'Panic slowly': Waipā and Hauraki mayors’ first steps forward after Government amalgamation notice

Friday, 8 May 2026

Two more mayors in the Waikato have reacted to the Government’s announcement that local councils have three months to submit an amalgamation proposal, with one surprised and wondering where the cash is to make it happen.

Waipā District Council mayor Mike Pettit labelled the announcement as a “surprise”, with the timeframe provided to be an early mover caters for a “panic slowly” mindset.

He said the first thing he noted after the announcement there was no money attached from central Government. He added Waipā District Council (WDC) had recently written to ministers asking for funding but Pettit isn't holding his breath.

'It would be nice if they're serious and there's costs involved for councils to do this properly, particularly if they want this done in such a short period of time.“

'Plucking money out of nowhere is not really feasible. Like the Government, admittedly, for the territorial authorities around here finances can be a struggle.'

He said at this stage, all options of how the council will move are on the table, noting he wants the community’s best interest to lay at the heart of all decisions.

“The intent from the Government is quite clear [that] pretty much status quo is not the preferred model… there's more than one model for us to be looking at is my expectation.'

'I don't know how it's going to work from here but my anticipation is there'll be scenarios put forward, counsellors will discuss those and then my anticipation is then we go to the Waipā community and go 'what do you think'?'

We'll digest it, we'll work through it as a council but one thing I will say is as the mayor, I will not be making any decisions.'

The three month deadline provides a crunch, Pettit said, and he was unsure if it’s enough to consult thoroughly with the community.

'Without doubt I personally would like some more time to do this correct and that's what we have to decide; 'is this enough time for us to do this correctly'?'

Hauraki District Council mayor Toby Adams held a different perspective, saying the key message surrounds how there can be an “amalgamation of services” rather than councils as a whole.

He added these sorts of conversations have been happening 'for a while' and added the decision itself shouldn't come as a shock to anyone, rather the timing 'is always a bit hard for people to wrap their heads around'.

“I don't think amalgamations as a whole are a good reason to do it,” he said.

“Our communities like their elected members and mayors and that's how you can deliver local services a lot better but stuff that you do on the back end with your offices, staff and procurement contracts, those things that you can share services with and we do that regularly with other councils.“

'The biggest thing we know is that regional councils as an elected member entity won't be going forward so it's trying to incorporate those roles and functions into a service that you're doing.'

When asked about the deadline, Adams said it's only to have a high level proposal put forward adding it's not a deadline to 'have all your ducks in a row'.

'That's not hard to come up with something. You can sit there and choose to wait it out, which is probably what some councils did when we had the Three Waters conversation… some got together and started working together and some chose to wait and see what unfolded.'

He added it would be naive to sit and wait, preferring to be the maker of your own destiny rather than having big decisions taken out of their hands.

'I think our community would rather we were proactive instead of having that designed for us.'

'We can work and adapt quickly.. it's something we've always had to do depending on which Government's calling the shots in the big beehive. If we do this properly, our communities should be able to get through this and not know too much different.“