Council leaders ready to tackle amalgamation talks with ideas already flowing
Thursday, 7 May 2026
Taranaki’s four council leaders will start the process of local government reform when they meet tomorrow, with all agreeing on the need to move fast before change is forced.
On Tuesday, Resource Management Act Reform Minister Chris Bishop gave councils just three months to work together and submit proposals to amalgamate, or have the Government step in and do it for them.
“Our message to councils is simple: lead your own reform, or we will do it for you. Either way, change is coming,” Bishop said.
The mayors of New Plymouth, Stratford, and South Taranaki, along with Taranaki Regional Council chairperson Craig Williamson, were all keen to work out a regional solution, rather than have a decision thrust upon them.
Williamson said various models were already being mooted but it was too early to say what would be best for Taranaki.
“We haven’t done the work yet,” he said. “It’s important we get busy looking at how best we can meet the criteria that has been set by the minister in delivery, functions and cost effectiveness, with as little overlap as possible.
“We are going to lead this – we need to step up as regional leaders and lead our councillors and councils towards finding the best solution for the region as a whole and everyone in it, all of our communities.”
He was relieved the end of regional councils, announced in November, had been moved to 2028, with the next local government elections to be held once the changes were in place.
He said the community would be consulted as part of the process.
“Taranaki is a great region and we all work really well together,” Williamson said.
“All our councils work alongside each other on many different services and projects. This is not insurmountable.”
New Plymouth mayor Max Brough said the mayors all agreed they would rather work together than have “someone from Wellington” make the changes.
“They’re giving us an opportunity to do it, to get it right … why would we not take that?”
The three-month time frame was tight in local government terms, but not in the world of business, he said.
“You adapt or die. They're asking us to come up with a reasonable plan that we probably can adapt as we go along.
“I think Taranaki will get a good outcome as long as we all work together.”
South Taranaki mayor Phil Nixon welcomed the opportunity for the councils to make their own decisions.
“I don’t think it’s bad news at all,” he said.
“It gives us a chance. The status quo is not an option, we have to do something, if we don’t decide what we want, it will be done to us.”
It would require time to discuss and work through the issues, Nixon said.
“Personally, I think that two councils would be a very good way to go – if we can have two unitary authorities in Taranaki, north and south, or urban and rural.
“Between us and Stratford, we have more community of interest, we are rural communities and obviously very different to urban New Plymouth.
“I think it would work very well.”
Stratford mayor Neil Volzke also favoured the idea of Stratford and South Taranaki forming a unitary authority separate from New Plymouth, although a single entity was also a possibility.
“South Taranaki and Stratford are similar, rural based, with small towns servicing a rural area.
“So we have similar councils and similar demographics and land use.”
Volzke said this was supported by the feedback both he and Nixon had received from their communities.
In March, in a move that surprised the mayors of Stratford and South Taranaki, the New Plymouth District Council appointed TRC boss Steve Ruru as its new interim chief executive, with the two roles concurrent.
At the time, Brough said his council had decided to front-foot the issue of impending local body reform.