County Amalgamation

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31462, 31 August 1967, Page 10

County Amalgamation

The Halswell County Council’s decision to seek amalgamation with the Paparua County is a sound move with certain advantage to the ratepayers of Halswell. The Local Government Commission and many people within the counties south and west of Christchurch hoped for a broader scheme: The Halswell-Paparua proposal is a good beginning—probably the best pairing of any of the local bodies in the area—and the commission can hardly stand in the way of this amalgamation notwithstanding its hopes for a wider union. The only regrettable aspect of this proposal is that the Mount Herbert County, the district which over several years has been one of the most enthusiastic supporters of amalgamation, is left awkwardly placed. A merger of the Heathcote and Mount Herbert counties now seems quite impracticable because of the financial difficulties of Heathcote. Mount Herbert’s reading remains a heavy liability in any amalgamation scheme; and a survey by the National Roads Board has been long awaited. Mount Herbert councillors may now be tempted to seek an early merger with HalswellPaparua in the expectation that this will persuade the board to help substantially in bringing the county’s roads up to a higher standard. Where the other counties—Heathcote, Wairewa, and Akaroa—and particularly the borough of Lyttelton might turn to strengthen themselves through amalgamation is still open to speculation. While the best solution to the administrative problems of the Christchurch urban area and its surrounding rural districts calls for a much more drastic rearrangement, it is possible to foresee the City Council area bounded on the north and north-west by the Waimairi County and on the south and south-west by another large, part-urban and part-rural county. From this grouping a more logical division between rural and urban administrations might evolve —not rapidly, but certainly more easily than it can from the present fragmented array of counties. County towns, their natural growth further stimulated by stronger and more economic administration, would eventually replace the suburban populations in the counties; and the suburban districts would become part of Christchurch. The Halswell and Paparua decision should be only the first of a succession of changes directed towards improving the management of the whole region.