John MacDonald: Christchurch's only amalgamation option

I heard Barry Soper say yesterday that, despite all the hard talk, the Government’s so-called fast-tracking of local government amalgamation won’t actually happen anytime soon.  Certainly not before the election. Which is true. Because this is a big change the Government wants to see happen.  But, in my mind, it can’t happen soon enough.  The fast-tracking bit is the councils being told that, if they don’t come up with an amalgomation plan within three months, the government will do it for them.  Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon is already pushing back. He’s not excited about the idea. Saying his community has made it clear that it doesn’t want change.  Tell that to the Government, though. Which admits that it didn’t campaign on local government reform at the last election but believes there is “broad support” for what it’s planning to do.  There’s no doubt in my mind that having nearly 70 local councils in a country the size of New Zealand is crazy. So, of course, something has change.  But what that change looks like, is what matters.  And for me, there’s only one option for us here in the greater Christchurch area.   And maybe it will only happen of the Government forces the issue. Because I don’t see people like Dan Gordon jumping on board of their own accord.  But the only realistic option here is to do something I've been in favour of for quite a while now. A super-city. Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger is saying today that the Christchurch City Council has already said it’s keen to take over the work Environment Canterbury does.  So why not go the whole hog and join ECan, Christchurch City, Selwyn and Waimakariri together? It makes sense to me.   It’s being reported today that, to keep the government happy, Christchurch is going to have to amalgamate with at least one other council.  How crazy would that be? Amalgamating with just one. Christchurch amalgamating with Selwyn, but not with Waimakariri. Crazy.  But, every time a super-city is mentioned, some people are quick to point to Auckland as an argument against it.  The Auckland super-city brought together seven city and district councils, and the regional council back in 2010.  But a super city in the greater Christchurch area would be nowhere near the same scale. We’re talking here about just three councils - Christchurch, Selwyn and Waimakariri. Plus ECan, of course.    Half of the people living in Selwyn still come into Christchurch every day for work and school, and they contribute nothing towards the cost of the running of the city.  They’re using the city’s roads and so many of the other facilities that they pay nothing for.  Not to mention the relatively small distance between Selwyn, Christchurch and Waimakariri.  Which is why, for me, a greater Christchurch super city is a no brainer.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.