Roger Gordon, left, and Andrew Bydder.
Over a well-kept hedge in Cambridge, the talk used to be lively.
On one side, Waipā district councillor Roger Gordon. On the other, Hamilton city councillor Andrew Bydder. Neighbours, but not always on the same page, especially when it came to council matters like water services and who should be doing what.
Gordon moved into the street in 2018. Bydder arrived next door a year later.
“It’s the one thing I’ve enjoyed about living next to Andrew,” Gordon said. “I can share my frustrations or my joys, and we can talk about common issues.”
Those conversations were sometimes robust. Both men had strong views and were operating within different council structures.
Asked if the water decisions would have changed had they known amalgamation was coming, Gordon’s answer was clear.
“It may have put another factor on the table. A pretty important one. It would have swayed the decision.”
Roger Gordon, left, and Andrew Bydder. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
The neighbours who once debated it are now on the same page. If they were putting money on it, both would back the same outcome.
“I’d bet on Hamilton, Waikato, Waipa,” Bydder said.
Gordon – first elected to Waipā council in 2019 – said he was of “a very similar opinion”.
The government has made it clear that councils need to get on with amalgamation planning or risk having a solution imposed on them. The discussion is no longer theoretical.
Around the Bydder-Gordon boundary line, that has meant working through the pros and cons of options.
A big council brings scale and influence but risks losing local identity. A smaller grouping reflects existing growth patterns and commuter links but raises questions about how urban and rural needs sit together.
For these neighbours, a middle option now makes the most sense.
“There are so many things that are happening within our region currently,” Gordon said, pointing to transport, infrastructure and growth planning already operating across council lines.
Waipā residents have to pay to see Te Parapara at the Hamilton Gardens. Photo: Hamilton & Waikato Tourism
Hamilton and Waipā are designated growth areas and dealing with increasing population pressures. And their futures are linked whether they like it or not.
“We understand that the success of Hamilton depends on the success of the Waikato,” Bydder said. “But we have urban issues, we are not set up for rural issues.”
That tension remains. It also explains why both are cautious about going too big.
The idea of a mega council covering the entire Waikato has appeal in theory, but it comes with complications. Different communities, different economies and different priorities are not always easy to blend.
Instead, an emerging view is that Hamilton, Waikato and Waipā form a more natural starting point.
Even then, the challenge will be keeping local voices alive.
Under any new structure, existing councils will disappear.
Community boards are an obvious solution, but they are wary of models where those boards have little real power.
“They have a budget,” Bydder said of the Auckland example, “but about 90 percent of that budget is already locked in. They actually have very little influence.”
That is a lesson they seem keen to take on board.
The neighbours who once argued different sides are now shaking hands, quite literally, on a shared position.
Roger Gordon, left, and Andrew Bydder. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
