‘Supercity’ back on table as council bosses agree reform inevitable

Thursday, 24 July 2025

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Council bosses are telling the Wellington region’s ratepayers that local government reform ‒ and possibly amalgamation ‒ is inevitable.

“It’s as plain as the nose on your face that councils aren’t financially sustainable and change needs to happen,” Hutt City chief executive Jo Miller told The Post.

Government-led changes were already pushing the region to a co-ordinated approach and much in the region was already interdependent – from jobs to education to labour and supply chains, she said.

“Councils can either determine their own future or run the risk that others decide it for them … I wouldn’t be doing my duty if I didn’t raise this and make it clear to those who will be elected to lead the city in October.”

Hutt City voters will have a referendum at the October elections on whether staff should explore amalgamation options “which combine relevant services and functions, while keeping appropriate local services and decision-making local”.

“Like many others, I am of the view that the current form of local government with all the financial challenges faced across the country is not sustainable beyond the short to medium term,” Miller wrote in her pre-election report.

She pointed out Wellington’s councils were set up in a 1989 local government reorganisation and the region had changed significantly since then.

However, any decisions would sit with the next council, she said.

Nigel Corry, chief executive at Greater Wellington Regional Council, said amalgamation of some form was now “inevitable”.

This could range from a super city like Auckland through to shared services, he said.

“We have eight councils for a population of just over 400,000 people. As we have seen in Auckland, a larger entity has the ability to influence government direction and focus significant resources on key priorities – this region would benefit from a stronger voice to champion our highest priorities,” Corry told The Post.

A previous attempt between 2012 and 2016 to amalgamate all Wairarapa and Wellington councils failed but the latest talk has removed Wairarapa from the equation.

And the discussion, which seems to be gathering urgency, is for Wellington’s city and regional council, Hutt Valley’s two councils and Porirua councils to become one.

It would create a mega council with a population of 435,000 –crowning Wellington the second-most populous city council after Auckland.

Since the last attempt at amalgamation, much has changed. Councils have essentially been removed from providing water, there are planned replacements to the Resource Management Act and planned government legislation to rein in council spending on non-basics. Locally, historic rates rises and mounting infrastructure cost pressures have put councils under immense pressure.

The fact the calls are coming from council chief executives rather than elected members means the ideas will survive regardless of the outcome of the October council elections.

Porirua voters will face a similar referendum to Hutt City at the October elections.

Porirua City Council chief executive Wendy Walker this week said the significant local government changes meant councils had to consider how they were run “including the possibility of amalgamation and quite different forms of delivery”.

And new Wellington City chief executive Matt Prosser said numerous reports over two decades had highlighted issues with affordability for councils and he expected it to be a discussion for the next council term.

Upper Hutt Council chief executive Geoff Swainson talked of the “unprecedented change” as councils dealt with government reforms and how this could result in shared services or amalgamation.

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