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Councils' meeting ends in disarray

Representatives from the three local councils left the steering committee on Tuesday bitterly disappointed at their

inability to come to an agreement on finance and representation issues. The committee, comprising three representatives

from each of the Ohakune, Raetihi and Waimarino councils, was to discuss final proposals for the formation of the new district council, which have to be agreed upon before 1 December for amalgamation of the councils to take place next year. They were to come to an agreement on arrangements for staff, transitional arrangements, the finance system to be adopted, the names of the wards and the rating system to be applied. The latter two proposals were agreed upon.. The names of the wards are to be Ohakune, Raetihi and Waimarino and the rating system is to remain on the same as at present. A heated debate however broke out when the financial arrangements were discussed. Waimarino County representatives asked that a document preparedby Crs John Martin and Malcolm Whale, 1 which detailed the cost of administration, and the expenditure and income of each council, be considered. The document suggests that the agreement on representation giving Waimarino county five representatives, Ohakune Borough four and Raetihi Borough four, is unfair to the county. Waimarino County Chairman, Bruce Berry told the meeting that the financial

arrangements could not be worked out unless the finances of the three councils, shown in the tabled document, were presented. Mayor of Ohakune, Bill Taylor, said although they had been flexible in the past, the Ohakune members of the committee were not prepared to look at the document as the representation issue had already been agreed upon. "I object to reopening discussion on decisions which have already been made and ratified by each council and agreed upon by the commission," Mayor Taylor said. Continued on page 2

Council's meeting

Continued from page 1 However, a motion that the docurrtent not be discussed was lost on the casting vote of the chairman, Raetihi Mayor Garrick Workman. He said that although he, along with the Ohakune representatives, believed that representation issues had already been sorted out, it was pointless to look at other proposals if there was not unanimous agreement among the three authorities. "For that reason. we must debate the document," he said. Disagreement still continued with Ohakune representatives arguing the pointlessness of discussing th document. "If you can't look at tht document we can't go anj further — we can't go intc amalgamation blindly,"stated Mr Berry. He suggested that a fair solution to the finance situation would be an equal three-way split of the administration costs. But Mayor Workman said .

Raetihi could not agree to that as they would want to continue paying the same amount as at present, which would be approximately 20 per cent. As it was obvious that no agreement was going to be reached, Mayor Workman decided to close the meeting. "I am disappointed it has come to this but it is obvious to me we can't keep talking," he said. The county council is to discuss a motion asking for fairer representation for the county at their next meeting. The motion has already been presented at a previous meeting of the county and was also tabled at the steering committee meeting last week. After the meeting, Cr John Martin said he was disappointed that his document was not looked at thoroughly. "I have been on the council for 20 years so I know that what I've put in that document is correct," he said.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAIBUL19851119.2.3

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 3, Issue 26, 19 November 1985, Page 1

Word count
Tapeke kupu
588

Councils' meeting ends in disarray Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 3, Issue 26, 19 November 1985, Page 1

Councils' meeting ends in disarray Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 3, Issue 26, 19 November 1985, Page 1

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