What new, bigger councils are coming? Tracking progress on amalgamation
Saturday, 6 June 2026
“Lead your own reform, or we will do it for you.” That was the warning shot to councils from RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop that they needed to come up with a plan for reshaping their local leadership by August.
One month on, The Post has contacted leaders across the country to find out how the discussions have played out and what new, bigger councils could be coming down the pipeline.
Read where each region is at below, from south to north.
Southland
New Zealand’s southernmost region is governed by three unitary councils ‒ Invercargill City Council, Southland District Council ‒ and one regional council, Environment Southland.
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Southland is in a slightly different position to most ‒ it actually made a request for re-organisation of its council structure early last year, which the Local Government Commission accepted.
The commission is still investigating the case for reorganisation at the same time as Southland councils have been asked to consider amalgamation.
Environment Southland chairperson Jeremy McPhail told The Post they were looking at two possible paths.
One option was creating one council for the entire region while the other was to create two councils, an Invercargill one and another to govern the rest of Southland.
McPhail said tackling the issue of amalgamation was not going to be simple or cheap.
“The main thing is to bring the community along. The community has got to drive this, they’ve got to own it then we’ve got the back end to be able to make this work into the future.”
He said there was a feeling that the direction of travel was toward one unitary council and noted from an environmental perspective that would be easier to manage.
Otago
Otago features six councils ‒ Dunedin City Council, Queenstown Lakes District Council, Central Otago District Council, Waitaki District Council, Clutha District Council and Otago Regional Council.
The total population of the region is about 260,000.
Otago Regional chairperson Hilary Calvert told The Post that one of the more likely options would be a whole-of-region unitary authority with or without Waitaki, which was on the border of Canterbury and Otago.
Calvert noted that the influence of Dunedin and Queenstown Lakes was viewed with a certain amount of concern by others in the region.
West Coast
The South Island’s West Coast has Buller, Grey and Westland district councils and West Coast Regional Council, with a ratepayer base of about 24,000 properties.
Buller District Council, Grey District Council and West Coast Regional Council have formally agreed to participate in the Government reforms while Westland District Council was scheduled to consider participation at a meeting on Thursday.
The region’s mayoral forum had appointed Ashley Stuart as an independent project lead for the reforms.
Stuart told The Post if Westland choose to participate, all four councils could work on a proposal for Government consideration in about 10 weeks’ time.
“The current work is focused on gathering feedback from our communities to help inform an outline proposal to the Government by 9 August.
“The proposal is intended to identify potential opportunities for consideration and does not represent a final decision on any future governance model or structure.”
Canterbury
In Christchurch and its surrounding area there was much amalgamation debate, with the city keen to merge with the nearby Selwyn and Waimakariri district councils.
The Press reported on Wednesday a Christchurch City Councillor suggested the garden city should put tolls around it if neighbouring councils did not want to join up.
Waimakariri mayor Dan Gordon said the district council had been meeting with its neighbours to discuss the reform and what it could mean.
On Thursday it was reported Waimakariri would take three proposals to the public.
These were; remaining as a stand-alone unitary authority (with regional council powers), creating a North Canterbury authority with Hurunui and/or Kaikōura district councils, or joining a greater Christchurch authority with Christchurch city and Selwyn district.
Last month, Gordon said the community had already made it clear it did not want structural change.
On Monday The Press reported a Canterbury Mayoral Forum recommended its 10 councils explore a regional approach to developing a proposal.
The forum noted there was likely to be more than one unitary authority proposed across the whole region.
During a city council briefing about the reform on Tuesday, council head of strategic policy and resilience David Griffiths said the Government wanted Canterbury to have no more than three unitary councils.
Top of the South
Marlborough, Nelson and Tasman councils were in a unique situation for the South Island, being unitary authorities. That meant they did not have a regional council which was in control of their environment rules like others around the country.
Tasman mayor Tim King told The Post his council would not be pitching a plan to the Government given it was already a unitary authority.
“I suspect where we will end up is that we will await the outcome of the election and the backstop process that the current Government has indicated will kick in post that period and whether existing unitary councils are brought into the Government direction.”
King said his council had a rating base of 26,900.
He said in his personal view, it made sense for neighbouring councils to work closely together but he was less convinced of combining them.
That was due to the risk of diminishing influence of his community in a larger council.
Marlborough mayor Nadine Taylor told The Post she understood Kaikōura District Council was leading a conversation with its community on potential future options.
“Because Marlborough is already a unitary council and not required to participate in this process, Kaikōura needs to first consider its options with its own community about any potential merger with another council.”
Taylor said if Kaikōura was to join with Marlborough, the approximate rating base would be about 30,000.
“No detailed planning work has yet been undertaken.”
Wellington
On Wednesday Wellington mayor Andrew Little made a speech to a large crowd at the city council chamber’s where he criticised the way the local government reforms were being rolled out.
Little also said he was supportive of the idea of amalgamation, likely Wellington City, Hutt City, Upper Hutt and Porirua councils with local functions of the Greater Wellington Regional Council.
He had previously said amalgamation plans would have to go to a referendum, and stressed that local people should decide.
“At serious inflection points a mayor’s job is to lead. That’s why I’m taking the Government’s deadline seriously. Treating it as an opportunity, even.”
