If ‘local voice’ matters on amalgamation, let ratepayers vote

Responding to emerging proposals for a Wellington “Super City”, the Taxpayers’ Union is calling for any council amalgamation to be put to ratepayers through a binding referendum.

Taxpayers’ Union spokeswoman, Ella Dickson, said:

“These plans are being designed by the very officials who stand to gain bigger bureaucracies and build bigger empires.”

“If local voice is genuinely the priority, as South Wairarapa mayor Dame Fran Wilde says, then hold a referendum. No council should be amalgamated without a clear mandate from its ratepayers.”

“Bigger is not necessarily better. Auckland’s Super City has shown that amalgamation does not automatically mean lower rates or better services, which is why the Ratepayers’ Guide to Amalgamation sets out the rules any merger should have to meet.”