to the viability of the region – reducing flood risk, supporting water security, and promoting land and water health.

Mayoral Forum

Speaking of the Mayoral Forum, it remains a mysterious operation, and not just with respect to the reorganisation issue. Its Terms of Reference include responsibility to:

• Lead region-wide strategy, advocacy and joint positions on matters of common interest; 

• Identify, prioritise and coordinate regional work programmes, including shared services; and, 

• Oversee development of regional proposals and transition plans to align with government reform. 

Back in February BayBuzz put a series of suggestions to the Forum regarding its transparency and accountability:

• Will the Forum henceforth publicise its meeting dates, and provide meeting Agendas and Minutes to the public? 

• Will papers and work commissioned for the Forum be made public?

• Will the Forum invite deputations from members of the public, as councils currently provide for in their Standing Orders?

• Will the Forum generally operate with the same openness recommended by the NZ Chief Ombudsman with respect to council ‘workshops’? [The Ombudsman’s advice treats open meetings as the default practice, with exceptions for personal privacy, commercial or legal sensitivity.]

• Will the Forum publish its budget arrangements and any costs associated with commissioned work?

We received informal assurances that these steps were ‘favourably received’, but no official commitments have been made. And no changes in behaviour have occurred. We’ll keep pushing. The latest Mayoral Forum was scheduled for 28 April (days after this edition went to press). We’ll report any new developments in our weekly e-newsletter, The BUZZ. 

Speaking of opaque, HB also now boasts a mysterious ‘Interim Regional Office’ (HBIRO) that is picking up some of the chores of the now-dissolved HB Regional Recovery Agency. Regional Council briefing papers indicate the IRO will operate as a standalone business unit of HBRC, using the existing RRA organisational and legal form. Led by former HDC and RRA chief executive Ross McLeod, IRO seems to be the same people at the same desks. Overseen by the non-transparent Mayoral Forum.

Tasks of the HBIRO are: 

Provide support to regional leaders to develop Hawke’s Bay’s approach with political parties in preparation for the 2026 General Election period. This will also include planning for advocacy and engagement following the General Election.

• Support initial work on Regional Reorganisation Plan concepts. Regional leaders have indicated a desire to start considering and discussing their ideas and community preferences for consideration as part of the Regional Reorganisation Plan envisaged in the Simplifying Local Government proposal. 

• Continue meeting Recovery obligations on behalf of Councils. There is still some recovery work that needs to be carried on. The legally binding NIWE (2023) Hawke’s Bay Crown Funding Agreement sets out responsibilities for the RRA in terms of a Delivery Plan and programme management oversight and monitoring, support for programme governance arrangements and related issues management.

Finally, in case anyone is wondering, the HB Regional Economic Development Agency is dead, gone.Just when we need a regional energy strategy and a plan to ensure the viability of the region’s agribiz sector.

This all seems to add up to a sort of rudderless drift at our local political institutions. 

Or a quiet wait to see what crumbs might fall to HB when the Government’s May budget appears or indeed when the next Government is formed? Or just the calm before a storm?