One unitary authority for Southland following the regional council boundary is the preferred option from the majority of Invercargill City councillors, for its ‘Head Start’ proposal.
The ICC still has not yet received any confirmation of an intention from either Gore District Council or Southland District Council to participate in a joint proposal.
Representatives from all four runaka and one from Environment Southland were all present at today’s (July 23), council meeting to share their thoughts on the Local Government reforms.
Strategy, policy and engagement manager Rhiannon Suter said the Local Government Commission process is still the statutory process and will continue irrespective of the decision that council makes, on whether to continue to participate in the Head Start proposal or not.
“These two parallel process does create some confusion and complexity, but it also gives the Southland district a chance to think in-depth about things.”
Representatives from all of the Southland councils have been meeting regularly over the past month, as part of a working group to discuss the proposals.
There has also been feedback received from the community through engagement undertaken between June 22 and July 12 - but it was a shorter timeframe and only 90 people submitted.
Councils have until August 9 to submit a Head Start proposal in response to Central Government’s invitation for Territorial Local Authorities, to provide a local voice on how Local Government amalgamation should take place.
The current Government has announced that councils who do not submit will enter a backstop process, although the opposition have announced that they will not continue this aspect of the policy.
Cr Darren Ludlow made some interesting points about the challenges of moving past traditional delineations when looking at a restructure, such as the urban vs rural divide, rivers, and even rugby teams.
“But in the end we actually do hunt as one.”
He said if Southland was going to restructure, “then it needs to be more than boundaries. It needs to be the way we do business. We need to get over our traditional thinking a little bit.”
Councillors also supported a preference for a wards based electoral structure, based on the Freshwater Management Units, as well as Invercargill City and urban Gore.
They also agreed on the principle of an equal number of councillors elected between Invercargill and rural wards.
The proposal should include local boards rather than community boards in line with Local Government Commission position.
There was a clear division around the table about pushing ahead with the Head Start proposal - some councillors, such as Steve Broad, saying they needed more time, more information and more voice from the community and stakeholders, before they could make such a big decision.
“It's a poor decision making framework, it’s a flawed decision making environment, and for me it erodes democratic process.”
The council will now develop a draft Head Start proposal ahead of a final decision on whether to submit one, scheduled for August 6.