The great amalgamation: Hamiltonians to have a say
Friday, 12 June 2026
Hamiltonians are being asked to help rank guiding principles behind moves to amalgamate the city council with one or more district councils.
The council has until August 9 to present a proposal to the Government on what that might look like.
To help determine what goes into the proposal, councillors have developed a set of 10 decision-making principles.
From Friday, until July 5,the community can share how important each of these principles are to them.
These insights will support Council to make sure Hamiltonians’ interests are represented in the proposal.
The principles are:
Address the challenges that come with working across boundaries.
Growth-ready, rural-aware system
Better for ratepayers
Best long-term outcome
Effective decision-making
Strengthen our voice
More engagement with local democracy
Resilient region
Statutory and iwi alignment
Evidence-led
The feedback form on the council website will allow people to rank these in order of importance.
Residents can also have their say on what the opportunities are for local government reform, and raise any concerns they have.
Council is gathering information and running modelling for three initial options for amalgamation, based on existing territorial authority boundaries.
However, Mayor Tim Macindoe notes that other scenarios may emerge as the work progresses.
“I’m encouraging Hamiltonians to contribute their suggestions and concerns during this period. The amalgamation options are the most significant changes proposed for Local Government in nearly 40 years, and we need to know what our residents and ratepayers are thinking.”
The three initial options HCC will look into are:
A merger of Hamilton City Council and Waikato District Council based on the existing IAWAI partnership
A merger of Hamilton City Council, Waikato District Council, and Waipā District Council
A single council for the whole of the Waikato region (within the Waikato Regional Council boundary).