Merger scheme shelved

Press, 11 April 1987, Page 9

Merger scheme shelved

The Wairewa County Council says its ratepayers will not benefit from any amalgamation with the Akaroa County Council and has decided not to proceed with any further move to merge. The Wairewa County Chairman, Mr Bill Thompson, said at yesterday’s meeting that the council had met all its neighbouring councils to discuss local government restructuring but had chosen not to proceed any further with amalgamation in the meantime.

“After considering the draft proposal of reorganisation between Akaroa and Wairewa, the council sees no benefit to Wairewa ratepayers in proceeding with the proposal,” said Mr Thompson.

Last May, after, several months of preliminary discussions with each other and the Mount Herbert County Council, the Akaroa and Wairewa

councils decided to form a joint reorganisation planning committee comprising three representatives of each council. The two councils have spent the last eight months discussing the implications of a merger. A draft merger agreement was to have been made public this month.

The Wairewa council had always “wanted to amalgamate with a larger council closer to the city,” but it "did not mind if Akaroa wanted to come along,” Mr Thompson said.

About a year ago, it had had discussions with Ellesmere County. Ellesmere had decided to take no action because it did not want to pre-empt any discussions being held with the Local Government Commission, said the Ellesmere County Clerk, Mr Geoge Singleton.

The Akaroa County Clerk, Mr Lynn Graham,

said he was disappointed at Wairewa’s “negative reaction.” “Our councillors have wasted a lot of time on this (merger document), all for nothing,” he said.

“If Wairewa was going to chuck out the proposal, it should never have appointed a steering committee.” Wairewa had not done a study on the benefits or disadvantages of joining with Akaroa, whereas Akaroa had spent $lO,OOO on a commissioned report on the consequences of amalgamation, said Mr Graham. ! Akaroa had also written to the Local Government Commission saying it was happy with most of the proposals in the draft merger document. Wairewa felt it had come out the “unequal partner,” said Mr Thompson. Akaroa’s preference was for an “ultimate” merger with Paparua

County, as most of its “lines of communication” were with that county, said Mr Graham.

The local government conciliator, Mr Doug Pearson, who has been acting as an adviser to the two councils, said he thought there was “still plenty of room for Wairewa and Akaroa to negotiate.”

Mr Pearson had prepared the draft document after discussions with both councils, but he said it was “what they had wanted and was not produced by the commission.”

Eventually there “would be reorganisation on the Peninsula,” he said.

Mr Pearson said he would not comment further until he had been formally notified of Wairewa’s intention to give up merger discussions with Akaroa.