Editing Hawke's Bay (section)

==== Proposal for a unitary authority ====
Between 2013 and 2015 the [[Local Government Commission (New Zealand)|Local Government Commission]] considered amalgamating Hawke's Bay Regional Council, its four constituent territorial authorities ([[Napier City Council]], [[Central Hawke's Bay District Council]], [[Hastings District Council]] and [[Wairoa District Council]]), and the small parts of the [[Rangitikei District Council]] (the rural community of [[Ngamahanga]]) and [[Taupo District Council]] (the rural community of [[Taharua]]) that fall within the Hawke's Bay Region into a unitary authority that would hold all local decision-making powers for the region. This proposal was initiated by an application from a group called "A Better Hawke's Bay"<ref>{{Cite web|title=Decisions and Determinations {{!}} Local Government Commission|url=http://www.lgc.govt.nz/decisions-and-determinations/view/hawkes-bay-reorganisation|access-date=2021-04-27|website=www.lgc.govt.nz}}</ref> and followed the [[Royal Commission on Auckland Governance|Government-led amalgamation of eight local authorities]] into the new [[Auckland Council]] in 2010 and a 2012 "prosperity study" that found a similar amalgamation in Hawke's Bay could save up to $25m per year.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-09-03|title=Hawke's Bay amalgamation could save $25m|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/7604266/Hawkes-Bay-amalgamation-could-save-25m|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427025721/http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/7604266/Hawkes-Bay-amalgamation-could-save-25m|archive-date=2021-04-27|access-date=2021-04-27|website=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |language=en}}</ref> A previous proposal to merge Napier and Hastings, though supported by Hastings residents, was defeated in a public referendum in 1999.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Laing|first=Doug|title=Close to quarter on roll cast votes|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/close-to-quarter-on-roll-cast-votes/QM2I52TTSRTHS2EAFGM6C7H2AM/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427032424/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/close-to-quarter-on-roll-cast-votes/QM2I52TTSRTHS2EAFGM6C7H2AM/|archive-date=2021-04-27|access-date=2021-04-27|website=[[New Zealand Herald]] |language=en-NZ}}</ref>

The Local Government Commission released an initial proposal in November 2013.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Henderey|first=Simon|date=26 November 2013|title=Amalgamation plan revealed|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/amalgamation-plan-revealed/EM4S2AQNXJ5BSJNODWTELKOKUY/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427030237/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/amalgamation-plan-revealed/EM4S2AQNXJ5BSJNODWTELKOKUY/|archive-date=2021-04-27|access-date=2021-04-27|website=[[New Zealand Herald]] |language=en-NZ}}</ref> After taking public submissions on the proposal, the Commission issued a final proposal in June 2015. The final proposal was that Hawke's Bay would be governed by a unitary council comprising a governing body (one mayor elected at-large and eighteen councillors elected across five wards) with subsidiary decision-making made by five local boards (each with six to nine elected members).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Local Government Commission|date=June 2015|title=Hawke's Bay Local Government Reorganisation: Final Proposal|url=http://www.lgc.govt.nz/assets/Hawkes-Bay-June-2015/Hawkes-Bay-Proposal-June-2015.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129225840/http://www.lgc.govt.nz/assets/Hawkes-Bay-June-2015/Hawkes-Bay-Proposal-June-2015.pdf|archive-date=29 January 2021|access-date=27 April 2021}}</ref>

Under the [[Local Government Act 2002|Local Government Act]], the public had the right to demand a binding referendum on whether the amalgamation should proceed; such a demand would be valid if it was signed by at least 10% of the affected electors in one of the affected districts. Two days after the final proposal was issued, a valid referendum demand signed by more than 10% of the affected electors in the Rangitikei district was received<ref>{{Cite web|title=Poll process update for Hawke's Bay reorganisation proposal {{!}} Local Government Commission|url=http://www.lgc.govt.nz/local-government-reorganisation/poll-process-update-for-hawkes-bay-reorganisation-proposal/|access-date=2021-04-27|website=www.lgc.govt.nz}}</ref> (there were only twelve affected electors in that district, therefore only two signatures were required to trigger the poll<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Sharpe|first=Marty|date=2013-11-27|title=Two people could force council amalgamation poll|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/9450376/Two-people-could-force-council-amalgamation-poll|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203213745/https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/9450376/Two-people-could-force-council-amalgamation-poll|archive-date=2013-12-03|access-date=2021-04-27|website=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |language=en}}</ref>). The referendum was held by post. Voting concluded on Tuesday 15 September 2015. Because 66% of electors opposed the change,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=electionz.com|date=18 September 2015|title=Hawke's Bay Reorganisation Poll|url=https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1509/S00493/hawkes-bay-reorganisation-poll.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030215408/https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1509/S00493/hawkes-bay-reorganisation-poll.htm|archive-date=30 October 2020|access-date=2021-04-27|website=www.scoop.co.nz|quote=Four votes from Rangitikei were received in the referendum, with turnout from that being 33.33% showing that the total number of affected electors was approximately 12.}}</ref> the proposal was defeated and did not progress further. Results broken down to the council level showed that only Hastings district electors favoured amalgamation (52% in favour). Napier (84% opposed), Wairoa District (88% opposed) and Central Hawke's Bay (58%) were opposed. Only four votes were returned from Rangitikei (two each way); no votes were returned from Taupo district.<ref name=":1" />
{{Table alignment}}
{| class="wikitable col1left" style="text-align:right"
|+2015 Hawke's Bay amalgamation referendum
!Council area
! colspan="2" |For
! colspan="2" |Against
! colspan="2" |Informal
! colspan="2" |Blank
!Total
!Turnout
|-
| style="background:lightgreen"|Hastings District
|'''15,639'''
|'''51.54%'''
|14,614
|48.16%
|8
|0.03%
|84
|0.28%
|30,345
|56.71%.
|-
| style="background:pink"|Napier City
|4,632
|15.83%
|'''24,553'''
|'''83.92%'''
|5
|0.02%
|67
|0.23%
|29,257
|67.29%.
|-
| style="background:pink"|Central Hawke's Bay District
|2,629
|41.55%
|'''3,684'''
|'''58.23%'''
|2
|0.03%
|12
|0.19%
|6,327
|65.50%.
|-
| style="background:pink"|Wairoa District
|457
|11.62%
|'''3,465'''
|'''88.12%'''
|0
|0.00%
|10
|0.25%
|3,932
|69.35%.
|-
| style="background:lightyellow"|Rangitikei District
|2
|50.00%
|2
|50.00%
|0
|0.00%
|0
|0.00%
|4
|33.33%.
|-
|Taupō District
|0
|0.00%
|0
|0.00%
|0
|0.00%
|0
|0.00%
|0
|0.00%
|-
|style="text-align:right;background:#eaecf0"|'''Total'''
|23,359
|33.43%
|'''46,318'''
|'''66.30%'''
|15
|0.02%
|173
|0.25%
|69,865
|62.18%
|}