Wellington mayor tips amalgamation referendum in 2028 council election
Wednesday, 17 December 2025
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Wellington mayor Andrew Little says residents will likely get a say on council amalgamation at the 2028 local election — a fast‑tracked plan that outpaces the Government’s move to strip voting rights.
The Government recently announced plans to abolish elected regional councillors, directing existing mayors to develop a “regional reorganisation plan” that could include amalgamation and the removal of regional councils.
In response, Wellington region mayors have agreed to get ahead of the Beehive timeline and begin talks on a possible amalgamation of the region’s councils
Resource Management Act Reform Minister Chris Bishop confirmed that current rules stated that council amalgamation would have to go to a referendum but proposed changes would not need the public vote ‒ a panel of mayors would simply take a plan to the Minister for sign-off.
Greater Wellington Regional Council chairperson Daran Ponter, whose position is due to be scrapped by Government plans, said the region’s mayors opted to speed up the process because the region had already been talking about if for three years, with Porirua and Hutt City both in October running referenda on starting the process.
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The fact Wellingtonians would get to vote on amalgamation was a happy by-product of that. He expected a referendum in 2028 would be a vote on a specific proposed grouping of councils.
A plan for a Wellington supercity including Wairarapa failed about a decade ago but the most-discussed plan now would be the marriage of Wellington City, Hutt City, Upper Hutt, and Porirua. The three Wairarapa councils could also potentially merge, with Kāpiti potentially going with the Wellington group or looking north.
Little, who backed amalgamation and who was recently named chairperson of the Wellington Mayoral Forum, said mayors would be “failing in our duty” if they didn’t start talking about what council reorganisation would look like.
“Amalgamation under the Local Government Act can only happen with a referendum. So it would have to be that,” he said.
The Government’s proposal would likely not be passed before the election and changes would not take place until 2027, alongside the resource management reform.
Little understood Government changes were a “two-term process” but said the Wellington mayors were aiming to move faster. “If you're going to have a referendum, it would have to happen at the next election.”
In his mayoral campaign Little backed amalgamation.
“In this day and age, when it comes to funding facilities, funding the roads and stuff, the more we can draw on a broader population, get good effective planning, good effective administration involving fewer people, there's cost efficiencies that go there.
“And I think that's what people are looking for in local government.”
Ponter preferred the idea of Kāpiti coming in with the Wellington group, and potentially Horowhenua as well.
The Department of Internal Affairs said the timing for regional councillors to be replaced by panels of mayors was yet to be confirmed by Cabinet. Once set up, the panels had up to two years to develop their regional reorganisation plans, which had to be approved by the Minister of Local Government.
Implementation and timing would likely vary around New Zealand.