Manawatū mayor hits out at Government’s ‘heavy-handed’ reforms

Manawatū mayor Michael Ford has joined other local leaders to speak out against the government’s threat of forced amalgamations, which he believes goes against the “localism” political parties campaigned on.

Ford said the Head Start Pathway reform would “be a fiscal detriment” for Manawatū ratepayers and he was disappointed by this unexpected move from government.

Last week the government offered councils a three-month window to produce a proposal to create larger unitary authorities.

This was not compulsory, however, the government said those who didn’t partake would undergo reforms through a compulsory “backstop process” after the 2028 elections.

The National Party promoted localism while in opposition and during election campaigning, but was now forcing regionalism as part of government reforms, Ford said.

He was surprised the coalition government had not “learnt from Labour’s errors” when the previous government faced a public backlash and council criticism after proposing compulsory regional water amalgamations under Three Waters.

“The backstop option is vague, and the government have not yet set criteria apart from using the words ‘compulsory amalgamation’.

“This is particularly heavy-handed and unwelcome.”.

Ford said he backed councils who wanted to voluntarily amalgamate, but he called the three-month time frame ludicrous and felt disappointed the Government was toying with the idea of compulsory council amalgamations.

It was “most unlikely” Manawatū District Council would want to engage in the reform as it would negatively impact local decision-making, local control, local accountability, local democracy, and localism.

The council had begun modelling possible amalgamation pathways, but Ford said his preference was for councils to remain standalone authorities with shared services or joint council-controlled organisations, and for locals - not central government - to lead the decision-making process.

In the Tararua district, mayor Scott Gilmore released a statement sharing a similar sentiment.

“To be blunt, this approach feels like an affront to localism, which this government campaigned on. Local voice matters… the reform must reflect that, not work against it,” he said.

“What was originally a considered process to work through options like shared services or structural change has now been compressed into a very tight time frame, with a clear signal pointing toward large amalgamated unitary authorities.”

Gilmore said it was clear local government needed significant reform, but the quick nature of this reform meant there was risk of undermining any potential progress.

When approached by Local Democracy Reporting, Gilmore said due to the scale of the decisions having to be made through this reform, they needed to make decisions within the community.

Tararua District Council had begun planning town hall meetings across the district, including in coastal areas, to give everyone an opportunity to share their view.

In the press release announcing the reform, RMA Reform and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Local Government Minister Simon Watts said several mayors were ready for such change and this reform gave them the opportunity “to get on with it” without waiting for councils which were less eager.

Aotearoa had 78 city and district, regional, and unitary councils. This number was labelled as too costly, too complex and too difficult to navigate by the current government.

“Our message to councils is simple: lead your own reform, or we will do it for you. Either way, change is coming,” read last week’s press release.

Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith was approached by LDR, but he did not wish to comment on how his council would react to this reform.

Smith’s spokesperson said the reform had been discussed at a recent mayoral forum with Kapiti and Horowhenua mayors and a joint statement would be made soon.

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