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Council almagamation a sore point in Hawkes Bay

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Mon, 04 Jul 2011 1:27p.m.

Napier's mayor Barbara Arnott is against the proposed amalgamation (NZPA file)

Napier's mayor Barbara Arnott is against the proposed amalgamation (NZPA file)

A political storm is brewing in Hawkes Bay over the proposed amalgamation of local councils.

Hastings Mayor Laurence Yule is backing the idea of a regional super-council, but Napier Mayor Barbara Arnott is adamant the majority of people do not want it.

She is calling for a referendum on the issue.

A phone poll of 500 Napier residents last week showed 46 percent were opposed to a merger.

But local Labour list MP Stuart Nash claims a group of well-funded National Party MPs and supporters are behind it without any real organisation.

“Never have I seen a quantification of the benefits for the people of Napier,” says Mr Nash.

Mr Nash says Hastings Council is saddled with debt, making it an unfair trade-off for Napier council.

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Comments

05 Jul 2011 02:09p.m.

Bay Bee wrote:

Hastings has always had an imperialistic conquest attitude.

They the city in the swamp have always wanted Napier the Jewel in the crown of the bay as its serf town...(not in the sport sense)

They were even so perverse as to having Hijacked the District council and calling it "Hastings" rather than 'Hawkes Bay' as it actually was, put signs on the outer approaches to Napier city on the Taupo S5 road saying

"Welcome to Hastings"!!!!

The audacity of it!

I was Born in Hastings Raised there as a toddler left Hastings and went to Havelock and other schools that Hastings had nothing to do with but sure enough as soon as they could Devoured imperialistically to the detriment of those lovely communities....and now they want to swallow the Twin sister city....

It is certainly a big inferiority complex Hastings has...It is certainly the Uglier of the two cities...in at least it's politiking. It was destined to be rich farmland yet sadly missed its calling.

Any Merger should result in the name Hasting limited to a district around its skody town Center and Hawkes Bay city should be adopted or something similar. (Heretaunga? urggh sounds too Hastings)

Napier will always be independently a pearl of a city as they were caring for their heritage as Hastings was tearing its down to replace it with tacky 80's buildings and innavigable malls and streets killing its heart and CBD at great expense to its peasants.

It would be sad if a city so well known for poor civic management cast its dark shadow upon Bright and Vibrant Napier.

Keep Hastings Independent of Napier. failed cities should not be allowed to leach the success of far better ones by gradual conquest not superior management.