Whakatāne Mayor Nandor Tanczos says amalgamation of local councils is coming and local leaders need to help shape that change.

Mr Tanczos responded yesterday to an announcement by RMA Reform and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Local Government Minister Simon Watts on Tuesday that councils had three months to put forward proposals for how they want to simplify local government.

“Our message to councils is simple: lead your own reform, or we will do it for you. Either way, change is coming,” Mr Bishop said.

The announcement followed a proposal to simplify local government the ministers put forward in November last year. The proposal included replacing elected regional councillors with Combined Territories Boards composed of mayors.

“We’ve now completed consultation on that proposal, which received more than 1100 submissions from councils, sector groups, iwi, and the public,” Mr Bishop said. “What we heard was consistent. There’s strong support for change, but many councils want more flexibility to get on with reform in a way that works for their region.”

Mr Tanczos said the announcement made it clear that the status quo would not continue.

“The signals are that this will happen even if we get a change of Government at this year’s election,” he said.

“I have said before that local government does need to change. The question now is whether we take the opportunity to help shape that change ourselves or leave those decisions to be made for us by Wellington.

“My strong preference is for local leadership. That’s why we’ve begun early conversations with Eastern Bay mayors and civic leaders across the wider region to explore what this could look like in practice. We need to approach this with an open mind, with a view to what will give the best outcomes for our communities - whether that’s new unitary arrangements, shared approaches to governance, or other models that reduce duplication while improving services.

“At the same time, we need to ensure any move towards greater efficiency does not remove local representation. That balance will be critical.”

Mr Watts said councils had three months to work with others in their region to put forward proposals for how they wanted to reorganise their local government arrangements in what he is calling a “head start pathway”.

“Proposals should focus on creating larger, more efficient unitary authorities that streamline functions, reduce duplication and improve decision-making.

“Proposals don’t need to cover an entire region, but they must show clear support, strong leadership, and real benefits for communities.”

Cabinet would then decide which proposals to progress, with decisions later this year. Endorsed proposals would then be developed in detail and signed off in 2027, with changes implemented ahead of the 2028 local government elections.

“For areas that do not come forward through the head start pathway, the Government will implement a backstop process to ensure reform still happens across the country,” Mr Watts said.

“This will involve a standardised approach, including transitional governance arrangements while changes are put in place.”

Mr Tanczos said the timeframe being proposed was very tight.

“It doesn’t leave much time for meaningful engagement with our communities if we want to participate in the initial ‘head start’ process. I’ll be looking for opportunities to keep everyone up to speed as much as possible.”

Discussions would continue with Whakatāne District Council’s Eastern Bay partners, with other Bay of Plenty councils, and through the Bay of Plenty Mayoral Forum as options are worked through.