New Zealand Capital Wellington To Become Super City: Merger Of Greater Wellington And Wairarapa Regions Proposed

New Zealand's capital Wellington is all set to become a super-city. Under the new draft recommendation released by the Local Government Commission, Wellington's nine councils will be united into a single council named Greater Wellington Council.

The Local Government Commission has proposed forming a governing body consisting of 21 councillors, to be elected by people in eight newly-defined wards. The commission has been tasked with a reshuffle plan of the 9 councils for almost 18 months and finally released the draft proposal on Thursday.

The reform has kept the region's economy in focus and is keen to make it more diverse. It wanted expansion of economic opportunities and avenues for attracting more businesses and skilled workers into the region. There is already the successful outcome of Auckland.

The authorities hope that the merger of greater Wellington and Wairarapa regions will make a supercity and create New Zealand's second largest metropolitan area in terms of population, reported Radio Nz. The decision has been described many as significant, as it comes after years of debate, whether Wellington should amalgamatr or not, reported Stuff.Co.Nz

Prime Minister John Key described the new development as "ambitious" while the Green Party called it a radical exercise that will see repeat of mistakes made in Auckland. But, Basil Morrison, Local government commission chairman allayed such fears. He said the proposal was fair and vastly "different" from the Auckland super-city model. In wellington, there is more power for boards and nomination of councillors to each board would autoamtically remove the weaknesses that reportedly stymied the Auckland's local boards. Prime Minister John Key too said the creation of super-city in Auckland did succeed in giving it one strong voice.

Mayor's Concerns

Meanwhile, concerns were aired by Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown, who said the commission's recommendation for "one uber-council Miramar to Masterton" will be unwieldy. It will not gain support in a referendum as the area is too big for one council to cover. She feared conflict of responsibilities when both the council and boards start going in different directions. The Mayor called for more detailing She said the proposal also undermined the capital's voice as the economic powerhouse of the region. The plan to create 9 councils for a region of 500,000 was an "overkill". Wade-Brown suggested slashing the number of councils to three or four and making it simpler than the present system.