Ōpōtiki Mayor David Moore says most of the feedback to him and councillors about the Government’s Head Start reform pathway has been strongly in favour of forming an Eastern Bay unitary council, rather than joining with larger urban centres.

Ōpōtiki District Council is not yet able to reveal how many official responses there have been to its public engagement because it has not closed.

Moore said while it was unlikely to be at the same level as Kawerau, which had an unusually high number with over 250 official responses, they were still coming in.

Although the council’s community engagement website connect.odc.govt.nz invited responses before July 16, feedback would be accepted until the council made its decision in early August.

Moore said the Ōpōtiki community was extremely vocal across all political spectrums.

“My council team are quite a diverse group of councillors, and we cover quite a wide area. We’re all getting the same feedback. I can get feedback from five or six different people every visit to the supermarket.

“Even when I sneak to one in Whakatāne, I normally bump into a local over there.”

While most people didn’t want to see any council amalgamation, if it happened, their preference was for an Eastern Bay unitary consisting of Whakatāne, Ōpōtiki and Kawerau, he said.

“They’re all pretty much saying the one thing. I’ve only seen two emails supporting a full region.

“There’s a definite feeling that if we’re going to do something, at least do it with the eastern councils. There’s no secret there’s a definite push not to be part of a big metro.”

The Eastern Bay councils have until August 9 to put forward a proposal to central government showing how they plan to transition to a unitary council that takes over both district and regional council functions.

If that proposal is approved, the Government expects these councils to be in place by the 2028 local elections, which Moore said would be rushed.

“Getting representation right, sorting out boundaries, wards and who gets a vote – there is a lot to do.”

“What they’ve asked is almost impossible to do. It’s too rushed. I’m still not sure what it is they’re trying to fix. It’s certainly not going to be about cost savings, because nobody has proved there’s going to be cost saving.

“If it’s something we’re being forced to do, then we’re better to have some control. I’m sure the Eastern Bay would rather form its own destiny than sit back and wait and see what the Government does to them.”

Moore travelled to Tasman region in the South Island last week with Kawerau Mayor Faylene Tunui and another Kawerau councillor to visit with the mayor and chief executive of that unitary council.

He said the trip was “well worth it”.

“I learnt quite a bit and got to meet people from a unitary that’s been there since 1992.”

He said the Tasman Council was a great blueprint for what an Eastern Bay unitary could look like.

“They’ve got a similar work force and a very similar sized area, same population. It was good to get a look at the functions they perform that are different to ours.

“The mayor gave us access to their operations right across the board. He and the chief executive gave up their time readily just to help us. It was very much appreciated.”