‘It’s too early to say’: Government ‘backstop’ decisions not expected until next year

Tuesday, 19 May 2026

While councils scramble to meet the Government’s tight deadline for amalgamation plans, any decisions on forced mergers won't happen until next year.

Lower North Island councils are racing against the clock to come up with proposals to comply with the Government’s directive early this month to “simplify and strengthen local government in their regions”.

The announcement by RMA Reform and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Local Government Minister Simon Watts set the deadline for councils to submit reform proposals under the voluntary Head Start for August 9.

In the event no proposal is made, or is rejected, the Government’s backstop plan would kick in, but no backstop decisions were expected until next year.

The Ministers were asked what the Backstop would mean for councils who did not make proposals.

In response, a Department of Internal Affairs spokesperson said it was too early to say.

“Final decisions about the backstop process will be made by the Government in 2027.

“These decisions will be informed by lessons from the implementation of the Head Start pathway, what we heard during consultation on the original Simplifying Local Government proposals, and advice from officials.”

The spokesperson confirmed the backstop process would be used both for councils that failed to make a proposal and those whose proposals were rejected.

“The backstop process will apply to all territorial authorities that do not progress through the Head Start pathway.”

Final decisions about who would would design the backstop would also be made next year.

As the clock ticks down, at least one district’s mayor is pounding the pavement.

In a statement on Monday headed “Will our District cease to exist?”, Tararua mayor Scott Gilmore set out his plan to head to Pahiatua, Woodville, Dannevirke, Eketāhuna, Norsewood and others.

He said options included becoming part of a larger council covering the Horizons region, merging with Hawke’s Bay councils, creating one larger council with Wairarapa councils - and potentially Wellington councils, or another option entirely, meaning the district split up.

“If any of these options are unacceptable to our community, we could choose publicly to fight the current proposals,” he said.

Local government expert Andy Asquith said there were three most likely options for Wairarapa.

“The first one is we have a new council for Wairarapa consisting of South Wairarapa, Carterton and Masterton district councils,” he said.

“The second option is the Wairarapa is consumed by a new greater Wellington entity. I would suggest that would be the area essentially covered by Greater Wellington Regional Council.

“The final option is to do nothing.”

Asquith, a local government research associate at Monash University in Melbourne, said he suspected option two could be the Government’s preference.

“The Government believes bigger is better.”

He said if the councils did nothing, the status quo would prevail.

“How long it would prevail is open to question.”

Asquith thought the Government’s approach was disingenuous.

“What they’ve said to councils is ‘you sort this out, and by the way, you’ve only got 12 weeks to do it in’.

“Something like this needs to be considered over a longer term. If it’s a rushed job, it’s a botched job.”

While no announcements have been made, a consensus on possible options for Wairarapa appears to be building.

In an opinion piece on Saturday, Carterton Mayor Steve Cretney said the decision should not be rushed.

“However, Government has put a tight time frame on councils to present proposals for reform,” he said.

“As mayors, we are strongly committed to a unitary solution that will be a platform for local voice and decision-making.

“This could be a combined Wairarapa unitary, or a wider Wairarapa and Wellington unitary council.”

South Wairarapa mayor Dame Fran Wilde made similar comments shortly after the Government’s announcement.

“Our options are a Wairarapa unitary council or going with a Wellington unitary, but ensuring the model is changed so we get to run local Wairarapa issues,” she said at the time.

Wilde said the current legislation – the Auckland model – was deficient in that local boards did not have enough influence.

“The Government seems to have recognised this and will now enable bespoke arrangements,” she said.

Before the Government announcement, Masterton mayor Bex Johnson had confirmed discussions around amalgamation and structural options were already under way at a high level across the Wellington region.

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