Wellington Needs Fewer Councils. One Will Do

Good Editorial today on local body amalgamation in the Dominion Post. We agree that one Council for Wellington is all we need. The current nine is incredibly inefficient. We disagree on the need for a Royal Commission on Wellington, however. We see the Auckland exercise as about far more than Auckland. What is decided for Auckland will essentially be the template for Wellington. For this reason The Hive team encourages all Wellingtonians with an interest in the subject to submit to the Auckland exercise. We understand that at least one business group will be submitting, and calling for one Auckland. In Wellington John Terris is actively working behind the scenes to build support for one Wellington. Mark Blumsky (preparing for a run at Mayor) is in similar space. Wellington City Council and Mayor Prendergast have long been supporters of this concept. Essentially the writing is on the wall with the agreement last year to one economic development strategy and one economic development agency.