Western Bay of Plenty District Council will continue work on two potential merger scenarios as part of the Government’s Head Start pathway for local government reform.
This week Councillors agreed to continue assessing options for a Head Start proposal, narrowing the potential scenarios from five to two. These being:
- A Regional Unitary Authority covering all councils in the Bay of Plenty region (Western Bay, Tauranga City, Rotorua, Kawerau, Whakatāne, Ōpōtiki), plus Bay of Plenty Regional Council functions
- A Sub-Regional Unitary Authority covering Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Tauranga City Council, plus Bay of Plenty Regional Council functions.
Both scenarios will also consider the potential inclusion of Thames-Coromandel District Council as part of further investigation.
Western Bay Mayor James Denyer says the decision is about continuing to investigate options - not making a final decision - following the recent community conversation, which generated more than 2500 pieces of feedback from 262 submissions.
“What we heard from our community was an openness to exploring change, but with some concerns expressed that need to be addressed,” says Mayor James.
“Around 45 per cent of people supported a merger with other councils, with a further 28 per cent indicating they were open to exploring it. Only 27 per cent did not support such a merger. That is a strong signal from our community to continue assessing what these options could mean in practice and start development of a potential Head Start proposal.”
“At the same time, there were clear and consistent expectations around representation, protecting local voice, and ensuring our communities are not taking on debt from other areas.”
Through its Simplifying Local Government programme, the Government is looking to reduce the number of councils across New Zealand and move to unitary authorities.
A voluntary fast-track option, called Head Start, allows councils to submit their own high-level ‘outline proposals‘ for their regions. The deadline for proposals (which must be submitted by groups of councils, not individual councils) is 9 August 2026.
Mayor James says the work remains at an early stage, with a very tight timeframe ahead of the 9 August deadline focused on informing a decision, rather than detailed analysis at this point.
“This is about understanding the shape of a proposal and what is practicable, before any formal decision is made on whether to submit a Head Start proposal.”
Council will continue discussions with neighbouring councils over the coming weeks to better understand what options may be achievable against the Government’s criteria.
While the work underway is focused on developing a high-level outline proposal only, more detailed analysis — including financial modelling, service delivery impacts, and representation — would only occur if a proposal is accepted by Government.
“If a Head Start proposal is put forward and accepted, there would be a further phase of detailed work from September until March next year to make sure we get this right,” says Mayor James.
Council also confirmed that the Government’s Backstop pathway remains an option and will be considered alongside any Head Start proposal.
For regions that are not part of the Head Start pathway, the Back Stop process involves the Government working on amalgamating existing councils into unitary authorities after the 2028 elections. This process will be developed by the government in 2027.
A final decision on whether to submit a Head Start proposal will be made at the 30 July Council meeting, ahead of the 9 August Government deadline.
For more information visit: Simplifying Local Government - Western Bay of Plenty District Council.
Scenarios removed from the investigation process following the 30 June Council meeting and Council’s community conversation (25 May – 14 June):
- Provincial unitary authority – Western Bay of Plenty District Council and other district councils in the existing Bay of Plenty region (Rotorua, Whakatāne, Kawerau, Ōpōtiki, but excluding Tauranga City) reorganise to become one unitary authority that carries out all the functions of both local and regional council.
- District split – the Western Bay is split, with different parts of the District joining different councils. For example, Western Bay could be split into East and West areas based on current known geographic boundaries, and each of these areas could join with their neighbouring councils.
- Western Bay unitary authority – Western Bay of Plenty District Council doesn’t join with any other councils, but takes on the functions of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council that can best be delivered locally. A region-wide Council Controlled Organisation (CCO), jointly owned by other councils in the Bay of Plenty, is formed to take on those functions that are better delivered regionally. Some functions could be delivered at a national level.
