Hawke's Bay amalgamation could cost $1 million more a year than estimates.

The final proposal is for a total of 56 elected members, with one mayor, 18 councillors, and 37 local board members. There are also a number of appointees, with the regional planning committee having 10, but no specified number either for a Maori board or a natural resources board.

The current structure has nine regional council members (one of whom is the chair), four mayors, and 40 councillors (Hastings 14, Napier 12, Wairoa six, Central Hawke’s Bay eight). Hastings also has a rural community board comprising four elected members and two councillors.

Salary levels for a Hawke’s Bay council may be extrapolated from the level of remuneration in Auckland. A super council mayor could earn $240,000, a deputy mayor $120,000, and 18 councillors $95,000 each, Mr Butler said.

Local boards could cost a total of $1-million, while the regional planning committee, a Maori board and a natural resources board could cost $250,000 each.

The estimates recorded here are conservative because governance administration costs are not included.

This is not the only analysis of the likely costs. In a report titled "Hawke’s Bay amalgamation proposal: Cost estimates for elected officials", Franks Oglivie said:

A common misconception is that council amalgamation will save expenditure on elected officials. This is a red herring. Pay and rations for elected officials are a tiny fraction of a council’s operating budget. The real argument over efficiencies should be around council services and staff. But even if politician pay was the issue, it seems likely the public are wrong to expect material savings from merging councils.

These figures make a mockery of claims by the Local Government Commission and by the pro-amalgamation lobby group A Better Hawke’s Bay that the proposed structure will bring savings simply because it doesn’t, Mr Butler said.

Napier MP takes politics back to the streets

Napier MP Stuart Nash is resuming a programme of “street corner meetings” this weekend, starting in Maraenui, in order to get a feel for the issues that matter to his constituents.

In the lead-up to the 2014 general election Mr Nash completed 150 street corner meetings in Napier and Wairoa over a 5 month period.

“These meetings are about connecting with our diverse communities. The numbers at each meeting can vary, but I believe in providing people with the chance to meet their representative in Parliament, and this can be an informal, non-threatening way of achieving that,” says Stuart Nash.

“This is an aspect of politics I really enjoy: meeting people in their neighbourhood and discussing the issues that are important to them. Right now people are contacting my office on a huge range of issues, and with a lot of questions around amalgamation in particular. These meetings are a great opportunity to address those questions face-to-face.”

Mr Nash is aiming to hold these meetings every two weeks, working his way around the electorate, and hopes the street corner meetings will also inspire those who may otherwise choose not to vote, or engage with the political process.

“The great electoral challenge nationwide is engaging people, making them feel like politics is relevant to their lives and increasing our voter turnout. People have to feel it’s worth voting and the key to achieving that is to inspire people. I believe street corner meetings are a unique and – hopefully – fun way of being able to engage with people in a different way,” says Stuart Nash.

Mr Nash’s next round of meetings is in Maraenui this Saturday, 25th July at the following times:

Time: 11.00 AM
Location: Corner of Williams Street/ Ward Crescent

Time: 11.30 AM
Location: Corner of Hillary Crescent/Geddis Avenue

Time: 12.00 PM
Location: Corner of Riverbend Road/Bledisloe Road

Time: 12.30 PM
Location: Corner of Masefield Avenue/Wordsworth Crescent

Contact: Stuart Nash 021 444 888

Hawke's Bay ratepayers shouldn't foot bill for amalgamation poll

The Poll on whether Hawke’s Bay’s five councils are to amalgamate is set to cost ratepayers approximately $245,000 and is a shameful waste of ratepayer money, says Napier MP Stuart Nash.

“Of the five affected councils only Hastings District Council has expressed support for the Local Government Commission's proposal to merge Hawke’s Bay into a single super council,” says Stuart Nash.


“Napier, Wairoa, and Central Hawke’s Bay have sent very clear messages that they are strongly opposed to the proposal. It’s also no secret that the Hawke’s Bay Regional Councillors are divided over this issue, yet their ratepayers will bear the largest financial burden, having been apportioned just over half the cost of the Poll with a bill for $122,500 plus GST.


“Despite that, the ratepayers of each council will now have to contribute to the overall estimated cost of nearly a quarter of a million dollars.


