Nelson Nelson Mayor Nick Smith says the report from the Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce, written by former Tasman District Council Chief Executive Janine Dowding, is a timely and thoughtful contribution on how Nelson and Tasman can improve local governance together. 

“Nelson and Tasman are one region and the arbitrary boundary along Champion Road makes no sense. We would be much stronger and more efficient if we were one region and had one council. 

“Ratepayers in both Nelson and Tasman are under the pump financially and we need to be open to reforms that will make local government more efficient. This report identifies major gains in efficiency and effectiveness by merging. An efficiency gain of just 1% represents a saving to Nelson and Tasman ratepayers of $6.2 million a year based on NCC’s spend of $288 million and TDC’s spend of $329m last year.” 

Mayor Nick says it is significant that the author of the report is a former Chief Executive of Tasman District Council, given the history of Nelson being supportive of a merger and Tasman not. 

“My hope for this report is that it will trigger an exploration in Tasman of how both areas could benefit from a merger. The report rightly identifies the need for special representation arrangements for the more rural areas of Tasman and strong local boards to ensure the voices of the smaller communities are heard. 

“Nelson and Tasman could do much better in areas such as transport, planning, economic development, climate change, arts, sports and tourism with a single council. I am also open to expanding shared services. Nelson and Tasman already do a lot together in areas such as Civil Defence, Saxton Field, waste, transport and sewage management but the structures needed with two councils involved are cumbersome and inefficient. 

“I like the proposal in the report of a community reference group to examine options and advance the discussion. I share the conclusion in the report that a reluctance to examine the options is not in the best interests of the region,” Mayor Nick says. 

Read the report on the Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce website here.

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