Mike Butler: Amalgamation and race

Hastings Against Amalgamation campaigns on four points – that amalgamation for the five councils in Hawke’s Bay would increase rates, increase debt, reduce representation with powerless local boards, and introduce race-based spending through an appointed Maori board.

I had a phone-call from a Napier councillor who thanked us for campaigning against amalgamation but asked us to stop talking about the Maori board because it upset some people. An earlier email from another person suggested we were “playing the race card”.

Mike Butler: Hastings resists amalgamation

As decision time looms with the proposal to merge the five Hawke’s Bay councils into one super council based in Napier, a new group has formed in Hastings to fight amalgamation. Hastings Against Amalgamation is holding an initial meeting at the Havelock North Community Centre on Tuesday, February 24 at 7pm, to plan the next step should the Local Government Commission opt to proceed with amalgamation.

That next step is to collect around 4400 Hastings signatures to trigger a poll on the issue.