Kaipara’s rejection of a suggested two unitary authorities replacing Northland Regional Council and Kaipara, Far North and Whangarei District Councils, has been endorsed by Farmers of New Zealand.

The McKinlay Douglas report commissioned at the cost of about $80,000 — but boycotted by the Northland Regional Council — recommends the four councils be rationalised into either one or two unitary authorities.

“It is a thinly disguised move to appropriate the $200 million in assets controlled by the Northland Regional Council,”

said Farmers of NZ Operations Director, and KDC councillor, Bill Guest. “Farmers of New Zealand would support a single authority — but we do not want to see Northland split up — divided up.”

He and fellow councillors have rejected the report, saying they won’t share its cost, and are pushing to join with Northern Rodney.

“Councillors determined the options presented no benefit for Kaipara’s community, its infrastructure, the well-being of the district as a whole and the protection of our natural assets,” a statement said.

Kaipara Mayor and CEO Jack McKerchar, returned last week from putting their case for this to the Auckland Super City select committee in Wellington, at the request of councillors.

Mr Tiller had supported the other two mayors — until his council unanimously rejected the options in favour of an enlarged district. He said he understands that McKinlay Douglas representatives are to hold public meetings in the Kaipara to discuss their report.

“We neither condone or oppose this. We can’t stop people from holiding public meetings,” he said.

“Apart from anything else, the McKinlay Douglas report has nothing in the way of financial benefits or analysis to offer,” said Mr Guest. “Kaipara had only a fleeting mention in the report anyway.”

Mr Guest noted that the final consultant’s report differed from a ‘final draft’ issued last November recommending a single unitary authority for Northland.

“It seems that didn’t suit Messrs Semminoff and Brown, and the report was sent back for changes. It was ‘massaged’.”

Mr Brown is on record as saying then that “some things in it were wrong” and the mayors wanted to have an input into it, as there were Northland issues that the report writers did not understand.

NRC Chairman, Mark Farnsworth, says the mayors’ push is more about self interest than public interest.

Commenting on Kaipara’s rejection of the two authority option, Mr Guest concluded:

“Two elephants — Far North and Whangarei — can’t do much without the Kaipara mouse. Anyway, it’s my understanding that Local Government Minister Rodney Hyde has already spelt out that he is not going to support the two authority plan.”