Ohakune may go alone to commission

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 3, Issue 27, 26 November 1985, Page 1

Ohakune may go alone to commission

The Ohakune Borough Council is to make a lastditch attempt to set the proposed amalgamation of the three local authorities in place by the deadline of 1 December. On Thursday the council decided to call a further meeting of the steering committee of three members from each of the Raetihi, Ohakune and Waimarino

councils to discuss outstanding issues, including financial arrangements and staffing, which must be agreed upon by 1 December if amalgamation is to take place next year. Waimarino County Council, earlier in the week, had unanimously rescinded their previous decision to accept the agreed representation formula of five Waimarino representatives and four each from Raetihi and Ohakune. (See other story this page.) The Ohakune Borough have now decided that should either of the two other authorities not join

with Ohakune in agreeing to the outstanding issues, the council will go ahead anyway and send their own decisions to the commission before 1 December. Mayor Bill T aylor stressed that the meeting of the steering committee would simply Complete the process of amalgamation, not reopen it. "We should remain consistent to the decisions we have already made — we can all change our minds, but we can't go back on what we considered binding,"he said. Cr Ellen Gojuld said she wondered whether the people of the area realised that because the county had res-

cinded their earlier decision, it could mean the end of Waimarino as a community. "I da believe it is a sad occasion for the people of the area as we run the risk of not being a united force — it is a very sad thing for the local government of the area if we're going to lose it, and it looks that way," she said. Mayor T aylor commented that even Reagan and Gorbachev didn't have such difficulty. If a decision is not made by 1 December, it is likely that the councils may be forced to join a larger authority and have fewer representatives.