Waikato District voted yesterday to adopt a Western Waikato Unitary proposal to put forward to Central Government, as part of their council merger program.
The vote was unanimous with Mayor Aksel Bech saying , “Today’s decision is in some ways the most significant milestone since 1989 when the Waikato District Council was formed. No matter the decision we land on, the very nature and shape of Waikato District Council will cease to exist, and something else will come in its place.”
The Western Waikato model is based on all-of river governance, from the head waters of Lake Taupo to the sea at Port Waikato. Waipa and South Waikato District Councils have also voted to support the proposal.
Hamilton City Council will be voting today to either support the proposal or make no submission at all. Their preferred option of a smaller council where urban needs are the central focus is now no longer possible.
Meanwhile Taupo District appears set to refuse to cooperate with the entire process with Mayor John Funnell stating they’re going to “fight tooth and nail” against the Western Waikato Concept.
In an article in the Waikato Times where he was compared to George HW Bush, William Wallace and Che Guevara, Mayor John said that, “Waikato, Waipa and South Waikato would see Taupo as a cash cow… using our stronger financial position to bail themselves out.”
The article also says Mayor John claims the district’s debt will balloon from $900 per rating unit to nearly $9000. This contrasts with data supplied by Waikato District Council that shows Taupo’s debt is already around the $9000 level and that Waikato and South Waikato appear to be in a better financial state.
WDC staff say their debt-per-rating unit figure was provided by Taupo District Council using their own internal data.*
When approached for comment Councillor Mike Keir appeared perplexed by Mayor John’s comments while Mayor Aksel Bech confirmed that Taupo’s Mayor has been made aware on “multiple occasions” that the intention is to ring fence the debt of each council involved.
Ultimately the decision will fall to Local Government minister Simon Watts who will be deciding the fate of all the council plans as part of the Simplifying Local Government program.
In local sport the Whaingaroa Whai Rugby League teams season came to an end with a loss in the Waikato Senior A semi final last weekend going down 34 – 30 to the Taharoa Steelers in Raglan last Saturday. Taharoa will go on to face Hauraki Tigers this weekend in the grand final.
Meanwhile The Raglan Roosters Football team had another loss last weekend and are still at the bottom of the Sunday Football league division 1 table. This weekend’s game is crucial as they will be playing the Vikings who are one spot above them on the table but equal on points. The match is likely to decide who gets the wooden spoon and will face relegation to the second division. The game is being held at 1pm at Hillcrest Park in Hamilton on Sunday.
*Waikato District Council’s full statement on the council debt figures:
“The debt-per-rating unit figure in the paper published by WDC in the data explorer was provided by Taupo District Council, using their own internal data. The $9,523 debt-per-rating-unit figure was calculated using figures supplied by: $237 million of debt and 24,887 total rating units. The other council’s debt figures were drawn from official data sources.
We cannot confirm the basis of the numbers discussed in the media release. The modelling also does not determine how debt would be treated under any future amalgamation. The Western Waikato Unitary Authority proposal, discusses that the detail design phase need to consider how financial matters are effectively managed to ensure communities are not unfairly disadvantaged.”