Single authority push ‘bit of a side hustle’

A bold proposal to combine Southland’s four councils has moved a little more slowly than its instigator hoped.

In August, Southland District Mayor Rob Scott shared his vision to amalgamate the region’s four councils into two unitary authorities: one district-based and one urban-based.

The cost-saving proposal was met with mixed reactions from mayors and councillors, as well as a scathing appraisal by a local government expert.

On August 26, district councillors gave approval for staff to gather more information so a proposal could be lodged with the Local Government Commission.

This week, Mr Scott said there had not been any tangible results, but indicated work was going on behind the scenes.

"We’re just working through what’s involved in the process and amongst the BAU [business as usual], which has been incredibly busy, so it’s kind of been a bit of a side hustle.

"Obviously, we dedicated some funding from that last council meeting and we’ll be dedicating a resource on to working through that. We just haven’t progressed that probably as quickly as I would have liked."

Mr Scott said he did not want the proposal to "sit on the shelf", but there probably would not be any movement before Christmas.

He believed the region was over-governed for its population of 100,000 with potential to save at least $10million a year by joining forces.

The three other Southland councils were contacted this week to find out what progress had been made with the district council’s idea.

Invercargill Mayor Nobby Clark said cost savings and shared services would not be fully realised unless all the councils shared accommodation — something he believed the district council was opposed to.

"I would personally support a single unitary authority, but others in Invercargill City Council support a two-unitary authority position that in 10 to 15 years could lead to a single unitary position," he said.

Any outcome was still four or five years away because of the Local Government Commission process, he said.

Environment Southland chairman Nicol Horrell said it was time to start with a "blank page" and approach things differently with local government.

"There is a lot of duplication, and there are a lot of areas that have been done traditionally by one entity or another, where it would make sense to put people together."

Similarly to Mr Clark, Mr Horrell felt shared accommodation was a good idea.

Gore District Mayor Ben Bell said his council had not been approached by the district council regarding its proposal.

■LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.