Taranaki
Taranaki has three local councils ‒ New Plymouth, Stratford and South Taranaki ‒alongside Taranaki Regional Council.
A New Plymouth District Council spokesperson told The Post that last week the three local councils passed resolutions to participate in the Government’s reforms.
“A meeting of the Taranaki Mayoral Forum this week is expected to provide greater clarity on opportunities for regional alignment as this work progresses.”
Manawatū-Whanganui
The Manawatū-Whanganui region has a large regional council which governs over the boundaries of six district councils ‒ Ruapehu, Rangitīkei, Manawatū, Whanganui, Tararua and Horowhenua.
It also included Palmerston North City Council.
Manawatū District Council covers the town of Feilding and much of the rural area surrounding the north and west of Palmerston North.
Mayor Michael Ford told The Post he was strongly opposed to the Government’s reforms.
“We think the three-month time frame is ludicrously short in terms of the head start pathway, we’re a district that’s in good shape.
“We’re in a good financial position, we have good infrastructure and we believe that any form of amalgamation would be detrimental to our ratepayers.”
Ford said his council was offering ratepayers a range of approaches starting with the preferred option of opposing the reforms.
Other models could include a Manawatū unitary council, combining with other local government bodies or a regional leaders’ approach for regional council functions, similar to what the Government first pitched when it announced local government reforms last year.
He noted that if Manawatū was to combine he would not want it to be with Palmerston North due to the city’s size.
Hawke’s Bay
Hawke’s Bay has five local government bodies ‒ Wairoa District, Napier City, Hastings District, Central Hawke’s Bay and Hawke’s Bay Regional Council.
Wairoa mayor Craig Little, who was the chairperson of the region’s mayoral forum group, told The Post he was working with other leaders on their options.
“I think the Government would love one big unitary of Hawke’s Bay, that’s what I believe they really want.”
Little said other options that had been mentioned included two northern and southern councils.
His concern was it felt like there could be “hostile takeovers” from bigger councils.
“I don’t think the Government’s really thought about what’s actually broken first, before they get stuck into these things.”
He would not want to wait for the backstop measure where the Crown decided councils’ fate, but poured cold water on the three-month deadline for a plan.
“If the Government really did stick to their word of ‘do this or we will do this to you’, councils like Wairoa could be left out in the cold because they don’t believe bigger is better.”
The mayor told The Post he supported the idea of Wairoa being a singular unitary council.
“I know every council thinks they’re unique but we are very remote and we are stuck right between Gisborne, Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay.”
Little said a facilitator was working with the region on options, and particularly how localism was maintained through all of them.
Gisborne
Gisborne District Council was a unitary authority which meant it was not planning to join the Government’s reforms, a spokesperson said.
“However, given the wider direction of local government reform, council will consider a report at its 25 June meeting on whether to begin exploratory discussions with neighbouring councils.”
The spokesperson said any discussions would be exploratory only, aimed at helping the council understand whether there are were future governance arrangements or regional collaboration opportunities that may be worth considering.
Waikato and Bay of Plenty
Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell is the chairperson of the Bay of Plenty mayoral forum and told The Post that across the councils’ boarders there were natural sub-regions.
“Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty in the west; Kawerau, Whakatāne and Ōpōtiki in the east; and Rotorua in the centre.”
Tapsell said for Rotorua, other potential options had arisen which included combining with Taupō and/or South Waikato.
“We’re currently in discussions with other Bay of Plenty and Waikato mayors to explore a range of options.
“These conversations are at an early stage and focused on understanding what different models could look like, rather than landing on any specific configuration.”
She said no decisions had been made about preferred partners or proposed structures at this point.
“We’re all keeping an open mind about where this could lead. Councils are talking with each other, and with our communities, at pace, given the short time frame.”
The mayor said a decision on whether to participate in the Government’s reforms would be considered at a council meeting next week.
The Waikato Times had reported Hamilton and its surrounding councils were facing three options; a unitary authority with Waikato District Council (and potentially one or two others), a union with Waikato District Council and Waipā District Council (and potentially one or two others), or an all-encompassing Waikato region-wide unitary authority.
Waikato District Council mayor Aksel Bech had spoken about the need for the region’s councils to control their own destiny.
“For us, any future arrangement must protect strong local representation, deliver value for ratepayers, and make sure both rural and urban communities continue to have a strong voice.”
Coromandel
A spokesperson for Thames-Coromandel District Council told The Post it was premature to say what councils it would look at combining with.
“The council will be gathering feedback from the community very soon which will help inform structural reform options that we'll then put to the community before council responds to the Government's call for proposals by 9 August.”
Northland
Whangārei mayor Ken Couper who was chair of Northland’s local government reform steering group told The Post the regions four local councils were working together to explore their options.
“This is an early-stage, council-led process being undertaken through the Government's head start pathway.”
The councils working together were Whangārei District, Far North District, Kaipara District and Northland Regional Council.
Couper said neither a decision nor a preferred option had been made yet.
If a proposal progresses, there will be formal public consultation before any decisions are made, he said.
All four councils combined had a rating base of 102,908.
Correction: Mayor Michael Ford does not believe Manawatu District Council should join Palmerston North. Story updated June 6, 8.41am.