District and City growth options

Manawatu District and Palmerston North City Councils have been working with the Auckland-based firm of Morrison Low to investigate the process, costs and implications of boundary adjustment, cross-boundary servicing and amalgamation.

Those were the three options identified which will provide solutions for growth pressures at the boundary between both local authorities over future years:

• An amalgamation of both local authorities
• Boundary adjustments which benefit both Councils without amalgamating them
• Cross-boundary services which would see the City Council infrastructure servicing urban growth across the boundary to Manawatu District Council.

In August 2009, both Councils agreed to engage a consultant to undertake the assessment work and report back the findings to the Manawatu District and Palmerston North City Council Joint Strategic Planning Committee. Both Councils also agreed on the scope of the consultant’s brief.

Subsequently, at its November 2009 meeting, the Joint Strategic Planning Committee agreed to the appointment of Morrison Low to do the work. Morrison Low’s approach was to undertake the assessment in two phases: Phase One to undertake a high level evaluation of all three options, and Phase Two to focus on the detailed evaluation.

It was anticipated that each Phase would take approximately three months with the final report back to the Committee in May 2010. Morrison Low has completed Phase One, being a high level evaluation, and will be presenting progress to the Committee’s 17 February 2010 meeting.

Now that Phase One has been completed, work will continue onto Phase Two in order to meet the May 2010 deadline.