Christchurch Advisers Out of Line: Amalgamation Must Come From Locals, Not Bureaucrats

The Taxpayers’ Union is pushing back at Christchurch City Council advisers calling for a Greater Christchurch “super city”, saying amalgamation must only ever come from the community, not from policy staff.

Taxpayers’ Union Investigations Coordinator, Rhys Hurley, said:

“It’s completely inappropriate for advisers to be pushing for large-scale amalgamation. These sorts of structural changes need to come from the communities affected, not bureaucratic planners who think bigger is automatically better.”

“We already know councils lose efficiency once they get too big. The focus should be on doing the basics well, not creating new super city layers of red tape and repeating the unreviewed Auckland experiment.”

“Instead of chasing grand reforms, Christchurch City Council should be sticking to delivering services ratepayers actually want. Pushing a super city model when Selwyn and Waimakariri haven’t asked for it only shows how out of touch some advisers are.”

“The Government’s wider reforms should focus on cutting duplication, improving performance, and keeping decision-making as close to communities as possible, rather than encouraging councils to absorb their neighbours."