“This proposal was instigated by lobby group A Better Hawke’s Bay, and forced on us by the Local Government Commission, yet neither of these organisations will have to stump up a cent,” says Stuart Nash.


The total cost of the Poll includes a fee for Electoral Officer Warwick Lampp, and the costs for public notices, voter pack design, printing, mail processing, postage, insurance and vote processing. The final cost will vary depending on how many votes are received, but has been budgeted on an estimated 65 percent return from the 110,000 electors on the roll.


“Not only have we had this Poll forced on us, we now have the costs forced on us as well. I suspect the ratepayers of Hawke’s Bay will get a shock when they realise this,” says Stuart Nash.


Below is a spreadsheet from the Electoral Officer showing apportionment of costs for the Reorganisation Poll.

HB Reorganisation Poll Cost Allocation
 
Council Number of Electors (Prelim Roll) % of total electors $
Wairoa                                            5,376 4.86% $5,950
Napier                                          42,763 38.65% $47,332
Hastings                                          53,014 47.91% $58,678
CHB                                            9,496 8.58% $10,511
TA Subtotal                                         110,649 49.99% 100.00%
  $122,471 $122,471
 
HBRC                                         110,649
Taupo HBRC                                                 38
Rangitikei HBRC                                                 14
HBRC Subtotal                                         110,701 50.01%
  $122,529 $122,529
Total electors                                         221,350
 
Total Estimated Cost of Poll $245,000 $245,000

Hawke's Bay's Almalgamation voting system has serious flaws.

The voting system for the upcoming referendum on local government reorganisation in Hawke’s Bay is outmoded and fails to cater to a number of electors travelling overseas before the September 15 poll, says Napier MP Stuart Nash.

Under the current system all council elections are postal votes and there is no provision for early votes to be cast prior to voting papers being issued.

“I’ve had a number of complaints from constituents who are travelling overseas before the voting papers are sent out in late August,” says Stuart Nash.

“The only option open to them is to provide an overseas address, have the voting papers sent to that location, and then post them back in time for the poll; as you can imagine that’s a scenario which would only work in very rare situations.

“My understanding is this is an issue which comes up more and more frequently at local government elections and is one of the drivers behind a push towards online voting, which may be trialled at local government elections next year.

“I will be writing to the Minister of Local Government to pass on the concerns of my constituents and iterate the failings of the current system. I believe we must have an online voting system in place by the next council elections.

“There are people out there who are incredibly passionate about the amalgamation issue in Hawke’s Bay and who simply will not be able to exercise their democratic right to cast a vote on the fate of their city. We should be able to cater to these people, and we can’t – that’s not fair, or right,” says Stuart Nash.

 

I am convinced that amalgamation is neither right nor fair for Napier.

Stuart Nash, Napier's Member of Parliament

After 140 years of self-governance and 64 years since becoming a city, Napier now risks losing its council, its independence and its ability to control its own future.

The Local Government Commission has issued their final proposal for Hawke’s Bay and they have recommended amalgamation between Napier, Hastings, Wairoa and Central Hawke’s Bay.

The proposal can be viewed here.

This means in around 3 months time, you will need to vote in a referendum if you want Napier to retain its independence.

My team and I will work very hard to get the facts and the evidence out there, so when the time comes to vote, you are able to make an informed decision.

I am convinced that amalgamation is neither right nor fair for Napier, so we will keep you informed.

You’ll soon be seeing a few of these billboards around town.
new no amalgamation.



My team and I will be putting more up over the next few weeks.

If you would like a large billboard on your fence, or a smaller A1 poster size billboard, then please get in touch.

Statement from Napier Mayor Bill Dalton regarding the release of the final proposal for reorganizing Hawke’s Bay local government.

This is disappointing, but not surprising. The LGC has always been on a pre-determined path. They have not listened to the communities of Hawke’s Bay in reaching this decision.

The majority of the people in the Hawke’s Bay region do not support this amalgamation proposal. All today’s announcement does is create further division.

The next step is an electoral petition leading to the inevitable poll – which is a long and expensive way to get the same answer from the people who have already voiced their lack of support. This futile process will cost the ratepayers of Napier alone $80,000 - $100,000. The cost across Hawke’s Bay is huge.

