Merging like a zip

With a nod to the past marking the occasion, Marlborough welcomed Kaikōura back into the fold via last Thursday’s decision on merging district councils.

Mayor Nadine Taylor deferred to Councillor Scott Adams to make the motion. His forebearers, she explained, petitioned for the formation of Marlborough in 1859. Come 2029, provincial boundaries should stretch farther down the east coast from his Wairau-Awatere Ward – barring unexpected complications.

“It’s an exciting time,” he told his colleagues. “I’m happy with what’s proposed.”

Council’s 13-0 vote (with Barbara Faulls absent overseas) followed a 7-1 vote the previous morning by Kaikōura’s council to authorise a joint application. Though they did so before Government’s filing deadline of 9 August, the neighbours have an extension until 28 August, thanks to a dispensation for recovery from July’s storm damage.

“We’re making history,” declared Gerald Hope, a former mayor who also represents the Wairau-Awatere Ward. He echoed several councillors expressing that the proposal “bodes well for the future”.

Next steps
At this juncture, the merger pact is just an agreement in principle. Should the amalgamation find favour at the ministry level, Kaikōura and Marlborough need to complete a detailed plan for approval in March.

“This decision does not bind us,” the mayor noted. “We have gates to go through.”

Councillors heard that a draft for consultation should come before the Christmas break, providing what Strategic Delivery manager Phillip Eyles called “lead-in time” to the formal public input process in February.

The 80-minute deliberation brought out wrinkles which Council – and Marlburians who responded to surveys – want ironed out. Consensus swirled around issues of debt; long-term representation; exact costs of Kaikōura’s services; and expenses associated with amalgamation.

Observed Scott: “We’ll see what it looks like in March.”