Rotorua laments Taupō rebuff
Rotorua Lakes Council looks likely to pursue a proposed amalgamation with South Waikato District Council, with Mayor Tania Tapsell warning Taupō may regret its decision to pursue its own path.
By Matthew Nash - Local Democracy Reporter
Rotorua will consider its preferred option under the Government’s “Head Start” local government reform programme at Wednesday’s council meeting.
Head Start encourages councils to explore voluntary mergers before being subject to a mandatory government-led restructuring process.
Speaking to Local Democracy Reporting, Mayor Tapsell said Rotorua was ready to “lock in” with South Waikato.
The move would leave the Bay of Plenty’s councils likely pursuing three new authorities — a western option involving Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty, an eastern grouping of Whakatāne, Kawerau and Ōpōtiki, and a central proposal involving Rotorua and South Waikato.
“We’ve had really positive conversations at a mayor and chief executive level across the whole region,” Tapsell said.
“This means we will meet the government criteria of two local authorities or more in our proposal and through the community engagement we’ve done to date there has been a strong preference for a central sub-unitary.”
Tapsell said community feedback had also included support for Taupō being part of the proposal, but the district was not currently involved.
“Unfortunately, at this stage, it appears they prefer to go alone,” she said.
Tapsell warned Taupō’s decision could leave it vulnerable to a government-imposed restructuring process.
“We have given them our feedback on this, and that is they are leaving themselves at a very high risk of ending up in the government’s ‘Back Stop’ approach, which has clearly been signalled to be a whole-of-region approach, pushing Taupō into a much larger Waikato region.”
She said she believed that Taupō would be “much better off” joining Rotorua and South Waikato but acknowledged the process had been driven by the Government rather than councils.
Taupō District Council will decide on Tuesday whether to pursue a local government merger proposal, with staff recommending it does not submit a Head Start bid at this stage.
Instead, the council is considering writing to the Government opposing mandatory amalgamation, criticising timeframes and seeking flexibility to develop its own proposal if required.
“We are keeping the door open for Taupō,” Tapsell said.
Tapsell said the central North Island proposal reflected community feedback, which also highlighted connections to natural catchments.
“For us, with Lake Rotorua draining down the Kaituna River to Maketū, that aligns with our communities of interest.”
She said catchments provided a natural basis for future governance because they reflected shared environmental challenges and relationships between communities.
Rotorua had not yet received a formal proposal from Te Arawa iwi leaders, but Tapsell said she understood iwi would also consider catchment-based boundaries.
However, questions remain over how neighbouring councils, including Western Bay of Plenty, would view any proposal involving the Kaituna catchment, and how rural communities such as Reporoa, Waikite and Ngakuru would fit.
Tapsell said those communities would need the opportunity to have their say before any final decisions were made.
She again criticised the pace of the Government’s reform agenda, saying councils had been forced to manage several major changes at once – with Long-term Plans and Local Water Done Well work ongoing.
“It’s been really hard,” she said.
“We were all elected and came together as councils; we set our aspirations, and then out of the blue we’ve had reform after reform.”
South Waikato District Council will confirm their Head Start proposal at a meeting on Thursday.
Head Start proposals must be submitted by August 9.