Big Reforms, Big Decisions - Headstart Consultation

A South Canterbury Unitary Council based on either territorial or river catchment boundaries

Size (Territory)
13,425sq km

Population: (approx)
63,500

GDP: (approx)
$5.4 billion

Assets: (approx)
$3.1 billion

This option would create a new
unitary council covering:

Timaru District;
Waimate District; and
Mackenzie District;

And optionally (extended part of map)

the Rangitata River catchment
currently within Timaru and
Ashburton Districts; and
the Waitaki River catchment currently
within Waitaki, Waimate and
Mackenzie Districts.

This option would bring together three districts with a combined population of just over 63,000 people. It offers strong local coherence,
easier delivery and a clear South Canterbury identity, but has the least scale of the Head Start options.

Using existing territorial boundaries may be easier to implement than a catchment-based model because it would avoid some of the boundary, rating, asset and debt-splitting issues that could arise from including parts of Ashburton and Waitaki districts. However, the council would still need to manage rivers within its territory and may need to collaborate with neighbours on rivers that cross or sit on boundaries.

Possible Advantages	Possible Disadvantages or risks
Builds on existing economic and community connections across South Canterbury.	Is likely to be too small to meet the Government’s economies of scale measure.
May be more deliverable within the Government’s timeframe.	Some regional functions, especially river and freshwater management, may still require crossboundary arrangements.
Could support better integration of local and regional functions than current arrangements.	Detailed arrangements for assets, debt, staff, services and representation are not yet known.
May provide stronger long-term planning for infrastructure, land use, freshwater, transport and economic development than current arrangements, although with less scale than the larger options.	Local voice arrangements would need careful design.
Gives local councils and communities more influence over the shape of reform than waiting for the backstop process.	Using only territorial boundaries would leave some river and catchment management issues to be managed through cross-boundary arrangements, including for the Waitaki River.
Could reduce some duplication between district and regional council functions over time.
The three councils broadly agree on this approach already.

Including river catchments (highlighted in green)

This option also recognises that some regional council functions, such as river management, flood protection and freshwater management, work most logically across catchments rather than existing district council boundaries.
Including the Waitaki and Rangitata catchments could reduce the complexity of shared river management and provide a more integrated approach to environmental and infrastructure planning.
This would add the additional cost of river management in these areas which may not be fully met by rates from the number of rating units gained.
There will be boundary, rating, asset and debt splitting issues that would arise from including parts of Ashburton and Waitaki districts in any final model.