Marlborough givens time to reconsider position

Press, 7 October 1988, Page 3

Marlborough givens time to reconsider position

By

WILLIAM HOBBS

The Local Government Commission has proposed separate regions for Marlborough and for NelsonWestland in its indicative proposals announced yesterday. The chairman of the commission, Mr Brian Elwood, has expressed the hope that Marlborough would see the wisdom of shedding its excessive parochialism and voluntarily joining in a larger unit of regional government. Unlike other areas where strong reasons would be needed to change the indicative proposals, those for NelsonWestland and Marlborough were aimed at providing a breathing space so that Marlborough could have time to reconsider its position.

Under the indicative scheme for Nelson-West-land there would be five district councils and a sub-region for the West Coast. The administrative headquarters of the regional council would be at Nelson with a service centre for the sub-region in Greymouth.

The district councils would comprise Nelson City; Tasman District incorporating Richmond, Motueka, Waimea and Golden Bay; Buller District incorporating Westport, Buller and Inangahua; Grey District incorporating Greymouth, Grey County and

Runanga; and Westland District incorporating Westland and Hokitika. It would also take in a small area of the QueenstownLakes District to conform to river catchments.

The proposal calls for Nelson City to have a mayor and 14 councillors and at least four wards for electoral purposes, including one for the Whagamoa Riding of Waimea County which will become part of the city.

The city will take over the functions of the present Wakapuaka Drainage Board,the Nelson Airport Authority and most of the residual functions of the Nelson Harbour Board. The Tasman District Council will have a mayor and 16 members and will be divided into six wards. The commission

proposes that there be ward committees with the functions of district community councils for no less than six years for both the Motueka and Golden Bay wards. The proposal for the Buller District Council is a mayor and 12 members elected from populationbased wards which have still to be determined. However, a ward committee is specified for Inangahua for six years. The Buller District Council will take over Westport Harbour and Westport Airport. The Grey District Council will also comprise a mayor and 12 members with six wards including Runanga, for which a ward committee is specified. The council will take over the functions of the Greymouth Harbour Board. The Westland District Council will have a mayor and 12 councillors and four wards. It will take over the Hokitika Airport Authority.

The structure for the Nelson-Westland Regional Council would be 13 members of which eight would be elected from constituencies in the Nelson area and five from West Coast constituencies. The West Coast sub-region committee would comprise the five regional councillors from that area plus three appointees resident on the West Coast.

All regional council matters with particular application to the West Coast would be referred to the committee which would have power to act on all matters referred to it.

Other committees proposed for the regional council are a Nelson Harbour committee and a rural services committee.

The indicative proposals for Marlborough call for two districts: the Marlborough District — comprising Blenheim, Picton, Marlborough County and the parts of Amuri County within the Clarence River catchment — and Kaikoura District. The latter will comprise Kaikoura County, except for the area of the Conway River catchment which has been moved into the Canterbury region.

Marlborough District will have a mayor and 17 members elected from five wards. Kaikoura will have a mayor and nine members elected from wards still to be determined.

The Malborough Harbour Board will be abolished in favour of a harbour committee of the regional council, but the commission has decided that the Marlborough Forestry Corporation should continue as a special-pur-pose authority.