Potential Porirua poll over interest in single Wellington-wide council

Thursday, 20 February 2025

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A non-binding poll on whether the Porirua City Council should investigate the possibility of creating a single council for the region could appear on local voters’ voting papers in this year’s local election.

The proposed question, first revealed by mayor Anita Baker during a council workshop on Thursday, asked: “Should Porirua City Council work with councils in Wellington, the Hutt Valley, and the Wellington Regional Council to explore the possibility of creating one single council, that combines relevant services and functions regionally, while keeping appropriate local services and decision-making local?”

Only if the rest of the council agreed would the question make it on the ballot paper, next to the referendum on Porirua’s Māori ward.

Baker, who recently announced her re-election campaign, said a non-binding question would show whether residents agreed with a potential future for the region and she wanted Porirua to take the lead.

She argued while there had been much discussion about the topic for years, residents’ views had been omitted. She also hoped the question would help drive up turnout at the election.

A previous proposal in 2013 by the Greater Wellington Regional Council to incorporate the region's nine existing councils into a Wellington-based super city was shot down by the Local Government Commission in 2015 over low public support, which cost Dame Fran Wilde her position of regional council chair.

“We can't change things without actually asking our residents,” Baker said. “They are the most important people – they pay the rates, they should have a decision. Let’s actually give them a bit of an idea of what sort of vision do you want for Wellington.

“Until you do something, nothing will happen and then you can’t get all councils to agree.”

Baker also said including a non-binding referendum during a local election would be cheaper than running four concurrent referendums across four councils on the same issue in the future.

“You wouldn’t spend money planning those things unless you know if people are interested,” she said.

Wellington mayor Tory Whanau said she was open to future conversations about amalgamation but it was not a current priority: “My current focus is working with regional councils on water reform.”

The Post understands at least one other local council is considering whether to include a similar question in its voting papers during the upcoming election.