Amalgamation

Amalgamation: no. Reducing bureaucracy cost and aligning synergies: yes.

There are clear opportunities in both local and central government to reduce layers of

expensive bureaucracy and bring costs down.

Cutting costs:

As mayor, I will expect the Chief Executive to show that every opportunity to reduce costs

has been fully explored.

Abolish regional councils:

If central government is truly serious about the cost and complexity of local government, it

should abolish regional councils immediately. They could be replaced with a lean branch

office of the Environmental Protection Authority, focused purely on natural environment

policy and monitoring. Local councils would then take over the functions genuinely needed

for their communities, forming working parties to resolve cross-boundary services.

Removing this costly bureaucracy – which continues to expand through endless joint

committees and working parties – would bring significant savings to ratepayers and allow

faster, more efficient decision-making.

Shared services where it makes sense:

The four local authorities across Hawke’s Bay each represent distinct communities of

interest, with different economic and development needs. Full amalgamation would ignore

those differences. However, there are sensible opportunities to combine back-office

functions.

Libraries, payroll, building consents and many corporate service activities could be delivered

through shared service arrangements. Each community would pay only for what it actually

uses.

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