Councils have submitted 18 structural reform proposals under the Head Start initiative, with regional councils set to disappear by the 2028 local elections. Local Government Minister Simon Watts says four to five proposals are no-brainers with regional consensus, and another six or seven have agreement among the councils involved.

“Regional councils will not exist as we know it beyond the 2028 election,” he says.

He says he will not rush decisions before Parliament breaks on 24 September, describing the changes as the biggest local government reform in a generation.

“I’m not going to sacrifice quality for speed.”

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