Waikato Regional Council
29 April 2.30pm
The News understands Waipa-King Country regional councillor Liz Stolwyk will vote to leave LGNZ at tomorrow’s council meeting.
29 April 12pm
Waikato Regional Council is set for another finely balanced debate tomorrow (Thursday) when councillors consider whether to remain a member of Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ), a decision that could again come down to the chair’s casting vote.
Noel Smith
LGNZ representatives will appear before councillors at the start of the meeting as a deputation, signalling the importance attached to the issue.
Their presentation precedes a notice of motion, lodged by councillor Noel Smith and listed late in the agenda, calling for a rethink of the council’s membership.
The discussion will reopen a fault line that has divided the council since the 2022 elections, pitting those who see LGNZ membership as essential for collective advocacy against a group focused on cutting costs and reining in rates.
That latter group – known as the Rates Control Team – has made fiscal restraint a central plank of its platform. Members of the team argue LGNZ membership fees, estimated at about $120,000 a year, represent discretionary spending at a time when ratepayers are facing ongoing cost‑of‑living pressures.
Garry Reymer
Withdrawing from LGNZ, they say, is a tangible way to show the council is serious about trimming expenditure.
The Rates Control Team consists of councillors Gary McGuire, Chris Hughes, Ben Dunbar‑Smith, Garry Reymer, Robert Cookson, Mich’eal Downard and council chair Warren Maher.
The group has also promoted other measures, including capping rate increases below CPI and returning a $2.5 million surplus to ratepayers.
Reymer is one of two Waipā-King Country councillors. The other is Liz Stolwyk who is understood to favour staying in LGNZ.
Warren Maher Waikato Regional Council Chair
Those opposed to leaving argue the annual fee delivers value well beyond its cost. They point to LGNZ’s role in coordinating sector‑wide submissions to government, providing training and governance support, and giving councils a stronger, unified voice on national policy issues such as water reform, climate adaptation funding and central government mandates.
The Waikato Regional Council has 14 elected members – 12 from general constituencies and two Māori seats. If all councillors were at the meeting and seven voted for and seven against, Maher would have to exercise a casting vote, like his predecessor Pamela Storey did last year before the local body elections.
LGNZ’s decision to seek time on the agenda underscores what is at stake.
Liz Stolwyk
The organisation has been actively engaging with councils considering withdrawal, emphasising the benefits of collective representation at a time of significant reform across local government.
The concern is that Waikato could lose influence at the national table by stepping away.
For those backing withdrawal, the issue is chiefly one of principle and perception – demonstrating to ratepayers that no line of expenditure is beyond review.
Council papers provide no staff recommendation on the notice of motion, leaving the decision squarely in councillors’ hands.
Waikato Regional Council building. Photo: BCD Group
