Breakaway favoured

Nearly half of Wellington residents who made submissions to Wellington City Council on restructuring local government agree Wairarapa should break off on its own.

More the 1200 people commented on four options for future governance, including keeping the status quo and moving to a Wellington super city.

Forty-five per cent favoured the options which would see a single Wairarapa council that may take on regional council responsibilities.

Most of those spoken to by the Times-Age yesterday agreed Wairarapa would be better off on its own.

Masterton's Steph Cusack said it was a great idea, as Wellington ratepayers would not want to fund Wairarapa initiatives anyway.

"All they'll pay for here is another cycle track," she said.

Kurt Mende, also of Masterton, agreed. "We're way down on the list of priorities for Wellington."

Woodville's Noel Coombe said all councils should be involved with each other in one way or another.

Another Masterton resident, who did not wish to be named, said: "It's a shame it wasn't 55 per cent of them.

"I don't know if we have the experience to bring all the Wairarapa councils together and have them work efficiently, but that's the perfect way to do it."

Victoria Allen, also of Masterton, agreed Wairarapa should be separate from Wellington.

The structure of local government has been under the spotlight in the Greater Wellington region since a report on options was released last year.

The three Wairarapa councils have worked together to commission a further study of the options, while other councils in the region have undertaken their own initiatives.

Wairarapa Governance Review Working Party chair Lyn Patterson said the consultation was just one of a series of activities in the region.

"We expect that when new legislation is introduced in November a range of proposals will be made to the Local Government Commission," she said.

"It is important that Wairarapa is in a position to present its own proposal based on good information and community views."

The working party will also meet with a separate panel appointed by Greater Wellington Regional Council and Porirua City Council to review local governance in the region.

The panel will also meet with each district council next week.

"We want to help the panel understand the issues for Wairarapa and will be sharing our work with it," she said.

Mrs Patterson said work on the financial implications of becoming a single council was under way and an independent analysis that would build on an initial study of options for Wairarapa.

The party is also looking at what a single council might look like - for example, how many councillors there might be and how communities of interest would be represented.

Formal consultation with the community will take place when a preferred option has been identified and agreed to by the three councils.