Eventually, when the proposal is rejected, which it will be, I know those who genuinely care for this region will all gather around the table to work out the best way forward. Of course, one of the most frustrating things is, Hawke’s Bay is now working well as a region - despite the efforts of a small, divisive group trying to say otherwise.

It’s been a long couple of years. I was hoping today that we might be able to put this flawed proposal to bed. However, we will continue on and hopefully the Commission will learn that New Zealand is not destined to become run by a small handful of councils. Councils that have too much power and no grip on what the people in their patches really need.  Councils that can’t possibly get their heads around all the issues due to the geographical size of the area they control.

We need to keep the local in ‘local councils’.

It’s now time to get on and find meaningful ways to work together as a region where it counts – something I am genuinely committed to doing. Unfortunately, as I have said, today’s announcement will only mean further delays in some people coming to the table.

Yes, there is a need for regional groups in certain areas such as tourism, but local councils are about serving the people who live in their midst in the best way they can. As I have said, amalgamating Hawke’s Bay will not work because we are so geographically diverse. There’s a movement around the world which encourages people to support their local producers and not always shop at the big chain stores. Those local producers are creating things for those around them; for the people they know best. Councils are similar. The proposal before us is trying to turn our stunning and varied region into one big, characterless chain store – the prices might be slightly cheaper but the quality and service just isn’t there.

The Local Government Commission tries to tell us their proposal will save money and reduce ‘red tape’ but there is very real evidence to the contrary.

Amalgamation will destroy our communities ability to focus on their strengths and will hold Hawke’s Bay back for decades.

Hawke’s Bay deserves transparency from Local Government Commission

“By not releasing the data from the survey, the LGC’s proposal for Hawke’s Bay is looking more and more like a political move made to justify their own existence.  Why the secrecy?,” Stuart Nash says

The Local Government Commission’s (LGC) refusal to release the results of a 2000-household telephone survey they conducted throughout Hawke’s Bay in March is disingenuous and shows a lack of good faith, says Napier MP Stuart Nash.

 “The final proposal announced yesterday for a single Hawke’s Bay Council– nearly two and a half years after this process began and in the face of strong opposition by many in the region - is a blow for local democracy,” Stuart Nash says.

“To add insult to injury, the LGC refuse to release the results of their survey until the process reaches a conclusion. In my view, that is a cynical and disingenuous decision utterly lacking in the transparency we have a right to expect.

“The LGC conducted the survey to assist them in their decision over whether to proceed with a final proposal – now they are denying the people the right to know the results.

Hawke's Bays amalgamation decision "should be based on evidence, not hope"

Taxpayers’ Union is calling for both sides of the Hawke’s Bay amalgamation debate to act with cool heads and ensure their public statements can be backed-up after yesterday’s release by the Local Government Commission of its final proposal. Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, says:

"The claims being made by ‘Better Hawke’s Bay’ that amalgamation is likely to bring efficiencies by removing duplication are simply wrong. The economic evidence both here and in Australia is that once you hit around 40,000 there is no further economies of scale."

"The Hutt City Council hired TDB Advisory to do a thorough economic and literature review of the optimum size of local Government. The results show that bigger is not necessary better."

"There might be good reasons for amalgamating the Hawke’s Bay councils, and we applaud BetterHawke’s Bay’s objectives, but it was sloganeering and undisciplined analysis which lead to Auckland’s Super City disaster."

"As head of Local Government New Zealand, Laurence Yule defends Auckland Council’s 9.9% annual rates increases. In Auckland, the Super City bureaucracy is now bigger than the sum of the original parts, that would seem an unlikely recipe for economic progress if repeated in Hawke’s Bay."

"Likewise, advocates need to show how the region will speak with ‘one voice’ with a proposal that is likely to make the councillor’s role full time, include 37 local board members and have three tiers of Maori representation, which are presumably unelected.

Opponents say a single Hawke's Bay council pretends to be the solution.

A single Hawke’s Bay council pretends to be the solution to alleged economic under-performance but will only create another level of costly, inefficient government, Hastings Against Amalgamation spokesman Mike Butler said today.

After months of dithering, the Local Government Commission today released a final proposal for a single council with five local boards and a Maori board, with the headquarters in Napier despite our survey in March that showed 63 percent region-wide opposition, Mr Butler said.

