John Dalziell - Councillor
Supports amalgamation.
What is your position on the draft proposal and, importantly, why?
The draft proposal collates the key views from previous discussions. It is open ended in many ways and covers off some of the most concerning points by allowing a period of time to establish before the community needs to deal with some of the more concerning issues such long term decisions on rate increases, debt allocation and centralizing offices etc.
If the proposal is accepted by the community then I think this is a positive approach to allow for the proposal to establish and for communities to be better informed and have better information to agree on the long term model.
In saying this it is also vital that to agree to the initial proposal there must be the same confidence around the information available now in particular around finance. There is little financial benefit of amalgamation with current data . This needs to be clearly expressed to the community in relation to other long term benefits.
What is a specific issue (a problem or opportunity) that you believe amalgamation will address and how will it address it?
The most specific issue I think is to futurise the governance of the Wairarapa. Because of or low population,widespread towns and rural areas we need to be ensuring that for future generations that we develop a governance model that is efficient, minimizes duplication and is capable of delivering the the needs of ratepayers both locally and nationally.
I would like to think we can achieve this by electing the very best and most competent people in the community to deliver good governace and leadership. This in my view will need change in the election process to ensure we have a balance of democratically elected councillors combined with local people who have a background in governace or expertise that the council may require to ensure major decisions are made with the intellect that this needed to ensure rates are efficiently and effectively spent.
What tangible benefits could amalgamation bring for ratepayers and how will amalgamation achieve them?
Amalgamation should bring
- Less duplication in administration for the District
- As above an opportunity to deliver better governance
- A single strong governance lobby to Central Government
- Towns working even more collectively in the future than they are now
I think it will be achieved only if the community buys in to a new model. History shows that with any change there will be issues and anxiety within the community ,and without positive change communities can be left behind.
What are the risks of amalgamation, and if any, how will they be mitigated?
Without doubt there will be risks some probably not foreseeable at this point. Any decisions such as this that affect communities and businesses will always have risk and concerns.
The financial cost seems to be a possible risk at this point which needs to be more clearly expressed over the coming months.
The lack of buy in from sections of the community. This is unavoidable and will obviously be addressed with consultation.
Mitigation of risks will be part of the process which will be ongoing.
We do need to remember that very few if any changes to businesses or organizations are risk averse and should be readily discussed during the consultation process.
