Are we about to see more unitary councils like Marlborough?

Friday, 5 December 2025

If you’ve seen a map of the areas affected by the Government’s proposal to scrap regional councils you would have noticed a big gap where the top of the South Island should be.

That’s because Te Tau Ihu’s three councils are all unitary authorities, with the powers of both a territorial council (a standard district council) and a regional council (like ECan or Greater Wellington).

Territorial councils provide services such as three waters, roads, waste, libraries, parks and recreation centres, economic development, town planning, and local regulations.

Regional councils cover the management of natural resources such as land, air and water. They cover biosecurity and biodiversity, prepare their regions for climate change adaptation, and manage their region’s public transport network.

Marlborough District Council, as a unitary authority, is one of only six councils in the country that does all of these things.

Mayor Nadine Taylor said the council’s operations would be unaffected by the removal of regional councils.

“Marlborough is a singular council delivering all the functions, and that has worked incredibly well for Marlborough,” Taylor said.

“It is efficient, it’s a one-stop shop. People know … no matter what the issue is, they can come to this council, they’re not sent from one to another.”

Marlborough became a unitary council in 1992, after the residents of Nelson, Tasman, Marlborough, and Kaikōura voted to abolish the Nelson-Marlborough Regional Council.

However, a narrow majority of Kaikōura residents voted to retain the old regional council, and Kaikōura District Council was kept as a territorial authority under Environment Canterbury.

Taylor said that with the Government’s proposal of regional reorganisation within the next two years, there could be more councils moving to the unitary model.

“I think that some councils will choose the unitary model and indeed in Southland, they’ve already been working on this before the government’s announcement, they were looking at potentially two unitaries.”

Taylor said a team from Southland had visited the top of the south councils to understand what a unitary council would look like.

But while the unitary model had worked well for Marlborough, it wouldn’t work everywhere, Taylor said.

“It works well for us because we're the right size and scale and we have unique geographic boundaries,” she said.

“The ECan region is so huge, the downside is if you had a single council covering a huge proportion of the South Island, your local decision-making and local needs of local communities may well get lost.”

What’s the chance of a Kaikōura amalgamation?

Part of the Government’s proposal was the Locally-led Regional Reorganisation.

This would give a new Combined Territories Board, made up of regional mayors, two years to plan how their territories could best deliver services to residents.

Options included shared services or council-owned companies across territories, or merging to become new unitary councils.

Unitary councils could opt in to the regional reorganisation plan, suggesting the door was open for unitary councils to amalgamate with territorial councils, such as Kaikōura.

The final sign-off on the reorganisation would be from the local government minister, instead of public referendum as previously required.

The idea of Marlborough District Council amalgamating with Kaikōura District Council had some support in the past.

In 2019, the East Coast Communities Organisation, a group of residents north of the Kaikōura township, asked the Local Government Commission if coastal settlements such as Clarence and Kēkerengū could break with Kaikōura District Council and join the Marlborough region.

The request came after a report that warned Kaikōura’s 3000-strong ratepayer base would be unable to foot the bill of the 2016 earthquake.

The organisation also voiced its support for the wider Kaikōura district to be fully absorbed into the Marlborough region.

At the time, Kaikōura District Council responded with a hard no.

That wasn’t the first time amalgamation had been suggested. In 2008, a petition signed by 13.8% of Kaikōura’s electoral voters asked for Kaikōura be amalgamated with Hurunui District Council.

Kaikōura mayor Craig Mackle told Local Democracy Reporting last Wednesday that he was open to anything that improved outcomes for Kaikōura residents, which could include amalgamation with Marlborough or North Canterbury.

Kaikōura council’s chief executive Will Doughty said it was too soon to say what would happen within the 'tsunami of changes'.

“We share a good relationship with both Marlborough and North Canterbury and we collaborate and work together where there's shared priorities,” Doughty said.

“I think we've got to look at all the options and consider whatever is best for the community.”

Taylor said she was open to discussions about amalgamation, but the ball would be in Kaikōura’s court.

“What we have to remember is that it's Kaikōura that puts its plan to the minister,” Taylor said.

“I'm not going to try and write another region's plan, that's for them as a council to talk to all of their people, and have that collective discussion as to what their future might be.”

Kaikōura and Hurunui councils announced they would form a joint Water Services Organisation in March, and implemented a new joint IT system in July.

Marlborough would form its own water services organisation but had left the door open for other councils to join.

A combined Hurunui-Kaikōura council would have about 11,800 rateable properties, while a combined Marlborough-Kaikōura council would have about 30,200 rateable properties.

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