Lower Hutt mayor backs plan for Wellington super-city merger

A proposal to merge at least nine councils in the Wellington region into one super-city has the backing of Lower Hutt's mayor.Mayors are considering a plan from consultants MartinJenkins that could involve merging Wellington city, Porirua, Kāpiti, two Hutt Valley and three Wairarapa councils, and Greater Wellington regional council.Horowhenua District Council might also be involved.The unitary Wairarapa-Wellington council would be headed by a regional mayor and consist of unitary councillors and community council chairs.It would be in charge of regional responsibilities such as transport, emergency management, rates, large-scale planning and environmental protection.Community councils, which have not existed before, could oversee pools, libraries and grants. The idea is that people could vote for the councillors on the five community councils.Ken Laban told Morning Report the layer of community councils would protect local voice.The MartinJenkins proposal involves five community councils, which could represent Wairarapa, Kāpiti Coast/Horowhenua, Porirua, Hutt Valley and Wellington.Laban said the current MartinJenkins proposal was a "very good one"."Our community have been very strong in the establishment of community councils, with locally elected leaders - be they mayors or chairs - tasked with the responsibility of ... protecting those assets ... clearly libraries, swimming pools, other local assets and projects are a significant part of it."Lower Hutt City Council had also produced its own suggestion for amalgamation that involved combining nine councils, without Horowhenua, made up of 19 members and with six community councils sitting beneath that.Laban said both models were similar and there were a range of views between mayors and councillors throughout the region."I can't speak on behalf of the other mayors. We're all dealing with multiple personalities on our councils who all have their own views, and I think our Lower Hutt City Council we have some that are in support, some that are ambivalent, and some that are opposed because they want the status quo to continue."He doubted amalgamation would immediately lower rates, although he thought it would ultimately result in a "leaner" operation.Wellington deputy mayor Ben McNulty previously told RNZ no decisions had been made on the MartinJenkins proposal and exactly which regions were a part of it was still being discussed.South Wairarapa mayor Dame Fran Wilde said the three Wairarapa councils were still considering their options about whether to join in with Wellington or go it alone with their own amalgamated council."There is some reluctance on the part of Wairarapa people - they think they might lose their voice in Wellington ... so that's what we're working on, arrangements around the voice and representation - they're the big issues for us," she said.