But Gore District Mayor Ben Bell was notably absent from the debate and said yesterday although the idea was worth throwing around, he wanted to see the financial figures, which appeared to have been picked ‘‘out of thin air’’.
About 30 people attended the meeting at the Gore RSA to hear about the proposal, which would merge the four different councils in the region into two larger authorities.
Under Mr Scott’s vision, the Gore and Southland District Councils would merge into one unitary authority.
The Invercargill District Council would remain in charge of the city, with both proposed entities taking parts of Environment Southland.
Mr Scott, though, was on the front foot at the meeting on Tuesday night, citing yearly savings to the tune of $10million and a more efficient council system in Southland.
However, when it came to the cost and timeline of implementation, Mr Scott said he did not have the figures at this point in time.
‘‘How long is a piece of string? It would be remissive to say the transition wouldn’t cost money.
‘‘But I would be able to put my hand on my heart and say it would pay for itself quick and the transition would not cost more than $10m.
‘‘The first question to ask would be if the community wants it, to get that part across the line.
‘‘It will take as long as we let it take.’’
Mr Scott said the proposal would quickly create more efficient systems.
‘‘There is no question about it — you will be doing half the number of annual plans, district plans, representational views.
‘‘If I have a dog in Balfour and my friend has a dog in Gore, do we need two separate laws? Do we need two separate consultation pieces?
‘‘The savings and efficiencies — it doesn’t take long to get to the $10m mark,’’ Mr Scott told the meeting.
Mr Bell, who was unable to attend the meeting due to prior commitments in Waitangi, said he was cautiously interested in the proposal.
‘‘I think it’s a worthy conversation. I am just fearful of selling ratepayers dreams and pretending it won’t cost a whole lot of money to amalgamate,’’ he said.
Mr Bell was in Waitangi representing Otago and Southland as the Zone 6 representative after being invited to attend by Local Government New Zealand.
There was a critical lack of evidence to show the estimated $10m of savings.
‘‘I guess I’ve seen those numbers. I don’t particularly believe them and I would ask what the cost is.
‘‘I don’t think it’s as simple as they are making it out to be. They haven’t done any financial modelling.
‘‘From what I can tell, they’ve just picked a number out of thin air. Until we see the numbers, it’s all just wishing and dreaming really,’’ he said.
Mr Bell said he was only notified of the meeting on Tuesday morning and he would like to see the two councils come together to discuss the issue.
‘‘To be frank, there hasn’t been a council to council meeting. It’s all just been meetings with the public.
‘‘He’s entitled to have those conversations, but I think it would be better to talk council to council to come up with an actual proposal.’’