A region-wide vote is needed, and residents in the four regions have 60 days to get together signatures of 10 percent of an affected district to petition for a vote.

That would require around 800 signatures in Wairoa or 5100 signatures in Hastings, Mr Butler said.

The pro-amalgamation lobby has had years to formulate coherent arguments to demonstrate the need for amalgamation and all they have come up with were bumper-sticker slogans that don’t withstand scrutiny, Mr Butler said.

We cannot let this unitary council slide into existence without regional support. Look what happened in Auckland. We must collect signatures and put it to a vote, Mr Butler said.

Napier councillor says is amalgamation is becoming a distracting and debilitating handbrake to regional prosperity.

 

The tiresome ongoing con job advocating that local government amalgamation is good for Hawke's Bay's diverse communities, comes at a huge cost to our region.

The "bigger is better" proponents appear relentless and extremely well-funded in pursuit of their central control agenda.

Their recent endorsement of the Local Government Commission's assurance that all legacy authority debt will be ring-fenced for six years, is a smoke screen for impending regional cross-subsidisation. The fact is, debt on any facility deemed as regional will be serviced by all. A whole raft of new user pays charges has already been signalled.

During the proposed debt ring- fencing, Napier would have paid off a significant portion of its internal debt while Hastings has no term or interest structure to address this.

Far from being the panacea to our region's most pressing socio-economic issues, this debacle is becoming a distracting and debilitating handbrake to regional prosperity.

It is extremely unsettling for council staff who are concerned about their jobs while still being required to conduct the council business of providing affordable quality service delivery.

More than 39 major regional shared service and harmonised regulatory projects were initiated or completed by HB councils before the government-appointed commission advanced the "A Better Hawke's Bay" (ABHB) group's application for reorganisation.

The regional road network has been planned, prioritised and addressed by all councils since the start of the millennium .

In my Napier City Council role, I have chaired many tenders meetings where procurement contracts for energy, waste disposal and so on are accepted on the best terms regionally.

The NCC is about to formalise an arrangement to provide HR services to the Wairoa District Council. Only last week, I chaired hearings for plan change number 10. This harmonised every part of the Napier District Plan with every part of the Hastings District Plan where practical.

It defies belief that the amalgamation brigade claims (falsely) that we need to amalgamate to have the same rules and regulations.

The only local government leader in our region in support of the ABHB proposal is the Hastings mayor. He is the immediate successor of LGC chair Basil Morrison in the roles of president of Local Government NZ and chair of the Commonwealth Local Government Association.

The responsibility to represent the views of all the other councils in our region seems to have escaped our current president.

It is nonsensical to believe that the socio-economic issues of Wairoa or Central Hawke's Bay could be better addressed from Napier or possibly Hastings.

Community and economic development service delivery will always be better delivered from within a community.

It is equally foolish to believe the Winder Report's claims that making up to 150 very skilled council employees redundant across our region will save $10 million.

After the initial round of redundancies, the Auckland experience saw staff increase from 9300 pre-amalgamation to 11,134 last year, plus an army of consultants. This has been confirmed in writing by two Auckland councillors, including Mike Lee, the former Auckland Regional Council chairman.

Our regional economy has bounced back to 6.4 per cent annual growth on the back of horticulture and grazing and business; and HB is doing an excellent job addressing key economic development growth opportunities regionally.

The ABHB group ignores these facts and continues to blame the current council structure for the imaginary poor post-GEC economic performance.

The most important issue that remains is representation. The LGC's amended proposal has one less elected politician than present. However that doesn't count the Maori board or the regional planning committee.
Currently, the 57 members in our region have one vote each at the first tier of governance.
Under the LGC proposal, only 19 members will represent our region at this level with the rest relegated to the ineffective second tier.

Napier refreshed its council last election with 50 per cent new membership. It is a certainty that, on a super council, most of these new people with fresh ideas and vision would be relegated to local boards while those with profile and name recognition would occupy the first tier. This is not the future I wish for our fantastic region.

I am confident that its citizens have enough facts to make the best decision at the inevitable referendum.
- Tony Jeffery is chairman of the Napier City Council planning committee.
- Business and civic leaders, organisers, experts in their field and interest groups can contribute opinions. The views expressed here are the writer's opinion and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz