{"id":472687,"date":"2026-06-11T21:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T21:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/472687\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T21:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T21:48:11","slug":"local-government-reforms-thames-coromandel-mayor-pitches-bay-of-plenty-merger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/472687\/","title":{"rendered":"Local government reforms: Thames-Coromandel mayor pitches Bay of Plenty merger"},"content":{"rendered":"

Revell put a slide of a giant love heart on the big screen in Rotorua\u2019s council chambers, as he explained why he was addressing a regional forum outside his district\u2019s boundaries.<\/p>\n

\"AA slide Thames-Coromandel Mayor Peter Revell screened as he spoke to the Bay of Plenty mayoral forum on Thursday. Image \/ Screenshot<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is we think we, more than anywhere else in the Waikato region, are a genuine option to be viewed as part of the Bay of Plenty,\u201d Revell told mayors from Tauranga, Kawerau, \u014cp\u014dtiki, Rotorua, Taup\u014d, Tauranga, Western Bay of Plenty, and Whakat\u0101ne, along with Bay of Plenty regional council leadership. <\/p>\n

He said there were \u201csignificant catchment and cultural alignments\u201d between the regions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do share common characteristics and challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

He highlighted climate change, coastal and marine management, regulatory issues, tourism, aquaculture and horticulture, as well as common community characteristics, recreational opportunities and iwi connections.<\/p>\n

\"Thames-CoromandelThames-Coromandel District Council Mayor Peter Revell has pitched merger options with the Bay of Plenty. Photo \/ Mathew Nash<\/p>\n

He said the council had \u201ca good time\u201d working towards a Local Water Done Well deal<\/a> with the Western Bay and Tauranga in 2025, even though it fell through at the last minute because of unresolved iwi issues with the Western Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also believe aligning with the Bay of Plenty complies with what the Government wants from simplifying local government,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Revell highlighted two potential scenarios.<\/p>\n

A \u201cgreater Bay of Plenty\u201d region that would include all of the current Bay of Plenty districts, but not Taup\u014d.<\/p>\n

\"RotoruaRotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell (centre) chaired the Bay of Plenty mayoral forum in Rotorua. Photo \/ Mathew Nash<\/p>\n

He also pitched a \u201ccoastal\u201d option, stretching from the top of the Coromandel down to the Bay\u2019s most eastern point.<\/p>\n

Both options would also include the coastal part of the Hauraki District.<\/p>\n

Revell said he had discussed the idea with Hauraki Mayor Toby Adams, who \u201chas a view on that\u201d, but maintained it was the most logical arrangement.<\/p>\n

Under the Head Start provisions, restructuring proposals can include councils without their agreement if the other parties have the greater numbers, either through population or the number of councils involved.<\/p>\n

\"\u014cp\u014dtiki\u014cp\u014dtiki Mayor David Moore at the Bay of Plenty mayoral forum in Rotorua. Photo \/ Mathew Nash<\/p>\n

Thames-Coromandel is part of the Waikato Regional Council catchment. The Coromandel MP electorate, however, includes Western Bay populations in Katikati and \u014cmokoroa.<\/p>\n

Revell stressed a Bay of Plenty merger was not his district\u2019s only option, highlighting possible \u201ceastern, rural and greater Waikato\u201d combinations.<\/p>\n

\u014cp\u014dtiki Mayor David Moore said the two regions had much in common, pointing to the significant impact recent weather events had on both communities.<\/p>\n

Meeting chair and Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell<\/a> said no decisions were to be made at the meeting, but that the early submission was \u201cappreciated\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bay of Plenty mayors also had the chance to quiz a representative from the Department of Internal Affairs at the meeting. <\/p>\n

They had questions around debt harmonisation, community consultation, timeframe and key dates in the reform process. <\/p>\n

\"TaurangaTauranga Mayor Mah\u00e9 Drysdale (left) and Bay of Plenty Regional chairwoman Matemoana McDonald at the Bay of Plenty mayoral forum in Rotorua. Photo \/ Mathew Nash<\/p>\n

The mayors also approved their respective timelines for simplifying local government proposal decision-making.<\/p>\n

Taup\u014d and Tauranga councils are due to make their decisions on July 21, followed by Kawerau and Rotorua on July 29, and \u014cp\u014dtiki on August 4, all before the Government\u2019s August 9 deadline for lodging Head Start pathway proposals.<\/p>\n

Whakat\u0101ne and Western Bay of Plenty have tentatively pencilled in July 23 and July 30, respectively.<\/p>\n

Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in the UK for eight years.<\/p>\n

– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Revell put a slide of a giant love heart on the big screen in Rotorua\u2019s council chambers, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22509,1561,1558,5432,93713,124,211438,44933,266,305,13840,440,13457,1362,10934,17250,28126,111,43,139,69,1118,46611,6725,127004,1562,8263,37315,165,6923],"class_list":["post-472687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-areas","tag-bay","tag-been","tag-between","tag-charm","tag-could","tag-counterpart","tag-dealt","tag-government","tag-have","tag-like","tag-local","tag-look","tag-made","tag-mayor","tag-mayors","tag-merger","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-offensive","tag-pitch","tag-pitches","tag-plenty","tag-reforms","tag-thamescoromandel","tag-their","tag-what"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}