Government v Democracy

I have a great deal of concern around the integrity of the amalgamation debate.

When the Local Government Commission visited the Napier City Council at the beginning of the reorganisation process, the Chairman made it very clear that any proposal for reorganisation should and would set out clearly where any combined Council would be based.

Frankly that is how it should be.

But what does the Local Government Commission proposal say?
It tells us that the Hawke’s Bay Councils administrative headquarters will “initially be in Napier City.”  We are then told that the role of the transition board will be to review and make recommendations on “the future location of the administrative headquarters of the Hawke’s Bay Council.”

This is not what we were promised nor is it reasonable.  In fact it is totally unreasonable.

In practice, the Napier and Wairoa members of the transition board will want the permanent home of the proposed Hawke’s Bay Council in Napier.  And the Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay members will want it in Hastings.  So who will have the deciding vote?  The Commissioner appointed by the Government to chair the transition board.

Another triumph of Government over democracy