Local Government reform - no resolutions passed by Council today
No resolutions were passed when elected members considered progressing a proposal under the local government reforms ‘Head Start’ pathway today.
Recently elected members decided to submit a proposal under the ‘Head Start’ reforms pathway based on a Bay of Plenty-wide approach with three unitary authorities proposed – Western (Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty), Eastern (Whakatane, Kawerau and Opotiki) and Central (Rotorua).
Today elected members were to approve the proposal for submission by the 9 August deadline.
However, decisions of other councils during the past few days meant the Bay of Plenty-wide proposal was no longer possible. The alternative option before Council today was to submit a proposal jointly with Tauranga City Council that included a merger of Tauranga city and the Western Bay of Plenty district (against that council's wishes) with Rotorua as its own unitary.
Elected members were today asked to approve the chief executive working with Tauranga City Council on this modified proposal.
Elected members voted 6/5 against this, following a vote 6/5 against not submitting a Head Start proposal.
Councils that do not submit their own proposals under Head Start will go into a “Back
Stop” process which will be led by central, not local, government.
As no decision was made today to either progress a Head Start proposal or not, last week’s decision made by the Council to submit a proposal under the Head Start pathway cannot be given effect to.
Mayor Tania Tapsell said that a time extension for further discussion and consideration could be possible.
Chief Executive Andrew Moraes confirmed that as a result of Council's decisions today, he is not authorised to submit a Head Start proposal.
You can view the resolutions considered by Council today in the meeting agenda
Today’s meeting was livestreamed and you can watch the full recording via the following link on Council’s YouTube channel: Extraordinary Council Meeting - 7 August 2026 The Head Start discussion was the only item on today’s agenda.
