Share your thoughts about Council Amalgamation

From the WCC Let’s Talk website

“The Government has announced it will reform local government by removing regional councils and looking at how other councils can be merged. It has invited councils to form groups and submit their own proposals for how they could reorganise by 9 August 2026 (the ‘Head Start’ pathway). The Government has said it will make ‘in principle’ decisions to accept proposals for detailed design in September 2026. Any resulting changes would take effect at the 2028 Local Government Election.

If councils don’t make a successful proposal for change, the Government will make the decision on how councils in that region will be structured (the ‘Backstop’ pathway). These changes would take effect after the 2028 Local Government Election.

Join the conversation - Fill out our survey below by 19 July.

We want to hear your views. Your feedback will be given to the Mayor and Councillors to inform their decision-making as they consider whether to submit a Wellington region ‘Head Start’ proposal.

We will also be holding public forums during the last week of July. If you would like register your interest to attend to talk to Elected Members about this, please email engagement@wcc.govt.nz and we will be in touch with you soon.

Given the Government’s tight timelines, this is not formal consultation on a detailed proposal. If a Wellington region proposal is accepted and progressed through to detailed design, we’ll expect to come back to consult with the community to consult formally on specific options at that next stage.”