Rural leaders push back on Waikato supercity plan

Tuesday, 14 July 2026

Waitomo Mayor John Robertson believes that rural needs will be lost under the proposed single authority model for the Simplifying Local Government programme.

Waitomo’s mayor has called the proposed ‘supercity’ amalgamation option “madness”, while Feds reckon rural voices will be lost.

Waitomo Mayor John Robertson is a long-time supporter of local government reform, but reckons the proposal for one unitary authority would leave rural communities unsupported.

“I think combining a high-growth urban centre with the rural areas is madness … There is no way that a Hamilton-centred council will care about the community in Mokau or Benneydale and the substantial work we do on rural roads.

Federated Farmers Waikato president Chris Woolerton says the Feds’ proposal is not about dividing rural and urban, it’s about making sure rural needs are met.

“We are in local government, so therefore, local decision-making should be made as closely as possible to communities of interest. I went through the Auckland supercity work and we are very different to that in the Waikato.”

The proposed model has been floated by several councils and would combine all, or the majority, of city and district councils across the region into a single unitary authority.

Federated Farmers’ proposed local government amalgamation plan.

Under the Government's Simplifying Local Government programme councils are on a deadline to set out their preferred options with the Government, which will decide for them if they don’t.

Robertson noted that Waikato was different to Auckland in that they had a large land area and smaller population. He worried that one authority tasked with such a varied area would lead to attention being diverted from places with smaller populations like the King Country.

The Feds’ amalgamation proposal splits the region into four authorities. Pictured Waikato president Chris Woolerton.

“Our biggest expenditure is on roading that supports our productive farming communities, forestry and mining. We’re low in growth in terms of population, whereas in urban areas, the focus is on growth and trying to keep up with infrastructure so councils borrow to their maximum.

“We support initiatives in our towns and villages, and they have a strong community spirit, whereas in a city it’s different. You still have main street advocates and things like that … [but] the Hamilton city council and regional council, it’s just a very different culture to what we have in the rural community, which is cautious.”

Waikato Regional Council chairperson Warren Maher believes that one authority is the best option to maximise efficiency.

He was advocating for a King Country Council that would combine Ōtorohanga and Waitomo into one authority. He said there was “huge support” across the two districts for this and pointed out that they already shared services like animal control and recreational facilities.

“There’s cost benefits too. We both do audits, so we’d have just one and that would save the two councils about $300,000 a year, we’d have one (cheif executive) and management team.”

Waikato Federated Farmers president Chris Woolerton supported Robertson’s proposal and it was factored into the Feds’ model of four unitary authorities split into Hamilton City, King Country, east and west.

He said the model was not about dividing rural and urban, it was about recognising that their needs were different.

“I’ve spoken to the people rather than the politicians and, the King Country, when I speak to my members down there, it’s a name they want to celebrate.

“It’s also a population with a lot of land mass and so they struggle to get services down there, and it’s a representation thing. They feel they will be lost if they go into a one Waikato model.

“People in Hamilton have different needs and thought processes to what rural people do … Like we don’t have storm-water, we have drainage and flood protection and we’re a lot more autonomous. If something needs doing, we help each other and everyone looks after everyone because we have to rely on each other more.”

On the other hand, Waikato Regional Council chairperson Warren Maher firmly believed that a single authority would be the best option.

“Having that overall regional view has the best potential to deliver long-term efficiencies through shared services, reduced duplication and then clearer accountability.

“Our catchment management and river management, biosecurity and those sorts of things, you’ve still got the guys on the ground delivering that work, but it’s just the efficiencies … Currently, we’ve got over 200 elected members across the Waikato, so you could reduce that down to around 40.”

He said representation could be divided up based on population and broken into three wards: northeastern, northwestern and southern.

Regional rating could also create a better pool of income to be redistributed across the region and increase the purchasing power of smaller areas.

Concerns over rural representation, while “valid”, could be mitigated by introducing council committees for things like roading that would have representatives from all districts. He also noted that the continued advocacy from groups like the Feds would ensure the rural voice was heard.

“If you’ve got good people around the table and you’ve got those committees to make sure those things are looked at, then they’re not lost and you can ask for any type of legislation as part of your proposal.”

He believed an elected chairperson would be a better option than a regional mayor and would further set the Waikato model apart from Auckland’s supercity.

“Forget the Auckland supercity model, in the Waikato we’re linked through business, family, friends, sports and so on … If the regions aren’t prosperous then neither is Hamilton and vice versa.”